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The Second World War: A Complete History
“Mr. Gilbert brings the strongest possible credentials to his history of World War II, and the result is a magisterial work” (The New York Times). In the hands of master historian Martin Gilbert, the complex and compelling story of the Second World War comes to life. This narrative captures the perspectives of leading politicians and war commanders, journalists, civilians, and ordinary soldiers, offering gripping eyewitness accounts of heroism, defeat, suffering, and triumph. This is one of the first historical studies of World War II that describes the Holocaust as an integral part of the war. It also covers maneuvers, strategies, and leaders operating in European, Asian, and Pacific theatres. In addition, this book brings in survivor testimonies of occupation, survival behind enemy lines, and the experience of minority groups such as the Roma in Europe, to offer a comprehensive account of the war’s impact on individuals on both sides. This is a sweeping narrative of one of the most deadly wars in history, which took almost forty million lives, and irrevocably changed countless more. “Gilbert’s flowing narrative is spiced with anecdotal details culled from diaries, memoirs, and official documents. He is especially skillful at interweaving summaries of military strategy with vignettes of civilian suffering.” —Newsweek “[A] masterful account of history’s most destructive conflict.” —Publishers Weekly
856 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1989
864 people are currently reading
4167 people want to read
About the author
Martin Gilbert
249 books417 followersThe official biographer of Winston Churchill and a leading historian on the Twentieth Century, Sir Martin Gilbert was a scholar and an historian who, though his 88 books, has shown there is such a thing as “true history”
Born in London in 1936, Martin Gilbert was educated at Highgate School, and Magdalen College, Oxford, graduating with First Class Honours. He was a Research Scholar at St Anthony's College, and became a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford in 1962, and an Honorary Fellow in 1994. After working as a researcher for Randolph Churchill, Gilbert was chosen to take over the writing of the Churchill biography upon Randolph's death in 1968, writing six of the eight volumes of biography and editing twelve volumes of documents. In addition, Gilbert has written pioneering and classic works on the First and Second World Wars, the Twentieth Century, the Holocaust, and Jewish history.
Gilbert drove every aspect of his books, from finding archives to corresponding with eyewitnesses and participants that gave his work veracity and meaning, to finding and choosing illustrations, drawing maps that mention each place in the text, and compiling the indexes. He travelled widely lecturing and researching, advised political figures and filmmakers, and gave a voice and a name “to those who fought and those who fell.”
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Born in London in 1936, Martin Gilbert was educated at Highgate School, and Magdalen College, Oxford, graduating with First Class Honours. He was a Research Scholar at St Anthony's College, and became a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford in 1962, and an Honorary Fellow in 1994. After working as a researcher for Randolph Churchill, Gilbert was chosen to take over the writing of the Churchill biography upon Randolph's death in 1968, writing six of the eight volumes of biography and editing twelve volumes of documents. In addition, Gilbert has written pioneering and classic works on the First and Second World Wars, the Twentieth Century, the Holocaust, and Jewish history.
Gilbert drove every aspect of his books, from finding archives to corresponding with eyewitnesses and participants that gave his work veracity and meaning, to finding and choosing illustrations, drawing maps that mention each place in the text, and compiling the indexes. He travelled widely lecturing and researching, advised political figures and filmmakers, and gave a voice and a name “to those who fought and those who fell.”
https://twitter.com/sirmartin36
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 126 reviews
August 18, 2022
As with all of Martin Gilbert's works, this is an accomplished and polished history of World War II, looking both from a bird's eye view of events, to a closer more intimate picture of so many of those involved.
It details the war in Europe, from the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939, to then effects of the War even today.
The millitary conflict, is set against the backdrop of the genocide by the Nazis of millions of Jews, Gypsies, Poles, Russians , Serbs, 'anti-social elements' and others.
Even before the war, Hitler had boasted that the result of the war, would be the total destruction of European Jewry
In response to Hitler's persecution of the Jews, Dr Chaim Weizmann, the elder statesman of the Zionist movement, wrote to the British Prime Minister, to declare that the Jews would fight on the side of the democracies against Nazi Germany- his letter was published in The Times on September 6.
The human cost is recorded in harrowing detail. On September 25, the Germans launched Operation Coast. a massive air attack on Warsaw, which dropped a total of seventy incendiary tons on the Polish capital. A Polish officer's wife, Jadwiga Sosnkowska, who later escaped to the West recalled the horrors of that night. Also recorded by Gilbert was the bombing of Belgrade, in which 17 000 civilians were killed in one day.
Gilbert covers the Soviet connivance in the rape of Poland, and quotes from a variety of sources on the Holocaust, such as the diaries of Chaim Kaplan and Emanuel Ringleblum.
The power of the German occupation authorities to tyrannize through hunger, fear and terror was unlimited.
