The Second World War

by John Keegan (Author)

228 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0140113419

ISBN-10: 014011341X

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Much more than a mere chronological narrative, the history of World War II is recounted both periodically and thematically. Keegan analyzes five crucial battles, each characteristic of a distinctive kind of warfare ofthe period. Photographs, maps, diagrams.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The best one-volume treatment available, The Second World War by John Keegan is an outstanding synthesis of an enormous amount of material on "the largest single event in human history." The book proceeds chronologically through the war, but chapters appearing at appropriate moments focus on particular themes, such as war production, occupation, bombing, resistance, and espionage. Keegan's ability to translate the war's grand strategies is impressive, and the battle descriptions are superb. Generals obviously play a key role in this narrative, but ordinary soldiers also receive proper credit, as do the often-overlooked merchant marines whose heroic efforts to supply Great Britain made the Allied victory possible. Keegan, author of the landmark book The Face of Battle, is without doubt one of our greatest military historians, and here his analytical powers and skilled writing are on full display.

From Publishers Weekly

"This account of WW II, though controversial, is rich in fresh perception, interpretation and opinion. In addition to penning a fast-paced campaign chronicle, Keegan makes a convincing case for the prime motivations of Allied and Axis leaders, pinpoints the practical results of Allied summit conferences and defines the war's geopolitical dimensions," reported PW. Photos.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books (September 1, 1990)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 608 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 014011341X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140113419
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.3 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.04 x 1.37 x 9.08 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,668,968 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,798 in Military History (Books)
- #26,374 in World War II History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
228 ratings

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4 star		10%
3 star		7%
2 star		2%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Hoyt

Must have for any WW2 reader

Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2018

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I thought it was a very well written book. If you're looking for a great story, this is not for you. This has a ton of great information about WW2 that you see and read very little about in movies and novels. This is the broader picture of the war, detailing strategy, meetings and tons more.

10 people found this helpful

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EMW

Good but LONG reading

Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2019

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This 6-vol version is interesting to WWII readers although Churchill fails to give us MUCH of a clue about why he sucked up to Stalin so quickly. He mentions the commie strikes in the first war year, and that once they became allies, Stalin called off the strikes and the English communist movements cooperated. But is that it? Was that why Churchill sucked up almost IMMEDIATELY? That was such a huge mistake and his big mouth made quite a few more in those early days when he and the West would regret for deccades.

One person found this helpful

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Ron Vincent

A book I give to World War II buffs

Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2018

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Keegan shows a mastery of the details that make the fabric of World War II. He can encapsulate more salient details in a paragraph or a page than most authors can put in a chapter. I have given this book as a gift to my friends who are World War II buffs and to a person they love this book.

8 people found this helpful

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Jason G

An excellent one volume account

Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2008

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This is an excellent one volume telling of the Second World War, within its historical context, with a heavy emphasis on the strategic questions and decisions faced by the political and military high commands of the five major powers (Keegan doesn't consider Italy a major power). A long-time instructor at Sandhurst in Britain, Keegan brings to this work an ability to link the conflict within the historical flow of Europe and modern Asia, going as far back as time of Charlemagne, but especially emphasizing how the rise of Prussia in the 1700's led to the awful events of 1939 - 1945.

The center of the conflict, for Keegan, especially to the awful nature that led all sides to jump all in the worst war in human history, was with Hitler. While German militarism and its failure after World War I was the fuel for WWII, it simply would not have happened were it not for Hitler's fantasies of German expansion and superiority. Told in about 600 pages, the writing is tight and points, loaded with meaning are made so quickly and often so well, that the reader does not notice until later. That the Nazi's rose so quickly and led a populace so willing seemed surprising at the time, but in the context that Keegan puts it into, does not seem surprising at all.

The book is divided into five sections, with initial section chapters about the strategic dilemmas faced by the leaders of the five great powers at different phases of the war. As a result, Keegan places a heavy emphasis on strategy, command and control, supply chain management and home front economics and he makes all of that very interesting. So the reader will not get a shot by shot retelling of every battle. For example, the month long blood bath on Iwo Jima gets just a couple of paragraphs, but the reader will come away with a greater understanding of why Iwo Jima was fought, and what its fall to the Americans meant to the rest of the war.

