The Economics of World War II

Mark Harrison writes about the history and economics of Russia, conflict, defence and security. He is a Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick. He is also a research fellow of the Centre for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Birmingham and of the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University.

• Foreword; Acknowledgements; List of contributors; List of abbreviations; 1. The economics of World War II: an overview Mark Harrison; 2. The United Kingdom: 'Victory at all costs' Stephen Broadberry and Peter Howlett; 3. The United States: from ploughshares to swords Hugh Rockoff; 4. Germany: guns, butter and economic miracles Werner Abelshauser; 5. Italy: how to lose the war and win the peace Vera Zamagni; 6. Japan: guns before rice Akira Hara; 7. The Soviet Union: the defeated victor Mark Harrison; Bibliography; Index.

'How this mobilization [of economic resources] was carried out, and with what consequences, is the subject of this magnificent collection of essays... [it is] the best analysis yet available of the war economies of the major Allied and Axis powers. The book is filled with original statistical material. Each contributor, even for economies where much is already known - Britain, the United States and Germany - has supplied a lively text, peppered with fresh insights and new perspectives. For countries where the basic wartime economic narrative is not yet available to English-speakers - Japan, Italy, the Soviet Union - the contributors have done a remarkable job in providing the quantitative framework without which no comparison can effectively be drawn between the economic war efforts of the six.' Richard Overy, The Times Literary Supplement