We can take inspiration from the words of Winston Churchill to the members of his new government: 'You ask what is our policy? I will say it is to wage war by sea, land and air, with all our might, and with all the strength that G-D can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime.'
Roosevelt also gave us some wisdom on how to deal with totalitarian states by 'resistance, not appeasement'.
There were always propagandists for Nazi Germany and her aggression, such as the propagandist William Joyce, known as Lor Haw Haw, who broadcast pro-Axis messages from Radio Bremen, into Britain.
Gilbert covers antisemitic filth, which has poured from Nazi faucets, which made the holocaust possible, indeed moral denigration encourages physical elimination.
'Even the world of film and entertainment had been dragooned to serve the cause of race hatred.'
This is mirrored in the propaganda against the Jews of Israel, by the extreme Left, the international media, the United Nations, much of the European Union, the Non-Aligned Movement, Third World regimes, universities and leftist academics.
The book highlights heroes such as the Jewish volunteers from the Land of Israel- Peretz Rosenberg, Hannah Szenes , Enzo Sereni, French heros such as Jean Moulin, British heros such as Noor Inayat Khan, Norwegian heroes such as Arne Dahl, and those brave Germans who opposed the Nazis such as Hans Scholl, his sister Sophie Scholl of the White Rose, Pastor Niemoller, Bernhard Letterhaus and Gertrude Seele. And Tito's Yugoslav Partisans.
Also villains such as Himmler, Eichmann, Mengele, Stroop , Hans Frank, the Mufti Haj Amin El Husseini and Ante Pavelic.
The scale of human cruelty is mind-blowing. Even after it was clear that all was over for Hitler and the Nazis, 20 Jewish children were hung on Hitler's birthday, ranging in age from five to twelve years.
The basic message of remembering thse events is that totalitarian evil must be fought without quarter, and that the forces of good must never surrender.
It details the war in Europe, from the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939, to then effects of the War even today.
The millitary conflict, is set against the backdrop of the genocide by the Nazis of millions of Jews, Gypsies, Poles, Russians , Serbs, 'anti-social elements' and others.
Even before the war, Hitler had boasted that the result of the war, would be the total destruction of European Jewry
In response to Hitler's persecution of the Jews, Dr Chaim Weizmann, the elder statesman of the Zionist movement, wrote to the British Prime Minister, to declare that the Jews would fight on the side of the democracies against Nazi Germany- his letter was published in The Times on September 6.
The human cost is recorded in harrowing detail. On September 25, the Germans launched Operation Coast. a massive air attack on Warsaw, which dropped a total of seventy incendiary tons on the Polish capital. A Polish officer's wife, Jadwiga Sosnkowska, who later escaped to the West recalled the horrors of that night. Also recorded by Gilbert was the bombing of Belgrade, in which 17 000 civilians were killed in one day.
Gilbert covers the Soviet connivance in the rape of Poland, and quotes from a variety of sources on the Holocaust, such as the diaries of Chaim Kaplan and Emanuel Ringleblum.
The power of the German occupation authorities to tyrannize through hunger, fear and terror was unlimited.
We can take inspiration from the words of Winston Churchill to the members of his new government: 'You ask what is our policy? I will say it is to wage war by sea, land and air, with all our might, and with all the strength that G-D can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime.'
Roosevelt also gave us some wisdom on how to deal with totalitarian states by 'resistance, not appeasement'.
There were always propagandists for Nazi Germany and her aggression, such as the propagandist William Joyce, known as Lor Haw Haw, who broadcast pro-Axis messages from Radio Bremen, into Britain.
Gilbert covers antisemitic filth, which has poured from Nazi faucets, which made the holocaust possible, indeed moral denigration encourages physical elimination.
'Even the world of film and entertainment had been dragooned to serve the cause of race hatred.'
This is mirrored in the propaganda against the Jews of Israel, by the extreme Left, the international media, the United Nations, much of the European Union, the Non-Aligned Movement, Third World regimes, universities and leftist academics.
The book highlights heroes such as the Jewish volunteers from the Land of Israel- Peretz Rosenberg, Hannah Szenes , Enzo Sereni, French heros such as Jean Moulin, British heros such as Noor Inayat Khan, Norwegian heroes such as Arne Dahl, and those brave Germans who opposed the Nazis such as Hans Scholl, his sister Sophie Scholl of the White Rose, Pastor Niemoller, Bernhard Letterhaus and Gertrude Seele. And Tito's Yugoslav Partisans.
Also villains such as Himmler, Eichmann, Mengele, Stroop , Hans Frank, the Mufti Haj Amin El Husseini and Ante Pavelic.
The scale of human cruelty is mind-blowing. Even after it was clear that all was over for Hitler and the Nazis, 20 Jewish children were hung on Hitler's birthday, ranging in age from five to twelve years.
