World War Two - Hardcover

Stone, Norman

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0753153386 ISBN 13: 9780753153383

Publisher: ISIS Large Print Books, 2013

Synopsis

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 listeners 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.

About this title

About the Author:

Norman Stone is the award winning author of World War One, Europe Transformed, and The Eastern Front.

From Booklist:

This is a compact book that manages to cover most of the major aspects of the titular conflict. Stone, who has taught history at Cambridge, Oxford, and in Turkey, writes in a rapid-fire but clear style; while his narrative necessarily moves quickly, he manages to insert some useful and sometimes provocative analyses. His work is often written from a European perspective, and Stone doesn’t hesitate to ravage European, especially British, leaders for their miscalculations that allowed Hitler to gain and then maintain power. On strictly military matters, Stone sometimes disputes conventional wisdom. For example, he asserts that Hitler’s Norwegian “victory” was actually a long-term defeat. Stone’s concluding chapter on the aftermath of the war is particularly well done, as he asserts that many of the unresolved issues in 1945 would not be settled until the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe and the demise of the Soviet Union. This is an ideal work for general readers who require an introduction to the causes, course, and results of the war. --Jay Freeman

About this edition

• Publisher: ISIS Large Print Books
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0753153386
• ISBN 13: 9780753153383
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224