The Second World War

May 13, 2013 Leon rated it 3 of 5 stars

Over the past two decades, Antony Beevor has established himself as one of the world's premier historians of WWII. His multi-award winning books have included Stalingrad and The Fall of Berlin 1945. Now, in his newest and most ambitious book, he turns his focus to one of the bloodiest and most tragic events of the twentieth century, the Second World War.

In this searing narrative that takes us from Hitler's invasion of Poland on September 1st, 1939 to V-J day on August 14th, 1945 and the war's

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Over the past two decades, Antony Beevor has established himself as one of the world's premier historians of WWII. His multi-award winning books have included Stalingrad and The Fall of Berlin 1945. Now, in his newest and most ambitious book, he turns his focus to one of the bloodiest and most tragic events of the twentieth century, the Second World War.

In this searing narrative that takes us from Hitler's invasion of Poland on September 1st, 1939 to V-J day on August 14th, 1945 and the war's aftermath, Beevor describes the conflict and its global reach--one that included every major power. The result is a dramatic and breathtaking single-volume history that provides a remarkably intimate account of the war that, more than any other, still commands attention and an audience.

Thrillingly written and brilliantly researched, Beevor's grand and provocative account is destined to become the definitive work on this complex, tragic, and endlessly fascinating period in world history, and confirms once more that he is a military historian of the first rank.

Review

Praise for THE SECOND WORLD WAR:

"[Beevor's] book is the definitive history. This is World War II as Tolstoy would have described it - the great and the small." (Washington Post )

"Antony Beevor's The Second World War is simply the ultimate Second World War history: it brings these vast events to life, from high strategy to suffering humanity, from the dictators to the ordinary soldier." (Daily Telegraph Simon Sebag Montefiore )

"A powerful narrative of World War II...a gripping account...Beevor's trademark...is the use of eyewitness testimony to deliver haunting particulars." (New York Times Book Review Richard Toye )

"Ever present is Beevor's skill in blending the strategizing of military chiefs with the ordinary soldiers they ordered about. . . Few will match his masterly overview, and no one will be unmoved by the ordeals and achievements that he so powerfully describes." (Globe and Mail )

"The Second World War is a comprehensive capstone...a page-turner...[and] a kaleidoscope of individual experiences in a context of continuous choices...[Beevor's] command of a comprehensive spectrum of sources enables him to present the war from the perspective of its participants...Beevor brilliantly shows, at all levels, that WWII defies easy generalization." (Publishers Weekly )

"Beevor has delivered an epic, brilliantly researched work on the defining event of the 20th century... his new research and his pitch-perfect narrative represent a truly astonishing display of art and craft... This book, which crowns Beevor's distinguished and bestselling career, is one of the nonfiction events of the decade and for this reader, is by far the best nonfiction of 2012 to date." (Sarasota Herald-Tribune Stephen Frater, author of Hell Above Earth )

"In this kaleidoscopic, one-volume account, a prize-winning historian shows his eye for telling anecdotes, his command of myriad facts, his sharply evocative prose and his skill at conjuring the big picture." (New Orleans Times-Picayune )

"Anyone looking for a comprehensive military history of the Second World War that combines high strategy and politics but also takes full account of the war's human dimensions need look no further." (Winnipeg Free Press )

"A general history of the war needs to embrace this variety of experience and capture the interplay between the momentous events unfolding on different continents and the high seas. Antony Beevor effectively meets this challenge. A former British army officer and author of admired works on Stalingrad and the Allied invasion of Normandy, Beevor is a gifted writer who knows how to keep a good story rolling. . . The brutality and courage of individual soldiers and civilians emerge in Beevor's powerful accounts. . . Beevor's book is a pleasure to read and an example of intelligent, lively historical writing at its best." (The Financial Times )

"Every page is imbued with the sense that this man really knows what he is talking about ... Beevor's human and logistical capacities, in combination, inform the gripping accounts of some of the great set-piece confrontations that determined the outcome of the war." (Peter Clarke, *The New Republic* )

"Antony Beevor makes the reader believe in the impossible: that he could write a history of magisterial authority about the greatest war of modern times and do justice to the global reach of that war...." (The Washington Times )

