The Second World War

by John Keegan

Overview

Praised as “the best military historian of our generation” by Tom Clancy, John Keegan reconsiders his masterful study of World War II, The Second World War, with a new foreword

Keegan examines each theater of the war, focusing on five crucial battles and offering new insights into the distinctive methods and motivations of modern warfare. In eloquent, perceptive analyses of the airborne battle of Crete, the carrier battle of Midway, the tank battle of Falaise, the city battle of Berlin, and the amphibious battle of Okinawa, Keegan illuminates the strategic dilemmas faced by the leaders and the consequences of their decisions on the fighting men and the course of the war as a whole. An extraordinary, definitive history, The Second World War will be required reading for generations to come.

"The Second World War merits the acceptance as the standard work that it will surely recieve." -The Washington Post

"If you want to know how it happened, read Keegan's thoughtful and elegant prose." -Los Angeles Times

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780143035732
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/03/2005
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	608
Sales rank:	282,208
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.60(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

John Keegan, one of the most distinguished contemporary military historians, was for many years Senior Lecturer at Sandhurst, the British Royal Military Academy, and Defense Editor of the London Daily Telegraph. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Keegan is the author of numerous books including The Face of Battle, The Mask of Command, The Price of Admiralty, Six Armies in Normandy, and The Second World War (all available from Penguin). if (SYM == "BIO") { document.writeln("

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Table of Contents

The Second World WarPrologue
1. Every man a soldier
2. Fomenting world war

Part I: The War in the West 1940-1943
3. The Triumph of Blitzkrieg
4. Air battle: the Battle of Britain
5. War Supply and the Battle of the Atlantic

Part II: The War in the East 1941-1943
6. Hitler's strategic dilemma
7. Securing the eastern springboard
8. Airborne battle: Crete
9. Barbarossa
10. War production
11. Crimean summer, Stalingrad winter

Part III: The War in the Pacific 1941-1943
12. Tojo's strategic dilemma
13. From Pearl Harbor to Midway
14. Carrier battle: Midway
15. Occupation and repression
16. The war for the islands

Part IV: The War in the West 1943-1945
17. Churchill's strategic dilemma
18. Three wars in Africa
19. Italy and the Balkans
20. Overlord
21. Tank battle: Falaise
22. Strategic bombing
23. The Ardennes and the Rhine

Part V: The War in the East 1943-1945
24. Stalin's strategic dilemma
25. Kursk and the recapture of western Russia
26. Resistance and espionage
27. The Vistula and the Danube
28. City battle: the seige of Berlin

Part VI: The War in the Pacific 1943-1945
29. Roosevelt's strategic dillemma
30. Japan's defeat in the south
31. Amphibious battle: Okinawa
32. Super-weapons and the defeat of Japan
33. The legacy of the Second World War

Bibliography and Index

Editorial Reviews

"Truly magnificent . . . The best military historian of our generation." -Tom Clancy

"The Second World War merits the acceptance as the standard work that it will surely recieve . . Features the eloquences we have come to expect of John Keegan." -The Washington Post

"Analytical, concise, and coherent . . . If you want to know how it happened, read Keegan's thoughtful and elegant prose." -Los Angeles Times 

"To write history is to choose, and Mr. Keegan's choices and preferences are as interesting and stimulating as any I have seen . . . Boldy written and fair minded." -New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher

This account of WW II, though controversial, is rich in fresh perception, interpretation and opinion. In addition to penning a fast-paced campaign chronicle, Keegan makes a convincing case for the prime motivations of Allied and Axis leaders, pinpoints the practical results of Allied summit conferences and defines the war's geopolitical dimensions.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

In contrast to Martin Gilbert's broader The Second World War ( reviewed in this issue, p.101), Keegan's work is more a battle campaign. His strength as a military historian ( The Face of Battle, The Price of Admiralty ) is in his ability to synthesize the order of battle without getting bogged down in minutae. The mighty German-Russian struggles are well covered, as is the war in the Pacific. While Robert Leckie's Delivered from Evil: The Saga of World War II ( LJ 9/1/87) is nearly twice as long as Keegan's book, integrates biographical material into the narrative, and is less analytical than Keegan's, Keegan's is extremely well written; the reader can almost visualize the movement of an army without looking at the maps. On another level, however, Keegan tends to be simplistic (e.g., in his discussion of the causes of World War II, in his view that the war would have come even without Hitler) and skim over many topics. Nevertheless, academic and larger public libraries will find this in demand. Recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/89.-- Robert Jordan, Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City

Library Journal

Keegan examines each theater of the war, focusing on five crucial battles (the airborne battle of Crete, the carrier battle of Midway, the tank battle of Falaise, the city battle of Berlin, and the amphibious battle of Okinawa) as well as the strategic dilemmas faced by the leaders and the consequences of their decisions on the fighting men and the course of the war as a whole. First published in Great Britain (Hutchinson) and Canada (Key Porter) in 1989. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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