Customer Reviews

The Battle For History: Re-fighting World War II

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In a manner that will surprise few of his faithful readers, historian and writer John Keegan turns what one would expect to be a dry bibliographic survey of what this noted scholar believes to be the seminal and meaningfully works on the subject of World War Two into a fascinating and sometimes provocative survey into the subject of not only that most fateful of conflicts, but also of war itself. As has recently been proven through the edifying work of other authors such as Ian Kershaw with his brilliant two volume study of Adolph Hitler (see my reviews) as well as books by Michael Burleigh's "The Third Reich: A New History", Daniel Goldhagen's "Hitler's Willing Executioners", and Williamson Murray and Allan Millet's "A War To Be Won", the field of investigation is hardly complete.

Indeed, given the fact that the integration of all the relevant information concerning the war remains such a daunting task based on its size, complexity, and the fact that it is found in a plethora of languages and dialects, one has to admire Keegan's admission that his own work as well as that by notable others such as Sir Martin Gilbert, Gerhard Weinberg's mammoth "A World At Arms" (my own personal favorite) do not represent anything close to definitive histories of the Second World War. Instead, he insists with both energy and enthusiasm that such a definitive work is yet to be written. Moreover, as anyone familiar with works ranging from Hugh Trevor-Roper's early masterpiece on Hitler's final days in the Berlin bunker to the recent short overview by Richard Overy (see his wonderful short essay and overview in "The Origins Of The Second World War"), arguments regarding the etiology and progress of that war are hardly settled beyond the point of argument or discussion. So while one might think that some half century after the fact the dust of truth would have settled over the subject, Keegan insists the quite the opposite is the case.

In my opinion, this book is an essential read for anyone who seriously attempts to study the most amazing string of historical events we now refer to as comprising World War Two. Keegan threads his way through a pile of titles, many of which the serious student of 20th century history will be familiar with, but also including a number of titles I am now scurrying to find or order in order to further my understanding of this endlessly fascinating time period. By the way, by providing such an authoritative survey of all these works, he of necessity must provide a kind of unifying narrative that amounts to one of the most concise and immensely readable histories of the war I have yet seen, including all of Professor Keegan's other works. This may not be the first book on WWII you want to order, and in fact few of us finding this book would expect to approach it as anything like a comprehensive history. But it is at once both an engaging and entertaining read as well as an intelligent guide through the virtual briar patch of the hundreds and hundreds of titles still in print on the subject of the single most important historical event of the 20th century. I highly recommend this book. Enjoy!

I admit it...the title is a bit misleading. Consequently, I was surprised by what this book actually is: a bibliographic essay. But what a pleasant and enjoyable surprise it was! I read this book in one day and couldn't wait to begin reading all the books that Mr. Keegan discussed.

Consider this book your road map to future WWII reading. An indispensable road map!

In this slim, but magnificent, volume, John Keegan sets forth the required reading list for all interested in WWII. It should not construed as a history of WWII in itself: it is not.

Rather Keegan compares and analyzes many of the published histories of WWII and provides a critique of the work, its author and his assessment of the biases or omissions in the works he cites. At that level, "The Battle For History" is invaluable. It is as if your studies of the subject are being guided by one of the most eminent historians of the period.

First published in 1996, even the lapse of 8 years is telling. Hopefully a revision will be forthcoming. For example, Rick Atkinson's recently published - and superb - history of the North African campaign is not mentioned here. It should be.

Jerry

Enough has been made of the misleading title, so I won't go into that--I assume it's the publisher playing the bimbo. (As opposed to, say, giving the book a competent copyediting and proofreading job.)

This book has all the lineaments of something knocked off during a slow weekend. It's casual, offhand, and rife with errors (e.g., Barbarossa beginning on 22 June 1942). It's also arguably the best checklist of literature on WW II available. Keegan, as might have been surmised, has done the reading, and here he tells you all about it. Even the novel selections (Jones and Waugh) are incisive.

If you were to work your way through the notes of this book (I confess I haven't--not completely; not yet), title by title, you would have, in the end, a master's knowledge of the war and the circumstances surrounding it. So go on--get cracking.

This book was not what I expected. From the title, I thought it would provide a concise picture of the major events and trends of the war, but it turned out to be a listing of his preferred references for further study. From that standpoint it is a good tool to have.

John Keegan's brilliance is occasionally seen in cameo form here, with his usual facility for the telling phrase and sharp insight. But the problem is that the book does not go very far. There are many important and/or interesting works which are not even mentioned - one thinks of the official South African history of the Sidi Rezeg battles and Alamein in the Western Desert in 1941, by Agar-Hamilton and Turner. Accustomed as we are to Keegan's astonishing range, it is disappointing to see such a slight work by him. He also seems reluctant to assess the place of the huge number of personal biographies (some academic, some popular) of generals from the various armies.

This book is destined to be a classic.It is a very usefull listing and critical review of the most important (and useless in some cases) books written on WW2. The author makes many assertions about the works available on the war that are right on track. One final note to the reviewer who stated that Keegan made a mistake and confused Achtung! Panzer and Panzer Leader, sorry but they are the same book, one is the German title and the other the English version

The preeminent military historian of this century writes his short reading list for the "Big One". This small book(118 pages) is divided in 6 chapters; Controversies, Histories, Biographies, Campaigns, A chapter on Technology, and Occupied Europe. In each Keegan reviews the books that he regards as critical to the understanding of that aspect of the war. Devotees of the War and its history can now compare their libraries to his, and update their reading list

This book is short. Only 118 pages, and in it Sir John Keegan offers his readers a short introduction to the historiography (the history of history) of World War II. He begins with a chapter on the major controversies in the history of this conflict, and follows with another on the more important books on the war. He then offers chapters on the major biographies, campaign histories, logistical studies, and monographs that examine the occupations of defeated lands. These last two topics are less than exciting and easy for even historians to overlook and Keegan's inclusion of them is important. Sir John's focus is broad, but he tends to only discuss the English-language literature. Still, the vast amount of entries in that one language is daunting. In short, "The Battle for History" is an easy read and a good, quick introduction to the topic.

Keegan's "Battle" is a great starting point for any reader that wants to have a more scholarly appreciation for World War II literature. This reviewer should caution however, that readers should not expect a long involved historiographical discussion of the major trends in WWII scholarship since 1945. Instead, what this book presents is a long bibliographical survey of the major books, and at the same time Keegan's reviews what he surmises as the best effort in any one category. It is true Mr. Keegan ignores the revisionist wing of WWII scholarship such as Gar Alperovitz, but does caution his readers that there is an emerging trend towards conspiratorial theses, especially involving foreknowledge of a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Two weak points are that Keegan sometimes confuses his books, and his mistake on the starting date for Operation Barbarossa is surprising, to say the least. Nevertheless, what Keegan presents here is a great starting point for an upper level World War II, or military history class.