The basic message of remembering thse events is that totalitarian evil must be fought without quarter, and that the forces of good must never surrender.
September 16, 2012
Gilbert's a very able historian of WWII and his choice to follow a strict, day by day, chronological approach was obviously very conscious, but it's also a serious flaw. I think he chose it primarily to bring out details and maintain focus on Nazi atrocities large and small, and those of the German army generally, as well as those of Imperial Japan. It works, to the point where it gets tiresome for me, and that’s because it so badly interferes with coherent historical narrative. Maybe more importantly, it contributes to this preposterously subtitled “complete” history of the war having large gaps in important areas. The battles for Stalingrad and St. Petersburg, for example, are so chopped up that it’s hard to pull the disparate pieces together. But they’re nevertheless covered reasonably well; we’re never told how and when German forces got into Italy, in what numbers, formations, with what materiel, etc. The Pacific war is particularly chopped up, and you’ll have to go elsewhere to get any clarity or detail about what was happening on the east Asian mainland.
To be fair, Gilbert certainly knew the weaknesses inherent in his approach and he surely chose it knowingly. It is too easy to think of the Holocaust as an abstraction, and a sanitized one, and to use that abstraction to avoid thinking about its true horrors, about the very human depths of evil involved, and about all the other atrocities and evils that weren’t part of the plan to eliminate European Jewry. Apparently, cutting through this tendency was Gilbert’s first, second and third priority. He probably succeeded, but that precluded producing a good history of the war. For me, that’s unfortunate. The book has its place, and a valuable one, but it misrepresents itself. It probably should have let the context of the war be more of a background to the book’s primary focus, allowing the author to both focus more on the atrocities and not pretend to be presenting a solid history of the war. I wouldn’t suggest this book to anyone who hasn’t read a couple other good histories of WWII. As a footnote, it does have many very good maps, which similar books often don’t have.
July 9, 2009
Wow! What a terrible, horrific, bloody, incomprehensible, period of world history. The book gives almost a day by day account from the war's beginning, with the military/racial conquests of Nazi Germany, to the long lasting effects years later. It really re-defines what human beings are possible of, from the extremes of unthinkable brutality, and lack of conscience and respect for human life, to the amazing perseverance of people of many races, and from many countries, facing unthinkable pain, loss, and odds.
An amazing overview of the whole conflict, I would recommend this book to everyone, to bring to light what this huge part of our recent history was about, the sacrifices and trials involved, and to gain from it, knowledge that might help inform our opinions and about right and wrong, what is morally acceptable, both in life, and in current conflicts, and issues that we have a say in.
There were many times during Hitler's rise to power, where situations could have been turned, and years of strife, been avoided. Hitler preyed upon people's fears, promoted hate, and justified morally unthinkable acts in the name of a political and racial ideology. It's sad to see people today, promoting causes in the same ways. Why can't we learn?
There are a couple quotes that have stuck with me, ones that ring true in current politics, both in the nationally, and internationally, that I think speak volumes about the WWII era, as well as current times:
“The great mass of people will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one.” --Adolf Hitler --
“All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” --Hermann Goering--
An amazing overview of the whole conflict, I would recommend this book to everyone, to bring to light what this huge part of our recent history was about, the sacrifices and trials involved, and to gain from it, knowledge that might help inform our opinions and about right and wrong, what is morally acceptable, both in life, and in current conflicts, and issues that we have a say in.
There were many times during Hitler's rise to power, where situations could have been turned, and years of strife, been avoided. Hitler preyed upon people's fears, promoted hate, and justified morally unthinkable acts in the name of a political and racial ideology. It's sad to see people today, promoting causes in the same ways. Why can't we learn?
There are a couple quotes that have stuck with me, ones that ring true in current politics, both in the nationally, and internationally, that I think speak volumes about the WWII era, as well as current times:
“The great mass of people will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one.” --Adolf Hitler --
“All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” --Hermann Goering--
March 26, 2013
-Monografía, en orden estrictamente cronológico, de los principales sucesos de la Segunda Guerra Mundial-.
Género. Historia.
Lo que nos cuenta. Relato de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, desde la invasión de Polonia hasta la rendición de Japón, con un repaso de lo que el autor llama “asuntos pendientes” que nos lleva hasta la fecha original de publicación de la obra.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Historia.
Lo que nos cuenta. Relato de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, desde la invasión de Polonia hasta la rendición de Japón, con un repaso de lo que el autor llama “asuntos pendientes” que nos lleva hasta la fecha original de publicación de la obra.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
July 3, 2022
The book's strength is the author's ability to keep the stories of all the theaters of a massive war moving in parallel. The fact that I felt I could actually understand the American, European, Asian, Pacific, African, and Holocaust timelines and the overall trends of the war is an achievement. Like any juggling act, the process is going to get repetitive - a 6 year war where humans attack and defend and counterattack and murder and bomb and spy on each other and the losers refuse to give in for far too long is bound to repeat itself enough times over 750 pages to be numbing. But that's the nature of the subject material, and every repetitive cycle just adds to the mind blowing enormity of the war.
