The Second World War by Antony Beevor (PDF)

Description

A masterful and comprehensive chronicle of World War II, by internationally bestselling historian Antony Beevor. Over the past two decades, Antony Beevor has established himself as one of the world’s premier historians of WWII. His multi-award winning books have included Stalingrad and The Fall of Berlin 1945. Now, in his newest and most ambitious book, he turns his focus to one of the bloodiest and most tragic events of the twentieth century, the Second World War. In this searing narrative that takes us from Hitler’s invasion of Poland on September 1st, 1939 to V-J day on August 14, 1945 and the war’s aftermath, Beevor describes the conflict and its global reach — one that included every major power. The result is a dramatic and breathtaking single-volume history that provides a remarkably intimate account of the war that, more than any other, still commands attention and an audience. Thrillingly written and brilliantly researched, Beevor’s grand and provocative account is destined to become the definitive work on this complex, tragic, and endlessly fascinating period in world history, and confirms once more that he is a military historian of the first rank.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Thanks to recent good World War Two books (such as the masterpiece “Inferno” by Max Hastings) and enduring WWII classics, readers have a wealth of great WWII history books to choose from. The world tore itself apart in flames of war sweeping across planet Earth. 70 million people horrifically died. Beevor’s WWII overview of WWII is especially good at filling in important details.See WWII book list below.Now Antony Beevor, an accomplished British historian of the Second World War (including “Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege”), has produced a comprehensive narrative of World War II that is one of the best. So much information is packed in each concise paragraph. Some of the stories are astonishing: Unprecedented combat violence across the globe. Cold exterminations. Textbook military tactics and misguided blunders. Rapes. Critical strategic interpretations are sometimes amiss or missing, unfortunately in this book, including the aims of Nazi ideology and USA’s emerging influence for a new post-war world of free determination and free trade, as compared to the world before WWII with colonialism and the Versailles Treaty.Contrasting Beevor’s “Second World War” against other great and recent WWII overview books, this book has fewer gaps in details, without the book seeming scattered. For example, “Storm of War” by British historian Andrew Roberts focuses on Hitler and has “must read” interpretations, but the coverage of the Pacific is light. In contrast, Beevor’s book has great coverage of Japan’s overlooked war in China that killed millions and details other important areas. The bloodbath Eastern Front is covered well in both books. “Inferno” by Max Hastings, also British, tells the overall story of the war brilliantly and adds the individual’s experience but omits essential strategic issues, such as the Atlantic Charter. Beevor, in contrast, is more comprehensive. Gerhard Weinberg (A World at Arms) brilliantly covers strategic dimensions, including Hitler and USA, while Beevor’s book has better battle coverage but it misses the Nazi story and USA’s strategic role, and Beevor’s bibliography (at his website) does not include the best books on the strategic dynamics of USA. John Keegan (Second World War) sticks to the major military battles. Martin Gilbert (Second World War) abruptly begins with the invasion of Poland and hardly covers the Pacific.See book list below. You will want to supplement Beevor’s detailed book with other WWII books because some interpretations are debatable or missing. As an example, hundreds of thousands of French civilians packed-up and fled to the southwest away from the coming Germans, jamming the roads, and Beevor declares, “Once again it was the women who bore the brunt of the disaster and who rose to the occasion with self-sacrifice and calm. The men were the ones in tears of despair.” Wow, that’s a broad statement about a lot of people. As another example, Storm of War details how Hitler made a critical blunder in ordering the German tanks to stop from advancing into Dunkirk because of perceived soft ground and ideological neutrality with Britain, while Beevor just says Hitler stopped because his advancing forces were thin. Read other books (see list below), including books articulating Franklin Roosevelt’s post-war influence for collective security to prevent world war 3, USA transitioning from isolationism to superpower, the Atlantic Charter based on FDR’s freedom ideals and decline of colonialism, pivoting from Churchill’s pecking at the Europe underbelly to the invasion of D-Day urged by US generals, the destruction of the Nazi Third Reich, the establishment of economically strong democracies in Germany and Japan, and post-war economic stability to prevent another Great Depression. (Weinberg: A WORLD AT ARMS; Black: FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT CHAMPION OF FREEDOM; Borgwart: A NEW DEAL FOR THE WORLD; Louis: IMPERIALISM AT BAY; Fenby: ALLIANCE THE INSIDE STORY OF HOW ROOSEVELT, STALIN AND CHURCHILL WON ONE WAR AND BEGAN ANOTHER; O’Connor: DIPLOMACY FOR VICTORY). That was a sharp contrast to the Versailles Treaty and world of colonialism before WWII.Churchill was furious about the Atlantic Charter because he wanted colonialism but needed U.S. help. Later in 1944, Churchill and Stalin made a secret deal in Moscow called the “Percentages Agreement” or “Naughty Deal” to give USSR primary control of Eastern Europe countries, a sell-out of those countries, and Britain influence in Greece (and not self determination). Churchill told Stalin, “Might it not be thought rather cynical if it seemed we had disposed of these issues so fateful to millions of people, in such an offhand manner? Let us burn the paper.” Stalin replied, “No, you keep it.” Beevor discloses that but says nothing about FDR’s post-war vision from the start, instead making him look naive at Yalta. Actually, the Yalta agreement called for free elections and proclaimed the freedom of self-determination, using Atlantic Charter language. President Ronald Reagan later said, “We reject any interpretation of the Yalta agreement that suggests American consent for the division of Europe into spheres of influence. ON THE CONTRARY, we see that agreement as a pledge by the three great powers to restore full independence and to allow free and democratic elections in all countries liberated from the Nazis after World War II.” A great book on the cold war by Oxford Scholar and Thatcher adviser Archie Brown is “Rise and Fall of Communism,” and another great Cold War Book is “The Cold War: A New History” by John Lewis Gaddis.Here are my personal top WWII general history picks, other than Beevor’s “The Second World War,” in no particular order:1.