"Readers who may instinctively recoil from another book about the worldwide turmoil of 1939-1945 would be unwise to ignore this one. . . Always at ease with the conduct of battle, Beevor displays his grasp of the German Army's professionalism and tactical skill at all levels of command, as well as Stalin's metamorphosis from paranoid political tyrant to master of history's most enormous battlefield. . . Once action is joined and false assumptions are exposed, Beevor is ruthless in dissecting them, whether featured in the fortunes of friend, foe or - despite their grit and resolve - in our own armed forces." (The Times Michael Tillotson )

"Brilliantly written...Beevor's account [is] incomparably vivid...[a] magnificently readable book." (The New York Review of Books )

"You feel yourself being carried along on the narrative flow, channeled this way and that through the pools and rapids by Beevor's expert helmsmanship. As we have come to expect from the author, great events are leavened by telling vignettes and anecdotes." (Standpoint Patrick Bishop )

"An outstanding example of narrative history at its best, at once scholarly, enlightening, entertaining and thought-provoking." (The Tablet )

"Everything is pared down to serve the relentless thrust of his storytelling. The result is a magnificent performance - true excitement from one page to the next delivered in faultless prose. . . Beevor offers superbly vivid accounts, often with tiny details that will surprise even those who gorge themselves on shot and ball histories." (Daily Express Christopher Silvester )

"The chapters on the Nazi-Soviet war find Beevor at the top of his game, in command of a huge range of sources, with a fine eye for place and detail, deftly manipulating incident and character, and making effective use of soldiers' diaries and letters to create a vast human tapestry of war. The prose is relaxed and contains a spring in every paragraph. He excels too at grand strategy - as a diplomatic historian, he is a match for AJP Taylor. The conferences at Casablanca, Tehran, Yalta and so on, which can have their longeurs, here sparkle with wit and insight, especially into the behaviour of Stalin. There are revelations too." (Observer Ben Shephard )

"This book is a perfect mixture of world history and human experience, unbiased and highly readable." (The Journal )

"Brocaded with details of the great campaigns and thoughtful explanations of Hitler's murderous belligerency, The Second World War is an absorbing, unsparingly lucid work of military history...exceptionally powerful." (The Spectator Ian Thomson )

"Antony Beevor's remarkably informative and well-written book . . . Beevor's enormous strength is that he can sketch out complicated campaigns clearly. . . Antony Beevor has done splendid justice to this [the bombing of Germany] and to a very great deal else." (Literary Review Norman Stone )

"A war epic close to perfection." (Mail on Sunday )

"The level of operational command, rather than grand strategy or the horrors of front line experience, shapes the magisterial narrative of the Second World War. Its military history is presented chronologically, with chapter titles which convey the simultaneity and interconnectedness of events in very different theatres. This is the place to begin if you need to get your knowledge of the war in order. Beevor is not afraid to quote the familiar when it is important or to let his favourite voices have their say but he also provides plenty of fresh insights for those who kid themselves that they know the story already." (Evening Standard Hew Strachan )

"This is history writ large. . . unexpected vignettes linger in the memory." (Daily Telegraph )

"This memorable vignette is one of hundreds in Antony Beevor's utterly absorbing history of the Second World War. Beevor is justly celebrated for recounting the human realities of war. . . Beevor is committed to telling the truth about war, with all its painful contradictions. . . Beevor does not flinch: this is as comprehensive and objective account of the course of the war as we are likely to get, and the most humanly moving to date." (New Statesman John Gray )

"Judged against his own high standards of readability there is no doubt that The Second World War succeeds very well indeed. . . This is an immensely readable book, not least for the manner in which it blends together high strategy with the view from below. . . A masterful narrative history." (History Today )

"His monumental and magisterial history of the Second World War . . . Beevor is excellent at catching the individual in the flood tide of events. . . Few can match his superbly controlled narrative." (Sunday Express )

"With engaging prose and a remarkable ability to clarify and simplify massive and complex events, Beevor has once again demonstrated why he is a pre-eminent historian on the subject...the book is essential reading for anyone seeking to learn more about World War II and its consequences...[it] is always captivating and informative...It is hard to imagine how he will ever top this masterpiece of historical scholarship." (Army Magazine )

