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1001 Things Everyone Should Know About WWII
For the millions who want to know more about “The Greatest Generation” and the global struggle they fought and won, an essential work of popular reference.
World War II was the most complex, geographically extensive, and momentous global conflict in human history–a subject uniquely suited to the time-tested formula of the acclaimed 1001 series. From the rise of Hitler and Germany’s military resurgence to Japan’s surrender to the United States, esteemed historian Frank Vandiver presents hundreds of key facts about the war that defined the twentieth century and shaped the world to this day. Organized chronologically, 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About World War II looks at the war with a truly global perspective, covering all the warring nations and examining not only the crucial battlefields but also the strategy, the technology, and the cultural forces that influenced the war. Informed, concise, and accessible, this book will delight both the uninitiated and the hardcore buff with its detailed and freshly presented information on a war we can’t seem to–and don’t want to–forget.
World War II was the most complex, geographically extensive, and momentous global conflict in human history–a subject uniquely suited to the time-tested formula of the acclaimed 1001 series. From the rise of Hitler and Germany’s military resurgence to Japan’s surrender to the United States, esteemed historian Frank Vandiver presents hundreds of key facts about the war that defined the twentieth century and shaped the world to this day. Organized chronologically, 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About World War II looks at the war with a truly global perspective, covering all the warring nations and examining not only the crucial battlefields but also the strategy, the technology, and the cultural forces that influenced the war. Informed, concise, and accessible, this book will delight both the uninitiated and the hardcore buff with its detailed and freshly presented information on a war we can’t seem to–and don’t want to–forget.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published April 30, 2002
About the author
Frank E. Vandiver
49 books5 followersFrank Everson Vandiver was an American Civil War historian and former president of Texas A&M University and the University of North Texas, as well as acting president of Rice University. Vandiver wrote, co-wrote, or edited 24 books, and wrote an additional 100 scholarly articles or reviews.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 21, 2019
A very good summary of important events and characters of World War II. Considering the geographical and chronological extent of what is arguably the most horrific war in history, distilling it into a 250-page book is not an easy task; but the author handled it quite well.
Lack of a comprehensive bibliography and vague descriptions of some of the events led me to subtract one star, but still one of the best WWII summaries I have read so far.
Lack of a comprehensive bibliography and vague descriptions of some of the events led me to subtract one star, but still one of the best WWII summaries I have read so far.
June 3, 2017
2.9 stars really. This was not a well written book. In fact, as I was nearing the end, I came across a sentence that didn't make any sense and thought about noting for this review but decided it just wasn't worth it. There were many more sentences that didn't make sense but because the author attributed a greater knowledge of French, Italian or European history than was reasonable. This approach was also stupid as this was a short book that wouldn't have been made significantly longer by better writing. For example, the author references the Nazi invasion of Yugoslavia "after a coup", so I looked it up. Anti-Nazi elements arranged a coup after the current Yugoslavian announced its intention to sign the Axis agreement with Germany and Italy. One sentence was all that was required but the author left it out.
The author apparently subscribed to the populist views of the war as well. . For example:
a) I read “An Army at Dawn” by Rick Atkinson (excellent book) which covered the US landings in North Africa and it seems pretty clear that any real look at those events shows the US didn’t do that great of a job initially. All this book said about the North Africa landings is that they “went well” (in thing #457 of the 1001).
b) I believe “The Conquering Tide” by Ian W. Toll (an excellent book) was where I read about the island-hoping plan for the pacific. Regardless, somewhere I read about how the plan was originally proposed at a meeting MacArthur refused to attend because it would mean leaving his own personal fiefdom in Australia. After MacArthur heard about the island-hopping plan he opposed it, probably because it wasn’t his idea. MacArthur did, however, eventually make effective use of island-hopping and managed to take all the credit for himself at least as far as most of America is concerned, and it is that attitude that is presented in this book.
This book only has two redeeming features: its scope, since it actually begins at the beginning and not with Pearl Harbor; and the occasional historical gem. For example, I had seen tv show about the "Winter War" between the USSR and Finland but this show acted like the Winter War was the only thing going on in the world at the time so I thought it probably occurred shortly after WWII. No, it started before and ran concurrently with WWII so Finland started as friendly to the Allies because the USSR initially had a neutrality pact with the Nazis. Then, when the Nazis invaded the USSR and the USSR became an Allie, Finland became an Allie of the Nazis.
Bottom line: I won't ever reread this book but don't regret reading it once.
