This e-book recounts the area conflict II trips of a soldier, a boat, and a bottle of spirits via, and round, 5 nice turning-point battles. these battles have been stimulated extra by way of geography and weather than through generals and admirals. safely titled they might be often called the Battles of the Sky (Britain), the Sand (El Alemein), the Snow (Stalingrad), the ocean (North Atlantic), and the Shore (Normandy). Slogging their means via this quintet are an eighteen-year-old G.I. from Missouri (as visible via his letters home), an "ugly duckling" of a Liberty send (as noticeable via its Armed safeguard reports), and a bottle of rum (as traced through those that, after the battle, made cash in promoting struggle souvenirs). it's the heritage of the North Atlantic sea basin and its extensions at conflict: the tale of the lulls among battles, whilst America's teenage warriors frequently watched struggle video clips (Humphrey Bogart made and Warner Brothers published seven through the war), sang or listened to well known tunes via songsmiths like Irving Berlin, and drank rum-and-Coke (while hearing Dick Haymes sing the hit "Rum & Coca-Cola"). whereas available and significantly enjoyable, it is a critical paintings of heritage. through treating global conflict II in Europe a lot as Fernand Braudel handled the origins of Western civilization in his masterpiece The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean global within the Age of Philip II, Hatcher brings Braudelian detachment to his narrative.