Last Great Victory: 2the End of World War II, July/August 1945

by Stanley Weintraub

Book Overview

Recounts the final thirty days of the war, focusing on the momentous meeting of President Truman, Churchill, and Stalin at Potsdam to end the war, the last-minute diplomacy with the Japanese, and the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525936874
• ISBN13: 9780525936879
• Release Date: July 1995
• Publisher: Dutton Books
• Length: 730 Pages
• Weight: 2.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.9" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Lengthy and Sometimes Boring

I found Stanley Weintraub's book The Last Great Victory to be boring. I usually enjoy books regarding World War II, but this was one to suffer through. The book covers all of the final preparations towards the end of the war. I guess someone who enjoys reading about all the planning towards the end of World War II would like this book.Some people have said that The Last Great Victory is comparable to Steven Ambrose and other famous historical writers. I disagree in the sense that Ambrose manages to keep the readers attention, while Weintraub's book seems to include more detail than interesting trivia.Overall, I would recommend this book if you are interested in the preparations at the end of World War II or in politics of the 1940's, but other than that, skip this and pick up one of Steven Ambroses' books instead.

A GOOD CLOSURE TO WORLD WAR II BATTLE ACTION

For those who have read various accounts of action in World War II, Weintraub presents an excellent closure to the entire Second World War, something that the reader does not find in accounts of individual battles.Weintraub covers the closing moments of the war with the Axis powers, providing the reader with quite good insight into what happened to both the Allied victors, the vanquished Axis populations, and those often-forgotten displaced persons (DP's) and POW's produced by the war.The book is very detailed and provides the reader with a good understanding of what exactly evolved, and why it happened. Once the war was finished, what were the consequences to the people, the military, the concentration camp prisoners, and, most importantly, the politicians, especially Truman, Roosevelt, and Stalin who receive excellent coverage in this book. Some good surprises come to light...I give the book five stars for its analysis of the European civilian, military and political situations in the aftermath of surrender.. With regard to the portion of the book covering Japan, instead of describing the Japanese occupation in detail, which I had been expecting, Weintraub spends far too much time on the atomic bomb and political infighting in Japan prior to surrender, both of which are covered far better by Richard Rhodes in "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" and in "Japan's Longest Day" published by the Pacific War Research Society (Kodansha International).Still, quite good reading.

Outstanding work in tradition of Ambrose, Catton and Ryan

"The Last Great Victory" is an outstanding achievement. It is written in the great narrative style of Steven Ambrose, Cornelius Ryan, and Bruce Catton. The reader is transported to the pathos of the Summer of 1945. It is a work that has deserved greater attention. Outstanding, vigorous scholarship, coupled with a poignancy and urgency that can create a visceral response on the part of the reader (especially in the Hiroshima narratives), it deals honestly with the likes of Stalin, Molotov, Churchill, Truman, and Hirohito. The only limitation is that the Pottsdam material is at times a bit tedious---however it is an important inclusion if one is to understand some of the policy issues behind the denouement of the war, as well as the policy issues that framed the Cold War. Once beyond Pottsdam, however, the book soars as a tragic poem about both the frailties as well as the aspirations of the human experience. Kudos, kudos, and more kudos!!!