How The War Was Won: Air-sea Power And Allied V... May 2026

O'Brien categorizes the destruction of Axis fighting power into three distinct phases: : Blocking or destroying raw materials. Production : Strategic bombing of manufacturing facilities.

You can find further analysis of his arguments in discussions at the U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons or via expert lectures on YouTube .

: He argues that land battles were relatively minor in terms of equipment losses and that the Red Army primarily engaged in a war of personnel, while the Anglo-Americans conducted the decisive high-tech material war. Phases of Attrition How the War was Won: Air-Sea Power and Allied V...

: Reviewers from The University of Chicago Press and Cambridge University Press describe the work as "compelling" and "cliché-busting" for its data-driven approach to economic and industrial warfare.

Instead, O'Brien argues that the war was a global struggle for air and sea supremacy, won through production, technology, and the systematic destruction of Axis equipment before it ever reached the "battlefield". Core Arguments O'Brien categorizes the destruction of Axis fighting power

: The book highlights that the vast majority of military production for all major belligerents—including Germany—was devoted to air and sea warfare rather than land forces. For instance, air and sea weapons accounted for at least two-thirds of German weapons production.

: Some historians, such as those on WW2Talk , argue that O'Brien underestimates the psychological and physical necessity of land armies to actually "kill the will" of the enemy and occupy territory. Naval War College Digital Commons or via expert

: He posits that air and sea power destroyed over 50% of Axis military equipment during pre-production, production, and transit phases.