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9780465013722: World War Two: A Short History
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After the unprecedented destruction of the Great War, the world longed for a lasting peace. The victors, however, valued vengeance even more than stability and demanded a massive indemnity from Germany in order to keep it from rearming. The results, as eminent historian Norman Stone describes in this authoritative history, were disastrous.In World War Two , Stone provides a remarkably concise account of the deadliest war of human history, showing how the conflict roared to life from the ashes of World War One. Adolf Hitler rode a tide of popular desperation and resentment to power in Germany, promptly making good on his promise to return the nation to its former economic and military strength. He bullied Europe into giving him his way, and in so doing backed the victors of the Great War into a corner. Following the invasion of Poland in 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany,a decision that, Stone argues, was utterly irrational. Yet Hitler had driven the world mad, and the rekindling of European hostilities soon grew to a conflagration that spread across the globe, fanned by political and racial ideologies more poisonous,and weaponry more destructive,than the world had ever seen. With commanding expertise, Stone leads readers through the escalation, climax, and mournful denouement of this sprawling conflict. World War Two is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the twentieth century and its defining struggle.

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Product Description:
World War Two The Second World War is the nightmare that sits at the heart of the modern era - a total refutation of any notion of human progress and a conflict which still haunts us seventy years on. This title intends to convey to an audience who may well have no memory of the conflict just how high the stakes were. Full description
Review:
"Kirkus Reviews"
"[An] entertaining history.... Novices will receive a painless introduction, but educated readers should not pass up the highly opinionated prologue and epilogue and the author's trademark acerbic commentary throughout.... Readers of all stripes...will find plenty to ponder."
Ian Thomson, "The Spectator"
"Written in a precise, carefully modulated prose, World War Two is illuminating as well as often amusing.... This absorbing micro-history serves as a tonic to outsize histories, and is pleasingly digressive as well as wonderfully well written. Professor Stone is a one-off and we are fortunate to have him."
Andrew Roberts, "Standpoint"
"Norman Stone has achieved the impossible; he has somehow written a comprehensive history of the Second World War in just under 200 pages, summarising the entire conflict while leaving out nothing of importance and bringing his lifetime of study of the subject to bear in a witty, incisive and immensely readable way.... Not everyone will agree with all the conclusions...but none will doubt that Norman Stone has proved yet again that he is one of the most original, witty and powerful British historians writing today."
"Mail on Sunday" (London)
"Stone's book is an entertaining read, full of quirky detail.... For the well-informed, this will be a book to enjoy, then argue over."
"Daily Mail" (London), Book of the Week
"Of all the books about World War II, this must be one of the most unexpected. Norman Stone, a master historian, has elected to tell the whole story in just 200 pages. Reading it is like being taken up in an all-seeing satellite to observe massive movements on the ground, or the woods without any trees to get in the way. It is illuminating, concentrating on what mattered most psychologically, ignoring confusing detail."
Richard J. Evans, "New Statesman"
"[Norman Stone] has a real gift for saying a lot in a small space and many sections of this book are mast

Kirkus Reviews
[An] entertaining history. Novices will receive a painless introduction, but educated readers should not pass up the highly opinionated prologue and epilogue and the author's trademark acerbic commentary throughout. Readers of all stripeswill find plenty to ponder.
Ian Thomson, The Spectator
Written in a precise, carefully modulated prose, World War Two is illuminating as well as often amusing.... This absorbing micro-history serves as a tonic to outsize histories, and is pleasingly digressive as well as wonderfully well written. Professor Stone is a one-off and we are fortunate to have him.
Andrew Roberts, Standpoint
"Norman Stone has achieved the impossible; he has somehow written a comprehensive history of the Second World War in just under 200 pages, summarising the entire conflict while leaving out nothing of importance and bringing his lifetime of study of the subject to bear in a witty, incisive and immensely readable way. Not everyone will agree with all the conclusions...but none will doubt that Norman Stone has proved yet again that he is one of the most original, witty and powerful British historians writing today."
Mail on Sunday (London)
Stone's book is an entertaining read, full of quirky detail.... For the well-informed, this will be a book to enjoy, then argue over. "

Daily Telegraph (London)
Stone always avoids the obvious, and his talent for seeing unexpected routes of cause and effect define his brilliant histories, of which his latest, World War Two: A Short History, is the fifth. Such lines of inquiry not only revivify the subjects they cover, they throw up all sorts of interesting nuggets.... Stone tells the story of the war succinctly and fluently, looking at areas often ignored in English histories.
San Antonio Express-News
An amazingly concise but seam-busting account of a war that defined America's greatest generation, [World War Two] will fascinate the novice historian and satisfy the WWII scholar. Stone...solidifies his reputation as a British academic, author and celebrated chronicler of military history with this succinct work.... Stone masterfully dissects his subject and puts it back together in a concise and straightforward approach that will give readers a firm foundation.
Roanoke Times
Only a person with extensive knowledge can tell such a complex story in so few pages and still have it be comprehensive. This is an ideal book for someone who seeks to understand the nature of World War II. It is also appropriate reading for someone who has studied the war in fragments...and wants to be reminded of the grand scale of this massive conflagration that defined the 20th century. "

Daily Mail (London), Book of the Week
"Of all the books about World War II, this must be one of the most unexpected. Norman Stone, a master historian, has elected to tell the whole story in just 200 pages. Reading it is like being taken up in an all-seeing satellite to observe massive movements on the ground, or the woods without any trees to get in the way. It is illuminating, concentrating on what mattered most psychologically, ignoring confusing detail."

Richard J. Evans, New Statesman
"[Norman Stone] has a real gift for saying a lot in a small space and many sections of this book are masterpieces of compression."

The Telegraph (London)
"[Stone's] history is a gripping introduction to one of the most tragic conflicts ever seen."

Sunday Express (London)
"Love or loathe him, Stone can pull off tricks beyond the reach of most of his detractors. Take his World War II: A Short History; do we really need yet another mini survey of the 1939-45 conflict? Of course not. Except if it is written by Norman Stone. Pithy, opinionated, preposterously readable, an afternoon on the sofa should see you through from cover to cover and Stone's book fires off illuminating facts as a Catherine wheel showers sparks.... [An] excellent, engaged and engaging primer, which contains everything and misses nothing in its brief span."

Kirkus Reviews
"[An] entertaining history.... Novices will receive a painless introduction, but educated readers should not pass up the highly opinionated prologue and epilogue and the author's trademark acerbic commentary throughout.... Readers of all stripes...will find plenty to ponder."

Ian Thomson, The Spectator
"Written in a precise, carefully modulated prose, World War Two is illuminating as well as often amusing.... This absorbing micro-history serves as a tonic to outsize histories, and is pleasingly digressive as well as wonderfully well written. Professor Stone is a one-off and we are fortunate to have him."

Andrew Roberts, Standpoint
"Norman Stone has achieved the impossible; he has somehow written a comprehensive history of the Second World War in just under 200 pages, summarising the entire conflict while leaving out nothing of importance and bringing his lifetime of study of the subject to bear in a witty, incisive and immensely readable way.... Not everyone will agree with all the conclusions...but none will doubt that Norman Stone has proved yet again that he is one of the most original, witty and powerful British historians writing today."

Mail on Sunday (London)
"Stone's book is an entertaining read, full of quirky detail.... For the well-informed, this will be a book to enjoy, then argue over."

Daily Telegraph (London)
"Stone always avoids the obvious, and his talent for seeing unexpected routes of cause and effect define his brilliant histories, of which his latest, World War Two: A Short History, is the fifth. Such lines of inquiry not only revivify the subjects they cover, they throw up all sorts of interesting nuggets.... Stone tells the story of the war succinctly and fluently, looking at areas often ignored in English histories."

