Concise, Interesting and Entertaining

Beevor interweaves the stuff of war history - major campaigns, sea battles, the outcome of strategic decisions and the personalities involved, with the often gory detail of human suffering on a grand scale and post-event analysis which poses some interesting what-if scenarios. Humour occasionally lightens the mood - with the British General Staff and Il Duce's army bearing the brunt. Barrett's narration is excellent and he copes well with German, Russian and Japanese names and ranks. An often enlightening read which should be on the school curriculum, and read by all, lest we forget.

30 people found this helpful

The Book on the Second World War!

I have always wanted to read a book which gives a clear and accurate view of the second world for. This is that book. This never glamourises the War and it plays down the propaganda and the myths. In fact on reading this book i feel that no nation comes out with credit - just some were more guilty then others.

The book delves deep into the detail and it pulls no punches. this isn't a boys adventure tale. Its War and the worst of it.

Its so fascinating to see what strange and evil alliances the War bought together and I have never ever realised that some of the German allies were so close to the Uk. How the British had to fight the French after their surrender to Germany in some instances and how there was several nations who changed sides during the War - not just Italy.

The book delves into the reasons and the start of the War and Britain does not fare well. The brits were slow to start and let several nations down with their lack of support. France - then a super army never delivered and surprisingly fell to the Germany quickly and Italy panders to Germany without engaging in the War. America has to be cajoled into the War and it costs the Brits substantially to get them to join. Facts I never knew.

Its a big book an at times hard to follow - well at the start at least. But its well worth reading on. i just couldn't wait to get back into the book.

This book will be seen as THE BOOK ON THE SECOND WORLD WAR - I am sure of that.

38 people found this helpful

An excellent and gripping listen

Having greatly enjoyed this author's previous work, which dealt in fine detail with some of the great set piece battles of the Second World War, I was intrigued to see how he would cope with the broad canvas of the entire war. The book (both part one and two) proved to be an excellent and gripping listen. One of the great strengths of Mr Beevor's previous books was the fine detail showing the individual's experience of history. I was pleased that despite that despite the vast sweep of the subject matter, he still finds room for this fine detail.
Well read by Sean Barrett.

8 people found this helpful

Come for the story, stay for the voice

Overall: very good
It took a while to get used to the voice and I ended up appreciating each pronounciation -- especially the German and Russian bits.
On to part two...

6 people found this helpful

Inhumane Madness

Would you consider the audio edition of The Second World War, Part One: The Phoney War to Stalingrad to be better than the print version?

I would say about equal but it is good to have both as the written book can be easier used as reference especially to remind th unbelievable numbers of poor soles who died for no purpose or reason

What did you like best about this story?

The reminder of history and the madness of War

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The short story of the young Korean boy caught up in three wars

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Nor really possible for me

Any additional comments?

Excellent and outstanding

4 people found this helpful

Makes only a caricature of Churchill

This book is very well narrated. Kudos to Sean Barrett, whose reading of it is without flaw.

As for the content, be warned, it is, in places, gruesomely detailed, holding back none of the horrific detail of the events that happened. For anyone who listens with small children present, the material is not suitable for them, and neither is it suitable for anyone who would be disturbed by hearing graphic descriptions of some of the most heinous acts that men can inflict upon other men, women and children. No atrocity is taboo in this book, though it is written in about as matter of fact a way as it is possible to relay such terrible events.

However, when it comes to representations of the Allied political and military leaders, and particularly Sir Winston Churchill, the book approaches lampooning them. One almost gets the impression that Churchill was little better than a bumbling buffoon, and some of the more prominent allied Generals little better. Also, the author seems to think he knows how the individual leaders felt and thought about each other without giving actual documentary evidence for the assertions and assumptions he makes. I have no idea why the author felt he had to represent these leaders in this way, as he does not do this with the Nazi leaders, but for this reason alone, I would strongly recommend anyone who is interested in this subject take the descriptions of the interactions between the leaders with a large pinch of salt and read other historical accounts which give a much more objective and realistic account of the interaction between the allies.

All in all, if you can stomach some of the contents and listening to the denigration of men who put their hearts, souls and lives into serving their countries, the book does give a comprehensive account of the various conflicts that came together to become what we now call the Second World War.

3 people found this helpful

Highly recommend.

One of the best, in both clarity and informative, (and no bias), books I, have ever read on WW2. Should be standard read for thinking people. Excellent!

2 people found this helpful

Just the right level of detail

This book provided a brilliantly informative outline of the first half of the WW2. It had enough detail in it to give a good picture of what went on, where and with who. But wasn't so detailed that it became boring and lost the plot (Churchill's autobiography did this).

If you are looking to start learning about WW2 then this is the book for you. I would also recommend the 'Rise and fall of the 3rd Reich'. It will be equally suitable for someone who knows a fair bit but wants to fill in the gaps.

2 people found this helpful

Hard Slog to get through

First of all I'm a huge fan of Anthony Beevor books Stalingrad Berlin DDay etc but I found this book a real challenge to get through so much so it took me a couple of months to get to the end .I had to to keep going back to it in-between other audio books .Far to much of this book was taken up by the leaders and generals of the countries involved so much so it became very mundane and did not do justice to the ordinary soldiers in the second world war

1 person found this helpful

Heavy going.

Heavy going but well worth the effort - quite upsetting in parts - I tended to ration myself to no more than 2 chapters a day - reading something lighter in parallel. Reading this you understand why a lot of soldiers are reluctant to talk about the war.

1 person found this helpful