Some reviewers have criticized Keegan for writing too much about the European War, in comparison to the Pacific War, and in a one volume, six hundred page book, choices did have to be made. But in this case, it seems a proportional emphasis on Europe, especially the Eastern front war between the Soviets and the Germans was right. Over 600 armed divisions fought between 1941 and 1945 in the east, with over 10 million dead. Excluding the Japanese military occupation of China, less than 20 total armed divisions fought the Pacific War, not including naval forces.

For a reader wanting a well-written, one volume account of World War II, where the conflict is placed in historical conflict, Keegan's book cannot be more highly recommended.

21 people found this helpful

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Jose M. Lopez-Marron

A masterful study of the military history of WW2.

Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2019

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Great scholarly work on WW2. Detailed, well thought out. The only flaw is that it sometimes mentions too many names, too many figures, too many places, and it becomes difficult for the reader to have a solid hold on all the information. Keegan is a courageous, intelligent and fair historian. I was so impressed by this book that I bought his book on WW1.

3 people found this helpful

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Wonderful snapshots of the people, places and times!

Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2002

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John Keegan's "The Second World War" is a masterfully written dissertation of WWII. While Keegan certainly doesn't cover every aspect of the war - he in fact explains that he will not attempt to do this in his Prologue - he does do an admirable job presenting the War contextually for readers. His separation of the War into blocks of time and space is especially critical in making this an encompassing book. Also Keegan places significance on the why's of the War - why would Germany go to war? Why did the US resist coming into the war? Why did Japan act differently than germany to it's occupied peoples? All of these questions place the battle in perspective. The battles - Keegan deals with the major ones brilliantly. I have read many WWII books but I have to say that I still learned a lot from Keegan's book - both new things and tweekings of things already learned.
"The Second World War" is certainly now part of my Must Read collection. I think this book would make a wonderful starting point for someone just showing interst in the genre, but also should be required reading for serious long-term students of WWII history.
Can't recommend it highly enough!!!!

7 people found this helpful

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Good basic overview, but beware...

Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2005

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Being a person who is getting into history later on than most, I wanted a tome to cover WW2 from beginning to end with enough detail to educate me but not to much that I got bogged down. This book fit the bill ALMOST to perfection. Keegan does a good job of covering topics without getting tied up in minutae. If you want a solid overview of WW2 I highly recommend this.

Here are a couple of things that kept it from a full 5 stars:

Keegan writes in long, divergent sentences that ramble on for line after line. He links in facts in the middle of sentences and then wanders around to making his point somewhere at the end of each one. If you imagine a long-winded British gent telling you all about how a rumor got from one person to another and every twist along the way, you have an idea of how Keegan writes. The other thing that kept me from giving it five stars is the superficiality in which topics are covered. I know, I said I wanted that kind of book. But there is so much information in this book it would have been nice if he had elaborated on a few more items. Almost any chapter in the book could be developed into a 400 page book all on its own, and some of them should have been.

Ultimately, I would recommend this book highly as a jump off place from which to go into other topics more deeply. Use it as that and you will be satisfied.

6 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

jt666

A huge book weighs a lot read it on kindle instead

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 31, 2021

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Everything about the Second World War in one book recommended reading to get things like covid into perspective

One person found this helpful

R Fleming

Three Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 31, 2018

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its a book

Christopher J. Hart

History for grownups

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 25, 2013

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This book is well written, I have other work by John Keegan and in my opinion he does a good job. Not just the facts, but you get an idea how it must have been for the people involved. I'll give it a couple of years and then read this again.

Boppinggeo

Well worth 5 stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 15, 2017

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Well written and a thoroughly good read

One person found this helpful

emily

Very good

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 12, 2013

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Very happy with this consise history of the war and it has been read by all the family with the younger ones being much better informed.

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