History of the Second World War

by B.H. Liddell Hart

Book Overview

History of the Second World War, B. H. Liddell Hart's last work as well as his magnum opus, embodies the fruits of twenty years of research and a lifetime of thinking on war. It abounds with... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0306809125
• ISBN13: 9780306809125
• Release Date: May 1999
• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Length: 784 Pages
• Weight: 1.91 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

This book is the Basic General History of WW11, Back Bone of Research & Study Approaching Idea of

Liddle Hart'S continuing Attitue and Thinking gave us most of Answers from inttermitent and repeated questionable evil spirits. Any Way, this books are recommendable to Special strategist, combat planning Generals and their Staffs,Military Professors and Researchers even Amateur Enthugiast on Military Affaiers. I keep this book in my deep bookshelf in my living-room Library for my final deffense from any Anxiety and Depression of mymind from lack of my Military Decision and my Knowledges !

The Actual History of the Second World War

Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart has written this definitive piece of history! After pursuing truth about WWII I found this hardcover at B Dalton for $9.98. It was like a revelation after reading volumes of "politically correct" ideas about the subject. JUAN SULLIVAN Arlington, Virginia

Liddell Hart's final "I told you so".

Captain Basil Liddell Hart was the most famous military historian of the 20th century. Everything he wrote is worth reading, and this is one of his best. His style is clear, direct, and easy to read. He leaves you in no doubt as to what he thinks. He loves to say "I told you so", and was in a better position than most to exercise that unbecoming character trait. I don't know of any other historian who can say, as L.H. does: "When in November, 1933, I was consulted as to how our fast tank formations - which the War Office was just beginning to form - could best be used in a future war I had suggested that, in the event of a German invasion of France, we should deliver a tank counterattack through the Ardennes. I was thereupon told that 'the Ardennes were impassible to tanks', to which I replied that, from personal study of the terrain, I regarded such a view as a delusion - as I had emphasized in several books between the wars." Guderian's tank attack through the Ardennes in 1940 and the German Ardennes tank offensive of 1944 fully justify L.H.'s right to say "I told you so." This is a straightforward chronological history of the military operations of the major belligerent powers of the Second World War, so much is left out that appears in more general histories. Also, it was written before the "Ultra" and other secret operations were declassified, which is a drawback. However, current thinking is shifting on the subject of just how much these operations actually contributed to Allied victory (see John Keegan's recent "Intelligence in War", for example), so that his commentary on the strategic and tactical mistakes of the various combatants is still very much worth reading. His "Epilogue", though controversial, is a brilliant and valuable summation of the overall course of the war. He ends the book on a pessimistic note, clearly very disappointed that a war fought to defend Eastern Europe from a totalitarian power ended with a similar power in occupation of those countries: "Thus the train of European civilization rolled into the long, dark tunnel from which it only emerged after six exhausting years had passed. Even then, the bright sunlight of victory proved illusory." If we accept L.H.'s analysis, the Second World War didn't really end until 1989, with the demise of the USSR and the end of its long occupation of Eastern Europe. Any student of politics, history or warfare, and anyone interested in how our world came to be the way it is, should be familiar with the writings of Basil Liddell Hart, including this book. Highly recommended.

A cracking great read by a very opionated guy

(by E.M. Singer, author of "Mother Flies Hurricanes") Liddell Hart was a noted tank expert and advised British military leaders during the war, so his perspective is not only of "looking back" (which any historical treatise does) but also "in the thick of things." So you get that sense of being there when you read his book. His chapter on the Battle of Britain is the best short account (about 26 pages) of this pivotal episode. Even if you read only that, it's worth the price of the book. Still, it would be hard not to read the rest of Liddell-Hart's book after reading that chapter (or to refrain from reading anything else about the Battle of Britain-go on, I dare you!). Liddell Hart is provocative and opinionated; even if you don't agree with everything he says, History of the Second World War is still a cracking great read! I consider this the second-best book about WWII; for the best book (in my humble opinion), check out the "Best Books about WWII" section of the motherflieshurricanes.con webite.

Lesson of the Master

Liddell Hart was one of the great military thinkers of this century. His theories of strategy and mobile warfare influenced generals on both sides in the Second World War. In this volume, he applies his powers of strategic analysis to the events of that war to provide a coherent and compelling narrative. Liddell Hart's was the first general history of World War II that gave me a sense of the overall logic of events rather than simply a collection of battle stories.