"The narrative never flags and the myriad pieces of this intricate kaleidoscope are pieced together with exemplary skill...This is a splendid book, erudite, with admirable clarity of thought and expression." (The Independent on Sunday Roger Moorhouse )

Praise for D-DAY:

"Glorious, horrifying...D-Day is a vibrant work of history that honors the sacrifice of tens of thousands of men and women." (Time )

"One of Beevor's strengths is his ability to describe the day-to-day experience of ordinary soldiers: the food, the weather, the smells, the humor, the fear. . . Perhaps this is what makes Beevor's D-Day such terrific reading. It details the shattering reality of D-Day and the months of savage fighting that followed instead of offering empty mythologizing. This is that rare hardcover worth your valuable attention and money." (USA Today )

"The first impression on seeing D-Day on the bookshelf might be a question, "Why yet another book on D-Day?" The answer comes through in the detailed research and exhaustive treatment of individual stories as the Allies lodged ashore and then advanced on that fateful day and after, all the way to Paris...For anyone with any interest at all in World War II in Europe, especially the time from the landings through the liberation of Paris, D-Day is the book for you." (Washington Times Vice-Admiral Robert F. Dunn )

"This is a superb book and a model of the historian's craft. It stands as the best one-volume history of this decisive military engagement." (Christian Science Monitor )

"His account of atrocities on both sides, of errors committed and of surpassing bravery makes for excellent -- though often blood-soaked -- reading. Beevor gets better with each book." (Kirkus Reviews )

"Beevor's history is becoming World War II's definitive account. (Minneapolis Star-Tribune )

About the Author

Antony Beevor served as a regular officer in the 11th Hussars in Germany. He is the author of Crete-The Battle and the Resistance, which won a Runciman Prize, Paris After the Liberation, 1944-1949 (written with his wife Artemis Cooper), Stalingrad, which won the Samuel Johnson Prize, the Wolfson Prize for History and the Hawthornden Prize for Literature, Berlin-The Downfall, which received the first Longman-History Today Trustees' Award, The Mystery of Olga Chekhova and, most recently, the bestseller, D-Day. He lives in London.

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Apr 09, 2013 Roger rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This magisterial work had humble beginnings, according to the author. Beevor writes in the Acknowledgements section of this book "I always felt a bit of a fraud when consulted as a general expert on the Second World War because I was acutely conscious of the large gaps in my knowledge, especially of unfamiliar aspects."

Beevor's fame as a writer of narrative history is very much based on his histories of Second World War battles - Stalingrad, Berlin : the downfall 1945, and D-Day : the battle for...more

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Mar 22, 2013 Jason Fritz rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In the acknowledgements to his latest history, The Second World War, Antony Beevor says that he wrote this comprehensive tome on one of the biggest events in human history because he wanted to fill in the gaps to his own knowledge of the topic. But, he says, “above all it is an attempt to understand how the whole complex jigsaw fits together, with the direct and indirect effects of actions and decisions taking place in very different theatres of war.” In this, Beevor succeeds where no other hist...more In the acknowledgements to his latest history, The Second World War, Antony Beevor says that he wrote this comprehensive tome on one of the biggest events in human history because he wanted to fill in the gaps to his own knowledge of the topic. But, he says, “above all it is an attempt to understand how the whole complex jigsaw fits together, with the direct and indirect effects of actions and decisions taking place in very different theatres of war.” In this, Beevor succeeds where no other historian I have read has. Weighing in at 833 pages (with notes), Beevor deftly describes and analyzes the political and military strategic events, people, and decisions that started, fought, and ended World War II. Potentially more importantly, he debunks one myth after another surrounding this war.

