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James L. Stokesbury
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A Short History of World War II Kindle Edition

by James L. Stokesbury (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 253 ratings
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A Short History of World War II is essentially a military history, but it reaches from the peace settlements of World War I to the drastically altered postwar world of the late 1940's. 

Lucidly written and eminently readable, it is factual and accurate enough to satisfy professional historians. A Short History of World War II will appeal equally to the general reader, the veteran who fought in the War, and the student interested in understanding the contemporary political world.

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  1. ISBN-13
    978-0688085872
  2. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  3. Publisher
    HarperCollins e-books
  4. Publication date
    October 13, 2009
  5. Book 2 of 2
    Short History
  6. Language
    English
  7. File size
    2750 KB
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"We have needed this kind of book for a long time . . . It tells people just what they need to know about the war . . . It is an awfully good book." -- Theodore Ropp, Professor of History, Duke University, author of "War in the Modern World""It is, above all else, a balanced account of World War II . . . Dr. Stokesbury's one-volume history is by far the best short account of the war yet published." -- Thaddeus V. Tuleja, Professor of History, St. Peter's College (Jersey City, N.J.), author of "Climax at Midway"

About the Author

James L. Stokesbury is the author of A Short History of World War I, A Short History of World War II, A Short History of the Korean War, and A Short History of the American Revolution. Before his death in 1995 he was a professor of history at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00192MNLM
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins e-books (October 13, 2009)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 13, 2009
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2750 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 583 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 253 ratings

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James L. Stokesbury

James L. Stokesbury

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
253 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Q-fever
5.0 out of 5 stars Well-written and balanced primer
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2008
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If you want a place to start, you can't go wrong with this book. It starts with the end of WW1 and ends by hinting at some of WW2's long term consequences (cold war, Vietnam war,etc). Not every battle can be covered in a book this size, but it does discuss the major ones and their implications on a broader scale. But this is not your dry academic history textbook. The battle descriptions are vivid and even exciting, at times. It is clearly written and easy to read, almost conversational. I not only came away with a much deeper understanding of this pivotal event in history, but it was also an enjoyable read. It seemed fair and balanced to me but I'm no history scholar.
The only problem was that there should have been higher quality maps and more of them. The few maps in the book are simple black and white line maps with no hint of shading or features. Perhaps a new edition will address this shortcoming. Because of this, I was thinking more like 4.5 stars but I rounded up.
Despite this, I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting an excellent overview of WW2. I would definitely get this over the WW2 for Dummies (which I also read). I have not read the Keegan book but plan to.
John
8 people found this helpful
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Raymond H. Mullen
4.0 out of 5 stars Don't Let this One Get Away
Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2006
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Some books, you read, place on a shelf, and never return to them. This is not one of those books. As my library is overflowing with Civil War and WWII books, there are now TWO that I use for study and reference. "Battle Cry of Freedom' by James McPherson is, in my opinion the best one volumn overview of the Civil War ever written.

"A Short History of WWII" is in that same category as far as a complete, one volumn acount of this period of history. It is in depth, yet very readable. When I finished, my copy was tattered, dog,eared, high-lighted, and contained many of my personal observations in the columns.

I will return to it as I continue my study of WWII. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that I would have liked to had more complete maps denoting troop movements. If you're reading my review, you must be considering buying this book. My recommendation is "Buy it, without a doubt. You will not be disappointed."
87 people found this helpful
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DRoberts
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant overview and battle descriptions
Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2006
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The way that Stokesbury was able to shorten WWII to 300+ pages is remarkable. He shortens the details on many battles and incidents that other historians have covered more fully. This is not a criticism of him because there are people that enjoy the shorter version. I do not particularly care for the shortened version, but give Stokesbury kudos for the way he wrote the book.

Stokesbury is an excellent historian that has helped history reach peopel that otherwise would not know about WWII. My one problem with Stokesbury (in both short histories) is the lack of thanks for American help and fighting power. He paints the picture that the war could have been won without the help of America. Any WWII lover knows this is simply not the case. I also thought he regarded the French too highly. They folded too fast and then proceeded to kill Americans as they arrived in North Africa. Stokesbury is never too critical of the French, but that could be because he resides in Canada. These are minor qualms that I thought I would mention. I will still give him five stars because there is not another short history that covers so much in so short of detail.
6 people found this helpful
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KIM HOLLAND
5.0 out of 5 stars MY HUSBAND IS A BIG READER
Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2024
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JUST WHAT HE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE
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N. C. Moore
3.0 out of 5 stars Good Overview, for New WWII Readers
Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2012
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For those of you who are inclined to overrating, please don't be deterred by my 3 star review (plus, its more like a 3.5 star review.) Keep in mind that few subjects are as complicated or have had so much ink spilt over as World War II. One of the hardest issues facing a reader is determining which book to read when.

The wide breadth and shallow depth of this book suited me quite well due to my embarrassingly poor grasp on the major events of WWII. Prior to this book, my piecemeal understanding of the subject was derived mainly from movies, documentaries, and more recently a few WWII memoirs. Stokesbury paints broadly with a wide brush and offers only modest levels of commentary on major events. Though Stokesbury, as any WWII author must do, was forced to jump from arena to arena and thus time frame to time frame, this book is organized chronologically by arena. I appreciated how the author often gave more attention to the catalysts that sparked individual conflicts than the conflicts themselves. In my judgment, this is critical for one's understanding of a major military conflict.

I did have a few minor disappointments. For those reading the kindle edition, the maps are both scarce and of such poor quality that they proves to be worthless. One must read this book in the company of a good atlas. I used a cheap one:  Historical Atlas of World War II . Also, Stokesbury's prose was a little wooden and clunky at times but still quite readable. My most significant concern about this book was the glaring lack of citations. Though the author provides a 20 page annotated bibliography, he does not use notes. While I concede this may be a necessary byproduct of a "Short History" it is hard to overlook. The author writes as if he is simply recounting a narrative of the war, as if he is a leading authority on the subject. There are a few times where he acknowledges the broader field of literature, but this lands this work squarely into popular history. Students, serious readers, and historians must bear this in mind and look elsewhere for any serious treatment on the issue. I can however, bear with these shortcomings as part of a "short history."

I spent some time in deliberation between this and John Keegan's  The Second World War . After reading 50 pages of Keegan, I decided to deter his work till I had a better grasp on the chronology of the war. I feel I chose well. Keegan would be a better choice for beginner/intermediate readers. I will read him in the next 3-5 years.

With all this being said, I do give the book a moderate to high recommendation for anyone looking for a western overview of the events of the War.
53 people found this helpful
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Dan Ford
4.0 out of 5 stars Exactly what it says it is but with enough depth to understand the political forces driving the war
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2018
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A fascinating read if you are at all interested in WW2.
Goes into enough detail to grasp the important battles and campaigns, but gives a thoughtful explanation of the political, economic and military forces and strategies that drove both sides to make the decisions that they did. Gives great insight into the various successes and failures of both sides. I would have liked to have more detail on some important efforts in the war that got, in my opinion, too little attention, such as the record-breaking efforts of both the British and the Americans. I guess that because it is a "short" history of WW2.
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Top reviews from other countries

willockston
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 24, 2017
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looks good
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Em Jor
4.0 out of 5 stars Happy with purchase!
Reviewed in Canada on September 5, 2016
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Purchased as a gift; both myself and the recipient are very happy with this book. Arrived promptly and without damage. Photos and text are clear, and binding is strong.
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in Canada on December 9, 2015
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concise and clear
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