Chapter 5 | Fighting on the Battlefield
Chapter 6 | War Economy: The Economy of War
Chapter 7 | Just War? Unjust War?
Chapter 8 | Civil War
Chapter 9 | The Emotional Geography of War
Chapter 10 | Crimes and Atrocities
Chapter 11 | From Empires to Nations: The Changing Global Era

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Acknowledgements
Translator's Note
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"The writing of World War II will be divided into before and after this book."
A new standard work on World War II that has won worldwide acclaim

When did World War II begin? The conventional answer is September 1, 1939, when Nazi Germany invaded neighboring Poland.
This narrative conforms to the standard historical view and official war history of the countries that participated in World War II, and the implicit premise of this view is that the war that broke out in Europe expanded into a global war.
However, a book has been published that boldly breaks away from this established common understanding.
Richard Overy, a leading World War II scholar, points to 1931, not 1939, as the starting point of World War II in his new book, Blood and Ruin.
1931 was the year when the Japanese Kwantung Army stationed in Manchuria deliberately blew up the Manchurian Railway line, causing the Manchurian Incident.
Overy then goes on to examine the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935, the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937, and Germany's rearmament and imperial projects in the 1930s before turning to the German invasion of Poland.
This view deviates from the conventional view that World War II originated from conflicts between European nations, and by extending the war period from 1939–1945 to 1931–1945, it attempts to shed new light on this global conflict as a “long World War II.”
In Europe and the United States, this book is considered the most comprehensive work on World War II and was awarded the 2022 Wellington Medal (Military History).

Richard Overy, a leading figure in World War II research
A definitive edition, published with insights gleaned from a lifetime of work.

Conventional histories of World War II define the conflict as a clash between great powers and analyze its origins, emphasizing factors such as the interwar arms race, diplomatic crises, and ideological conflicts.
In contrast, Overy defines the long Second World War as a conflict between established empires (Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, etc.) and emerging powers (Japan, Italy, Germany) that had brought about a new wave of territorial imperialism in the 1930s, and argues that 'territorial empires' were at the heart of this conflict.
World War II was a conflict between existing territorial empires that had established a global imperial order by holding territories (colonies, protectorates, ports of entry and exit, areas of treaty privilege, etc.) all over the world, and emerging powers that rebelled against that imperial order and sought to become new territorial empires by conquering overseas territories.

This perspective, which challenges the standard histories of World War II, is the result of Overy's long research and reflection.
Overy is a leading figure in World War II research, having devoted his life to this field, having begun writing about World War II as early as 1980 and having published over 30 books and edited works to date.
The topics of his direct research are quite diverse, including the crisis in interwar Europe, the society and economy of Nazi Germany, the dictatorships of Hitler and Stalin, the Soviet war effort, the air wars and bombing campaigns of the Allied and Axis powers, the development of the Royal Air Force, and the postwar interrogation of the Nazi elite.
As can be seen from the considerable number of notes included in Blood and Ruin, he has been interested in and knowledgeable about virtually every topic related to World War II.
In that sense, this book's revisionist view of war, which challenges the established doctrines of academia, is not a mere theory, but rather a view that the old scholar has established throughout his life.

It gives a broader understanding of World War II.
The perspective of 'conflict between old and new territorial empires'

According to Overley, the common denominator among Germany, Italy, and Japan, which would later form the Axis powers, was that they harbored a "will to empire."
The Three Kingdoms recognized that other empires were obstructing and strangling their own people's development, and they held fast to the belief that to save their people, build a strong economy, and cultivate a superior culture, they must seize control of a larger territory and its resources.
For them, the empire was a lifeline ('survival space') necessary for the survival of the nation.
Thus, the three kingdoms embarked on a retrograde plan of imperialistic territorial conquest to establish their own 'new order'.
Looking at it this way, we can understand why Overley chose 1931 as the starting point of the protracted Second World War.
Although the Manchurian Incident did not directly trigger a world war, it was an event that initiated a new decade of imperial expansion.
Japan used Manchuria as a springboard for its invasion and later expanded into mainland China.

In this way, Overley's thesis differs from existing theories in that it defines World War II as an 'imperialist war' and focuses on territorial empires.
This approach has the advantage of providing a longer-term and broader perspective on the factors that led to World War II.
The imperial order did not suddenly emerge in the run-up to World War II, but began to take shape as early as the late 19th century, and its sphere of influence was not limited to Europe but encompassed the entire world.
According to Overley, it was an 'imperialist war' in which empires clashed even before World War I (Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire, which started World War I, were all empires), and World War I and World War II, which lasted from 1914 to 1945, could be considered the 'Thirty Years' War' of the 20th century.
Moreover, Overy's approach allows us to grasp from a macroscopic perspective how imperial concepts and imperial crises formed the framework for the origins and course of World War II, and how the existence of a global imperial order linked the various regions and forms of conflict in World War II.

A comprehensive, all-round, thematic narrative as an all-out war

Another strength of this book that sets it apart from other works is that it describes World War II as a total war.
World War II was a more total war than any other war in that it mobilized all of the nation's available human and material resources, capabilities, and even potential to wage war, and prioritized the needs of the military over those of civilian society.
Nevertheless, World War II is such a vast and thoroughly studied topic in the field of historical scholarship that it would be inconceivable for any historian to attempt to comprehensively examine the conduct of the war by both the military and civilians in a single work.
Because of these difficulties, typical histories of World War II briefly describe the background and crises of the war before moving on to the full-scale military conflict, devoting most of their space to the decisions and strategies of the leadership and military of each country, the development of the war, and the resulting offensive and defensive actions, while only briefly covering other topics.

On the other hand, after concluding the narrative on military conflict up to Chapter 3, "Blood and Ruin" describes the core issues of World War II, which can be grouped under the keyword of total war, from Chapters 4 to 10.
The defining characteristic of World War II as a total war was the blurring of the lines between combatants on the battlefield and civilians in the rear.
During the war, civilians were regarded as 'production soldiers' fighting alongside soldiers, and in some countries, workers were actually regarded as soldiers, their absence from work being considered 'desertion', while conscientious objectors were treated as deserters.
Furthermore, the belligerents used all means, including military and economic measures, to destroy the will of the enemy to continue the war, making civilians a legitimate target of attack on the grounds that they were part of the war effort.
During World War II, war became 'civilianized' and civilians became 'militarized'.

To describe the total war that encompassed both the military and civilian society during World War II, Overy explores key issues thematically.
This concise and condensed discussion is truly compelling.
The main topics of each chapter are as follows:

Chapter 4: How was mass mobilization achieved in each country?
Chapter 5: How were new tactics and equipment prepared and utilized?
Chapter 6: How Did the War Economy Support the War?
Chapter 7: What were the moral justifications for the war?
Chapter 8: How did civilians experience the war?
Chapter 9: How were individual emotions and psychology affected?
Chapter 10: What crimes and atrocities were committed during the war?

How the global geopolitical order has been transformed

The last eleven chapters of this book depict the world after World War II.
The resolution of the political and ideological conflicts that remained during the war largely took place against the backdrop of waning imperial and superpower ambitions.
Thus, the traditional empires finally collapsed and the world of nation-states we see today was formed.

In the English-speaking world, Blood and Ruin is generally considered the most comprehensive single-volume history of World War II.
This is not an exaggerated assessment.
Overy, a conscientious historian, wrote many books from a young age, but this is the only comprehensive history of World War II he published after he was over 70.
We hope that this book, which illuminates the wartime experiences of both the military and civilians, will help readers gain a broader and deeper understanding of the history of the long-running Second World War.