Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to 20th-Century History

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I am a history major and I loved this book. It was a nice review of the 20th century. It hit all the main ideas without overwhelming the reader with too detailed facts. It is easy to read and really captures your attention, something hard for a nonfiction text-book like book to do. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a general account of the 20th century.

I picked up this book because I'm studying the Middle East conflict and wanted a general overview of what was happening in the rest of the world in the 20th century. This book did not help.

The author admits, in several places, that this book was written from an American perspective for an American reader -- and he should have added -- who is studying American history. If you're using this as background supplement for eventual study of American history, this book may help (though I would recommend "A People's History of the US" instead).

If, however, you're studying any other region around the world, this book puts too much emphasis on American events and too little emphasis on the rest of the world.

While at a book store today, I happened to notice a copy of the Complete Idiot's Guide to the 20th Century, and started flipping through it. When I stopped at the point where it described the Soviet invasion of Finland in 1939, I was appalled to see that in Alan Axelrod's alternate universe, Finland was annexed on March 12, 1940. In the universe the rest of us live in, Finland earned the distinction of being the only country in history to have defeated a Soviet attempt at annexation, and also never became a communist satellite state. In a brutal 105-day conflict that saw grossly outnumbered and out-gunned Finnish forces inflict defeat upon defeat on Soviet armies, sometimes annihilating entire Soviet divisions such as at the battle of Suomussalmi-Raate in late December 1939-early January 1940, the Finns cost the enemy 500 thousand dead, with a corresponding loss of only 25 thousand on the Finnish side. In fact, Nikita Krushchev claimed in his 1971 memoirs that soviet losses mounted as high as a million. Finland saved its independence, but did lose the Salla Heights, southern Karelia, and islands in the Gulf of Finland. Though the Finns' front lines were well east of the demarcation line forced upon them by the armistace agreement, the Finns could not keep up with the Soviets' enormous resouces of manpower and equipment. It must be remembered that Finland's entire population at the time was only about 3.6 million. In 1941, Finland went on the offensive against the Russians after they mounted sapper raids at the border and bombed Finnish targets from the air, coinciding with the German invasion of Soviet-held territory in Operation Barbarossa. Finland succeeded in regaining the territories which they had lost to communist aggression, and also occupied Soviet territory all the way out to Lake Onega for strategic reasons. By 1944, with Germany losing its war, and endless hordes of Soviet troops and weaponry coming at the Finns again, Finland again had to bow out of the war, losing the same territories lost in the Winter War, plus Petsamo province in the north-east. However, Finland again defeated the Soviet plan to destroy the nation and its people. Total Finnish losses in the Winter War and Continuation War combined were about 80 thousand, compared to losses on the Soviet side of at least a million, if not twice that number. As a Finn myself, I found the book's claim that Finland was annexed by the Soviets in March 12, 1940 (the armistice date) supremely insulting. Complete Idiot's Guide, indeed.

You can't know where you are going if you do not know where you have come from. History builds upon itself layer after layer, much like an archeological dig. This book, another in the "Idiot" series, unearths the first layer of history that covers the nation we know as the United States. It does not pretend to be an all in all encompassing book, rather, it presents the highlights of each decade and goes more in-depth in major historical events. For someone who has an interest in history and how we got to be where we are now, I enjoy reading this book, for it helps me understand the events of the past 100 years and how they shaped our current culture and government. For the more inquisitive reader, there are references for additional information cited. As with most of the other "Idiot" series of books, this book lays the scaffolding (the framework) for a definitive time in history. If the reader desires to finish the scaffolding, then additional more-detailed books and information are needed. For me, who just wants the scaffolding and not all the detail, this book worked for me. I have children in school, and we often refer to this book in their American History classes.

This volume is not superb, but it is not brain-dead boring either. It is somewhere in the middle (thus 3 stars), and it is written in a style that is entertaining and informative.

kone

While at a book store today, I happened to notice a copy of the Complete Idiot's Guide to the 20th Century, and started flipping through it. When I stopped at the point where it described the Soviet invasion of Finland in 1939, I was appalled to see that in Alan Axelrod's alternate universe, Finland was annexed on March 12, 1940. In the universe the rest of us live in, Finland earned the distinction of being the only country in history to have defeated a Soviet attempt at annexation, and also never became a communist satellite state. In a brutal 105-day conflict that saw grossly outnumbered and out-gunned Finnish forces inflict defeat upon defeat on Soviet armies, sometimes annihilating entire Soviet divisions such as at the battle of Suomussalmi-Raate in late December 1939-early January 1940, the Finns cost the enemy 500 thousand dead, with a corresponding loss of only 25 thousand on the Finnish side. In fact, Nikita Krushchev claimed in his 1971 memoirs that Soviet losses mounted as high as a million. Finland saved its independence, but did lose the Salla Heights, southern Karelia, and islands in the Gulf of Finland. Though the Finns' front lines were well east of the demarcation line forced upon them by the armistace agreement, the Finns could not keep up with the Soviets' enormous resources of manpower and equipment, and had to accept the territorial losses as a condition for bringing the war to an end. It must be remembered that Finland's entire population at the time was only about 3.6 million. In 1941, Finland went on the offensive against the Russians after they mounted sapper raids at the border and bombed Finnish targets from the air, coinciding with the German invasion of Soviet-held territory in Operation Barbarossa. Finland succeeded in regaining the territories which they had lost to communist aggression, and also occupied Soviet territory all the way out to Lake Onega for strategic reasons. By 1944, with Germany losing its war, and endless hordes of Soviet troops and weaponry coming at the Finns again, Finland again had to bow out of the war, losing the same territories lost in the Winter War, plus Petsamo province in the north-east. However, Finland again defeated the Soviet plan to destroy the nation and its people. Total Finnish losses in the Winter War and Continuation War combined were about 80 thousand, compared to losses on the Soviet side of at least a million, if not twice that number. As an ethnic Finn myself, I found the book's claim that Finland was annexed by the Soviets in March 12, 1940 (the armistice date) rather insulting. Complete Idiot's Guide, indeed.