Allies and Adversaries: The Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Grand Alliance, and U.S. Strategy in World War II [Paperback]

Mark A. Stoler (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0807855073 | ISBN-13: 978-0807855072 | Publication Date: September 26, 2006

During World War II the uniformed heads of the U.S. armed services assumed a pivotal and unprecedented role in the formulation of the nation's foreign policies. Organized soon after Pearl Harbor as the Joint Chiefs of Staff, these individuals were officially responsible only for the nation's military forces. During the war their functions came to encompass a host of foreign policy concerns, however, and so powerful did the military voice become on those issues that only the president exercised a more decisive role in their outcome.

Drawing on sources that include the unpublished records of the Joint Chiefs as well as the War, Navy, and State Departments, Mark Stoler analyzes the wartime rise of military influence in U.S. foreign policy. He focuses on the evolution of and debates over U.S. and Allied global strategy. In the process, he examines military fears regarding America's major allies--Great Britain and the Soviet Union--and how those fears affected President Franklin D. Roosevelt's policies, interservice and civil-military relations, military-academic relations, and postwar national security policy as well as wartime strategy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is a soundly researched book that will be found of value to specialists in the development of foreign and military policy. (American Historical Review)

Stoler's work is seminal, forcing us to rethink radically much about the war we thought we knew so well. (Intelligence & National Security)

A lucid, logical examination of US military thinking about the world from the late 1930s through to the end of the Second World War. (Times Literary Supplement)

Allies and Adversaries marks Stoler as one of the finest military and diplomatic historians of his age. (ARMY)

In making so much of the familiar terrain of policy-making seem new, Stoler has provided an altogether worthy study. (Washington Post Book World)

From the Inside Flap

Stoler's book examines the role and influence of the newly formed Joint Chiefs of Staff during WWII, when they assumed an unprecedented role. These individuals were officially responsible only for the nation's military forces, but their functions grew to encompass a host of foreign policy concerns. Only the president exercised a more decisive role in the outcome of certain issues. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press (September 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807855073
• ISBN-13: 978-0807855072
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #284,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strategic and command decision study of the highest caliber, November 18, 2005

By 

Mannie Liscum (Columbia, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Allies and Adversaries: The Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Grand Alliance, and U.S. Strategy in World War II (Paperback)

"Allies and Adversaries: The Joint Chiefs of Staff, The Grand Alliance, and U.S. Strategy in World War II" by Mark A. Stoler is a tour-de-force piece of military history, certainly of the highest academic standard. One can usually tell how 'serious' a work of military history is by what types of sources are used by the author for information and how many. Of the 380 pages of Stoler's book nearly 100 are set aside for 'notes' and bibliography - a more obvious sign of 'how much' research Stoler did would be pointless. So is this merely secondary sources and posturing? No not by a long shot. Stoler utilizes a variety of source materials, from unpublished works, to archival material, personal interviews, and published works (book and journal forms). As an academic scientist this reviewer can appreciate solid literature work and Stoler has certainly done that. Is "allies and Adversaries" merely a thoroughly researched book, or does it have literary flare and depth of new insight?

Let's address the literary competence of Stoler's work. The quick of it: solid but not lilting. Unfortunately many works of this 'academic' depth can be extremely dry and quite unreadable. Stoler's book is very readable. Yet, Stoler does a good job weaving an interesting story that brings together disparate sources into a prose that maintains the readers interest. This is not however to say this is a 'pick it up but can't put it down' book. The text is a bit dry but given the subject matter - strategy and statesmanship in the context of war - this may not be surprising. To his credit Stoler proves adept at keeping a good pace and telling a story that is enjoyable if not riveting.

So what about insights? Does Stoler's 'deep' research yield new information worthy of this depth? In short: probably. Clearly Stoler presents a thorough picture of how, when and why major (above theatre level) strategic decisions were made in the Second World War. Moreover, Stoler provides considerable information about who was making decisions and influencing those decision makers. Where the work suffers is from lack of much tangible information relative to the Soviet and British decision making processes. Stoler can probably be forgiven for the formers omission but certainly there is material to be had relative to the British side. A quick read of another work - "American Strategy in World War II: A Reconsideration" - centered on high strategy of WWII written shortly after the war by Kent Roberts Greenfield will clearly illustrate that the basic story presented by Stoler has been documented for decades. Where Stoler has added is in the depth of presentation. Plenty of new material is presented here, clearly justifying the legwork put into this study.

In the final analysis Mark Stoler has generated a very readable and extremely solid piece of historical literature. Serious students of WWII should consider picking up a copy of this book to see the bigger picture - that far beyond the foxhole that put men in the foxholes wherever and whenever they were. As a serious piece of historical work "Allies and Adversaries" is a 5 star effort.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an informative account of civil-military relations, October 27, 2003

By 

1. "John Henninger" (Littleton, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Allies and Adversaries: The Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Grand Alliance, and U.S. Strategy in World War II (Paperback)

Mark Stoler writes that the JCS became powerful in foriegn affairs as a result of World War II. According to Stoler in the early years of World War II the State Department took over the direction of national security due to internal divisions within the JCS. However the JCS managed to defeat the State Department in the laucnhing of Pacific Offensives in late 1942. Thereafter the JCS had greater influence in foreign policy as seen through the aquisition of the mandated islands for military use, against the wishes of the State Department, and plans for the deployment of American troops and bases in Europe to counter the perceived Soviet threat. I would highly reccomend this book to anyone whose interested in civil-military relations.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Too important a book to be read only by other historians, September 13, 2005

By 

E. Thomas Wood "historian and journalist" (Nashville, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Allies and Adversaries: The Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Grand Alliance, and U.S. Strategy in World War II (Hardcover)

Allies and Adversaries is one of the most valuable works I have ever read about the Second World War. Its account of US-UK tensions during the war would make it noteworthy regardless, but even more impressive is Stoler's clear and objective account of the Americans' halting slide into military involvement between 1938 and 1941. I have never seen a more authoritative account of how the U.S.-U.K. alliance came to pass and how the war with Japan transpired. As regards the latter, Stoler lucidly explains the logic, twisted though it was, of the attack on Pearl Harbor. History viewed through the eyes of our enemies can teach us valuable lessons. A&A also fills in the historical portrait of Gen. George Marshall, providing a more incisive account of Marshall as (master) politician than I have found in the general's official biography and published papers. My forthcoming biography of Lt. Gen. Frank M. Andrews (for whom Andrews Air Force Base is named) will owe much to Stoler's account of the years leading up to Pearl Harbor, when a small number of American leaders quietly shouldered the burden of the world's future.