Time To Kill

by Paul Addison (Editor), Angus Calder, Len Deighton

496 pages, Paperback

First published April 24, 1997

About the author

Paul Addison was a British author and historian, specializing in the British experience in the Second World War and its effects on post-war society. After graduating from Nuffield College, Oxford, in 1967, Addison became a Lecturer at Edinburgh University and subsequently a Reader, for 23 years.

Reviews

[Dimitri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of essays, or rather presentations, from a 1996 conference by an assortiment of military history demigods of the previous generation : Hew Strachan, Richard Holmes.. Mark Axworthy, fresh of his most influential book on WWII Romania* etc. Reading this is 2022, it's both satisfying and eye-opening how far the field has expanded over a generation.

John Keegan & John Ellis were still riding the novelty of their the Face of Battle and the Sharp End *, which broke the mold in 1976/80 of military history as seen through the eyes of the Great Commander who moves his pieces over a map.

Omar Bartov was pioneering the indoctrination and war crimes of the previously 'clean' Wehrmacht. Guido Knopff would tour Germany with his exposition in the early 2000s; by now every Eastern Front book worth its salt uses the prism of Christopher Browning's (unmentioned) Ordinary Men

John Erickson, twenty years after walking the road to Stalingrad, was still chipping away at the monolith of the Soviet Colossus. David Glantz was only getting started & Svetlana Aleksijevitsj was the primary source for the female face of the Red Army. Now we have good monographies on pilots, snipers etc.

There is a strong comparative current on how WWI shaped the contemporary perception of WWII, most notably that the former was "not as bad" - until statistics at regimental level reveal rates of attrition in Normandy comparable to Passchendaele - and the divergent post-war perceptions in France and Germany: de Gaulle plastered the first war over the second's wounds, West Germany walked a narrow path between culpability and martyrdom.

I was amused to see how spot-on Dad's Army is, given two of the scenarists served. Apart from the urban rather than rural seaside background of most units and the neglect of 50.000 women members, all those shenanigans check out.

The Face Of Battle by John Keeganhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/edit...#
The Sharp End: The Fighting Man in World War II by John Ellis
Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941-1945 by Mark Axworthy

[James Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating collection essays on the experiences of soldiers on the Western and Eastern Fronts from different nations on both sides of the Second World War. These essays seek to scratch beneath the surface and try to expose in detail what these men - and women - experienced. Amongst the essays are: French soldiers in 1940, Italian soldiers from 1939 - 1943, Canadian Infantrymen in 1944-45, Soviet Women, and the evolution of the Soviet Army. These essays helps to get beneath the broad sweep of armies, and to begin to understand how this huge conflict impacted on the life of the men and women who participated in - and were often consumed by - it. Unreservedly recommended.

[Jur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection of articles on combat motivation in WWII, especially on the smaller participating nations, eg the French, Romanian and Italian armies

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bunch of scholarly papers from a 1995 conference in Scotland. Title is misleading -- not very much about the experience of soldiers! I skimmed some.