Geographically and politically, the European and Pacific Theaters were fairly cordoned off from each other, outside of the involvement of the United States and the British, but not entirely. Beevor pulls the thread to examine how the Soviet victory at Khalkhin Gol in eastern Mongolia in the summer of 1939 ensured that the Soviets stayed out of the eastern war (Beevor is not, of course, the only historian to make this important point) and how that affected both theaters. As he pulls the thread further, the interactions of east and west, Axis and Allies, become more acute. Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan have almost no strategic interaction (there are a handful of exceptions), but their actions on three or four fronts each create a strategic graph theory problem of biblical proportions for the Allies. As a big-picture example, the United States did not just face a Pacific versus Europe resource competition. The United States faced resource competition between Stillwell’s command supporting the Chinese Nationalists, MacArthur’s forces, Halsey’s forces, the preparation for an invasion of western France, operations in North Africa and then Italy, strategic bombing campaigns on both sides, and Lend-Lease to many a slew of locations. To compound this, American leaders needed to maintain support for the war at home and keep the Alliance together while trying to shape the post-war world through a political minefield of communists, socialists, fascists, colonialists, revolutionaries, and democratists. All while trying to actually win the war. If you consider the number of facets and decisions required in this complex world, multiply these considerations by the same problems with which all of the other Allies (and enemies) were forced to contend. The result is an exponentially large equation to determine the outcomes of a world in flux moving at the speed of a tank. Beevor is at his best in this work when he examines these interdependencies of these fronts, the Allies’ force structure to address them, and the inter- and intra-national political considerations. For students of strategy, this alone makes The Second World War worth reading.

Beevor is equally as good at myth-busting the saintliness of the war’s heroes, the competence of its tragic warriors, and the general sense that it was, in fact, a “good war.” Almost none of the major players of the war get a pass (more on an exception below). Montgomery was “egotistic, ambitious and ruthless, possessing a boundless self-confidence which occasionally bordered on the fatuous.” MacArthur receives even harsher treatment that includes accusations of gross corruption. Roosevelt, Churchill, Eisenhower, Patton, Brooke, Bradley, Stalin, Zhukov, Clark, Stillwell, Halsey, et al, are all described by their weaknesses and mistakes as much as they are by their strengths and failures. The sheer volume of egomania among these great captains significantly exceeded their capabilities, as Beevor explicitly demonstrates. That is not to suggest that these were not extraordinary men in extraordinary times - on the contrary. But none of these men were as idyllically competent as many histories would have us believe. The Axis powers are given the same treatment, if not more with rightful criticism focused on their general inhumanity. As a young Armor officer undergoing basic maneuver traing, a number of German officers were still considered gods of mechanized warfare: Rommel, Peiper, Guderian, von Rundstedt, etc. Further analysis, as done in this book, shows that these men were not nearly as good as I was taught. And those that were actually tactically or operationally superior, such as Peiper, were so ruthless with their own men and civilians that their tactics should hardly be extolled, never mind exemplified, by modern Western armies. It is well past time to end this infatuation with German maneuver exceptionalism as it never really existed. (As an aside, my experience has been that those who believe in this exceptionalism also believe, incorrectly in my opinion, in Israeli maneuver exceptionalism. The sooner we end these fantasies, the better for the education of the coming generations of maneuver leaders.)

Before I return to the myth-busting of the “good war” trope, I would be remiss if did not discuss this book’s shortcomings, of which I found two. Anyone who has read extensively on World War II, a population I consider myself a part of despite my just now revisiting the topic after many years, has a pet rock about this war: some issue or topic, preferably obscure and contrarian, which is used by its holder to judge all writing and analysis of World War II. I have one of these and his name was Major General Philippe Leclerc who commanded the French 2d Armored Division. Although Leclerc was a competent and brave commander, he had absolutely no regard for the Allied chain of command or unity of effort. He had a reputation for ignoring his orders and doing whatever he pleased for the glory of France and/or himself. There was an obscure incident that occurred in August 1944 towards the very end of Operation OVERLORD during the attempt to trap hundreds of thousands of Germans in the Falaise Pocket. The battle to close the gap and encircle the German forces inside the pocket was hard fought and in the end a victory for the Allies. But at least one Panzer corps (and most likely more) escaped. There were three reasons: Montgomery’s inability to drive his forces south fast or hard enough, Bradley’s indecision, and Leclerc disobeying orders. The really long-story-short is that Leclerc was so excited to end the battle so that he could turn south and spearhead the liberation of Paris that he exceeded his divisional boundary in the Foret d’Ecouves. This caused a massive traffic jam with the U.S. 5th Armored Division and provided the German Army defenders time and space to establish a defensive line that allowed more German forces to escape encirclement (see page 416 at this link). I find Leclerc’s actions unconscionable. In a book that aims to break down the many cults of personality surrounding the key characters of this conflict, Beevor misses this opportunity and gives Leclerc a pass. I will grant the author some forgiveness in that if he picked on the foibles of every division commander in the war (even if this particular one was a prominent player) then this book would expand to be many volumes. But this is my pet rock and I am miffed that Leclerc’s egomania likely led to the deaths of many soldiers and Beevor did not take a written hammer to him for it.

