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Richard Overy

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1939: Countdown to War Kindle Edition

by Richard Overy (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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"Overy's book is easily the best account of Europe's descent into...death and destruction." --Evening Standard (London)

A brilliantly concise narrative of the days leading to the outbreak of history's greatest conflagration, 1939 takes readers hour by hour through the nail-biting decisions that determined the fate of millions. Richard Overy, a leading historian of the period, masterfully recreates the jockeying for advantage that set Europe's greatest powers on a collision course. Would Stalin join Hitler in a bid to divide Poland and flout the West? Would Britain and France succeed in forcing Germany to reason? And how far would a defiant Poland push its claim to exist? In the summer of 1939, the course of events was anything but assured, as this exceptionally absorbing book drives home.

Print length

184 pages
Language

English
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On Kindle Scribe
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Penguin Books
Publication date

September 23, 2010
File size

465 KB
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this short book, stating that "nothing in history is inevitable," University of Essex professor Overy (Why the Allies Won) strives to explain what led to the outbreak of WWII after years of tension and appeasement. He focuses on the diplomatic maneuvering during "the extraordinary ten days of drama," August 24 to September 3, 1939, demonstrating that diplomats in London, Paris, and Berlin wanted to avoid a world war. But Overy traces the events and decisions that moved the two allies, sworn to defend Polish independence, from efforts at deterrence to a willingness to fight after Hitler invaded Poland. Overy is best in portraying the diplomatic wrangling, taking readers inside an explosive meeting between Neville Henderson, Britain's ambassador to Berlin, and German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. He also uncovers some surprising facts, such as France's last-minute wavering in confronting Hitler and that the Nazi leader, in exchange for Britain acquiescing in his Polish takeover, promised to guarantee the British empire. The last-minute diplomacy Overy describes is fascinating, but there is too little political, military, and sociocultural background to provide context for readers unfamiliar with the period.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Given the personality and ambitions of Hitler and the ideological nature of the Nazi regime, the outbreak of WWII in Europe is often seen as inevitable after the betrayal of the Czechs at Munich. Professor Overy doesn’t dispute the idea that, in the long term, military opposition to Hitler had to happen. However, the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939; the subsequent declaration of war by Britain and France; and the short-term military aspects of the conflict were the consequences of a series of decisions made by a small number of men during the months preceding the outbreak of war. Of course, we know how the story ends, but Overy effectively utilizes primary sources to build up dramatic tension as the clock ticks down. Some of his assertions and conclusions go against the grain and should generate controversy. Chamberlain, while not a a tower of strength, had no illusions concerning Hitler’s ultimate aims. The Poles may have hastened the outbreak of war by refusing to compromise over the city of Danzig. Hitler correctly anticipated a short war against Poland but neither sought nor expected a wider war. This is an interesting and often provocative description of Europe descending into an abyss. --Jay Freeman

Review

"Overy is one of the great historians of the second world war."-- Bryan Appleyard, Sunday Times (London)

"This country's most distinguished historian of the Second World War ... Overy's book is easily the best account of Europe's descent into the death and destruction that were Hitler's element" -- Michael Burleigh, Evening Standard (London)

"Nail-biting ... with rare narrative verve, he documents the ultimatums, emissaries, letters and increasingly desperate proposals that shuttled across Europe in the countdown to war.""-- Ian Thomson Independent (London)

"Even those who think they know it all about how war broke out will learn something from Richard Overy's book"-- Simon Heffer, Literary Review (London)

"One of the great historians of this conflict" -- Simon Garfield, Observer (London)

About the Author

One of AudioFile magazine's Golden Voices, Simon Prebble has received over twenty Earphones Awards and five Listen-Up Awards, and he has been a finalist fourteen times for an Audie Award. In 2006, Publishers Weekly named him Narrator of the Year, and he was named Booklist's 2010 Voice of Choice.

Richard Overy is a professor of history at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. His many books on European history include The Dictators: Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia, winner of the Wolfson Prize for History.

From AudioFile

This brief book examines politics and diplomacy leading up to the outbreak of WWII, with a brief look at the initial violence. Simon Prebble's crisp British accent and pleasant, slightly gruff voice fit the no-nonsense reportage and occasional analysis of a dreadfully serious historical moment. The book is brisk, and he keeps it moving but not so quickly that it becomes impossible to track its many people and events. The level of detail actually makes the story more interesting, rather than less so, and Prebble's reading, never showy but clearly and well inflected, supports that interest. This is what listeners of serious nonfiction want: an intelligent book intelligently read. W.M. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004EYTK2M
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books (September 23, 2010)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 23, 2010
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 465 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 184 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,055,101 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,866 in 20th Century World History
- #4,336 in World War II History (Kindle Store)
- #12,619 in History (Kindle Store)

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4.1 out of 5

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jho32

Poland

Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2010

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Interesting book.

Had new information about Poland that I didn't know before.

