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World War II #1
Prelude to War
Book 1 of the Time-Life World War II series. The editors of Time-Life Books have produced another exciting series: World War II. The Prelude to War is brought to you in extraordinary detail through vivid photography and engaging, informative text.
216 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1976
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 6, 2022
When I was a kid, Time-Life Books was constantly running commercials for THE SECRET WAR, a tell-all about WWII espionage and part of their World War II collection. Order now and you'll get a book each month! Well, I was obsessed with it so my mom sent out for the subscription. The Secret War, a later volume sent first, was pretty much the only one I ever read, and after a bit less than a year, my mom noticed and cancelled. Getting to them now, I don't think they were for my 10-12-year-old self. Not just because I lacked the context for a dive into history, but also because the pictured (the Life part of the package) included nudity, dead bodies, etc. The first book in the series (if not the first one they sent you) was Prelude to War, which details the political and military events that took place between the two world wars, or just the continuing conflict, if you like, as many modern historians consider them just one (a reasoning this book totally justifies). I expected fairly dry text, but not at all. The inter-war period is chock-full of anecdotes and small but memorable details that make these stories come alive. The copyright is 1977, so a few elements are dated (the USSR would not fall for a long time, for example), but remarks that would age like this are rare. In fact, with war pointing its ugly head in Europe again, there are many parallels to be made, whether it's the behavior and policies of fascist countries then and the rise of the hard right now, or the reasons behind invasions in either time frame. You know what they say about not knowing your history...
May 2, 2021
I thought this was a good overview of the outbreak of World War II. The aftermath of the first war is examined and includes the carving up of territories lost and gained by the losing and winning sides, the collapse of the German economy, the Russian Revolution, the rise of Fascist Italy, the Spanish Civil War, and other geopolitical issues that eventually all exploded. The neatest thing was nine different stills of Hitler practicing gesticulations (physical emphasis while speaking). The caption says Hitler would study his own body language/facial expressions and alter the movements until it produced the impact e wanted to have on his audiences. Overall good book with neat old black and white photographs.
July 31, 2025
I never got the complete set of TIME LIFE World War II books and I never completely read the ones I got. I mainly looked at the pictures and maps. But, in this one,
"Prelude to War," I read the whole text. It is a great overview of the what we now call "the interwar period" of the 20's and 30's.
The book starts with the Armistice ending "the Great War" of 1914-18 and the Versailles Treaty. Then we follow the rise of "the Soviet Spectre"--the Russian Revolution and Civil War ( including the Allied intervention) and the establishment of the the Soviet Union ( with the rise of Joseph Stalin). We then follow the rise of Mussolini and then Hitler and the establishment of two fascist powers-Italy and Germany- in Europe. Then we have the expansion of Imperial Japan into Manchuria and then all-out war in the Far East with Japan's invasion of China. A chapter looks at the failure of the League of Nations, particularly its failure to stop Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia. There is a chapter on the Spanish Civil War entitled "Dress Rehearsal in Spain." And, finally, Hitler's march to war, including his "Anscluss" with Austria and takeover of Czechoslovakia. It was the failure of the British and French policy of appeasement as the two allies learned that Hitler's demands could never be satisfied (while the United States believed it could stay safe maintaining an isolationist policy). Next would be the Nazi invasion of Poland--and the Second World War.
"Prelude to War," I read the whole text. It is a great overview of the what we now call "the interwar period" of the 20's and 30's.
The book starts with the Armistice ending "the Great War" of 1914-18 and the Versailles Treaty. Then we follow the rise of "the Soviet Spectre"--the Russian Revolution and Civil War ( including the Allied intervention) and the establishment of the the Soviet Union ( with the rise of Joseph Stalin). We then follow the rise of Mussolini and then Hitler and the establishment of two fascist powers-Italy and Germany- in Europe. Then we have the expansion of Imperial Japan into Manchuria and then all-out war in the Far East with Japan's invasion of China. A chapter looks at the failure of the League of Nations, particularly its failure to stop Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia. There is a chapter on the Spanish Civil War entitled "Dress Rehearsal in Spain." And, finally, Hitler's march to war, including his "Anscluss" with Austria and takeover of Czechoslovakia. It was the failure of the British and French policy of appeasement as the two allies learned that Hitler's demands could never be satisfied (while the United States believed it could stay safe maintaining an isolationist policy). Next would be the Nazi invasion of Poland--and the Second World War.
January 14, 2023
This Time Life series was a fond memory from my grandparents' house. As a kid, I'd flip through those pages for hours looking at pictures and reading the short segments.
Now as an adult with a reclaimed full collection, I'm reading them cover-to-cover, and this first volume is a great experience. Picking up where WWI left Germany, this volume lays out the series of events that brought three significant leaders into power and their strategic moves that set in motion a second world war. Densely packed with information and well researched for its time. There is a lot to consume (which explains why it took me 8 months to finish Volume 1) but so comprehensive and worthwhile for anyone with an interest in the subject.
One down, 38 to go...
