Hitler's Fatal Miscalculation

'Historians have argued for decades over the question of why Hitler chose to declare war on the United States. Klaus Schmider has now written the first full authoritative history of the decision, setting it firmly in the context of German domestic and military policy. This will become the definitive account.' Richard Overy, author of The Bombing War: Europe 1939-1945 'Hitler's suicidal declaration of war on the United States in December 1941 has long seemed a quixotic even nihilistic move. In his brilliant new book, which is based on a broad range of records, Klaus Schmider restores a sense of strategy and rationality to the 'Fuehrer's' decision.' Brendan Simms, author of Hitler: Only the World Was Enough 'In a must-read, ground-breaking book, Schmider analyzes the factors that influenced a shift in Hitler's policy from one of restraint to a declaration of war on the United States. Woven into this complicated narrative are Germany's uncertain relationship with Japan, the war with the Soviet Union, synthetic rubber, and the impact of Lend-Lease and the United States' modification of its neutrality on Hitler's decision.' Mary Kathryn Barbier, author of Spies, Lies, and Citizenship: The Hunt for Nazi Criminals 'A masterly reassessment that harnesses the latest scholarship to situate Hitler's fateful choice in a complex of ideological obsessions, economics, strategic ambition, flawed technology and operational overstretch, challenging long-held assumptions of nihilistic or deranged decision-making at the heart of the Third Reich.' Andrew Lambert, author of Seapower States: Maritime Culture, Continental Empires, and the Conflict That Made the Modern World 'Schmider's Hitler's Fatal Miscalculation is … groundbreaking, and a must read for anyone interested in the Second World War, Nazi Germany, strategic decision-making, and the ideology and strategic thinking of the 'Mad Corporal' Adolf Hitler.' Russell A. Hart, Journal of Military History