2 people found this helpful

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Alan Dale Daniel

Good Overview of the Few Days Events Before WWII

Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2013

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This is a good overview of the final days leading up to WWII. It is not an in depth analysis of events. To understand the start of WWII a lot more discussion of Hitler and Chamberlain would be necessary; however, to get a grasp on the overarching events - which is absolutely necessary before getting into the minute details - this book does the job.

It is clearly written and easy to follow, plus it is short. No wading through a lot of extraneous material. Mr. Overy gets right to the heart of the matter. It does need better maps. I read the Kindle version and the map was insufficient to discern the overall situation in the Polish corridor. Also, a little more detail on how Hitler had pushed the world to this point might be necessary. I have read many books on WWII and the start of the conflict; thus, I have background a new reader on WWII may not have. I think the book may assume this background.

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Amazon Customer

Good Short Historical Account of the days before the outbreak of WWII

Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2020

I've read several Richard Overy books. This one, like many of the others are very readable to the point and do not bog the reader down into too many details. The 1939: Countdown to War does a solid job of depicting the mindsets of leaders on both sides, the angst of Versailles at the end of WWI, and the weakness of their diplomacy in the weeks prior the German invasion of Poland. The context brought forth was enlightening. The author did a good job of laying down arguments on both sides of Hitler's miscalculation that France and Britain would back down like they did in 1938 with Czechoslovakia and Hitler's miscalculated failure in believing Britain would settle diplomatically without igniting a war. This is a must read book that introduces the reader to the immediate factors contributing to the start of WWII.

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ImageMD

Small book with big questions

Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2015

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Richard Overy raises several critical historical questions as he recounts the two weeks before Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939 thus beginning WW2. He portrays Hitler as a methodical world class leader who continually tests the resolve of European leaders to pair their armies with their words. Overy contrasts the low world opinion of Hitler with the near heroic stature among his countrymen earned by standing up to the unfairness of the Versailles Treaty ending WW1. Could there have been a negotiated settlement after German and Soviet occupation of Poland? What would the treaty have looked like? Did the 1937 Hossbach memorandum and Hitler's invasions of the Rhineland, Austria and Czechoslovakia make an avoidance of WW2 unlikely?

Learn more by reading this small book about some big questions.

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Arnold E. Bjorn

Perhaps Too Brief a "Brief Introduction"?

Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2015

In this slim volume, numbering slightly less than two hundred pages, Richard Overy treads on mostly familiar ground, analyzing the diplomacy surrounding the outbreak of World War II. His treatment covers the period from August 24 to September 3, in addition to an introductory chapter outlining previous developments and recent events.

To begin with its virtues, "1939" relies comparatively heavily on original documents, in addition to the otherwise often recycled secondary sources, at least insofar as the British side is concerned. The notes show many references to public archives and private papers. There is little that is "new" in a revolutionary sense, but the selection is done with care. The same is also true of many interesting little details culled from previous accounts, such as the story of the King of England. According to his biographer, he was out hunting when the news began to flow in of storm clouds gathering over the continent; he was supposedly most annoyed with the scoundrel Hitler for ruining his fun and forcing him to go back to London!

Somewhat less impressive, on the other hand, is the treatment of the French and (above all) German sides, which is based entirely on published works, and frequently Anglophone ones rather than ones by authors native to the respective countries. For example, to express the reactions in Germany when war was drawing near, Overy does not use the Germans' own voluminous surveys of public opinion for internal government use (published in their entirety after the war as the "Meldungen aus dem Reich"); instead he quotes the American journalist William Shirer's private impressions. The diplomacy of Poland, a country which surely played a major role in the crisis, is sketched only as a bare outline. Perhaps this was inevitable, given the limited space at the author's disposal, but the impression it leaves is certainly one of significant Anglocentrism.

The greatest single failing of "1939" is its complete ignorance of the American dimension of the outbreak of the war. Overy attempts to explain the Chamberlain government's sudden turn from appeasement to confrontation in the spring of 1939 as merely the product of Prime Minister Chamberlain's wounded pride over the failure of the Munich settlement. But this explanation is unconvincing in light of the available evidence. The true cause of Chamberlain's and Daladier's unconditional support of Poland in the German-Polish dispute over Danzig was rather a great exertion of pressure from across the Atlantic, specifically from President Roosevelt and his ambassador William Bullitt, who wanted an Anglo-French war against Germany in 1939. Historian Robert Herzstein summarizes:

"In the bitter words of [US Ambassador to Britain] Joseph P. Kennedy, uttered at a later time, 'neither the French nor the British would have made Poland a cause of war if it had not been for the constant needling from Washington.' On another occasion, Kennedy blamed Bullitt for the outbreak of hostilities. Polish and French documents bear out much of Kennedy's charge." ("Roosevelt and Hitler: Prelude To War" (1989), p. 297)

It is understandable that Overy does not make this belligerent Trans-Atlantic diplomacy his main focus, but it is not acceptable to simply leave out this vital fact when one is writing a general overview of the outbreak of the war. By blaming only European statesmen, he offers a very skewed picture of the actual course of events.

