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Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM |
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This Day in Alternate History Blog
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World at Arms: A Global History of World War II Gerhard Weinberg’s A
World at Arms is a vital possession for every World War 2 and alternate history
buff. Every significant event in a conflict that Weinberg sees and treats as a
storm that enveloped every country in the world; even Uruguay and Mexico are
indexed and details supplied. Weinberg does a great job of weaving developments
on obscure fronts (Finland, Sub-Saharan Africa, India) and the behaviour of
neutrals (Sweden, Turkey, Portugal) into the general narrative. He is
particularly good on Soviet-Japanese relations and his use of Japanese
diplomatic sources commenting on the war in Europe is fascinating. In general the tone is
dispassionate, although there are occasional flashes of well-deserved scorn for
the Axis and their apologists. For example, he repeatedly derides the supposed
"success" of Germanys aerial rearmament in the 1930s, by pointing out
that Germany was eventually bombed to bits—a detail that does not need to be
repeated in each summary of developments in the air war. The book sticks mostly to
grand strategy and doesn’t try to recreate the experience of the war, either
on the battlefield or the home front. It also eschews biographical sketches of
the major figures, perhaps assuming that they are already sufficiently familiar.
Use of memorable quotations (such as Churchill’s matchless oratory) would have
lent more colour and spark to the narrative. My biggest quibble with
the book is maps. The publisher has generally produced a very handsome volume,
but the maps are tucked into the back rather than interspersed with the text.
Moreover, they are few in number, difficult to read, and lacking in detail. |
