Blood, Tears and Folly: An Objective Look at World War II

Len Deighton

Mar 2014 · HarperCollins UK

About this ebook

Drawing on the author’s deep understanding of military life and the strengths and frailties of politicians and generals, this is a myth-puncturing analysis of the advent of the Second World War.

‘Blood, Tears and Folly’ offers a sweeping and compelling historical analysis of six theatres of war: the Battle of the Atlantic, Hitler’s conquest of western Europe, the war in the Mediterranean, the battle for the skies, Operation Barbarossa and the German assault on Russia, and the entry of Japan into a truly global war.

This is the period during which the Allied powers were brought to the very brink of defeat. Deighton offers an unflinching account of the political machinations, the strategy and tactics, the weapons and the men on both sides who created a world of terror and millions of dead, of the Holocaust, and of nuclear devastation.

Ratings and reviews

A close look at the beginning of WW2, shorn of all the BS, giving a more realistic view of what happened, and above all, why.

A masterpiece.

About the author

Born in London, Len Deighton served in the RAF before graduating from the Royal College of Art (which recently elected him a Senior Fellow). While in New York City working as a magazine illustrator he began writing his first novel, ‘The Ipcress File’, which was published in 1962. He is now the author of more than thirty books of fiction and non-fiction. At present living in Europe, he has, over the years, lived with his family in ten different countries from Austria to Portugal.