The Second World War
Never before in history have there been combined in one man the character, the political leadership, the military perception and the eloquence which our generation has known in Winston Churchill. It is no wonder that when it was announced that he would write the history of the Second World War, there arose throughout the world an interest and excitement caused by no other publication of this century. The six volumes of The Second World War fulfilled the highest expectations with which they were awaited. But the great length of the work and its necessary cost has prevented many thousands from reading and owning this great history. Now the heart of the work appears in one volume. The abbreviation has been made with the utmost skill, resulting in a unified, dramatic story of the world's greatest ordeal. Perhaps the glory of Sir Winston's prose is even heigtened by the omission of details necessary for the record but of less interest to the general reader. Memoirs of the Second World War will be read and treasured by a vast number of people who do not yet know this drama written imperishably by one of its greatest actors. - Jacket flap.
Stats for nerds
3recommend
8mentions
8people
2013–2024years
38% recommend63% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Churchill's Second World War books are an incredibly easy read for how information dense they are, as is his "History Of the English Speaking People."
- What evidence? Learn history! Churchill's "the Second World War" might be a good place to start.
- Eh yes.
Soviet Russia was a founding member of the UN.
An excellent understanding of the UN is in Churchill's "THE SECOND WORLD WAR" books.
- History is very often written by the losers, provided they're still alive. The "winners" are often too busy doing other things to write the history.
https://scholars-stage.org/history-is-written-by-the-losers/
> Had Thucydides defeated Brasidas, he would be known today not as a historian, but as a military strategist, a strategist who never had the time to travel the world and collect the material needed to write his history. Even winning historians need time in defeat to write their histories—had Churchill’s party not been kicked out of power by British voters after the Second World War was over, Churchill’s famous account of that war would never have been written.
> When high position is stolen from you, and access to the heights of wealth and power denied, there is little one can do about it—except write. History is thus rarely a “weapon of the weak.” The judgments of the historian do not serve the margins. They do not even serve the masses. They are a weapon in the hand of defeated elites, the voices of men and women who could be in power, but are not. What was true in Thucydides day is true in our own.
WWII history was also in many cases literally written by defeated German generals.
- What I find frustrating is people who write history and don't put enough thought into telling the story. The word story is right there in the name "history". Instead they put more emphasis on listing a chronology of events, the personalities and a description of the surroundings. That's all well and good, but the story really ties it all together.
For example, I like WW2 audiobooks to fall asleep at night. "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" by William Shirer or "The Second World War" by Sir Winston Churchill are pretty standard, but then you listen to "Barbarossa - Hitler’s Fatal Gamble" by Jonathan Dimbleby and notice a big improvement in the story telling that holds your interest. And once in awhile you get really surprised by how good something is (by an amateur no less) such as "Red Road from Stalingrad" by Mansur Abdulin.
Edit: If you want an example of prime, top notch story telling look no further than "Spare" by Prince Harry ghost written by J. R. Moehringer, who has won awards including the Pulitzer Prize. Whether you like Harry or not, the writing is almost flawless and really makes Harry's case I feel.
- I can barely find time to read 3-4 pages of a novel before I pass out before bed. I look at volumes like this, Churchill's The Second World War, Summa Theologica, and wonder if I could ever get through these things in my lifetime.
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