World War II

by Ronald Heiferman

Book by Ronald Heiferman

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military History, World War II, Reference

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Ana-Maria Bujor]

I found a used copy of this book online and it was a great choice. It explains briefly the main military operations, the strategy of each country, as well as the most important moments of WW2. There is barely any notion of ideology or non-combatant deaths, it's all about what happened on the battlefield. I found it very useful because that's exactly where I know least, especially as it has a lot of info about the conflicts in Asia and northern Africa.
The images are great,many of which I've never seen before and the overall quality of the book is great. Of course, everything has to be presented in just a few pages, but it's a good introduction to a massive subject. It's also quite helpful when it comes to my historical photos colorization project, so a great choice once again,

[Andrew]

I've had this book for about 40 years and never really read the text. Finally, having done so I can safely say it is a poor history of WW2, even within the limits of a coffee table picture book. Okay, because it is old some of the facts and assumptions have since been overturned. However there are some serious gaps in the book, plus some skewed directions for what is covered. For example, the Soviet offensives that led to the defeat of Germany during the last 2 years of the European war are barely covered. There is hardly any mention of the Battle of the Atlantic, nothing about the combined Allied air offensive on Germany and a similar lack of coverage of the Soviet invasion of Manchuria (which arguably had more influence in the Japanese surrender than the two atomic bombs dropped by the US.

The photographs are mostly good, though some are mislabelled. If one is to look at the book as a general WW2 picture boo and not expect more from it then it will satisfy. If you want trenchant and critically composed WW2 history that sets a new standard, forget it.

[Samuel Henry]

Lots of good info

[James D’Ambrosio]

Best WW II book ever for sentimental reasons