Thursday, August 15, 2019
A World at Arms: A World War II Book Review Essay
Abstract            This book authored by a great historian Gerhard L. Weinberg is exceptionally written with impressive research. It integrated all the aspects of war – diplomatic, political, economic, and even cultural. In addition, the book has given an overview of how the different theatres of World War II are interconnnected. This paper explores on the author as an expert of this time period, on the book as an account of history, and its impact to the world.  A World at Arms: A World War II Book Review An Overview            The truth about wars is that many facts would always be concealed and altered. There are numerous instances where events that transpired were never recorded, and many evidences were deliberately destroyed. Therefore weaving the entire tragedy is a very difficult task, and people could only carefully integrate the pieces together, whether they fit or not. World War II is exceptionally difficult for many historians for it is composed of many different theatres, for indeed the world was ultimately at war. The author of â€Å"A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II†Gerhard L. Weinberg has done the next to impossible, to write a single volume that ecompasses all the aspects of war, without sacrificing its value as a piece of literature.            Gerhard L. Weinberg is an expert historian who has enough authority to write about this period of the greatest war in the history of mankind. He has previously written a duely recognized two-volume account of the diplomatic affairs of Adolf Hitler. He is also credited for discovering and editing the second published book of Hitler. Not only is he well versed on this global conflict, he is also largely exposed on extensive archives including those of the Americans, the British, and the Germans which were of great addition to his books. These primary sources characterized his book with much freshness and color in comparison to other works with the same relevance (Weinberg, 1994).            This book contains accounts that include all of the six continents. It largely discussed the details of the war, its causes, and its effect on the world. Moreover, its timeline extends from 1939 until the end of war, and even including chapters that reflected the wretched aftermath of this conflict. This is a narrative that dissected the war into the different roles of diplomacy, espionage, land, and sea battles on the total outcome of the Second World War It is a relevant source of the weaponry used, military tactics, naval seacrafts, and even different aircrafts used in various offensives. This book is not confined within the overall military and diplomatic chaos that occurred during those times, for this piece of literature has also explored on the gravity of the situations in the Eastern Front and of the Jewish holocaust (Weinberg, 1994).            The book tackled interesting insights that are both amusing and surprising. Such information includes the reduction of American and British troops after the First World War, maintaining only a size comparable to that specified for the Germans by the Treaty of Versailles. Another thought provoking fact is that the British and the French failed to attempt to enter the war. It is basically an interwoven story of different stories. Stories are sometimes characterized by delaying the inevitable, strategic mistakes, and too much reliance towards neutrality that they ignored, consciously or not, that Hitler really wanted a World War that would give him his Thousand Year Reich (Weinberg, 1994).            The book has also given emphasis on the different geographical and logistic significance that affected decisions in warfare. Examples include the impact of the Allied invasion during the landing in Normandy, as the place was a crucial port for the Germans. Southern ports were also seized by Allied troops, and this greatly benefitted their European campaign once they settled their military, naval, and air forces in France. The book also presented Hitler’s â€Å"fixation on blood and loot in the East†(Weinberg, 1994). Moreover, the author elaborated on the different preprations done by the Allied, and how they incorporated necessary deceptions for the enemy. Because of these ploys, Germany opted to invade Russia, as Hitler perceived it as an easier target compared to England (Weinberg, 1994). Purpose or audience for the book            The primary focus that the author wishes to present to his audience is that this Second World War is brought upon the world by the Germans. They initiated and started this largest conflict in man’s history, which extended across oceans and continents. It is fundamentally an account of how the Germans caused the war’s outbreak in September of 1939 and how the Germans were defeated on the year 1945. This book is especially interesting to those in search of a book with accurate and specific details of World War II (Weinberg, 1994).            Even those who do not possess inclination towards historical subjects would enjoy this book presented in a manner apart form the regular academic and scholarly approach. It does not have the dessicated and dragging encyclopedic tone as it was written with much moral passion. This book is of great importance to every historical account of the World War II written after it. Authors couldn ot ever afford to not include this masterpiece in their reference list, as it contains most of the commonly known, the controversial, and even the great secret stories of the war (Weinberg, 1994).            The book is an account that has successfully interwoven the different narratives of both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of war. They were integrated instead of being dealt with separately. This book discussed what others rarely encompass, the histories of America and Britain, the military fronts of Russia and China, and the Italian and Balkan countries. This book does not only cater to those who did not encounter the war, as it is also useful to those who and existed and were very familiar of the events before, during, and after World War II (Weinberg, 1994). Physical and Textual description            In addition to the texts, the book also includes an additional 180 pages containing the endnotes, a detailed bibliographic essay, and 23 relevant maps. However, it is quite noticeable that this book lacks graphic illustrations and photographic documentation of the different events of the war. It is very much wanting of a comprehensive presentation of the different key battles that dictated the course of war. The book only contains two pictures major pictures and four historical icons of the war, and they are each located at the book’s cover and spine (Weinberg, 1994). Your reaction and evaluation            As a personal assessment, I find the book to be a very interesting and well written documentary of the Second World War I believe that it is a ver powerful piece of narrative that attests to all the impact that this war has brought upon mankind. In the most possible concise way of writing the entire war in a single book, I believe that the author has done a tremendous job in conveying to the reader the importance of every aspect that comprises a war, without being too detailed and boring. Using his simple prose composition in laying out to the reader the causes, the events, and the consequences of the war, Weinberg has successfully integrated the two theaters of war. It is however unfortunate that his concentration is evidently towards the Atlantic Theater, but due to the purpose of writing a single volume, I believe that he has utilized the pages well. Every word in the book is of great importance, and he did not include miniscule details that would only make the text wordy and less interesting to the reader (Weinberg, 1994).            The author also demonstrated great knowledge on the subject matter, as he not only related specific details from the war, but also conducted in depth analyses on the different policies imposed to the people existing those times. He also thoroughly presented to the reader the different mistakes and failures of the German military and government, and related the consequences of the blunders the Germans suffered to the Allied victory (Weinberg, 1994).             I can very well agree to the notion that the author wishes to convey. He insisted that the Second World War is a very novel entity, for no other war has reached such vast geographic extent or political and military scale. The book is a very clear narrative, which resembles a compilation of different symposia and lectures. The author used a very comprehensive language that would not intimidate nor discriminate any vocabulary and speech level. It has enough clarity and has successfully deployed its thoughts and arguments without sacrificing the integration of the necessary points to allow a reader understand the entire course of history (Weinberg, 1994). Conclusion            There is tremendous pain and suffering in the face of destruction brought about by war. Many civilians and soldiers alike are left in social and economic displacement, as the war has robbed them of the promising future they once had prior its outbreak. Those who have not witnessed the ravaging of war do not know its nature. But because of books such as this World War II account, readers are given a glimpse of the events that transpired and the difficulty that everyone encountered. War is a serious business and a complicated operation. And because of Weinberg’s attempt to provide the reader the truth he deserves, we are now equipped with a masterpiece that would tell our generation and the generations to come the truth of what really happened. References Weinberg, G. L. (1994). A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II. New York:
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