The Second World Wars
How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won

Two factors made this book an instant “Must Have” and “Must Read” work. The first factor was that Victor Davis Hanson wrote it. Hanson is both a classicist and a military historian. He is equally at home teaching, speaking, or writing about the ancient Greeks and Romans. His skills include being ade......more

Magnificent overview of the global policies, tactics and economics that shaped the conduct of the war, for both the Axis and Allies. Unique in the sense that it does not craft a chronological narrative, but rather describes the various 'fronts' that inevitable led to different policies in which - at......more

Disappointing, especially compared to Hanson's work on the classical world. (This book has too many classical references, betraying a certain amount of authorial anxiety) It's not really a history but rather a congratulatory, triumphal retrospective on the Allies' victory that we know occurred. It's......more

I held this heavy book in my hands and in my spirit the last three months. The numbers are numbing. 65,000,000 died because of this mammoth calamity. The Russian dead at Leningrad alone were four times greater than the death toll of all Americans during the entire war. While I've read dozens of narra......more

Victor Davis Hanson has written many books of military history. The Second World Wars may be his most ambitious. He writes a deep, thorough analysis of WWII without describing the military operations themselves. It's not a narrative but is, instead, an honest, open-eyed appraisal of how military ope......more