The author apparently subscribed to the populist views of the war as well. . For example:
a) I read “An Army at Dawn” by Rick Atkinson (excellent book) which covered the US landings in North Africa and it seems pretty clear that any real look at those events shows the US didn’t do that great of a job initially. All this book said about the North Africa landings is that they “went well” (in thing #457 of the 1001).
b) I believe “The Conquering Tide” by Ian W. Toll (an excellent book) was where I read about the island-hoping plan for the pacific. Regardless, somewhere I read about how the plan was originally proposed at a meeting MacArthur refused to attend because it would mean leaving his own personal fiefdom in Australia. After MacArthur heard about the island-hopping plan he opposed it, probably because it wasn’t his idea. MacArthur did, however, eventually make effective use of island-hopping and managed to take all the credit for himself at least as far as most of America is concerned, and it is that attitude that is presented in this book.
This book only has two redeeming features: its scope, since it actually begins at the beginning and not with Pearl Harbor; and the occasional historical gem. For example, I had seen tv show about the "Winter War" between the USSR and Finland but this show acted like the Winter War was the only thing going on in the world at the time so I thought it probably occurred shortly after WWII. No, it started before and ran concurrently with WWII so Finland started as friendly to the Allies because the USSR initially had a neutrality pact with the Nazis. Then, when the Nazis invaded the USSR and the USSR became an Allie, Finland became an Allie of the Nazis.
Bottom line: I won't ever reread this book but don't regret reading it once.
January 29, 2024
Not really a factoid book, more of a brief summary history of WWII. The formatting and editing is horrid. Most paragraphs start with a number and a bold sentence with the "thing everyone should know about WWII", but there are some paragraphs with the number and bold sentence in the middle of them. Many of the "things everyone should know" are so specific that even I, with an advanced degree in history, find them esoteric. For example, fact 636 is "Mussolini met Hitler at Feltre on July 19, 1943 as the allies pushed ahead on Sicily." Others are so vague and obvious as to be utterly pointless, like fact 536 "resistance to persecution took many forms."
They style is outdated. In the first half of the book, when he brings up a name and there is a later entry about the person, he includes the notation (q.v.). While technically correct, it is annoying to read that over and over.
The reasons I have this 2 stars instead of one is because 1) I did learn a few things (mostly because it mentioned some event or person I had never heard of and looked up more information about it/them. 2) there were some pictures, though low quality, that I had never seen before in other WWII books.
They style is outdated. In the first half of the book, when he brings up a name and there is a later entry about the person, he includes the notation (q.v.). While technically correct, it is annoying to read that over and over.
The reasons I have this 2 stars instead of one is because 1) I did learn a few things (mostly because it mentioned some event or person I had never heard of and looked up more information about it/them. 2) there were some pictures, though low quality, that I had never seen before in other WWII books.
October 3, 2017
a good book for newbies of WWII.
December 2, 2021
This book is in an interesting format, with 1001 numbered factoids dealing with WW II. Despite the strange title (really, everybody should know all these details?), and the unusual format, I found it a very interesting and productive read, because it does a great job of showing how all the different theatres of the war fit together. It was an effective combination that educated me on the big picture while presenting many details. It does this by organizing all the details into a combination of chronology and different areas or theaters of the war, so I got a sense of what was going on in Japan and fitting that in with what was going on in Russia and Europe at the same time, and how they related to each other.
I learned a lot about the war by reading it.
I learned a lot about the war by reading it.
December 21, 2015
I can imagine the paper version might be a little distract with its "1001" format, but I highly recommend the Kindle version.
This gave me a great overview of the war and filled in a lot of gaps I had (because I tend to read texts focused on the average soldier, or a specific campaign, rather than the path of the war as a whole). Shortly after finishing this book, I was browsing the large WWII section of a used bookstore and was happy to find that I understood every single reference made in the book titles -- I knew names, places, campaigns, and not just the European Theatre or the Allied generals, but the Pacific Theater and the Axis politicians as well.
This gave me a great overview of the war and filled in a lot of gaps I had (because I tend to read texts focused on the average soldier, or a specific campaign, rather than the path of the war as a whole). Shortly after finishing this book, I was browsing the large WWII section of a used bookstore and was happy to find that I understood every single reference made in the book titles -- I knew names, places, campaigns, and not just the European Theatre or the Allied generals, but the Pacific Theater and the Axis politicians as well.
February 9, 2015
i like the way it's laid out
April 4, 2022
Even though the timeline was confusing at times and some major events lacked proper attention, it was written in an engaging and educational way and helped me a lot.
October 18, 2011
USA today style book with short paragraphs regarding WW2.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews