Customer Reviews

The History Buff's Guide to World War II

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Like his very good earlier "History Buff" book on the American Civil War, this one is built around nearly thirty "Ten Best" and "Ten Worst" lists, which provide the springboard for brief discussions of an amazing variety of topics. Some are predictable, like most important (i.e., influential) speeches by world leaders, and most important battles, and most important causes of the war. Others delve into subjects you're less likely to be familiar with, like similarities between Stalin and Hitler, and most important forms of civilian resistance (which probably are not what you would have predicted). He has some cogent things to say about military commanders, too; Patton mostly wasn't as egotistical as he is often portrayed, and Rommel wasn't nearly as competent. And he has absolutely nothing good to say about Chiang Kai-Shek (fair enough) and almost as many heavy criticisms of Bernard Montgomery (ditto). I was a bit surprised at the nonappearance of Marshal Timoshenko from the book, though. Like the previous book, this one should have you jotting down topics for later research. I was born during World War II but for, say, college-age readers, the events of the war are as far removed as the Spanish-American War would be for me. For that reason alone, I recommend this book to anyone who thinks "history" must automatically be "ancient."

My hubby is a history lover so I thought this would be a good Christmas gift for him. I looked at the book & thought it was fine. Hopefully he will like it too.