The weakness of the book is the shallowness of the personal narratives. It's not to say that it's only an account of army movements and casualty statistics - the individual stories are present. But they feel like they're only used to give up-close examples of what's happening, rather than a window into the emotions experienced. Maybe that's too harsh - the possibility for detail in WWII is limitless, and the juggling act could easily be thrown off. But I had a better experience reading "A World Undone" about WWI - I felt the war there more than I did here.
Nothing about the book ever said it would cover the lead up to the war, but I was surprised when chapter 1 started with the invasion of Poland. It feels silly to suggest this book needs more pages. But I finished the WWI book and started this book without better researching Hitler's rise to power, Japan's motives, and how imperialism set up the world theaters - I wish I had studied them first.
At the end of the day I got what I wanted - a book that would take on WWII in one readable project and tell the entire story from start to finish, to read before choosing aspects of the war I wanted to learn more about. I got that. Maybe it was too much to ask for it to be a gripping read.
The weakness of the book is the shallowness of the personal narratives. It's not to say that it's only an account of army movements and casualty statistics - the individual stories are present. But they feel like they're only used to give up-close examples of what's happening, rather than a window into the emotions experienced. Maybe that's too harsh - the possibility for detail in WWII is limitless, and the juggling act could easily be thrown off. But I had a better experience reading "A World Undone" about WWI - I felt the war there more than I did here.
Nothing about the book ever said it would cover the lead up to the war, but I was surprised when chapter 1 started with the invasion of Poland. It feels silly to suggest this book needs more pages. But I finished the WWI book and started this book without better researching Hitler's rise to power, Japan's motives, and how imperialism set up the world theaters - I wish I had studied them first.
At the end of the day I got what I wanted - a book that would take on WWII in one readable project and tell the entire story from start to finish, to read before choosing aspects of the war I wanted to learn more about. I got that. Maybe it was too much to ask for it to be a gripping read.
July 12, 2020
More than 70 years after the most devastating conflict in the history of humankind, with the macabre procession of 40 million dead, it continues to be the object of study and analysis, in which rationalize such a carnage, which should not forget. In this memorialist and rationalizing effort, Martin Gilbert, famous for Winston Churchill's monumental biography, takes a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to that conflict. The book, impeccably written, contains essential documentation - maps, diagrams and photographs - to see the evolution of war.
Read
May 17, 2018Somehow, I read this entire book in about two months. 53 chapters and 750 or so pages. It was a lot.
When I first started, I didn't think I was going to be able to make it. I knew I couldn't quit, because this was a school book...but at the same time, I was pretty sure there was no way I could keep on. Not with the weight of human depravity being thrown at me with every page and paragraph and line. The Second World War was, throughout, less a war of battles and more one of mass destruction everywhere and largely that of innocent civilians. Millions and millions of these died, and the stories of their ends is heartrending to read but impossible to look away from.
This is not an easy book, either in reading level or brutality level. It is a brilliantly written book, one that gives insight into all the leaders on all sides of the war. As a history of the brutality that was the Second World War I'd recommend it in a heartbeat. If you're just looking for an interesting history lesson, however, this would not be the place to start. "The unfinished business of the Second World War is human pain," says the epilogue to this book, and that is the truth. This was a war of pain. So much pain.
Never again...and what we know will help us to avoid letting something of this scale happen again. Learn of the Holocaust. Learn of the occupation of Poland, of the destruction of Russia, of the torture of prisoners of war. It's brutal and violent and heartrending. It makes us question humanity. But it is needed.
This was a bit of a brain-dump...but I have many thoughts after reading this book. If you stuck around, thank you. This isn't exactly a review like I normally do, but it's my honest thoughts.
When I first started, I didn't think I was going to be able to make it. I knew I couldn't quit, because this was a school book...but at the same time, I was pretty sure there was no way I could keep on. Not with the weight of human depravity being thrown at me with every page and paragraph and line. The Second World War was, throughout, less a war of battles and more one of mass destruction everywhere and largely that of innocent civilians. Millions and millions of these died, and the stories of their ends is heartrending to read but impossible to look away from.
This is not an easy book, either in reading level or brutality level. It is a brilliantly written book, one that gives insight into all the leaders on all sides of the war. As a history of the brutality that was the Second World War I'd recommend it in a heartbeat. If you're just looking for an interesting history lesson, however, this would not be the place to start. "The unfinished business of the Second World War is human pain," says the epilogue to this book, and that is the truth. This was a war of pain. So much pain.
