Gerald Simons

Superficial reading about World War II will inform one about some of the major battles; by digging a little deeper, one will be informed of all of the major battles. But one will not be informed about the whole of WW II unless one pursues books like this. The cover signals the type of book this is: it features a picture of a lone soldier, his collar turned up, holding his rifle on his right shoulder, motionless as he stares out at an empty expanse of water. This book tells us about the show more remote locations and events that describe the pervasiveness of this huge calamity humankind brought on itself. There are isolated heroics but mostly this is a description of utter boredom. Yet the lonesome soldier on the cover is every bit as much at war as were the invaders at Normandy. If one thinks they know the essentials of WW II, one owes to oneself to pursue a book like this and getting a broader view. show less

This was a great read. The makers of Time-Life really had this down-packed.

A good, high level overview of some of the smaller campaigns in less well known theaters, including Iran, Madagascar, the arctic, Greenland, Borneo and the Aleutians.

a time in history i thought i knew very little about because i had never seen it presented as a whole. it seems to be perma war. probably the best way for men to eat. a type of birth control too.