THE UNPATRIOTIC HISTORY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR.
'a compelling and fascinating analysis, demolishing conventional accounts of the War'
Anti-Capitalist Initiative http://anticapitalists.org/2012/08/16/the-truth-behind-the-second-world-war/
``Overall, Heartfield offers a compelling and fascinating analysis, demolishing conventional accounts of the War and successfully constructing an alternative imperialist- and class-based model. At times, it can read like a catalogue of atrocious acts, statements and statistics, but this simply reflects the weight of Heartfield's evidence and the reality of the conflict. Some readers may find that the book lacks theoretical depth, or may be frustrated by some of its omissions. This would be unfair, and to rather miss the point. Heartfield is seeking to establish a different way of understanding the Second World War.''
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This was an excellent review. How did you get so lucky?
Nevermind. What made it such a good review is I have a clear idea of the book. I will buy it at some point. It will correspond to a much more impressionistic view I've started to form from several sources who were clearly out of the mainstream.
There is a lot to find in the battles that Trotsky fought with Stalin in sections of The History of the Russian Revolution, and My life. There are also the later essays on the Chinese Revolution where Stalin supported the Nationalists, and an analogous development of the Spanish Civil War where Stalin denied disparately needed support. The central point in these examples support the idea that nationalism can infect the whole left spectrum to its own disadvantage. Trotsky ran into this problem first in Russia, then in Europe during WWI and the post-war. The development of nationalism sets the stage for capital and elites to insinuate themselves in the public mind as defenders of the nation and erodes any power away from unions, social reformers, and more contenticious organized elements who were already fighting a class war. This is pretty much the grand theme in Trotsky from February to October and beyond.
There is also Wilfred Burchett, in particular Democracy with a Tommygun, 1946. It reports on the ground from Burchett's wonderings from Burma to central and coastal China underground with peasant groups fighting the Nationalist and trying to take on the land owners. His other works are also highly relevant to post-WWII and Cold War through early Vietnam. Go here for a list:
http://www.marxists.org/archive/burchett/index.htm
The last source you might find interesting is Basil Davidson, Special Operations, Scenes from the Anti-Nazi War, Grafton, 1987, (copyright 1980). Davidson worked for British Special Operations in Southern Europe from Yugoslavia to Greece, then sections of Northern Italy. The central theme is the duplicity of the British government in support for partisans and their betrayal. One of the more interesting aspects to Davidson's accounts was the geography of mountain terrain where regular armies are next to useless against partisan war. There are obvious lessons for the US in Afganistan and Pakistan.
I'd classify all these sources as breathless reads, the stuff you can't put down, because they are gripping journalism of personal narratives. They are very short on facts and figures, but they compel by other means.
Good luck with the book.
CG