Never again...and what we know will help us to avoid letting something of this scale happen again. Learn of the Holocaust. Learn of the occupation of Poland, of the destruction of Russia, of the torture of prisoners of war. It's brutal and violent and heartrending. It makes us question humanity. But it is needed.
This was a bit of a brain-dump...but I have many thoughts after reading this book. If you stuck around, thank you. This isn't exactly a review like I normally do, but it's my honest thoughts.
August 13, 2019
nearly 1000 pages, constitutes a "complete history" indeed. battle by battle action interspliced with the atrocities committed at the same time.
March 29, 2024
The best book on WW2 that I’ve ever read. The narrative is told mostly from the POV of Great Britain. Churchill is probably the greatest leader ever. Fearless and brilliant. GR and Churchill were the stars of this war. The book also does a great job of emphasizing the Holocaust and all its evils. Must read.
February 18, 2018
“For those civilians who were fortunate to survive privation, deportation and massacre, similar scars, physical, mental and spiritual, remained—and still remain—to torment them. The greatest unfinished business of the Second World War is human pain.”
I came into this book with absolute ignorance. I only took Canadian history in school, so I didn't know much about WWII and had always assumed it was only toward Jewish people. Martin Gilbert does an excellent job explaining the horrors of one of the most devastating events in history, and how it changed, and ended, the lives of many people.
Gilbert covers nearly everything, from the very first victim of the war, to the effect the war has on people nearly 50 years later. I wish he delved into certain topics a bit more, and some a little less, but it was a very haunting and terrifying view on what hatred can lead to.
I came into this book with absolute ignorance. I only took Canadian history in school, so I didn't know much about WWII and had always assumed it was only toward Jewish people. Martin Gilbert does an excellent job explaining the horrors of one of the most devastating events in history, and how it changed, and ended, the lives of many people.
Gilbert covers nearly everything, from the very first victim of the war, to the effect the war has on people nearly 50 years later. I wish he delved into certain topics a bit more, and some a little less, but it was a very haunting and terrifying view on what hatred can lead to.
June 5, 2019
This is a good, and informative book. Well researched. This book may not be for everyone as it is peppered with a lot of the atrocities done during the war. Some of them will pull you away from the rest of this book and this telling of history. Some can be quite jarring.
September 20, 2009
Gilbert's history of world war 2 should be the first choice of anyone not only interested in the military campaigns but also in the social atmosphere of the times. He is amazing in his ability and willingness to blend the two into this amazing narrative of possibly the largest human undertaking in history. I was enthralled from beginning to end. The story really comes alive. The refreshing thing is that it's not just told through the stories of the big names that we all know, much of it is seen from the perspective of everyday folks like you and me caught up in the whirlwind. An impressive work through and through.
If you are looking for a more strictly military history of the war try John Keegan's book by the same name.
If you are looking for a more strictly military history of the war try John Keegan's book by the same name.
May 21, 2016
Martin Gilbert's book of the Second World War is one of the best books about WWII, an detailed account of the camps of battle, with a vivid descriptions of concentrations camps, maybe is not analitical book, but he describes many facts of the conflict, the murderers of jews in Lithuania or Russian front.
One book well documented and written, definitively an interesting overview of the WWII. I recommend this book.
One book well documented and written, definitively an interesting overview of the WWII. I recommend this book.
August 22, 2015
It is no small feat to sum up a book in a few short words, but this book does not present that problem - Amazing and Haunting. Gilbert removes the layers of history that we've all been accustomed to, and delves into the accounts of individuals, showing us the atrocities that have gone untold. An absolutely amazing read, and absolutely haunting.
Read
April 19, 2012This book seemed to focus on every detail of violence that occurred during the war. I did not finish it because I am more interested in finding a book that deals primarily with the motivations and strategies on a broader scale.
February 21, 2023
After finding myself embarrassed by how little I really knew about the Second World War, I decided to try Martin Gilbert’s epic work to hopefully enlighten me. And ‘epic’ it certainly is, providing a near daily record of just about everything from the invasion of Poland to Hitler’s suicide and the dropping of the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The daily catalogue of bombing raids, the deaths of airmen, servicemen, civilians, the sinking of merchant ships, destroyers. The sheer numbers involved are shocking and mind-blowing. The stories of the atrocities meted out globally are gut-wrenching and unfathomable. While the book lays out all the facts before the reader, it does get somewhat tedious and repetetive to read, but on reflection, that only served to emphasise, the relentless day in, day out stress and misery of war.
I’m left utterly baffled at how such horrors could have occurred a mere 15 to 20 years before I was born. And while the world rightly condemned the Nazis for their hideous treatment of most notably, the Jews, but so many others, it should not be ignored either that it was with Britain’s support that an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, wiping out eighty thousand lives in an instant.
