Drawing on new source material and detailed research only recently available from Russian archives, a noted expert revisits all the most important issues about what went on in the minds of the generals who plotted World War II strategy, especially the crucial decisions and their consequences. Was this a war the Nazis could not have expected to win? Did the turning point occur in December 1941, when the Germans were defeated outside Moscow and the U.S. entered the war? How did the early victories turn into later defeats? Brilliant strokes and blunders alike are debated.