Customer Reviews

History of Warfare: The Second World War In The West (Cassell History of Warfare)

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Having seen the book in the store I (thought) I knew what I was getting. I was taken in by the graphics and pictures in the book. Now that I have completed the book I found the diagrams pretty confusing at times, adding only a little to the text. The text was most certainly written by a British (or "Anglo") author. Very little emphasis was made on major American (or Russian) achievements versus the emphasis on British achievements. The Americans came off as distrustful of Churchill, lesser experienced and derisive of the British. While I don't believe that was the case, the theme came through that way in this book. Additionally, no effort was spared addressing / defending the traditional complaints held against the British war effort. This has no place in a history book, in my mind -- unless that is the intent of the book. As a historian's personal opinion of the Western part of WWII, the book is fine. But as a history book, it comes off biased. Truly living up to the caution at the beginning of the book "the author's moral right has been asserted".

Cassell has been publishing these volumes for a year or so now in the United States, to reasonably good reviews. I have read several of them now (I think this is the third, and I have a fourth around here somewhere) and generally my take on them is as with other books: how good they are depends on the author. Gunther Rothenberg, the author of the volume on Napoleon, is an expert on the subject, and that shows in his book. H.P. Wilmott is an expert on carrier warfare and the Pacific War, and he wrote the volume on that, and made some intelligent points. Charles Messenger, the author of the present volume, is considered an expert on World War II in Europe, and especially in mobile warfare, so he gets the assignment here. While he does a very good job overall, he does fall short a bit in places.

One problem is scope. Messenger has a lot of ground to cover, but then so did Wilmott in his companion volume. Messenger seems lost sometimes in trying to sort out what he should talk about and what he's going to ignore. He leaves the naval aspect of the war basically aside, and does the same thing with most of the events of the air war. Instead he concentrates on the mobile warfare on the ground, which is after all his area of expertise.

Unfortunately, Messenger occasionally lets his British heritage influence influence what he writes about the war. So, for instance, the German troops on Sicily fight against the British and Canadians, while the Americans draw Italian opponents, who are easier to defeat. In reality, one of the American invasion beaches was almost overrun by a German panzer division, which was only stopped by naval gunfire.

The Soviet part in the war is dealt with in some detail, given the length of the overall book. Issues such as tank design and unit organization are covered briefly, but concisely. The strategies used by the various sides in prosecuting the war are gone over also, enough to understand the issues involved. Given the proportional sizes of the various armies, though, you could make the argument that the Eastern Front doesn't get its share of the coverage, and that the Western (and especially British) Front gets more than its fair share. Much is made, for instance, of the War in the North African desert. Though the author does note the small size of the forces involved compared with the campaigns in the east, he spends as much time on them anyway.

My review, therefore, is a bit mixed. The author certainly isn't John Keegan when it comes to crafting prose. While he's not terrible, he also doesn't come up with unconventional interpretations or reinterpretations of the war and its impact, as some of the other authors in this series do. The maps are tremendous, as always, though at least one is incomplete (the little numbered boxes are blank, unintentionally. It's fun to see if you can fill in the numbers correctly.) and sometimes the text seems only loosely connected to the maps involved.

On that note, I think I would only recommend the book to those whose interest in the Second World War is just starting. Perhaps a teenager would be interested. And of course, if the person involved is British, the emphasis would probably not be such an issue.

Mr Messinger, a noted historian and author has written a competent introduction to WWII, suitable for new students and casual readers.
The book begins after WWI and discusses the Treaty of Versailles, the startup of the League of Nations, the rise of nationalism with special attention to Mussolini and Hitler's rearmament and annexation of the late 1930s. After getting the reader acclimated to the circumstances of Europe by late 1930s, the author begins coverage of the war and includes the invasion of Poland, the Phoney war with Britain, the Russo-Finnish war, the invasion of Denmark, Norway, France, Belgium. A little bit about America's isolationism and the start up of Lend-Lease is discussed.

Moving on, North Africa, Balkans, Crete is mentioned before the invasion of Russia is covered. The Allied Offensive to take back North Africa, the invasion of Italy, the Normandy invasion, the Battle of the Bulge and the drive to Germany is then covered. The expulsion of Germans from Russia and the capture of Berlin is also given prominence.
In Retrospect, the author discusses the costs in lives and treasury spent and the destruction of so much of Europe and western Russia. A little bit is mentioned of the new technology and weaponry that was developed during the war and also the new medicines and better care for the wounded. A brief synopsis of the leaders is also levied.

Included with the narrative is 20 color maps, 118 photos and 19 illustrations. Most of the computer generated maps were either full page or dual page and include the popular engagements. Also included is an Appendix covering the career highlights of the leading commanders, a suggested reading list and index. There are no Notes.
There is also a Chronology to help frame the events of the war. Mr Messenger's "The Chronological Atlas of World War Two" is a combination Chronology and Atlas and is much more comprehensive, covering the eastern and western theatres. If your interest lies in France then Mr Messenger's "The D-Day Atlas" has greater depth and better maps.

This is a nice blend of war summary, maps and photos and would be ideal for new or casual readers of the war.

This is a very useful book for a quick and comprehensive glance of World War II in the Western Theatre.

It is an interesting work that provides a general overview of the major military campaigns in the western theatre of operations.

It is well balanced and its maps are very useful, because they provide the reader with the means to analyse quickly the most important operations.

This book is a valid part of Cassel's History of warfare, that any reader concerned with military history should read.