Now as an adult with a reclaimed full collection, I'm reading them cover-to-cover, and this first volume is a great experience. Picking up where WWI left Germany, this volume lays out the series of events that brought three significant leaders into power and their strategic moves that set in motion a second world war. Densely packed with information and well researched for its time. There is a lot to consume (which explains why it took me 8 months to finish Volume 1) but so comprehensive and worthwhile for anyone with an interest in the subject.
One down, 38 to go...
March 6, 2025
I first encountered this book when I was maybe 6 or 7 years old so it's a very formative part of my experience with reading and history.
For obvious contemporary reasons I decided to pick it up yet again (as I did a few years ago with a serious reread) and I have to say that this book has aged very well (even if the world around us hasn't).
This was the first volume of Time-Life's World War II series which was a staple of the lat '70s and early 1980s. And it's a remarkable thorough book.
First, it starts in November of 1918 so it cements for us how World War II was a continuation of World War I. But it also contextualizes that in terms of how the violence never really stopped between the wars. Yes, the author/s give us the classic demonstration of how the mindset of all of the participants of the second war were shaped by the first. And yes, we get the stories of the rise of the dictators encapsulated here.
But we also get a world filled with violence on the margins (not the margins for the people living there, certainly).
The photo essay early on that takes us from the Russian Revolution to the Russian Civil War and then to Greece and Turkey (fighting well into the 1920s), China (already being ravaged again by war), and India (trying to get out from the colonial yoke).
And there's a picture that I must have glossed over all these years, but it was there all along.
It's a picture of armed people holding another group of people tied up and put on the bed of a flatbed truck. It's from Tulsa, 1921. There's a brief caption and no other explanatory text about the context. But it was there all along. I can't believe that whenever I think about how I too was never taught about the Tulsa massacre that I had literally been staring at a picture of it when I was in elementary school but had moved past it to the pictures of the other more official Nazis. But that the context was there for me to put the dots together all along.
So, that's really one reason why I had to put some words down to recommend this book. (Granted, the assessment in here of Woodrow Wilson is very out of date.) But it really is a great text for taking a look at the interwar period and how the pieces all came together. We get the Bolsheviks, the Spartacists in Berlin, Bela Kun in Hungary, the Blackshirt Fascists in Italy and their invasion of Ethiopia, we get a whole chapter on the Spanish Civil War, and a wild taste of Weimar Berlin too (notably minus the Brecht).
Certainly other books cover all of these things with more nuance and those are the dives to take after this. But this book is still, sadly, the best place to get a sense of the global context for the war that was to come.
For obvious contemporary reasons I decided to pick it up yet again (as I did a few years ago with a serious reread) and I have to say that this book has aged very well (even if the world around us hasn't).
This was the first volume of Time-Life's World War II series which was a staple of the lat '70s and early 1980s. And it's a remarkable thorough book.
First, it starts in November of 1918 so it cements for us how World War II was a continuation of World War I. But it also contextualizes that in terms of how the violence never really stopped between the wars. Yes, the author/s give us the classic demonstration of how the mindset of all of the participants of the second war were shaped by the first. And yes, we get the stories of the rise of the dictators encapsulated here.
But we also get a world filled with violence on the margins (not the margins for the people living there, certainly).
The photo essay early on that takes us from the Russian Revolution to the Russian Civil War and then to Greece and Turkey (fighting well into the 1920s), China (already being ravaged again by war), and India (trying to get out from the colonial yoke).
And there's a picture that I must have glossed over all these years, but it was there all along.
It's a picture of armed people holding another group of people tied up and put on the bed of a flatbed truck. It's from Tulsa, 1921. There's a brief caption and no other explanatory text about the context. But it was there all along. I can't believe that whenever I think about how I too was never taught about the Tulsa massacre that I had literally been staring at a picture of it when I was in elementary school but had moved past it to the pictures of the other more official Nazis. But that the context was there for me to put the dots together all along.
So, that's really one reason why I had to put some words down to recommend this book. (Granted, the assessment in here of Woodrow Wilson is very out of date.) But it really is a great text for taking a look at the interwar period and how the pieces all came together. We get the Bolsheviks, the Spartacists in Berlin, Bela Kun in Hungary, the Blackshirt Fascists in Italy and their invasion of Ethiopia, we get a whole chapter on the Spanish Civil War, and a wild taste of Weimar Berlin too (notably minus the Brecht).
Certainly other books cover all of these things with more nuance and those are the dives to take after this. But this book is still, sadly, the best place to get a sense of the global context for the war that was to come.
August 5, 2022
Prelude to War neatly sums up the chaos that claimed Europe after the end of the Great War. With most of the cities and countryside in ruins, millions of people out of work and starving, and governments without clear futures or strong leaders, revolutions and civil unrest threatened to take the world to new levels of defeat. This easy-to-read narrative (complete with terrific journalistic pictures) looks at each revolution and takeover, slowly weaving the threads of resentment and aggression that eventually led to World War II. I found it very interesting and educational.
