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One Day in a Very Long War: Wednesday 25th October 1944
This text focuses on a single day during World War II when the Allied war machine was in top gear, but victory was far from a foreseeable reality. It describes a world-wide conflict from the viewpoint of those who took part on all fronts in both Allied and Axis forces.
608 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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About the author
John Ellis
141 books22 followersJohn Ellis was born in Bradford and educated at the Universities of Sussex and Manchester. He was a lecturer in the latter's department of Military Studies. His books include The Sharp End: The Fighting Man in World War II; The Social History of the Machine Gun, Eye-Deep in Hell, an account of trench life in the Great War; Cassino: The Hollow Victory; and Brute Force: Allied Strategy and Tactics in the Second World War.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 23, 2011
shows the scale of the ww2 in a goegraphical way as well as human way, also highlights the mundane and the exceptional, its not all valour and bang bang, good read
January 18, 2015
A look at the latter stages of WW2, as based on events around the globe on and around 25 October 1944.
Of course, since a lot of memoirs and reports were general, Ellis has had to put in a lot of material in the "around" section rather than the day itself, but where he can pinpoint the day he does, even if not a lot was actually happening (troops moving into the line, or ships sailing from a to b, sort of thing).
There were a few nuggets here, and overall it was a solid read, but it could do with an editing brush. Since he wrote it in episodic form he keeps reintroducing people at the start of chapters that you had just spent a chapter with, for instance, and he occasionally gets basic factual information wrong (the B-24 'Mitchell' for example).
But the book does get the feel across for what was going on on a global scale on one day, so well done for that.
Rated PG for some war violence not heavily detailed. 3/5
Of course, since a lot of memoirs and reports were general, Ellis has had to put in a lot of material in the "around" section rather than the day itself, but where he can pinpoint the day he does, even if not a lot was actually happening (troops moving into the line, or ships sailing from a to b, sort of thing).
There were a few nuggets here, and overall it was a solid read, but it could do with an editing brush. Since he wrote it in episodic form he keeps reintroducing people at the start of chapters that you had just spent a chapter with, for instance, and he occasionally gets basic factual information wrong (the B-24 'Mitchell' for example).
But the book does get the feel across for what was going on on a global scale on one day, so well done for that.
Rated PG for some war violence not heavily detailed. 3/5
December 3, 2009
Brilliant.
What a way to understand the scope of what was truly World War.
R
What a way to understand the scope of what was truly World War.
R
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews