Chronicles the history of World War II, discussing what factors contributed to it, how the countries involved might have changed their strategies, why it turned out the way it did, and other related topics.

"In the future, even more than in the past, the need is to study and understand the interplay of the military, economic, and political forces, which are inseparable in strategy. Because Scipio more than any other great captain understood and combined these forces in his strategy, despite the very 'modern' handicap of being the servant of a republic -- not, like Alexander, Frederick, Napoleon, a despot, -- the study of his life is peculiarly apposite...