Audiobook23 hours
The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won
Written by Victor Davis Hanson
Narrated by Bob Souer
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
A definitive account of World War II by America's preeminent military historian.
World War II was the most lethal conflict in human history. Never before had a war been fought on so many diverse landscapes and in so many different ways, from rocket attacks in London to jungle fighting in Burma to armor strikes in Libya.
The Second World Wars examines how combat unfolded in the air, at sea, and on land to show how distinct conflicts among disparate combatants coalesced into one interconnected global war. Drawing on 3,000 years of military history, Victor Davis Hanson argues that despite its novel industrial barbarity, neither the war's origins nor its geography were unusual. Nor was its ultimate outcome surprising. The Axis powers were well prepared to win limited border conflicts, but once they blundered into global war, they had no hope of victory.
An authoritative new history of astonishing breadth, The Second World Wars, offers a stunning reinterpretation of history's deadliest conflict.
World War II was the most lethal conflict in human history. Never before had a war been fought on so many diverse landscapes and in so many different ways, from rocket attacks in London to jungle fighting in Burma to armor strikes in Libya.
The Second World Wars examines how combat unfolded in the air, at sea, and on land to show how distinct conflicts among disparate combatants coalesced into one interconnected global war. Drawing on 3,000 years of military history, Victor Davis Hanson argues that despite its novel industrial barbarity, neither the war's origins nor its geography were unusual. Nor was its ultimate outcome surprising. The Axis powers were well prepared to win limited border conflicts, but once they blundered into global war, they had no hope of victory.
An authoritative new history of astonishing breadth, The Second World Wars, offers a stunning reinterpretation of history's deadliest conflict.
Author
Victor Davis Hanson
Victor Davis Hanson is Professor of Classics at California State University, Fresno, and author of The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece (1986), The Other Greeks: The Family Farm and the Agrarian Roots of Western Civilization (1995), and Fields Without Dreams: Defending the Agrarian Idea (1996).
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Reviews for The Second World Wars
Rating: 4.493589694871795 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
78 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I was brought up within a History classroom. The fruit of my lessons didn’t produce praise worthy grades. I’m happy to say my salvation has allowed me to indulge in History by reading great works like this one. Thank you
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5End to end, this is the best, most comprehensive history of the Second World War(s) available.
The statistical analysis, contextual history and superb insights of Dr Hansen are second to none.
If I were teaching a class on the Second World War, this would be the textbook. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lots and lots of good details and reasoned arguments. Author presents history in understandable manner. Worth the time.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Narration is devoid of any feeling, sounds like the reader was bored reading it.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I could not stop listening to this audiobook! Every chapter is gripping and interesting. I highly recommend it!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A thorough analysis of WWII from the perspectives of the participants, victims and bystanders. To appreciate Dr. Hanson’s effort the reader should be familiar with WWII. Not the first book on the subject you should read but one you must read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5World War II--its causes, costs, horrors, victories, mistakes, and defeats--is still the subject of fresh scholarship and new insight. V.D. Hanson has added richly to that body of research. He writes with the analytical mind of a proven academic and military historian. The Second World Wars (plural, which is an interesting concept itself), is not a typical chronological recounting of the global conflict but rather is organized according to major themes, such as ideas (or causes), air warfare, naval warfare, land warfare, and the people of the war, including its leaders, soldiers, civilians, and Holocaust victims. Sometimes Hanson's erudition and facility with words can be off-putting to someone looking for a quick-and-easy read for summer vacation. But if you're willing to take your time and think through the material with the author, it will yield a valuable reward. If asked to recommend histories of the Second World War, I would put this one at the top of the list.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A must read for every student of the Second World War. It's not a battle by battle account, although there is some of that, but rather an analysis as to why the battle was won or lost and what its impact was on the outcome of the war. It's an in depth study of the cultural and industrial clash that saw the war begin with weapons and tactics reminiscent of the First World War evolve into the prevalence of massive four-engine bombers, fleet submarines, primitive cruise missiles and the dawn of nuclear power. An engaging read in spite of its tendency to keep telling the same story form alternate points of viewt. Nevertheless, a book to keep on the reference shelf. Four stars.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Superb new history of WWII by the pre-eminent military historian in the world, where he gives new perspectives on the strategies employed and insight with facts into how victory was achieved all in context. However, it is a dense and difficult read compared to some of his other works like "The Soul of Battle," "The Western Way of War," "A War Like No Other," or "Ripples of Battle."