Ezra's Bookshelf

War and Power

by Phillips Payson O’Brien · 655 pages · ~12 hrs

History

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Phillips O'Brien offers a revisionist history of World War II, arguing that air and sea power were more decisive than traditional histories emphasizing ground combat suggest. He challenges the assumption that the war was won through great land battles like Stalingrad and Kursk, showing how Allied dominance in the air and on the seas shaped the conflict's outcome. Strategic bombing campaigns degraded German and Japanese production; control of shipping lanes ensured supply while strangling enemies; naval aviation transformed fleet warfare. O'Brien is not dismissive of ground forces but argues that their operations depended on air and sea superiority that made them possible. The book reexamines familiar campaigns with attention to the logistical and industrial dimensions often relegated to background. O'Brien draws on his expertise in military history and strategic studies to make arguments that will be debated by specialists while remaining accessible to general readers interested in the war.

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