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Great Battles for Boys #4

Great Battles for Boys: WW2 Europe

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"This book should be in school libraries everywhere. It is a treasure trove of information that is engagingly written ...." Top 500 Amazon Reviewer

Unforgettable History!

Great Battles for Boys is the best-selling history series that sends young readers into the fight. Learn about military leaders, weapons, and strategies.

Want Boys to Read Books? Give them books they WANT to read!

Filled with amazing historic photographs, maps, and short, powerful chapters, Great Battles for Boys captures the attention of even reluctant readers. History leaps off the page through the blood, sweat, and sacrifice of men at war. Learn how these conflicts shaped the world, and why "Freedom isn't free."

In this episode, the story opens with Hitler's rise to power in 1930s Germany, followed by his devastating invasion of Poland that launched World War II. In chronological order, the crucial battles storm across Europe and into North Africa, including:




The Battle of Britain: Germany's attempt to invade the United Kingdom
The Winter War: a tiny tribe of Finish soldiers defeats Stalin's massive Red Army
The Battle of Kursk: World's largest tank battle smolders on the Eastern front
North Africa: German General Rommel's Afrika Korps almost crush the Allies
Invasion of Sicily: British spies fool the Nazis
D-Day: the heroic Normandy invasion
Battle of the Bulge: Hitler invades Belgium and stuns novice American troops
"I strongly recommend this book, particularly to young readers who aren't provided this kind of insight in standard texts." -- Randolph Carter Harrison, retired officer Army Special Forces, former head of media relations, The Boeing Company, and author of West from Yesterday.

186 pages, Paperback

First published December 5, 2014

193 people are currently reading
337 people want to read

About the author

Joe Giorello

30 books27 followers
Joe Giorello teaches a highly popular middle-grade class in the Seattle area called “Great Battles for Boys." Find out more at his website, http:// www.greatbattlesforboys.com, or at the Facebook page for Great Battles: https:// www.facebook.com/greatbattles

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Community Reviews

5 stars
199 (69%)
4 stars
56 (19%)
3 stars
22 (7%)
2 stars
4 (1%)
1 star
7 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
12 reviews
December 4, 2018
Ignore the 5-star reviews and Amazon suggestions. This book is a self-published mess. Go look for yourself on the Amazon "Look Inside" feature, and you'll quickly realize that this is not the book to buy for your son (or daughter). Poor grammar structure and sloppy opinions masquerading as stories about WWII's great battles do not make this book worth the money. Thankfully my five minutes of research online about this book saved me the money and annoyance of making another wasted purchase on Amazon.
136 reviews1 follower
October 6, 2023
My name is Faxon. I'm 9 years old and I love these books because they really tell the story how it happened. The words are easy to read and not big. I recommend this book to boys and girls all over the world.
Profile Image for Mary.
14 reviews3 followers
March 4, 2023
This would be a great read for high school aged students. The only thing I did not like about the book was the movie suggestions at the end of each chapter. Most of the movies they suggested would not be appropriate for kids to watch.
Profile Image for Jackson W.
7 reviews1 follower
May 25, 2022
The Great Battles books were written for boys who don't like to read. It gives a review of the battle of history. This book begins with Hitler's invasion of Poland and take you through the different battles in World War II. The book goes through the battle in order. It gives a detailed account.
One of the detailed accounts is of Stalingrad's street fighting where he fought in hand to hand combat. The book also talks about the world's largest tank action at Kursk which involved 6,000 tanks. Operation Husky is where Sicily was invaded, led by spies. It also talks about the surprise invasion of Normandy. Known as D-Day. Overall this book was ok.
Profile Image for Tricia Mingerink.
Author 12 books453 followers
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December 14, 2023
Proofing this book before giving to my nephews for Christmas. The battles are told with the factual details, even if those details are gory, but without the writing lingering in a gruesome manner that would be inappropriate for the target age-range.

Content Note: Quotes from soldiers are kept entirely accurate, including any language. D*** and h*** are the most common. No S*** or f-bombs. If you are uncomfortable with your younger boys reading that kind of language, you may wish to proof with a black market on hand.
2 reviews
July 19, 2018
Good reading, a real primer for those interested in WW2 history!

Stories of WW2 well written and very readable, enjoyed reading it and learned much more than I have Learned from previous readings. Recommend this as a primer for younger minds wanting to learn something about their ancestor's experience's during WW2. I would recommend it for high school use.
2 reviews2 followers
July 22, 2018
Great book for teaching high school

This is a wonderful simple book that covers many complex ideas which are not in high school history books. The stories are written in such a way as to captivate the audience and not make history teachers go crazy due to historical inaccuracies. I prefer the Pacific and would recommend reading that first.
Profile Image for Rob Erekson.
41 reviews3 followers
August 24, 2020
From an adult standpoint, this book was obviously very, very basic. However, my (9 year-old) son chose this book and I read it with him (he’d read 2 or 3 chapters, then I’d catch up). He really enjoyed the book and it led to us being able to discuss the Nazi uprising in Europe and all the atrocities that came with it.
215 reviews1 follower
March 26, 2023
Listened to this with our 12 year old son who doesn’t particularly like to read. He was very interested in the story of World War II. This is a well written documentary style book that helps young people understand important events in our country’s history. We will be listening to more books in the series.
137 reviews2 followers
August 13, 2022
I really liked it. I thought that it was really interesting and factual and it made want to turn the pages. This book is appropriate for ages 10 and up. As a young adult reader I think that kids interested in European warfare in world war II should try this to read this book.
Profile Image for Kristy.
152 reviews
February 22, 2024
This book is an excellent introduction to WWII for kids. It highlights key battles and also includes a chapter on the holocaust. The author provides additional books, films, etc for students to read or watch to learn more about the war. My son thoroughly enjoyed it.
2 reviews1 follower
March 21, 2020
So interesting

Sooooooooooooo o o o o o o o o o o o o o. O o o o o. O o o o o o o o good good very goood
1 review
May 6, 2020
This is a great book

I am a ww2 fanatic and try to get all the information I can and this gave very critical information i like this book five stars
Profile Image for Chelsea B..
3 reviews3 followers
May 18, 2021
While a great read and might be a good start to get reluctant readers to read, I was disappointed in not seeing where information was found for fact checking st times.
11 reviews1 follower
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August 20, 2021
Read it over summer it is really gud
6 reviews3 followers
Read
January 14, 2022
I think it is a good book it has a lot of world war 2 battles in the book.
Profile Image for Matthew Hamlin.
5 reviews
September 6, 2022
I liked the pictures and some of the paragraphs, I read some of it with my grandpa and he said he liked it.
Profile Image for Amy.
345 reviews
September 19, 2024
I read this with my teenage son. The chapters are short and filled with interesting facts and narrative. He and I both learned a lot about the war.
9 reviews
April 30, 2025
🪖🙏🕵‍♀️🕵‍♂️🇬🇧🇩🇪🌍☣⚔💂💂‍♀️🇲🇫🇯🇵🇮🇹🇺🇲🇲🇫 England =✌
16 reviews
August 10, 2025
This book is 3.5 stars. It’s really great. It goes into great detail about the war and is overall a good book. 100% recommend to history buffs.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews

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