"Steven Mercatante makes a new and compelling case regarding how Nazi Germany lost the war. Written with verve, this book is a page-turner for anyone interested in how the Second World War unfolded." - The Historian

"A thought-provoking book...counter[s] widespread arguments that brute force was the main reason for success in World War II....[Mercatante's] case deserves to be heard."- World War II Magazine

"Recommended all levels/libraries...challenges conventional wisdom about Allied success in Europe...an impressive operational overview.... Mercatante sees Operation Barbarossa as a turning point, nearly leading to Hitler's hegemony in Europe."- Choice Magazine

"Worth reading...much sound analysis...Mercatante...knows that the devil is in the details. To his credit, even those familiar with World War II scholarship will find here analyses of economic and technological matters that historians have often glossed over or mentioned only in passing."
- Michigan War Studies Review

"Mercatante's arguments and conclusions are certain to be debated. They are too well supported to be ignored."- Dennis E. Showalter, former President of the American Society of Military History, author of Hitler's Panzers

"Entertaining, informative, easy to read; a good book that moves at a brisk pace and is full of spirited discussion"- Roman Jarymowycz, Assistant Professor The Royal Military College and Canadian Forces Staff College, author of Tank Tactics: From Normandy to Lorraine.

"Mercatante's study challenges today's conventional wisdom and is likely to change readers' perceptions regarding how and why Germany lost a war that, as he clearly demonstrates, Hitler came dangerously close to winning."- Robert A. Forczyk, author of Moscow 1941

"Mercatante knows the current literature on the German army as well as anyone... and offers a new interpretation of Operation Barbarossa...as...Germany's last and best hope actually to win the war. A book filled with fresh argumentation of this sort, should generate a fair amount of discussion and even controversy."- Robert M. Citino, author of The Death of the Wehrmacht

"By taking a holistic look at the German war effort, Mercatante provides a fresh perspective to an oft studied subject."- Richard DiNardo, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, Author of Germany and the Axis Powers.

"Why Germany Nearly Won is a fact-filled history of the Wehrmacht's land campaigns during World War II."
- Robert Kirchubel, author of Operation Barbarossa

Why Germany Nearly Won challenges the conventional wisdom in highlighting how the re-establishment of the traditional German art of war paved the way for Germany to forge a considerable military edge over its much larger potential rivals by playing to its qualitative strengths as a continental power.

The book begins by examining topics such as the methods by which the German economy and military prepared for war, the German military establishment's formidable strengths, and its weaknesses. The book then takes an entirely new perspective on explaining the Second World War in Europe. It demonstrates how Germany, through its invasion of the Soviet Union, came within a whisker of cementing a European-based empire that would have allowed the Third Reich to challenge the Anglo-American alliance for global hegemony.