I was waiting for my granddaughter to finish her drum lesson and I browsing books in the Sydney Road Brunswick op shop that is only a couple of doors down from the music shop. The book The Second World War by Antony Deevor (First edition, published 2012) caught my eye - hardcopy as new for only $7. How could you pass up on such a bargain.
Let's start with a brief overview of the book.
It is indeed a comprehensive history of World War II written by the acclaimed British military historian Antony Beevor. Spanning approximately 960 pages, it masterfully pieces together the complex, global jigsaw puzzle of the conflict. Beevor balances grand strategic decisions with intimate, raw accounts of ordinary soldiers and civilians caught in the crossfire.
Here is Beevor's synopsis from his own website: https://www.antonybeevor.com/book/the-second-world-war/
Most people seem to expect a history of the Second World War to begin with the invasion of Poland and end with the death of Hitler or V-J Day. But that is because for all too long we have had black holes in our knowledge of the subject. My narrative history in fact begins in August 1939, with General Zhukov’s defeat of the Japanese at Khalkin-Gol on the Mongolian-Manchurian border.
Although small in comparison to some of the titanic clashes to come, it had a crucial influence on the later course of the war. And the book ends almost exactly six years later in August 1945 with Soviet armies sweeping across Manchuria and North China, thus providing a strange symmetry.
The point of this book is to bring together all those conflicts from the Sino-Japanese War to the Winter War in Finland which were different facets of what we know as the Second World War. It was not simply a monolithic clash of state against state, of three great Allied powers against the Axis and Japan.
In many countries, especially in those occupied by the Germans and the Japanese, people found themselves crushed by rival factions in an international civil war. And the story of those ordinary people, caught up in huge political forces over which they had no control, is of course an absolutely essential part of the book
It was in 2017 that I read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L Shirer and I have always regarded that as the definitive WWII history.
I've also got Norman Davies' Europe at War 1939-1945, written in 2006 and also regarded as one of the definitive histories of the conflict. Putting all 3 tomes together on the bookshelf makes a wonderful collection.
While Shirer's book focuses on the Nazi Empire. Deevor's book comprehensively covers the war with all its battlefronts.
Goodreads reader Loring Wirbel expresses the same thoughts that I had, namely
Beevor's history sets out to skewer many sacred cows. Some, like Bernard Montgomery, Mark Clark, and Douglas MacArthur, are easy targets, excoriated by everyone. But Beevor provides some deserving critiques of Eisenhower and Bradley, as well. And he holds Churchill's feet to the fire as well, giving the British prime minister his due where necessary, but denouncing Churchill not only for his outdated empire philosophy and his Africa-and-Italy-First plan for waging war, but also for silly plans to challenge the Soviets, such as Operation Unthinkable. And yes, FDR is placed under the microscope as well.
In short, Beevor's book is useful for its competent analysis of WW2, and for treating the war in a manner akin to "Game of Thrones." Yes, the Axis powers were terrible monsters that needed to be defeated. But no one on the Allied side was worthy of unabashed heroic praise, and Beevor avoids that. There are few heroes here.
The war was indeed flawed on all sides and made so much worse by the continuing bad decisions of most of the key players. But that is perhaps what war is all about. The key players don't have the benefit of hindsight to guide their decisions.
A wonderful read - 5 stars from me.
