The Storm of War
A New History of the Second World War
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
“Gripping. . . . splendid history. A brilliantly clear and accessible account of the war in all its theaters. Roberts’s prose is unerringly precise and strikingly vivid. It is hard to imagine a better-told military history of World War II.” –New York Times Book Review
Andrew Roberts's acclaimed new history has been hailed as the finest single-volume account of this epic conflict. From the western front to North Africa, from the Baltic to the Far East, he tells the story of the war—the grand strategy and the individual experience, the brutality and the heroism—as never before.
Meticulously researched and masterfully written, The Storm of War illuminates the war's principal actors, revealing how their decisions shaped the course of the conflict. Along the way, Roberts presents tales of the many lesser-known individuals whose experiences form a panoply of the courage and self-sacrifice, as well as the depravity and cruelty, of the Second World War.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This is history as it should be written. Award-winning historian Roberts, a master storyteller, combines a comprehensive command of sources, a sophisticated analytical dimension, and fingertip balance between great events and their personal dimensions. At the center of this "world-historical global cataclysm" was Adolf Hitler. Roberts presents the war as defined by Hitler's mistakes: "so heinous that he should have committed suicide out of sheer embarrassment...." Roberts (Masters and Commanders) says Hitler started the war before Germany was ready. He waged it with resources too limited for his grandiose objectives. He administered it through policies that made the Reich an enduring stench in the nostrils. Japan's war in the Pacific was no less ugly. Yet defeating the Axis required the strengths of three great powers. Roberts describes an Allied strategy shaped by the necessity of developing armed forces to match their foes. Britain kept the field in the war's darkest days. The U.S.S.R. drowned the Reich in "oceans of blood." America provided machines, money, and manpower over 16 million in uniform. These synergized efforts were sufficient barely sufficient, says Roberts. At every turn contingencies shaped outcomes that might have been very different absent the skill, will, and desperation demonstrated by the Grand Coalition. 4 pages of b&w photos; maps.
Customer Reviews
the Storm of War
Very good overall, balanced view of the entire conflict, which for example includes aspects of the war in east Asia I have seldom seen discussed and truly flesh out the idea of "world" war. The emphasis on the eastern front and the magnitude of loss and sacrifice on both sides there, relative to the Anglo-American effort in the west, is very important and eye opening. However, inexplicable editing errors, especially toward the end of the book often muddy summations of important arguments and left me scratching my head. I can't believe these gaffes made it into the print version and this makes me wonder about the product I am paying for on iBooks.
The storm of war
This might have been outstanding given its insightful view on ww2. Unfortunately, this is the most carelessly edited book I've ever read. I'm ok with an occasional misspelling, but this digital version is full of gross errors like the beginning of one sentence ending with another, all with no intelligible result. Why spend years on a work and quit right before the finish line? It makes me think iBooks need a version upgrade path like apps.
The Storm oF War
Very insightful.