August 6, 2024
I liked this book, but it does start off a little slow and can be a bit boring in the details. It's necessary though as all the background information about WWI and the period leading up to WWII gives a greater understanding to the largest conflict the world has ever seen. I look forward to reading the rest of the series as this book ends right when things are getting interesting.
November 30, 2020
Very interesting! Lots of new information here for me, I think a lot of it failed to sink in. Also...discretion advisory for the pictures included. :)
January 10, 2021
A great book. It gives you loads of information and has pictures to show you what it looked like. I learned a lot from this book.
February 21, 2021
I like well written textbooks. That is likely what drew me to this series in the first place. History presented as a good story with pictures of the actual events. What is not to like? Fair warning, this is a real look into the atrocities of war. You might want to read through these before deciding if your kiddos are ready for this level of exposure.
Another perk is the freshness of the writing relative to the actual events. On one hand you get the bias of the time as well as history being written by the victors. On the other hand, the authors are on the hook for libel if they present things that are verifiable lies. It is much easier to throw stones when we face no repercussions.
So far the series seems quite fairly put together. It tells the horrible story of what we do to one another without the baggage of an opinion piece. “Here is the story, draw your own conclusions.” Thank you to the authors and contributors, I look forward to the following 38 volumes.
Another perk is the freshness of the writing relative to the actual events. On one hand you get the bias of the time as well as history being written by the victors. On the other hand, the authors are on the hook for libel if they present things that are verifiable lies. It is much easier to throw stones when we face no repercussions.
So far the series seems quite fairly put together. It tells the horrible story of what we do to one another without the baggage of an opinion piece. “Here is the story, draw your own conclusions.” Thank you to the authors and contributors, I look forward to the following 38 volumes.
March 20, 2012
With the aid of vintage black and white photographs, the volume deals with the developments across Europe during the intervening period of the two Great Wars. The key events described in lucid detail are the formation of the League of Nations, the Bolshevik Reolution, the Japanese conquest of Manchuria, Rise of Fascism and Nazism, Franco's rise in Spain and the eventual annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia by Germany. What makes the narration all the more captivating are the tid-bits of trivia such as Woodrow Wilson's efforts to project the League of Nations as his pet project, Haile Selassie's plight during the Italian conquest of Ethiopia, Hitler's negotiations prior to the Munich Pact and much much more. Cant wait to read the remaining editions of the series. Worth collecting.
May 11, 2015
Like most major international conflicts, World War II had its foundation in the end of World War I. Prelude to War shows in multiple nations in Europe the economic conditions allowed Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin to rise and rearm in the 1930s. It also recounts the lack of action on the side of the Allies to one movement and another of the Axis countries.
It also reviews the movement of Japan in the far east and gives a taste of why to this day Japan is hated in Asia. To put it nicely, the Japanese army wasn’t nice.
Is this a good overview of the beginning war and if you’re interested in the war, this is an excellent series.
It also reviews the movement of Japan in the far east and gives a taste of why to this day Japan is hated in Asia. To put it nicely, the Japanese army wasn’t nice.
Is this a good overview of the beginning war and if you’re interested in the war, this is an excellent series.
July 22, 2023
First book of the Time-Life WW2 set.
Pretty good overview of the interwar period
Chapters include:
1-The end of WW1 and the Versailles Treaty
2- The Russian Revolution and subsequent civil war
3- The rise of Fascism in Italy and then Germany
4- The Chinese Civil War and Japanese Invasion
5- The Italian Invasion of Ethiopia
6- The Spanish Civil War
7- Germany's annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia
Pretty good overview of the interwar period
Chapters include:
1-The end of WW1 and the Versailles Treaty
2- The Russian Revolution and subsequent civil war
3- The rise of Fascism in Italy and then Germany
4- The Chinese Civil War and Japanese Invasion
5- The Italian Invasion of Ethiopia
6- The Spanish Civil War
7- Germany's annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia
August 11, 2015
If you want a ringside view of the events leading upto WWII, if you want a first row place in the entire drama which is being enacted, and if you want a brilliant commentator who will take your hand and explain each character and the predicament of each country in exquisite detail, then this book is for you.
Otherwise, you will always be a backbencher as far as WWII is concerned.
Otherwise, you will always be a backbencher as far as WWII is concerned.
April 26, 2013
Excellent book detailing the end of World War I and the lead up to World War II. Full of details of all the political manuevering among Europe and Russia. It sets the stage for the war and helps people realize that World War II was a continuation of and rose out of World War I.
March 4, 2015
Bought this Life Time series in the early 1980's on WWII, a volume came to the house every 2 or 3 months so I could take my reading. It was very informative and enjoyable read, I still use it for reference.
November 21, 2010
Amazingly concise and clear narrative of world events between WWI and WWII with breathtaking photos. I thoroughly enjoyed this and plan to get my hands on any and all from the same series.
May 12, 2012
A captivating and highly informative account of the various events leading up to World War Two.
June 1, 2015
Great background on WWII with enough interesting new stories and photos that I wasn't bored.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews