The Second World War

World War II claimed more lives than any other conflict in human history. The way it scarred people in so many places makes it one of the defining moments (probably the defining moment) in the modern history.

For USSR and its descendants, WWII has always been the main goalpost in History. The country paid a terrible price (40 million lives is the current consensus). There are very few families which came unscathed from that war - an overwhelming majority lost relatives who fought, died in occupation or starved due to terrible conditions, so WWII is not some historical event we encountered - it is something that we were part of, paying the price (both of my grandfathers fought and were lucky to come back; one of them had his parents killed by Germans when they took all 1,800+ Jews remaining in Yalta outside of the town and shot them; I can go on and on). Needless to say, WWII is a not just a historical event for me - it is part of me and part of my family history.

Well, back to the book - it is amazing. First of all, it is very comprehensive: the Author manages to give a robust overview both at a "macro" level, digging into major political events that shaped the War and at the same time to cover seemingly every single battle. This results in a great balance for a topic that could easily fill dozens of volumes.

One of the most important aspects of this book is a very strong attempt to remain objective. The Author does a really great job here: there are no favorites and no "sacred cows." Mr. Beevor doesn't shy away from pointing out the opportunistic and erratic side of Sir Winston Churchill. He also has some good words for Stalin when they are due and he does a great job depicting the intricacies of the power struggle between the leaders of the Allies. In general, Mr. Beevor has few kind words to Allied leaders overall, showing numerous cases where shameless politicking took priority (it is ironic, how Poland, that fell the first victim of the War ended up a bargaining chip between the three allies with zero consideration for the suffering and aspirations of the Polish people).

One of the most profound realizations of this book is what a terrible price people paid for human folly. Time and again, there are examples of battles that were poorly planned, done out of hubris or in order to improve a general's self-image and it is heart rending to read about so many young lives lost to that. And then, there is USSR, where tactical genius of Wehrmacht was countered with sheer number of people thrown into that meat grinder.

As I indicated above, WWII means a lot to me and my family history. As someone hailing from USSR (and brought up in the gloss of the official propaganda about the War), I find this book very fair. The Author has no illusions on the dictatorship that country was and he does a good job demonstrating the very successful game Stalin played to ensure that USSR extended its sphere of interests far beyond its original borders. If there was ever a great example of applying Machiavelli in practice, this is definitely the one.

Moreover, the book provides many detailed accounts for the one of the most suppressed and furiously opposed (by official propaganda) aspects of the Russian onslaught: the mass rape of women in Prussia and Germany. Soviet party line has always been that this was a lie coined by USSR's enemies and that incidents were extremely rare and always against the orders. The Author clearly dispels this lie with many detailed examples coming from many sources, showing that the War definitely exacerbated the best and the worst traits alike. The book gives an estimate of up to 3 million German (as well as their victims which included Jewish women and forced laborers) women raped over the course of that period.

To summarize, I am extremely happy with this book. I find it fair to all sides (including the Axis) of the conflict, comprehensive and very detailed. This is a book I'll keep and will definitely read again. If you are interested in WWII, read it - you will not regret.