A huge gap in my historical knowledge has now been filled and what I do with that knowledge is the next question. I have before me a similarly epic piece of work, with the same title, by a certain Winston S. Churchill, which should provide another interesting perspective!
The daily catalogue of bombing raids, the deaths of airmen, servicemen, civilians, the sinking of merchant ships, destroyers. The sheer numbers involved are shocking and mind-blowing. The stories of the atrocities meted out globally are gut-wrenching and unfathomable. While the book lays out all the facts before the reader, it does get somewhat tedious and repetetive to read, but on reflection, that only served to emphasise, the relentless day in, day out stress and misery of war.
I’m left utterly baffled at how such horrors could have occurred a mere 15 to 20 years before I was born. And while the world rightly condemned the Nazis for their hideous treatment of most notably, the Jews, but so many others, it should not be ignored either that it was with Britain’s support that an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, wiping out eighty thousand lives in an instant.
A huge gap in my historical knowledge has now been filled and what I do with that knowledge is the next question. I have before me a similarly epic piece of work, with the same title, by a certain Winston S. Churchill, which should provide another interesting perspective!
February 7, 2019
"Apesar de a Segunda Guerra Mundial estar já longe no tempo, as suas sombras prolongam-se até aos dias de hoje e os seus pesados ecos não deixaram ainda de fazer-se ouvir. Como poderiam as coisas ser de outro modo perante um episódio que durou cerca de seis anos e no qual se misturaram tão profundamente a coragem e a crueldade, a esperança e o horror, a violência e a dedicação, o massacre e a sobrevivência?"
November 12, 2021
A huge book, documenting the WW2 on almost daily basis, Covering all fronts.
Its a fact that the this book is somehow represents the English point of view of the war.
And that's why Martin Gilbert was in some cases justifying the horrors done by the Allies and avoid talking about it in some cases.
But still a very reliable source of information. I have a much better understanding of this historical period than before.
Its a fact that the this book is somehow represents the English point of view of the war.
And that's why Martin Gilbert was in some cases justifying the horrors done by the Allies and avoid talking about it in some cases.
But still a very reliable source of information. I have a much better understanding of this historical period than before.
May 19, 2018
This book about the complete Second World War is, a worthy addition to the mountains of books that have come before it. I would of given 5*, I really would of done but, there is problem I know the Author is Jewish and he talks about in great detail the holocaust which is fine but he goes on about so frequently it gets annoying, it sounds bad but it is true I’m sorry to say.
May 2, 2019
De leitura obrigatória
January 3, 2024
A monolith standing in memoriam to the everyday heroes and forgotten dead of the war.
Held back from five stars only because of its Eurocentrism.
Held back from five stars only because of its Eurocentrism.
August 20, 2025
A pretty good overview of World War II. There is no preamble, the action starts Sept. 1 1939 and it's mostly a military/political history of the war.
August 9, 2013
Setembro de 1939 a Agosto de 1945. Um conflito armado envolvendo cerca de cinquenta nações e que teve como desfecho final, não só uma reorganização no plano geopolítico mundial, como e principalmente uma imensa dor humana que, setenta anos depois, ainda se faz sentir.
Nunca será conhecido com precisão o numero total de vitimas. Têm sido feitos inúmeros cálculos dos mortos da Segunda Guerra e calcula-se que seis milhões de civis chineses tenham sucumbido às mãos dos japoneses. A União Soviética teve catorze milhões de soldados mortos, mais sete milhões de civis, num total de vinte e um milhões de mortos apenas no lado soviético. Os alemães calculam ter perdido cerca de quatro milhões de civis e mais três milhões e quinhentos mil soldados. Os japoneses, dois milhões de civis e um milhão de soldados. Na Polónia ocupada, seis milhões de civis polacos morreram sob a tirania dos nazis (três milhões eram judeus) e os judeus, de todas as nacionalidades europeia, constaram seis milhões de mortos, a grande maioria nos campos de concentração. No total, calcula-se que morreram cerca de sessenta milhões (70.000.000 !!!) de pessoas nos seis anos de guerra.
Foi o conflito mais violento de sempre. Cem milhões de soldados foram mobilizados e muitos perderam a vida ou viram-se seriamente feridos, sem sequer terem entrado em combate.
Este livro narra, passo-a-passo e de uma forma muito minuciosa, a guerra desde o seu inicio até ao seu epilogo e os anos consequentes.
Assente numa pesquisa exaustiva e em milhares de relatos de testemunhas, Martin Gilbert realiza um trabalho exemplar e fascinante, descrevendo todos os lados do conflito e as suas intenções e objectivos, sendo possível perceber-mos quais eram as motivações dos intervenientes.
Porém, não consegue ser totalmente imparcial.
