Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

‘How America Saved the World’

Readers of this blog will know that I am a fan of military historian Eric Hammel. I’ve been reading his new book How America Saved the World, about the quiet fight at the end of the 1930s to prepare the U.S. military for World War II. This is not only an important story, but also ...

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567413_100701_ricksb2.jpg

Readers of this blog will know that I am a fan of military historian Eric Hammel. I've been reading his new book How America Saved the World, about the quiet fight at the end of the 1930s to prepare the U.S. military for World War II. This is not only an important story, but also a good read, with a strong grasp of significance: "By the end of November 1941, the British army in North Africa -- on its only active front against European fascism -- was utterly stalemated in a battle of attrition it was bound to eventually lose." (The subsequent counterattack at el Alamein was undertaken, he notes, "with the aid of weapons and equipment made in America, not to mention American-manned combat aircraft.")  

Readers of this blog will know that I am a fan of military historian Eric Hammel. I’ve been reading his new book How America Saved the World, about the quiet fight at the end of the 1930s to prepare the U.S. military for World War II. This is not only an important story, but also a good read, with a strong grasp of significance: “By the end of November 1941, the British army in North Africa — on its only active front against European fascism — was utterly stalemated in a battle of attrition it was bound to eventually lose.” (The subsequent counterattack at el Alamein was undertaken, he notes, “with the aid of weapons and equipment made in America, not to mention American-manned combat aircraft.”)  

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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