The options among one-volume narratives of WWII include, to note only the most recent, titles by Max Hastings, Andrew Roberts, and now Beevor. Well known to WWII readers--his Stalingrad (1998) is outstanding--Beevor frames the war largely in operational military terms. Here are the massive offensives, counteroffensives, bombing campaigns, and naval clashes during the years 1939-45. Appended maps enable the audience to keep track of the advance and retreat of forces. Such abstraction can be a distraction from the human-scale enormity of the war in terms of destructiveness and depravity, which Beevor effectively counters by including on nearly every page the testimony of individuals who witnessed the event at hand. Whether a battle or an atrocity, Beevor illustrates it with one person's experience, preventing stupefaction over his data on the millions of dead. Underscoring, too, the confluence of several wars into what we now call WWII, Beevor keeps a regular tab on the actions of leaders and generals as the prospect of victory shifted from the Axis to the Allies. As a summarizing introduction to WWII, Beevor's is a fine example of the form.--Taylor, Gilbert Copyright 2010 Booklist

This latest work by prize-winning historian Beevor (D-Day: The Battle for Normandy) is magisterial in both scope and breadth. Many one-volume World War II histories fail either to grab the attention of the reader or to provide new insights; this is not the case here. Covering both theaters of the war, the causes of the conflict, and some of the immediate aftermath, Beevor provides a strategic overview of the war while adding personal stories and details that keep the book fresh. His approach considers World War II as the global conflict it was (e.g., his discussion of the Russo-Japanese battle of Nomohan), rather than as simultaneous yet separate conflicts, as so many other authors have presented it. He begins with the tale of Yang Kyoungjong, a Korean national who ended up fighting in the armies of Japan, the USSR, and Germany. VERDICT Beevor provides a stimulating and informative book recommended for all general readers.-BKD (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Beevor successfully employs the format of his previous works on WWII (Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege, 1942-1943) in this comprehensive capstone. His approach presents a kaleidoscope of individual experiences in a context of continuous choices. His subtext is a warning not to become overwhelmed by statistics and abstractions or by the notion that historical events are predetermined. WWII was "an amalgamation of conflicts" dating back as far as WWI and structured by "a cycle of resentments." But the war was set in motion by a single person-Adolf Hitler-and its extension reflected specific decisions by specific people, and its course changed lives across the globe in ways impossible to predict. Beevor supports these points through narrative that displays his particular strength for description-whether of fire-bomb raids, infantry combat, death camp routines, or high-level negotiations-in a page-turner. His command of a comprehensive spectrum of sources enables him to present the war from the perspective of its participants. And from heads of state to front-line riflemen, from field marshals to teenaged girls, Beevor's protagonists exercise choice in the context of "the greatest man-made disaster in history." Hypocrisy and self-sacrifice, corruption and idealism, sadism and compassion, genocide and cannibalism: Beevor brilliantly shows, at all levels, that WWII defies easy generalization. 32 pages of b&w photos, 23 maps. Agent: Andrew Nurnberg, Andrew Nurnberg Associates (U.K.) (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.