How the War Was Won

Air-Sea Power and Allied Victory in World War II

By: Phillips Payson O'Brien

Narrated by: Peter Noble

World War II is usually seen as a titanic land battle, decided by mass armies, most importantly those on the Eastern Front. Phillips Payson O'Brien shows us the war in a completely different light. In this compelling new history of the Allied path to victory, he argues that in terms of production, technology, and economic power, the war was far more a contest of air and sea than of land supremacy. He shows how the Allies developed a predominance of air and sea power which put unbearable pressure on Germany and Japan's entire war-fighting machine from Europe and the Mediterranean to the Pacific. Air and sea power dramatically expanded the area of battle and allowed the Allies to destroy over half of the Axis's equipment before it had even reached the traditional 'battlefield'. Battles such as El Alamein, Stalingrad, and Kursk did not win World War II; air and sea power did.

©2015 Phillips Payson O’Brien (P)2023 Tantor

The Air and Sea side of things

This is a book that loses something because it is an audio book. You don’t get to see the graphs and charts that the audio refers to throughout the book. It presented a different look for me. It was well read and presented its case well. My only negative point is, it is always easy to find fault with plans when you have the benefit of 20/20 vision of the future. It was a very good read and you could tell that a lot of work went into its making. I appreciated the education it afforded me.

The details are insane literally

The details are insane literally someone can write a book about this book and have not done it justice
If you don’t like details stay home

Gave a new understanding of World War II

I had always thought that World War II had a grand strategy determined at the top and carried out by the generals. What I learned from this book was that each service commander had their own ideas of what was best and that they often worked at cross purposes. Each wanted their own service to lead the war effort. Ernest King the commander of the American Navy spent far more resources in the Pacific than the President directed, and he ignored the less glamorous need to safeguard the convoys in the Atlantic, costing many lives and ships. Similarly, the key Air Force commanders were much more interested in destroying cities rather than destroying the enemy’s means of transportation. This meant the wasting of allied resources and the prolonging of the war.

A look at the numbers

A compelling analysis of industrial priorities in WWII . Definitely worth the read but this book is heavy on facts and statistics. Don’t read this book unless you are already very familiar with the general history of WWII.

Very interesting arguments

Very interesting and convincing arguments, but the story lacks due to too many repeating paragraphs

Excellent history, but repetitive

As a book, this is a great history, well researched and lots of supporting evidence. However, as an audio book, it’s too detailed and repetitive. I can’t quickly skim over content that has been addressed previously or presents detailed statistics.

excellent

A very comprehensive analysis of WW2. The losses before equipment even reached the fighting was a surprise to me.

Eye opening

This book gives a much more rounded version of WW ll. It help me to see a much more wholistic view of war.

A completely different and fresh approach.

A completely different and fresh approach to the progress outcomes and reasons for victory in war. After a lifetime of reading books on WWII this gives an entirely different and illuminating point of view. Well done!

This work keeps it real and swims somewhat against the current of a common, passive understanding that ground forces win wars.

Relatively unique position focused on air and sea power as the primary factor in tactical wins. Too often the story of war is centered on the ground campaign, where Hollywood and embed reporters can get closer to it. Air and sea power may not “play on Broadway” as well as boots on the ground does, but this work is not aimed at generating emotion or dialing deeper into the human experience. This work is more aesthetically pleasing in its pursuit of understanding what has been the most impactful in deciding armed conflict. O’Brien keeps it real. Read if you want to accurately understand how conflicts are won; be ready to accept it isn’t the more easily glorified ground war, which merely presents a better canvas to draw out the human experience of combat.