Refere e insiste nas atrocidades cometidas pelos nazis e pelos fanáticos soldados japoneses, não se escusando de relatar episódios horríveis e macabros de puro terror, no entanto, sabe-se que os aliados, sobretudo os russos quando entram na Alemanha em perseguição do exercito alemão. cometeram várias atrocidades contra civis como forma de vingança das atrocidades alemãs, porém Gilbert omite esses factos. Aqui, os aliados surgem sempre como “os bons”, os que tratam bem os prisioneiros e que respeitam sempre o inimigo, enquanto que nazis e japoneses não deixavam ninguém vivo. Sei que parcialmente é verdade, que os japoneses raramente tinham misericórdia dos prisioneiros e que os nazis cometeram, talvez, o maior crime contra a Humanidade. No entanto, do lado aliado também se cometeram muitas barbaridades que nem sequer são aflorados por Gilbert, pese embora haja um ou outro episódio isolado.
Seja como for, é doentio ler tanta atrocidade e tanta violência gratuita, num fanatismo brutal e insano que levou à morte de milhões de seres humanos, muitos deles crianças que nem sabiam para onde iam. Nem há como classificar essa loucura.
“Não há duvida, de que se trata provavelmente do maior e mais horrível crime alguma vez cometido na história da humanidade, sendo praticado, além disso, por meios científicos e homens considerados civilizados, em nome de um Estado eminente e de um dos povos mais destacados da Europa. “
Churchill
“Na alegria entusiástica da vitória, é-nos fácil esquecer os mortos. Os que partiram não gostariam de ser uma mó de luta pendurada nos nossos pescoços. Mas entre os vivos há muitos que ficaram para sempre com a imagem, gravada a fogo nos seus cérebros, de cadáveres arrefecidos, disseminados pelas encostas e valas, ao longo das ravinas de todo o mundo. Homens mortos em massa, país após país, mês após mês e ano após ano. Homens que morreram no Inverno e homens que morreram no Verão. Homens mortos numa promiscuidade tornada tão familiar que chega a ser monótona. Homens mortos numa série tão monstruosamente alongada que quase chegamos a ter-lhes ódio”
Esboço de uma crónica de Ernie Pyle, popular correspondente de guerra, morto pelos japoneses meses antes do fim da guerra.
Nunca será conhecido com precisão o numero total de vitimas. Têm sido feitos inúmeros cálculos dos mortos da Segunda Guerra e calcula-se que seis milhões de civis chineses tenham sucumbido às mãos dos japoneses. A União Soviética teve catorze milhões de soldados mortos, mais sete milhões de civis, num total de vinte e um milhões de mortos apenas no lado soviético. Os alemães calculam ter perdido cerca de quatro milhões de civis e mais três milhões e quinhentos mil soldados. Os japoneses, dois milhões de civis e um milhão de soldados. Na Polónia ocupada, seis milhões de civis polacos morreram sob a tirania dos nazis (três milhões eram judeus) e os judeus, de todas as nacionalidades europeia, constaram seis milhões de mortos, a grande maioria nos campos de concentração. No total, calcula-se que morreram cerca de sessenta milhões (70.000.000 !!!) de pessoas nos seis anos de guerra.
Foi o conflito mais violento de sempre. Cem milhões de soldados foram mobilizados e muitos perderam a vida ou viram-se seriamente feridos, sem sequer terem entrado em combate.
Este livro narra, passo-a-passo e de uma forma muito minuciosa, a guerra desde o seu inicio até ao seu epilogo e os anos consequentes.
Assente numa pesquisa exaustiva e em milhares de relatos de testemunhas, Martin Gilbert realiza um trabalho exemplar e fascinante, descrevendo todos os lados do conflito e as suas intenções e objectivos, sendo possível perceber-mos quais eram as motivações dos intervenientes.
Porém, não consegue ser totalmente imparcial.
Refere e insiste nas atrocidades cometidas pelos nazis e pelos fanáticos soldados japoneses, não se escusando de relatar episódios horríveis e macabros de puro terror, no entanto, sabe-se que os aliados, sobretudo os russos quando entram na Alemanha em perseguição do exercito alemão. cometeram várias atrocidades contra civis como forma de vingança das atrocidades alemãs, porém Gilbert omite esses factos. Aqui, os aliados surgem sempre como “os bons”, os que tratam bem os prisioneiros e que respeitam sempre o inimigo, enquanto que nazis e japoneses não deixavam ninguém vivo. Sei que parcialmente é verdade, que os japoneses raramente tinham misericórdia dos prisioneiros e que os nazis cometeram, talvez, o maior crime contra a Humanidade. No entanto, do lado aliado também se cometeram muitas barbaridades que nem sequer são aflorados por Gilbert, pese embora haja um ou outro episódio isolado.