⭐is a masterpiece and the best WWII book I have read. It blends personal stories with the overall story (but misses some strategic aspects, so read a good FDR biography and “A World at Arms.”)2.

⭐is a masterpiece overall history with unsurpassed coverage of strategic perspectives, especially Nazi aims and USA.3.

⭐won the National Book Award and is a phenomenal story of Hitler.4.

⭐is a masterpiece savage combat memoir.5.

⭐is the best book on the Pacific War and a great read.6.

⭐won the Francis Parkman Prize and is an excellent biography. Also consider conservative Conrad Black’s “Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion Of Freedom,” which the Economist called “a masterpiece” and is great at US WWII foreign policy. Consider the Pulitzer Prize-winning “No Ordinary Time” by Doris Kearns Goodwin or the Roosevelt biography by Brands. Consider the Francis Parkman Prize winning “COMMANDER IN CHIEF: FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT, HIS LIEUTENANTS, AND THEIR WAR,” the best book on USA’s war leadership.7.

⭐is an excellent overview of WWII and has must-read interpretations.8.

⭐won the Pulitzer Prize.9.

⭐won the Pulitzer Prize.10.

⭐, the best DVD documentary on World War Two and an entertainment masterpiece.British historians Keegan and Gilbert each wrote fine histories also called “The Second World War.”THE ATLANTIC CHARTER, signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston S. Churchill (in Roosevelt’s handwriting for both and FDR’s vision and urging):”The President of the United States of America and the Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill, representing His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom, being met together, deem it right to make known certain common principles in the national policies of their respective countries on which they base their hopes for a better future for the world.”First, their countries seek no aggrandizement, territorial or other;”Second, they desire to see no territorial changes that do not accord with the freely expressed wishes of the peoples concerned;”Third, they respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live; and they wish to see sovereign rights and self government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them;”Fourth, they will endeavor, with due respect for their existing obligations, to further the enjoyment by all States, great or small, victor or vanquished, of access, on equal terms, to the trade and to the raw materials of the world which are needed for their economic prosperity;”Fifth, they desire to bring about the fullest collaboration between all nations in the economic field with the object of securing, for all, improved labor standards, economic advancement and social security;”Sixth, after the final destruction of the Nazi tyranny, they hope to see established a peace which will afford to all nations the means of dwelling in safety within their own boundaries, and which will afford assurance that all the men in all the lands may live out their lives in freedom from fear and want;”Seventh, such a peace should enable all men to traverse the high seas and oceans without hindrance;”Eighth, they believe that all of the nations of the world, for realistic as well as spiritual reasons must come to the abandonment of the use of force. Since no future peace can be maintained if land, sea or air armaments continue to be employed by nations which threaten, or may threaten, aggression outside of their frontiers, they believe, pending the establishment of a wider and permanent system of general security, that the disarmament of such nations is essential. They will likewise aid and encourage all other practicable measures which will lighten for peace-loving peoples the crushing burden of armaments.”

