Gerhard L. Weinberg (1) (1928–)
Author of A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II
For other authors named Gerhard L. Weinberg, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
Image credit: Gerhard L. Weinberg
Works by Gerhard L. Weinberg
Associated Works
If the Allies Had Fallen : Sixty Alternate Scenarios of World War II (2010) — Contributor — 421 copies, 4 reviews
Hitler's Second Book: The Unpublished Sequel to Mein Kampf (1983) — Editor, some editions — 197 copies, 1 review
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Spring 1992 (1992) — Author "Why Hitler Declared War on the United States" — 21 copies
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Spring 1998 (1998) — Author "Rearranging World War II" — 17 copies
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Summer 1998 (1998) — Author "Strategic View: The Anglo-American Alliance in World War II" — 16 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Weinberg, Gerhard L.
- Legal name
- Weinberg, Gerhard Ludwig
- Birthdate
- 1928-01-01
- Gender
- male
- Education
- State University of New York, Albany
University of Chicago - Occupations
- historian
military historian
diplomat - Organizations
- US Army
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Michigan
University of Kentucky - Awards and honors
- Pritzker Military Library Literature Award (2009)
Western Association for German Studies' Halverson Prize (1972)
American Historical Society's George Louis Beer Prize (1972)
Society for Military History Samuel Eliot Morison Prize (2011)
American Academy of Arts inductee - Short biography
- Professor Gerhard L. Weinberg was born in Germany. He and his parents escaped Nazi Germany and fled to England. Dr. Weinberg immigrated to the United States in 1940. He joined the US Army and served in the occupation of post-war Japan. He earned his MA and PhD from the University of Chicago. He taught at the University of Kentucky and the University of Michigan before joining the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has become a respected expert on Nazi Germany and even though he is retired still continues to lecture at seminars and other events on World War II.
- Nationality
- USA
Germany (birth) - Birthplace
- Hanover, Germany
- Places of residence
- Hanover, Germany (birth)
- Associated Place (for map)
- Hanover, Germany
Members
Reviews
I've been looking forward to learning about more contemporary history and I decided that World War II was the next topic on my agenda. World War II is prevalent enough in public consciousness that I knew a lot of random facts about it, but I wanted an overview of the war and how all the pieces fit together. I wasn’t sure where to start, but I found that the Ask Historians subreddit (which is pretty amazing) has a book recommendation list, which is where I found A World at Arms.
The show more recommendation entry for A World at Arms describes the book as “one of the best histories of the Second World War from a global perspective”, and although I haven’t read any other World War II histories, I would agree with that. Weinberg covers a vast scope – every theater and front, including the “home fronts” of all countries involved in the war, sociopolitical changes, international relations, economic changes, strategy, and so on. The book seemed meticulously researched, the references are extensive, and Weinberg often mentions which sources he used or did not have access to when proposing a theory for why something happened a certain way.
The writing style is somewhat dry, but there’s so much information packed into every paragraph that I didn’t mind at all. Even on days when I was only able to read 20 pages or so, I still felt like I was learning rapidly. Also, didn’t notice any huge biases by the author, which I found refreshing when compared to a lot of other non-fiction I’ve read. I guess it makes sense from such an academic book, though.
Because of the scope of the book, most of the detail in it is about high level strategy and machinations; there isn’t much of a perspective from the trenches. I happened to be watching the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers (which follows the American “Easy Company” attached to the 101st Airborne Division) at the same time that I was reading this book, though, and I found that to be a nice “on the ground” complement to the global view that A World at Arms offered. show less
The show more recommendation entry for A World at Arms describes the book as “one of the best histories of the Second World War from a global perspective”, and although I haven’t read any other World War II histories, I would agree with that. Weinberg covers a vast scope – every theater and front, including the “home fronts” of all countries involved in the war, sociopolitical changes, international relations, economic changes, strategy, and so on. The book seemed meticulously researched, the references are extensive, and Weinberg often mentions which sources he used or did not have access to when proposing a theory for why something happened a certain way.
The writing style is somewhat dry, but there’s so much information packed into every paragraph that I didn’t mind at all. Even on days when I was only able to read 20 pages or so, I still felt like I was learning rapidly. Also, didn’t notice any huge biases by the author, which I found refreshing when compared to a lot of other non-fiction I’ve read. I guess it makes sense from such an academic book, though.
Because of the scope of the book, most of the detail in it is about high level strategy and machinations; there isn’t much of a perspective from the trenches. I happened to be watching the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers (which follows the American “Easy Company” attached to the 101st Airborne Division) at the same time that I was reading this book, though, and I found that to be a nice “on the ground” complement to the global view that A World at Arms offered. show less
4252 A World at Arms A Global History of World War II, by Gerhard L. Weinberg (read 31 Dec 2006) This is a masterful account of World War II, the best I think I have ever read. I read Robert Leckie's Delivered from Evil on Feb 4, 1989 and greatly enjoyed it, but this book is better researched and I believe is better, though with 920 pages of text, a 23 page bibliographic essay, 75 pages of notes, and 31 pages of maps, it should be. Though I lived thru the war and followed its course show more intently, and have read much on it since, I felt I was not merely retreading familiar ground but learning much I never knew or had forgotten. Weinberg's opinions are convincingly supported and I think he is right in most of them, maybe in all of them. Certainly he has done more research than most writers on the most important event in our lifetime. show less
WONDERFUL book by a scholar with the broadest grasp of the conflict, its origins and implications in all their political and global dimensions. Highly recommended, intelligent book. For the reader prepared to work to understand the conflict in its myriad complexities.
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Statistics
- Works
- 14
- Also by
- 6
- Members
- 1,548
- Popularity
- #16,636
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 6
- ISBNs
- 46
- Languages
- 4
- Favorited
- 2