Some readers will complain that the Pacific Theater receives short shrift in this book. Many of the battles are not detailed, but that is true of most battles in both theaters. This book was not intended to be a comprehensive analysis of the fighting, but rather of the strategic decisions and actions that comprised the whole of the war. Tactics are rarely discussed anywhere unless they are needed for the larger analysis, such as in Stalingrad where the type of fighting played a role in the Red Army’s ferocity in the outbreak that in turn had a number of strategic implications through the end of the war. So yes, Midway gets all of two pages, but that is all that particular battle warrants when not examining the tactical situation of the battle that was irrelevant to strategy in the Pacific. Rest assured that the major strategic concerns of the Pacific are addressed in detail as well as relevant tactical analysis.

No, the second major issue with this book, besides some redundancies, is sloppiness in editing. There are too many sentences that do not make sense because of various errors. Thankfully the errors do not create ambiguity and thus confusion, but they are irritating and interrupt the flow of the book. They also increase in number near the end. It is a rather large book so some errors are expected, but the publisher would do well to give it another scrub before a second printing. Related to this is the index, which is a mess. For example, there you will find in order: Cholitz, Chungking, Chou, Ciano. There is the obvious problem that Chou should precede Chungking, but more importantly is that “Churchill” is not to be found between “Chungking” and “Ciano”. Winston Churchill is not in the index. That is a major mistake if I have ever seen one.

These problems are overwhelmed by this book’s positive contribution to the study of World War II and military history and strategy in general. Beevor attacks the “good war” campaign and stops it dead in its tracks. The incomprehensible costs of this war should cause anyone about to describe it as “good” to pause. Indeed, fascist and imperialist aggressors and mass murderers were defeated and there is no denying that was a good thing. However, the Western Allies were hardly angels themselves if potentially lesser devils. Atrocities on the ground in the Pacific and western European fronts are detailed and are comparatively benign. But the strategic bombing campaign conducted against civilians on both sides of the war with no tangible military objectives should be viewed through a realist lens. If the Allies had lost the war, its leaders would have been tried for war crimes. And these crimes pale in comparison not only with Nazi and Japanese atrocities, but also with Soviet atrocities and later Chinese crimes. Beevor is also quite harsh on the Western leaders for acquiescing to Stalin on Eastern Europe, saying that they sold out half of Europe to save the other half. He is not wrong in this. It is important to note that Beevor does not suggest that World War II was an unjust war, he in fact says that is (from the Allied perspective, naturally), but rather that we should remove our rosy glasses on the West’s activities during the war and understand analysis of the war and its events for what they are and why “good” is not a descriptor of this war. He describes the war as “so rich a source for the study of dilemmas, individual and mass tragedy, the corruption of power politics, ideological hypocrisy, the egomania of commanders, betrayal, perversity, self-sacrifice, unbelievable sadism and unpredictable compassion.” Indeed this is true. Beevor’s account of it sets a high bar of scholarship and unprejudiced perspective for such study.

I originally posted this at: http://tachesdhuile.blogspot.com/2012...(less)

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Mar 10, 2013 Loring Wirbel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Single-volume chronologies of WW2 seem to be all the rage of late, and this book must compete with such works as Max Hastings' "Inferno" and Gerhard Weinberg's "World at Arms." Unlike the two mentioned, which take a particular unique vertical slice, Beevor just tries to tell a decade-long story about two theaters of war, and do it competently. In that he succeeds, for the most part.

