Understanding World War II: Essays on the Shaping Event of Our Modern World

by Ron Unz

World War II constitutes the central shaping event of our modern world, and has been the subject of countless books and documentaries. Probably nothing else in the history of the world has been so heavily covered by our print and electronic media.

However, in recent years my own historical research has led me to conclude that much of our established narrative of this massive conflict is entirely wrong and in many respects completely inverted. My resulting series of articles has drawn upon highly credible and often fully mainstream sources to produce a strikingly different analysis of the origins, history, and consequences of the greatest military conflict in human history, with most of those essays collected in this book.

Genres: History, World War II

241 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 2022

Reviews

[Sean Chick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many of the myths Unz takes on have already been undermined in more serious works, although he has some traction with regard to popular myths. In that way, the book is a conversation starter. That said, the myth of Roosevelt knowing about Pearl Harbor is trotted out in the way only a self-assured amateur could do it. The parts on the Holocaust, while having some interesting points such as Nazi support for Zionism in the 1930s, falls apart in embracing aspects of Holocaust denial. As such, this is not a book I would recommend. In fact, it reminds of many such books where a person finds holes in an older interpretation and then seemingly embraces wholeheartedly a new set of misconceptions.

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a collection of articles about the second world war published from 2016 to 2019, with a final article about comparisons between Putin and Hitler published a few weeks after the invasion of Ukraine.

Ron Unz lays out a series of compelling cases that the historical narrative regarding the second world war is far from true. Furthermore, his Jewish heritage and measured tone ensure that anti-semitic biases are not the root cause of his disagreement with mainstream history.

The book was a joy to read due to the shocking revelations it contains, as well as the prose Unz constructs throughout the book.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Went through it fast, mostly enjoyable as it works with other recent reads. Be aware this is a reprint of columns from the website. As you progress there is a lot of repetition and quoting the same material that was printed in the previous sections, this would be better with a full rewrite as a summary (each of the dozen or so sections makes a similar claim to "Until 2010 or so, I never knew much history beyond my 101 textbook in school, but...").

[N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview of the WW2 narrative