⭐Following the download of this book, I had a moment of buyer’s remorse. Why was I purchasing yet another history of The Second World War? Having read many covering the entire war and greater numbers on various aspects of the conflict, was I really going to discover anything I had not already learned?My interest in this period can be traced back to the books in my father’s den. Among them was a collection from Time-Life on the war. I can still visualize the photo of Wavell & O’Connor discussing strategy in the desert, the Japanese tanker’s flame-thrown skull, and the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square. Those images were the catalyst for decades of military history reading. Thankfully, historians like Beevor, Atkinson, Evans and others have done us a service with fresh, rich research and writing.Beevor’s decision to tackle this “amalgamation of conflicts” must have been daunting. The scale of the conflict boggles the mind. The complexity of decision-making and the range of personalities involved will never truly be comprehended. I have tended to follow the Western conflict more and specifically the ground battles but Beevor does an admirable job in the Pacific (and with the air and sea wars). In fact, he contends and shows how the German and Japanese conflicts deeply influenced each other and states that the “Second World War defies generalization”.Not only was the Second World War an amalgamation of conflicts, it’s origins were an amalgam of issues dating back to the Treaty of Versailles and earlier. Beevor’s treatment begins with a satisfying analysis and review of those issues whereas so many histories commence with Germany’s invasion of Poland. It was a war of ideology on the surface but when it is objectively analyzed, economics were underpinning both Germany and Japan’s motivations and decision-making.There is one thread in the book that is not emphasized by Beevor and that is the impact of the fall of France and the resulting Vichy government. Throw in the performances of Petain, Gamelin, Darlan, Wygand, Reynaud, and de Gaulle and it becomes difficult to find one single thing that is positive about French conduct. Even the storied Resistance is being exposed as not as widespread or effective as it has been credited. It may be that post-war propaganda created an inflated mystique to make up for the sins of Vichy.I am not that harsh and recognize that though strategically and tactically bested, many French formations fought with valor in 1940. For me, it is the fact that France’s capitulation had such huge and far-flung ramifications. Without the captured French motor-transport, Hitler would have been severely limited in mobility during the invasion of the Soviet Union and Japanese aircraft flying from Vichy airfields in Indochina would not have sunk British vessels. Perhaps more fascinating is how France’s fall impacted its colonies including laying the groundwork for the extended Vietnam conflict. So much turned on the Fall of France that it is worthy of a separate treatment.But many aspects of World War Two require their own study given its magnitude. The conflict in China is another example. The Communists did not deserve to win the country given their strategy and performance against the Japanese – it was both cowardly and opportunistic. Certainly the Nationalists were corrupt but at least they were fighting for China and running the country at the same time. And that fighting tied up close to 700,000 Japanese soldiers that benefited the Allies’ Asia campaign immensely.Another aspect needing its own history is Ukraine and the Nationalist movements who tried to use the conflict to gain independence. According to Beevor “older, more religious Ukrainians had been encouraged by the black crosses on the German armoured vehicles, thinking that they represented a crusade against Godless Bolshevism.” We now know that these Nationalist movements fought the Soviet forces midway through the 1950’s with some battles being of regiment size.Beevor’s research has turned up new material. Among the most contentious is Japan’s dehumanizing of troops