While the writing is not the breathtaking sort often reached for by the likes of Weinberg, it is readable and enjoy...more

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Dec 22, 2012 Ethan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have always been fascinated with any and all things to do with World War II. From the rise of Hitler, to the bombing of Hiroshima, this is perhaps the richest time in the history of the world. Due to the staggering scale of this time period, most books, both fiction and nonfiction, choose to focus on specific events or characters. In this hugely ambitious work, Antony Beevor attempts to provide a narrative overview of the entire war.

In the book, Beevor effectively introduces the early onsets...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Marks54 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the third of three really good comprehensive histories of the second world war to come out in the past two years (along with those by Andrew Roberts and Max Hastings). It is comprehensive and well written. What is most important, however, is how the book tells a coherent story. Any single volume history of the war must leave things out. You can tell this here, since Beevor has published multiple well received volumes on various battles of the war before this one - on such critical battle...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Patty rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I will open by writing that I know very little about the Second World War. Well, I KNEW very little about the Second World War. After reading this book I now know a lot more. I'm not sure I'm happier for the knowing.

I did not sit down and read this book through in one sitting. To be honest I've had it for several months and I read it chapter by chapter in between all of the other books I have read this summer. It was too much war for me to take all at once. That does not mean that it was a bad...more

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Jun 03, 2012 Nancy Stringer marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Every nation experienced and remembers the war in different ways. For the British, French and Poles, it began with the Nazi attack on Poland in September 1939. For Russians, notwithstanding their assaults on Poland, Finland and the Baltic States, the real war started in June 1941 with the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. For Americans, it began with the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. For Japan, however, Pearl Harbor was the continuation of an expansionist military adventure th...more

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Jun 28, 2012 Grglstr rated it 4 of 5 stars

Anthony Beevor has this peculiar talent for providing the time-lapse satellite view of world events while still engaging with the reader on a very personal level. He effectively couples the broad movements of armies and the tactical squabbles of generals with the plight of individuals. That is particularly evident in this book.

As the author himself states, The Second World War was written to fill in his own gaps in knowledge of what happened in the conflict. As such, a lot of the material here m...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Leigh Clayton rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ww2

Having read several Antony Beevor books, Stalingrad (Excellent), Berlin: The Downfall 1945 (Very Good) and Crete: The Battle and the Resistance (Very good) I was expecting another well written book and wasn't disappointed.
Whereas the books I have mentioned above concentrated on particular engagements during the Second World War this book gave a high level overview of the whole history of the War, from the very beginning and the Sino Japanese War to victory in the East.
Each section is well writte...more

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Sep 11, 2012 Pctrollbreath rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history

This is a very well written book that keeps you gripped from the first page to the last.

A single volume history of the whole of the second world war is, of course, bound to be only a summary, however with this book the author manages to bring to life the characters behind the big decisions, whilst at the same time giving an insight into the very human tragedies of those who were caught up in events to large for them to control, and in many cases to large for them survive.

The book gives some new...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Jim Thornton rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Just started.... my main criticism is that the book is really heavy and my wrists hurt!!!

OK... wrist aching experience concluded!!

I think I have to say that, if you knew nothing about WW2 and needed to learn about the war, and could only read one book about it, then this would absolutely have to be the one. Concise (! but heavy), and encapsulates the war from China, to Europe to Africa to the Pacific in a very readable and engaging format. It helps to make sense of the alliances (on both sides),...more

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Aug 22, 2012 Tami Peterson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book does an excellent job of tying every part of the Second World War together. Though Beevor is a specialist on the European war, he covers everything from Operation Torch in North Africa to the Sino-Japanese War and its impact on Axis & Allied power.

In his style, Beevor writes in a way that makes it difficult to put the book down. As ever, it's not simply a chronological arrangement of events but a story which is endlessly fascinating.