San Antonio Express-News
"An amazingly concise but seam-busting account of a war that defined America's greatest generation, [World War Two] will fascinate the novice historian and satisfy the WWII scholar. Stone...solidifies his reputation as a British academic, author and celebrated chronicler of military history with this succinct work.... Stone masterfully dissects his subject and puts it back together in a concise and straightforward approach that will give readers a firm foundation."

Roanoke Times
"Only a person with extensive knowledge can tell such a complex story in so few pages and still have it be comprehensive. This is an ideal book for someone who seeks to understand the nature of World War II. It is also appropriate reading for someone who has studied the war in fragments...and wants to be reminded of the grand scale of this massive conflagration that defined the 20th century."

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherBasic Books
  • Publication date2013
  • ISBN 10 0465013724
  • ISBN 13 9780465013722
  • BindingHardcover
  • Number of pages272
  • Rating

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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Hardcover. After the Great War, the United States and the nations of Europe longed for a lasting peace. As far as they were concerned, they had just experienced "the war to end all wars." Over 15 million lay dead, and much of Europe had been reduced to rubble. The possibility of another such conflict was practically unthinkable. And yet within two decades of the signing of the Versailles Treaty, war broke out once again, on such a cataclysmic scale that it would forever transform international geopolitics. In "World War Two," Norman Stone—one of the greatest living historians of the twentieth century—provides an unprecedentedly concise, utterly authoritative account of the deadliest war of human history. Over 60 million people perished in World War Two, and the story of how the conflict roared to life from the ashes of the Great War is shocking, tragic, and also completely preventable in hindsight. The peace that Europe so craved after World War I hinged on European stability—but by demanding a massive indemnity from Germany in order to keep it from rearming, the Allies prevented Germany from recovering from the trauma of the Great War. The results, as Stone shows, were disastrous. Riding a tide of popular desperation and resentment, Adolf Hitler soared to power in Germany, and promptly made good on his promises to return the country to its former strength. He reinvigorated the German economy by rearming at a breakneck pace, then muscled his way into neighboring countries under a variety of pretenses, all while intensifying his campaign of anti-Semitic terror and forming a fascist bloc with the totalitarian regimes in Japan and Italy. His gamble was that the Allies, still shaken from the previous war, would not attempt to stop him—and for a time, he was right. Britain and France's eventual decision to declare war on Germany following the invasion of Poland in 1939 was utterly irrational, argues Stone—but then again, Hitler had driven the world insane. He had bullied all of Europe into giving him his way, and in doing so he had backed the victors of the Great War into a corner. Driven as much by a sense of outrage as anything else, the British leapt into the conflict; the French, fearing for their security, joined in. In time, and for their own unique reasons, the Americans and Soviets would enter the fray on the side of the Allies, as well. And so the conflagration spread across the globe, fanned by political and racial ideologies even more poisonous, and weaponry even more destructive, than those that had ravaged Europe in the previous war. Stone leads his reader through the inexorable escalation, savage climax, and mournful denouement of this sprawling conflict, providing along the way encapsulated accounts of the crucial battles of the war, from El Alamein, Stalingrad, and Midway to Anzio, Saipan, and Normandy. By the time World War Two had finally burned itself out in the capitals of Germany and Japan, the victors were already beginning to feel the chill of the oncoming Cold War—a new sort of conflict, and one defined by the hitherto unseen devastation the globe had just experienced. With astonishing aplomb, Norman Stone traces the causes, course, and conclusion of this epic war. A stunning achievement, "World War Two" is a work of history of which only Norman Stone is capable. Brisk yet profound, pithy but endlessly informative, it is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the twentieth century and its most defining conflict. Stone—one of the greatest living historians of the 20th century—provides an unprecedentedly concise, utterly authoritative account of the deadliest war of human history. Over 60 million people perished in World War Two, and the story of how the conflict roared to life from the ashes of the Great War is shocking Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780465013722

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