Second World War literature is so voluminous it’s almost limitless. It is, however, swollen by many superficial studies that crowd the historiography. Their views are myopic and the scope limited.
This book starts from the supposition that the Second World War was a mosaic of overlapping conflicts rather than a two-sided affair between massive alliance structures. The Second World War saw revolutions, civil wars, social upheaval, subversion, and major geopolitical policy shifts that do not fit neatly into the Allied vs. Axis 1939-1945 paradigm.
In an effort to understand the complexity of events alternative perspectives and more significantly entire elements of the war are often overlooked. So much focus is centered on the big moments, the Battle of the Atlantic, The island hopping campaign of the War in the Pacific, The Allied landing at Normandy, and to a lesser extent the Eastern and Mediterranean fronts. Entire regions of the world are left almost completely ignored. With this narrow and sensationalist focus on the big ‘turning points’ many stories and conflicts have been left untold. For example, ask someone what occurred in the Middle East during the Second World War and most will be dumbfounded.
There is much room for new inquiry that can serve to considerably alter how we view the Second World War. There are issues that are only beginning to come to light and a great deal of missing supportive context that needs to be brought forward. By looking at these forgotten fronts and adding them in to provide greater context our view of the Second World War can be considerably altered.
This purpose of this book will be to compile a collection of chapters dealing with the various and often overlooked aspects of the Second World War. The aim is to give greater depth and context to the war effort. The hope will be that the final product will give readers new stories about regions of the world and elements of the war effort rarely thought of or considered. There is a need to initiate new discussions on previously under developed narratives that not only are cause for a moment’s pause but will also help to expand our understanding of the interconnectedness of the war. This is part of a larger effort within the historiography to begin to connect the unseen dots from around the globe that influenced the big turning points we think we know well but have really only a superficial understanding of.
Subjects can be geographical in nature or focus on themes, major policy, or an internal policy / strategy dispute like those concerning the Allied bomber campaign etc. To give an example, the primary editor will be contributing a chapter on the war in Yugoslavia.
As examples, other possible subjects could include:
Subversion, Clandestine Wars and Special Operations; Civil War; Partisan / Guerrilla Warfare and Resistance; Jungle Warfare; The Allies and Emerging Cold War Tensions; Propaganda and the early war (1939 – 1941); SOE, OSS, and NKVD activity; Iraqi coup d’etat,
or,
The war in: South America, The Caucasus, Cyprus, The Middle East, Lebanon, The Jewish Agency, Turkey, British Palestine, Horn of Africa, sub Saharan Africa, Iraq, Iran/Persia, India and Burma, Papua New Guinea, etc etc
In particular, proposals for chapters on South America, The Middle East, Turkey, British Palestine, Iraq, Iran/Persia would be most welcome.
Deadline for the chapter proposals: ASAP
Publishers will be approached once the chapters have been assigned.
Please send a 300-word chapter proposal and a 150-word bio to christopher.murray@kcl.ac.uk