For all this, it is clear to the reader that Bee...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Dean Hamp rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've enjoyed several of Beevor's works, particularly "Stalingrad." Beevor's latest book is a remarkable overview of the series of conflicts we call "World War Two." I appreciate the time he spends helping me understand the 'forgotten' episodes of the war, such as the Battle of Khalkhin Gol. Beevor manages to surprise, even after so many years and so much literature on the subject. For example, I had no idea that mustard gas was taken to the Italian theatre by the Allies (some shells detonated ac...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Aleksander rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history

Condensing all of World War II into one volume is quite a task. Beevor has done a good job of it. This is more of a blow by blow account of what happened than a discussion of various topics. That and Beevors effective use of snippets of correspondence makes it very readable. One is appalled not only by the scale and number of atrocities, mainly by the Nazis, Communists and Japanese Nationalists, but also by the waste that resulted from incompetence and vanity on all sides. It is also sobering to...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Loraine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In a word, intense. This book made me work for its 4 stars but it was well worth it. In order to fully appreciate everything that was going on I needed extra maps, extra pictures, Google and Wikipedia. With such a grand cast of characters, I needed to make good use of the search function on my eReader to work out who’s who. I would get confused between officers of the Free French and the Vichy French, or between the Germans, Ukranians and Russians. An officer taken prisoner on page 350 reappears...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Daniel Bratell rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

In many ways the Second World War is too big a topic for a book and I several times get the feeling that the author has to skip quickly across events that could easily have been a book by themselves. As a Europe this mainly brought a fresh view on the Sino-Japanese war and the preparations for the Chinese Civil War. I was for instance not aware that Mao made a separate secret piece with the Japanese early on to prepare his armies for the war against the nationalists.

Compared to older history boo...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Leo Robertson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is great, and it's about the most compact complete story of The Second World War there's going to be, I reckon.

You get a really strong sense of how quickly it all happened, how panicky everyone was and how completely unprepared we must have felt, and how futile it was too. The narrative jumps between grand descriptions of entire battles and snapshots of the lives of individuals given by quotes or other details, but it all the time feels like a very natural progression, which is difficu...more

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Feb 28, 2013 Shaun Major rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Like the war itself this is a long long book. Unlike the war it is beautifully written, even through its most harrowing pieces, and it is a tale leads you neatly through the twists and turns of an event that would have been incomprehensible to most participants at the time. The strongest detail comes through in the areas that Beevor's has written books on before, but there is a careful attention to detail and humanity throughout the book that means those battles and events without excessive deta...more

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Oct 30, 2012 H Wesselius rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Does the world really need an other general history of WWII? Unless it adds something new to the mix, the answer is no. Unfortunately, Anthony Beevor's new history adds very little. There's nothing particular wrong with the book, it just doesn't add anything new. Beevor's motivation to write the book; to buff his status as an expert explains why he's not motivated to move beyond a general history. He's responsible for some specific histories; Stalingrad, D-Day and Berlin and thus I fail to see w...more

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Feb 21, 2013 Ross rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 05, 2012 Ed rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is excellent on particular details of the war. The politics, especially French politics, are one area that he concentrates on. Beevor also seems especially interested in the war in North Africa and on the relationship between Stalin and Chiang Kai-Shek. He thinks that Montgomery is a plodder and Churchill a bit of a basket case adventurer (which seems right). The details of certain battles (Midway, e.g.) are skirted over, but others (e.g. El Alamain) are treated in fine detail. A very...more

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Nov 05, 2012 Jari Peteri rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a very good overview of the Second World War. Geographically balanced (that is, not forgetting China and Manchuria), moving competetently from the battles themselves to the top leaders and the experiences of ordinary soldiers. These shifts of focus are the best aspect in Beevor's histories, but here of course the subject is so vast that less space can be given to description of what actually happened on the level of soldiers and civilians. Similarly, little side theatres like Finland ar...more

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Oct 04, 2012 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I haven't read any WWII history in decades, so I can't compare this book to other single volumes about the war or point out inexcusable omissions or errors. It was well written, well paced and included a lot of information I hadn't seen before. In addition to descriptions of strategic concerns and battles, Beevor follows key politicians and officers through the war - fleshing them out beyond the one or two defining characteristics we learned in high school. He also effectively uses statements, l...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Speesh rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: second-world-war

At the excellent talk given by Anthony Beevor I was lucky enough to attend this last summer here in Aarhus (Denmark) (just before the release of 'The Second World War', or 'Anden Verdens Krig', if you're Danish), one of the - extraordinarily perceptive, considering English is not their first language - questions asked by the Danish audience went along the lines of: "Given the profusion of World War II books in general and histories in particular, what will make yours' different?"

