What They Didn't Teach You About World War II by Mike Wright

by Mike Wright

The author of "What They Didn't Teach You About the Civil War" now turns his attention to World War II and shows readers the human side of the war. In a deeply affecting tale, Mike Wright tells of those who marched to recruiting stations, and others who stood in lines to buy meat for their tables and gasolines for their cars, both heavily rationed commodities. This is more the story of the vitality and resilience of human beings than of the violence of battle. 18 photos. 352 pp.

Genres: History, War, Nonfiction, World War II, The World

Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Phillip Sawyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book that is written in an easy to understand entertaining voice. Frequently makes connections when presenting information that I already knew. Most of the information is available in very dry Wikipedia articles and Mr. Wright has done a good job of breathing some energy into often heard facts. If World War II is "new" to you, this book is a good place to start for an overview of the events. If you have studied the war, you could easily read just those chapters which intrigues you. The author covers all aspects of the war, Europe, the Pacific, homefront, and tries to gives various perspectives of the English, German, Japanese, and American.

Some have accussed the book of being too American centric. It is true that the book was written for an American audience. But I didn't feel that "both" sides of the story wasn't being told. In each chapter, the author addresses the subject from each of the Allies and Axis' perspectives. I look forward to reading Mr. Wright American Revolution book in the future. This was my first time reading a Mike Wright book.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although previous What They Didn't Teach You books did not live up to my expectations, I still decided to give this one a try. I actually liked it better than the volume I finished immediately before starting this one, which surprised me. Perhaps it is because I feel I know less about WWII than about the Old West. Yet I still question the author's reliability, if what he wrote is actually verifiable.

[Jansen Wee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beyond the few interesting trivia (largely America-centric), this book really offers little to anyone who has read a little about World War II history. The book has a disproportionate focus on the US perspective, with coverage on other significant aspects of World War II being seemingly token, or just the bare minimum to warrant the title. Maybe the title sgould be "What They Didn't Teach You About the US anorld War II". Another minor point is the arbitrary use of section dividers, some of them smack in the middle of an issue being discussed. An irritation.

[Amilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like it a lot so far. In so much, that I actually want to own a copy (I rent from the library). Its got interesting tidbits and World War II is already interesting to me. Makes me want to know even more about the war.
And I like how its divided up so easily and clearly with interesting topics for each chapter. Its got its own chapters just for airplanes and another just for submarines--how cool!

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading history books. Found this series by Mike Wright to be very thought provoking. I never knew about most of this from high school history classes. Very interesting stuff, I think his "What they didn't teach you about..." series should be in history classes.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting! See the War through the eyes of a GI and you will not look at history the same.