in their militaristic society and revelations of that army’s use of prisoners as food sources. He rightfully points out the Peleliu is the battle in the Pacific that deserves more recognition. It was the worst and unbelievably could have been bypassed. Nimitz’s rare mistake accounted for nearly 10,000 Marine casualties. This is similar to Monty’s decision after the capture of Antwerp not to immediately clear The Scheldt that ended up costing the Canadians 12,873 casualties.Other intriguing aspects include Italy’s preparations, strategies, and performance being extremely poor. Even the well-trained Italian Alpine Corps, the Alpini, were badly supplied and resorted to making footwear from the tires of Soviet vehicles. Incredibly, 8,000 Allied bomber aircrew died in training accidents equaling roughly one-seventh of their total casualties. During the war years in France, “The average height of boys dropped by seven centimetres and of girls by eleven centimetres” due to food shortages. And the Kursk battle has always focused on tanks but Beevor notes that “the aerial engagements were among the most intense of the whole of the Second World War.” The book is replete with these facts and observations.The author points out that, “Alliances are complicated enough in victory, but in defeat they are bound to produce the worst recriminations imaginable.” That is because wars produce such amazing personalities, both good and bad. My enjoyment of history has evolved into the study of human behavior in extreme circumstances. For me, that brings history to life and historians who can write with this dimension in mind are to be lauded.George Marshall never ceases to amaze me with his quiet statesmanship and outstanding organizational skills. Then you have Fredenhall – the incompetent, Kesselring – the Luftwaffe leader who exceled at the defensive ground war, Wingate – the manic-depressive eccentric. There are just so many characters and personalities including Bradley who never impressed me so it was interesting to see the author reveal him as ruthless and ambitious even though he was presented as down-home folksy. It turns out that public relations was very sophisticated and used liberally with Rommel posing for magazine photos, MacArthur making monumental press-worthy pronouncements, Monty taking all the credit for success (he owes the RAF much for the desert victory), and the buffoonish Mark Clark who had a team of 50 public relations professionals burnishing his image in Italy.Increasingly General Vatutin of the Soviet army is being viewed as one of the war’s more creative commanders (especially in the Soviet forces). He might have been the one entering Berlin had he not succumbed to injuries in 1944 after being ambushed by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (in 1920 he had fought against the Ukrainian peasant partisans of Nestor Makhno).Clearly, the war was won on the Eastern Front. The sheer size of the conflict there is confirmed in the losses of soldiers, citizens and materiel (the statistics become mind numbing in scale with half a million dead at Stalingrad alone). For the Soviets to bounce back, it took not only feeding men into meat grinder battles (which they have been appropriately criticized for) but also the ability to put their economy on a war footing and to gain sophistication in intelligence gathering, camouflage, battlefront deceptions, and inter-service coordination. Certainly, the scale of forces and their vast geography ultimately made for the Soviet victory but so did a conscious decision not to be rigid in doctrine.So after reading my buyer’s remorse dissipated. There are fresh insights and research and the author’s style always engages. However, it is clear that Beevor is overwhelmed. The last quarter seems rushed which takes away from the fact that the conflict was actually escalating towards its end (the German army lost 451,742 dead in January, 1945 alone). As extraordinary as his talents are, it is just too daunting a topic. This amalgam cannot be generalized and given its scale, difficult to distill without losing its complexity.