I won't go into...more

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Mar 01, 2013 Richard rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoyed this book very much. The book is a chronological story of the Second World War. As expected for a one-volume history, events are often described in summary, so don't expected a highly detailed descriptions.

The things I enjoyed about it:

** Very easy to read writing style. I felt as though I was sitting across the table from someone telling me the story of the Second World War.
** It encompasses both Eastern and Western theatres. Many Western books under-tell the war in Asia, especially...more

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Jan 08, 2013 James Barrett rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, war

Beevor strikes an excellent balance between describing the details of military battles, logistical and economic issues, the individuals involved (egomaniacal generals, political figures etc), the shifting alliances between the belligerents, and political issues (especially in democratic nations).

Throughout the story there are numerous anecdotes and diary extracts from soldiers and civilians caught in the conflicts that ensure the story never becomes to abstract. In fact, the horrific experiences...more

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Jan 14, 2013 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As a Boomer, WWII has been ubiquitous throughout my life, particularly since my father saw combat at Normandy, Battle of the Bulge, and within Germany, among other places. But this is the first single-volume history I've read as an adult and though by necessity it omits some topics and treats most in a comparatively superficial way, I still found it to be an excellent book. Given that virtually every aspect of the war has been the subject of multiple books, Beevor had little choice but to be sel...more As a Boomer, WWII has been ubiquitous throughout my life, particularly since my father saw combat at Normandy, Battle of the Bulge, and within Germany, among other places. But this is the first single-volume history I've read as an adult and though by necessity it omits some topics and treats most in a comparatively superficial way, I still found it to be an excellent book. Given that virtually every aspect of the war has been the subject of multiple books, Beevor had little choice but to be selective in his coverage. But by including the actions and/or reactions of specific individuals while also discussing the war in broader strokes, he has been able to effectively illustrate how the enormity of the chaos and violence that was unleashed impacted its victims and perpetrators.

He describes the war as the greatest man-made disaster in human history, and considering that 60 to 70 million people were killed and approximately 2 million girls and women were raped in the final months of the war in just Germany alone, it's impossible to argue against that premise. And, apparently, cannibalism, especially by the Japanese army was more widespread than I had thought. Nor was it random. Allied POWs would routinely be killed and butchered, then eaten, and this fact was suppressed immediately after the war so as to not exacerbate the suffering of families who lost sons and fathers. But the Japanese also did this in China. A microcosm of the bestiality that became commonplace, at least in Asia, can be found in the Japanese soldier who raped, murdered, and ate a young Chinese woman. Though, to be "fair," equally atrocious acts were committed throughout Eastern Europe and the USSR, even if cannibalism was not on the table, so to speak.

Initially, I had planned to read "Savage Continent" next, which is about the ethnic cleansing and genocide that occurred throughout parts of Europe immediately following the end of the war, but I decided I needed a bit of a break from such dark subject matter.(less)

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Dec 20, 2012 Eamon Doody rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I listened to this book on Audible Audio - mostly while out exercising over the autumn and early winter of 2012.
This is a masterful account of a momentous decade of World History.

I was most struck that Beevor managed to retain a very good sense of the many human tragedies that arose out of the conflict progressing the military and geopolitical narrative. Often when we think of war - and WWII in particular - the focus rests on military operarations and the conflicts of the armies/navies/air forc...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Andrew rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Overall I found this to be a first class and thoroughly readable look at World War II. Beevor takes the approach of splitting the war into a total of 51 small-ish and generally chronological chapters, each one relating to a reasonably short (~months) campaign or period in the war. This makes it easy to orient yourself to where you are in time and space, something which can be quite challenging in other large historical tomes. It also makes it easy to finish a chunk and not feel lost next time yo...more

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