History Of The Second World War [Paperback]

B. H. Liddell Hart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 7, 1999

History of the Second World War, B. H. Liddell Hart's last work as well as his magnum opus, embodies the fruits of twenty years of research and a lifetime of thinking on war. It abounds with controversial judgments, including provocative assertions about the true causes behind France's defeat in 1940, Hitler's failed invasion of Russia, and Japan's stunning victory at Pearl Harbor; the effectiveness of the Allies' strategic bombing of Germany; the questionable necessity of detonating atom bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and much more. This monumental history is both a crowning achievement and a final summation by one of the greatest military thinkers of the twentieth century.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The best book of its kind.[It is] a crisp professional critique of the strategic concepts and tactical methods of all the contending forces. Liddell Hart writes with no national bias, and is as critical of British -- and Allied -- performance as of the enemy's".

-- The New Yorker

About the Author

Captain Basil Henry Liddell Hart (1895–1970) authored over thirty books on military history. Among them are: Great Captains Unveiled, Lawrence of Arabia, The Rommel Papers, Scipio Africanus, and Sherman (all available from Da Capo Press/Perseus Book Group).

Product Details

• Paperback: 784 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (May 7, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306809125
• ISBN-13: 978-0306809125
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #522,259 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Liddell Hart's final "I told you so"., April 22, 2005

By 

Epops (usa) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: History Of The Second World War (Paperback)

Captain Basil Liddell Hart was the most famous military historian of the 20th century. Everything he wrote is worth reading, and this is one of his best.

His style is clear, direct, and easy to read. He leaves you in no doubt as to what he thinks. He loves to say "I told you so", and was in a better position than most to exercise that unbecoming character trait. I don't know of any other historian who can say, as L.H. does:

"When in November, 1933, I was consulted as to how our fast tank formations - which the War Office was just beginning to form - could best be used in a future war I had suggested that, in the event of a German invasion of France, we should deliver a tank counterattack through the Ardennes. I was thereupon told that 'the Ardennes were impassible to tanks', to which I replied that, from personal study of the terrain, I regarded such a view as a delusion - as I had emphasized in several books between the wars."

Guderian's tank attack through the Ardennes in 1940 and the German Ardennes tank offensive of 1944 fully justify L.H.'s right to say "I told you so."

This is a straightforward chronological history of the military operations of the major belligerent powers of the Second World War, so much is left out that appears in more general histories. Also, it was written before the "Ultra" and other secret operations were declassified, which is a drawback. However, current thinking is shifting on the subject of just how much these operations actually contributed to Allied victory (see John Keegan's recent "Intelligence in War", for example), so that his commentary on the strategic and tactical mistakes of the various combatants is still very much worth reading. His "Epilogue", though controversial, is a brilliant and valuable summation of the overall course of the war.

He ends the book on a pessimistic note, clearly very disappointed that a war fought to defend Eastern Europe from a totalitarian power ended with a similar power in occupation of those countries:

"Thus the train of European civilization rolled into the long, dark tunnel from which it only emerged after six exhausting years had passed. Even then, the bright sunlight of victory proved illusory."

If we accept L.H.'s analysis, the Second World War didn't really end until 1989, with the demise of the USSR and the end of its long occupation of Eastern Europe.

Any student of politics, history or warfare, and anyone interested in how our world came to be the way it is, should be familiar with the writings of Basil Liddell Hart, including this book.

Highly recommended.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lesson of the Master, March 28, 2000

By 

Mark Hochberg (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: History Of The Second World War (Paperback)

Liddell Hart was one of the great military thinkers of this century. His theories of strategy and mobile warfare influenced generals on both sides in the Second World War. In this volume, he applies his powers of strategic analysis to the events of that war to provide a coherent and compelling narrative. Liddell Hart's was the first general history of World War II that gave me a sense of the overall logic of events rather than simply a collection of battle stories.

26 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Big book, big subject, big read, big distinction to be made, June 8, 2003

By 

VanGo "This place is dead anyway" (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: History Of The Second World War (Paperback)

From the outset a presumably simple question needs to be posed and answered, due to the attributed authoritativeness of author Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart. Does this history of the Second World War give an exact account of the global war between the Axis Powers and The Allies from 1939 to 1945?

The answer is emphatically yes, but a distinction must be made. This book took me two months to read, taking into account its length this was not especially poor for a general history reader. But I believe the reason behind the prolongued read is precisely because it is not an account for general readership but for the reader of military history - it is in short, a military and strategist's view of the Second World War. An important categorization that I hope is understood.

This does not mean however that its worth is negated for the general reader. Liddell Hart's history is as thorough and epic in scale as the war itself, authored by an experienced military strategist who bore witness to its prosecution, it holds unique and valuable insight. Of particular value is the inclusion of German accounts of the war from interrogations and interviews made by the author.

Great eruditeness is also shown in describing the varying campaigns, invasions, battlefields, and military plans of all sides. The sheer detail he offers is immense and because of this nothing is gleaned over, of considerable use in gathering a full account of actual fighting. In addition, something of the art if essentially chaotic nature of the war and indeed warfare as a whole is infused into the reader's mind.

Yet, all this could have been achieved with much greater effect and with less long-winded and relentless detail if it had contained more frequent accounts from the protagonists involved. Indeed if the participants in the theatre of operations were taken account of at all, this history would have added a worthwhile human dimension above the confusing tactical and strategic aspects which tended to dominate the retelling.

If it had, this account would surely have become an unsurpassable tome leaving fellow historians of WWII to fight it out for the scraps of academic esoteric obscurity that is Hitler's dietary needs and "confused sexuality".

Yet despite my craving for some sort of personal narrative, which is probably unfair in view of Liddell Hart's obvious interest and authority on strategic and military matters, this book did provide me with the knowledge of the Second World War that I had sought from the outset. It is so thoroughly detailed that it covered all of the theatres of war with particular emphasis on the campaigns in North Africa, Italy and the Battle of Britain/Atlantic.

Readers from the United States may be disappointed however at the focus of the war upon British and Soviet battles in contrast to their own vital contribution to the Allied victory, namely in the Pacific Ocean, which I might point out in mitigation was one of the strongest sections imparted. But I consider that Liddell Hart has emphasized overall fairness, the Allies together defeated the Axis powers, it was not one partner exclusively, although the Soviet Union's all-important recoiling of Hitler's invasion has been given deserved focus in the book.

I would also put forward certain caution if any readers approached this conflict without any prior knowledge of its main events, you will undoubtedly lose track of any timeline, as I occasionally did. The narrative swerves from North Africa to the Russian Steppes and the Burma jungle, with no clear indication of its importance in relation to other theatres of the war.

My judgement upon this book ultimately has to be that of conflicting middle ground however. As an account of any war it has to be regarded as a classic. As a military history of the Second World War I doubt whether the understanding of Liddell Hart or his analytical brilliance shall be surpassed, and as an historian of the Twentieth Century he is rightly regarded as amongst its most esteemed.

This book however does not fully meet the requirements of modern readers to understand the Second World War beyond the concept of armies, war production figures and "losses". It rarely goes beyond a history of the conflict that is simply one of strategic/military problem and solution. Indeed, it neglects to emphasize at all that the war involved massive human taking up of arms with the resultant consequences. A history of war without human context bears no resemblance to the actual war itself and thus I believe this book is not as authoritative as it once seemed.