⭐Just purchased this book and it is a mega-size retelling of the Second World War. Not being a historian or general reader of history in any way, I decided to jump in at one of the chapters about half-way through the book: the chapter titled Barbarossa. This, of course, as most readers of history almost certainly know, is about the invasion of Russia. I knew a little of this, reasoning that if this chapter read well and I enjoyed it, then the rest of the book would probably be of the same calibre.Within minutes, I was totally absorbed in the story. After a few initial names that I didn’t recognise, simply because I hadn’t read any preliminary chapters, I just couldn’t put the book down. Antony Beevor writes so well and was maintaining my interest throughout. I even felt that I was reading a novel at one stage, for his little asides on detail drew pictures right before your eyes. Here’s Beevor, for example, describing the Russians getting ready for their invasion:“In the early hours of 22 June, right down the belt of eastern Europe from the Baltic to the Black Sea, tens of thousands of German officers began glancing at their synchronized watches with the light of a shaded torch. Right on time, they heard aero-engines to their rear. The waiting troops looked up into the night sky as massed squadrons of the Luftwaffe streamed overhead, flying towards the gleam of dawn along the vast eastern horizon.”Such descriptions bring a certain beauty to the book even though it describes the many horrors of war.If you are anything like me you can dip into the odd chapter here and there (basically due to time constraints) and still be quickly immersed in this story of the Second World War. This is because Mr Beevor is such a great writer, who has written here such a fine and thorough history of the war, I doubt if there will be a better rendition for a very long time.The book is not only for the interested history buff. It is for general readers like myself. People who just want to get a hold a story told in such a way that it will educate and entertain them at the same time. Top marks to Antony Beevor for achieving this. Highly recommended.I hope you find my review helpful.

⭐I am sure the author has researched this book thoroughly but I have to ask how did we win the war? All commanders were regarded as incompetent or a megalomaniac, his views of Montgomery, Eisenhower and Churchill in particular are negative. His dismissal of Mountbatten as being over promoted is an insult. Not just the allied leaders but the axis as well.An over abundance of information about China is ridiculous particularly compared to the Burma campaign which hardly rates a mention, what about the River Kwai in Thailand? not just a film you know. He also ignores the brave fight by the Merchant Navy in their Arctic supply routes to Russia.Having said that some of it is gripping but the ultimate feeling is one of frustration.

⭐This is a monumental work that taught me so much I didn’t know about WW2. Covering the whole conflict necessarily sometimes particular aspects aren’t dealt with in great depth and giving information on which battalion was involved in which battle was TMI for me and distracting. It is more a factual account rather than one of personal experiences, so if you want the latter it might not be for you.Numerous times casualties of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands are mentioned, bringing home the absolute horror of that war and all wars. The sufferings of soldiers and civilians were unimaginable, and yet even today our political leaders are still ready to resort to war often for dubious reasons.It seems crazy how a group of a few evil leaders could have engineered so much death and destruction, but they did. Sadly the same potential for that remains. Let’s hope we remember and learn from the dreadful lessons of the past described in this book. As the horrors of WW2 disappear from our collective memory, the risk of history repeating itself grows.

⭐Despite having studied history at uni and read a lot of WW2 history, mostly focused on the origins and aftermath of the war, I realised I’d never actually read a chronologicial account of the war itself.Anthony Beevor’s account is exactly what I was looking for – straightforward, well written and encompassing both the military and political battles that occurred. What I loved about most this book is that it gives you the context in which leaders had to make decisions. It very easy to look at WW2 events such as the Holocaust, Stalingrad, Battle of Midway etc in isolation but this book makes you just how much was going on at the same time. His account really brings home the brutality and the scale of the war.It a long book, as you’d expect, but well worth reading if you have an interest in the war.

⭐Before reading this book, I had read a bit about various aspects of World War Two, but there were still huge swathes of the subject which I didn’t know much about at all. I was drawn to this book as it covers the entirety of the conflict, all under one roof, so to speak. It’s written very engagingly, and despite having to juggle multiple simultaneous events in different corners of the globe, Beevor manages to maintain a real momentum and flow to the book – something I’ve found lacking in other history books dealing with large topics. It took me well over a month to navigate the nearly 1000 pages of this book, but I was never bored and found it very easy to read in small chunks, with chapters never exceeding more than 40 or so in length. The sheer scale of World War Two means that an exhaustive exploration of every aspect of the conflict would be impossible, but this book is an excellent, no-stone-unturned summary of the war and will provide you with a number of jumping-off points for further reading – I know it has for me.

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