Strategic plans almost invariably differ from the reality of war. The American experience in the Second World War was no exception. The United States entered the war with a strategy calling for the defeat of Germany while fighting defensively in the Pacific. Once the fate of the Third Reich was sealed, Washington would transfer forces to the Pacific, and finish off Japan.

Yet in 1942 America's first offensive took place in the Solomons against the Japanese, and the second in North Africa against the Vichy French.

This volume offers a partial explanation of the gap between American plans and what actually happened. A variety of factors including coalition politics, inter-service disputes, disagreements between field commanders and Washington headquarters, logistical constraints, and the initiatives and reactions of the enemy combined in myriad forms to produce a conflict that was very different from original strategic expectations.