Richard Overy

Poland’s Resistance

The first nation to stand up to Hitler’s appetite for empire paid a grim price for its decision.

Goodbye To The 'Nazi's'

The indiscriminate use of ‘Nazi’ to describe anything to do with German institutions and policies during Hitler’s dictatorship creates a false historical understanding, says Richard Overy.

The Battle of Britain: The Many and the Few

Richard Overy looks behind the myth of a vulnerable island defended by a small band of fighter pilots to give due credit to the courage of the redoubtable civilian population.

Signposts: Returning to War

Richard Overy examines recent analyses of how Europe became embroiled in major conflict just two decades after the trauma of the Great War and we look at events and broadcasts commemorating September 1939. 

Parting with Pacifism in the 1930s

In the mid-1930s many millions of British people voted overwhelmingly against any return to conflict. But events in Spain changed public opinion and by 1939 it was widely accepted that fascism could only be opposed successfully through military action, writes Richard Overy.

An Economy Geared to War

Richard Overy argues that the lesson Hitler Drew from 1914-18 was not that a major war should be avoided, but that Germany should prepare more systematically so that, next time, she would win.

The Nazi Economy - Was it Geared to War?

Controversy has raged about Hitler's military and economic preparations for war. Did he intend a world war or a series of short conflicts? Richard Overy argues that Hitler drew the lesson from 1914-18 not that a major war should be avoided but that Germany should prepare more systematically so that, this time, she would win.

The Wheels and Wings of Progress

Richard Overy examines how technological advances in the air and on the road gave society a jump-start at the end of the nineteenth century.