Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan and Fascist Italy all embarked on their Second World War plans of conquest without one vital factor: sound economies that could absorb and withstand the stresses of total war. In this groundbreaking study, Robin Bromby shows how all three Axis powers went into battle with seriously flawed economies, inadequate industrial capacity and deficient food security. When they invaded much of Europe and East Asia, the Nazis and their partners only compounded the problem: they had made few plans to manage their conquests and failed to harness captured factories and farms. It was a fatal flaw: their war plans were doomed. Despite the legend of a beleaguered Britain, that country was the largest economy in Europe, was soon building more aircraft than Germany - and had its empire on which to call. Japan's lack of economic planning was breathtaking - and the strains soon began to show. And then came the Americans with all their economic power. The Axis was finished. Fighting on Empty reveals a largely ignored, but crucial, aspect of the Second World War.