Seja como for, é doentio ler tanta atrocidade e tanta violência gratuita, num fanatismo brutal e insano que levou à morte de milhões de seres humanos, muitos deles crianças que nem sabiam para onde iam. Nem há como classificar essa loucura.
“Não há duvida, de que se trata provavelmente do maior e mais horrível crime alguma vez cometido na história da humanidade, sendo praticado, além disso, por meios científicos e homens considerados civilizados, em nome de um Estado eminente e de um dos povos mais destacados da Europa. “
Churchill
“Na alegria entusiástica da vitória, é-nos fácil esquecer os mortos. Os que partiram não gostariam de ser uma mó de luta pendurada nos nossos pescoços. Mas entre os vivos há muitos que ficaram para sempre com a imagem, gravada a fogo nos seus cérebros, de cadáveres arrefecidos, disseminados pelas encostas e valas, ao longo das ravinas de todo o mundo. Homens mortos em massa, país após país, mês após mês e ano após ano. Homens que morreram no Inverno e homens que morreram no Verão. Homens mortos numa promiscuidade tornada tão familiar que chega a ser monótona. Homens mortos numa série tão monstruosamente alongada que quase chegamos a ter-lhes ódio”
Esboço de uma crónica de Ernie Pyle, popular correspondente de guerra, morto pelos japoneses meses antes do fim da guerra.
November 28, 2018
A difficult, but important work of the history of World War Two. On the positive side, the author spends a large amount of time detailing the atrocities that occurred to the Jewish population of Europe. Week by week, in mind numbing details he follows the Nazi program to eliminate the Jewish population from Europe. It is difficult to read, difficult to understand and difficult to realize that people could possibly be so cruel. It is important that we try to do so.
As a history of the events of the war, it falls short - there didn't appear to be much regarding the strategy of the war, the marching out the events one after another gives the reader a window in which to peer through regarding the war on all fronts, but the overarching issues and strategy were never really discussed. The author also spends much time on the European theatre of the war, almost forgetting all the other fronts, particularly the war in the Pacific.
As a history of the events of the war, it falls short - there didn't appear to be much regarding the strategy of the war, the marching out the events one after another gives the reader a window in which to peer through regarding the war on all fronts, but the overarching issues and strategy were never really discussed. The author also spends much time on the European theatre of the war, almost forgetting all the other fronts, particularly the war in the Pacific.
June 13, 2021
The author takes a chronological approach, detailing what happened in WWII day by day, month by month, year by year. While this may have an advantage in keeping the order of things clear, overall it is a very dry and narrow approach. And the author gives no context whatsoever to the war; he just jumps in and starts listing battles. Likewise, he gives no context whatsoever to the Holocaust; he just jumps in and starts listing massacres and concentration camp figures. Not only does the author not provide any context, he also fails to discuss any trends at a deeper level. Because he's glued to the daily progression of events, he can't take a step back and look at larger strategic developments. You could finish this book knowing a lot of details about the war, but understanding it not at all.
Overall, a disappointing book; basically a glorified almanac.
Overall, a disappointing book; basically a glorified almanac.
January 23, 2013
Extensive history of WWII. Gilbert covers the breadth and depth of the conflict, though I think he does not give the Asian theatre full coverage. I appreciated the chronological approach, and appreciated how challenging 1942 and 1943 were as the war was turning against the Axis powers but unevenly. Also learnt more about Rommel, a true master general.
Gilbert was sensitive outlining the Nazi's "Final Solution" to destroy Jewish populations in Europe. He states how long it took for the Allies to understand what was happening - and then why the Soviets and Americans saw action against the camps as not central to their immediate war goals. I am glad I read this after visit Normandy and the D-Day beaches.
True masterpiece.
Gilbert was sensitive outlining the Nazi's "Final Solution" to destroy Jewish populations in Europe. He states how long it took for the Allies to understand what was happening - and then why the Soviets and Americans saw action against the camps as not central to their immediate war goals. I am glad I read this after visit Normandy and the D-Day beaches.
True masterpiece.
October 23, 2014
After reading this colossal account of the biggest, bloodiest conflict in history, you will want to compare every other book on the subject to it and you will fail. Martin Gilbert is one of the only historic authors who have ever been successful in conveying the massive scale of the genocide, industry' politicking, material destruction and general complexity of the second world war to the reader. This book was the only one that ever managed to scare the shit out of me.
August 7, 2019
Relato bastante completo do conflito que mudou o mundo (e que ao final nos salvou de um mundo de trevas).
March 9, 2021
A highly detailed, and extensive history of World War Two. Vividly retold, the author leaves nothing to the imagination, of this disastrous period of history.
June 29, 2020
Tried twice to read, stalled out both times. Little perspective offered, just a day by day WW2 almanac.
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