LEADER 03867nam 2200649Ia 450 001 9910791427503321 005 20230912131612.0 010 $a1-283-33055-5 010 $a9786613330550 010 $a0-7748-5049-3 024 7 $a10.59962/9780774850490 035 $a(CKB)2560000000050557 035 $a(OCoLC)70773493 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10087566 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000382538 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11281399 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000382538 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10392294 035 $a(PQKB)10551866 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3411969 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10055961 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL333055 035 $a(OCoLC)923440008 035 $a(VaAlCD)20.500.12592/fvg8kn 035 $a(schport)gibson_crkn/2010-12-16/1/10087566 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3411969 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3241475 035 $a(DE-B1597)662292 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780774850490 035 $a(EXLCZ)992560000000050557 100 $a20021030d2003 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aStepping stones to nowhere$b[electronic resource] $ethe Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and American military strategy, 1867-1945 /$fGalen Roger Perras 210 $aVancouver $cUBC Press$dc2003 215 $a1 online resource (288 p.) 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 $a0-7748-0990-6 311 $a0-7748-0989-2 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 248-266) and index. 327 $tFront Matter -- $tContents -- $tMaps and Illustrations -- $tAcknowledgments -- $tIntroduction -- $tAbbreviations -- $tOne of Our Great Strategic Points -- $tHe Who Holds Alaska Will Hold the World -- $tEntirely Open to Attack -- $tAll Commanders on Minor Fronts Regard Their Own Actions As Highly Important -- $tTotal Destruction Is the Only Answer -- $tA Strong Alaska Means a Foot-Loose Fleet -- $tWe Have Opened the Door to Tokyo -- $tStepping Stones to Nowhere -- $tNotes -- $tBibliography -- $tIndex 330 $aThe Aleutian Islands, a mostly forgotten portion of the United States on the southwest coast of Alaska, have often assumed a key role in American military strategy. W.H. Seward, the US secretary of state who brokered the purchase of Alaska, believed that the acquisition would permit the United States to dominate the Pacific. In the 1990s, Bill Clinton attempted to install an American ballistic missile defence system on the islands. But for most Americans, prior to the Second World War, the bleak and barren islands were of far less interest than the Philippines. In Stepping Stones to Nowhere, Galen Perras shows how that changed with the Japanese occupation of the western Aleutians, which climaxed in the horrendous battle for Attu. Efforts to make the area a major theatre of war rivalling Europe or the South Pacific foundered, but certainly not for lack of effort. The campaign was unique in its involvement of Britain, the Soviet Union, and Canada. Perras reveals how this clash in the North Pacific demonstrated serious problems with the way that American civilian and military decision makers sought to incite a global conflict. Thoroughly researched and accessible, this book will be invaluable to military and naval historians as well as those with a general interest in the history of the Second World War. 606 $aWorld War, 1939-1945$xCampaigns$zAlaska$zAleutian Islands 607 $aAleutian Islands (Alaska)$xHistory 615 0$aWorld War, 1939-1945$xCampaigns 676 $a940.54/28 700 $aPerras$b Galen Roger$f1961-$01578373 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910791427503321 996 $aStepping stones to nowhere$93857691 997 $aUNINA