Another weakness of his book is Overy's uncritical acceptance of several documents of very dubious provenance. For example, the so-called "diary" of Major Gerhard Engel is cited, without even noting that this book was actually written up after the war, years after the events it notionally records, and contain numerous demonstrable anachronisms and other errors. (See my review.) Similarly, Overy approvingly cites the absurd piece of Soviet propaganda issued in English translation under the title "The Hitler Book" (edited by Eberle and Uhl) in several places.

In short, then: This thin little volume may serve as an introduction to the diplomacy that preceded the outbreak of World War II, but it is not the best book for this. It would seem too expensive for its relatively slim content, as well as beset by many of the usual weaknesses of works of this sort. This is not to call it worthless, by any means; a novice with the money to spare may well benefit from it. To one already substantially familiar with the progression of events, however, it is of fairly slight utility.

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Serge Bettencourt

ouvrage de référence

Reviewed in France on April 24, 2018

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Un nouvel ouvrage de Overy sur les moments qui précèdent la guerre. ici le focus est mis sur les tous derniers moments, en 1939

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birchden

A book to read and re-read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 14, 2014

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This a handy little book that proves yet again that a decent history book does not need to be a massive doorstep in order to adequately cover events.

Using just the right amount of detail, Overy deals with the final crisis that ended the "20 years' truce" in an easy-to-follow chronological style that never gets bogged down in waffle, but equally, never leaves the reader feeling that he is being short changed.

In a readable but authoritative text, Overy reminds us that as the events developed, there was always a range of possible outcomes that existed almost until the last moment; war over Danzig was not inevitable and the aims of the various actors were not always what they seemed. In the light of what actually did happen in August 1939, it is all too easy to forget this.

Personally this reviewer would have preferred a somewhat longer book, but that is only because what there is makes for such a good read. As it stands the book achieves everything it sets out to.

Needless to say, Countdown to War is highly recommended and will appeal to the academic and the amateur historian alike.

One person found this helpful

黒羽夏彦

意図せざる開戦の混乱ぶりを描く

Reviewed in Japan on March 7, 2011

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　第二次世界大戦を描こうとすると膨大なものにならざるを得ないが、本書はその勃発直前の時期、すなわち独ソ不可侵条約が結ばれた翌日の1939年8月24日から9月1日にドイツ軍がポーランド侵攻、3日に英仏両国が対独宣戦布告するまでの約十日間に焦点を絞り、主に英独間の交渉を検討しながら開戦の直接的原因を探る。

　ヒトラーは強硬姿勢を示せばイギリスは折れると考え、ポーランドに対してはあくまでも局地戦のつもりであり、英仏との戦争までは望んでいなかった。そこに交渉の余地もあったのではないかという可能性がほのめかされるが、実際には双方が相手側の思惑を読み違えたことによる混乱から意図せざる結果として戦争が勃発してしまった。こうした交渉の混乱ぶりを描き出すところが興味深い。同時に、英仏にとってはあくまでも自国の権益維持が最優先であって、ポーランドはチェコスロヴァキアと同様の犠牲になったのだと指摘されている。

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Dick_Chester

The last days of peace before armageddon

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 13, 2019

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An historical pedant could argue that World War II didn't begin in 1939 as suggested by the title of this book. They might claim that it started not in Europe but in the far-east in 1937 when the 'Marco Polo Bridge Incident' plunged China and Japan into war (see 'China's War with Japan, 1937-1945' by Rana Mitter). It might even be suggested that World War II was not a distinct war but a final phase in the continuation of a thirty year civil war that gripped Europe during the first half of the 20th century and pitched imperial capitalists, fascist nationalist and socialist authoritarians against one another and killing millions in the process.

'1939: Countdown to War' by Richard Overy is not a diplomatic history that forensically charts how and why France and Britain went to war with Nazi Germany over their invasion of Poland in the style of Christopher Clark's book 'Sleepwalkers' which documents the countdown to World War I. It does however serve as a useful summary of the final days of peace in August 1939 and the political and diplomatic struggles which played out as war clouds gathered over Europe for the second time in two decades.

For further reading, I recommend 'The Devils' Alliance: Hitler's Pact with Stalin, 1939-1941' by Roger Moorhouse to understand the true reasons why Britain and France stood alone and the effect of going to war in defence of an independent Poland had on that country.

2 people found this helpful

John Woplin

1939 Countdown to War

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 2, 2009

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What is so dramatic about this book is that it recreates hour by hour the days before the outbreak of war on 1 September 1939. You feel very much part of the growing tensions where nothing was predictable or inevitable. Although only a short book (149 pages) it is jam-packed with interesting and relevant detail. It is written in a journalistic manner which comes across as "this is how it happened".
I would wholeheartedly recommend this book

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