The second world wars
World War II was the most lethal conflict in human history. Hanson examines how combat unfolded in the air, at sea, and on land to show how distinct conflicts among disparate combatants coalesced into one interconnected global war. He argues that despite its novel industrial barbarity, neither the war's origins nor its geography were unusual. Nor was its ultimate outcome surprising.
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What Hacker News says
- Top 2 so far:
The Washington book is a very detailed by clear overview of his life. Easy to follow (even for complex situations) and very week written.* Washington: A life by Ron Chernow * The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won by Victor Davis HansonThe WW2 book is amazing. Compares the countries fighting in around 20 different areas (technology, leadership, geography, aircraft) and says who is better and why.
Also very good:
* FDR by Jean Edward Smith * Master of the Senate by Robert A. Caro * The Penguin History of New Zealand by Michael King * The years of Lyndon Johnson 2 – Means of Ascent by Robert Caro * Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road by Kyle Buchanan * Becoming Trader Joe: How I Did Business My Way and Still Beat the Big Guys by Joe Coulombe * How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom by Matt Ridley * Yeager: An Autobiography by Chuck Yeager * The years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power by Robert Caro * The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson * Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson * An Economist walks into a Brothel: And Other Unexpected Places to Understand Risk by Allison Schrager * The Devil’s Candy: The Bonfire of the Vanities Goes to Hollywood by Julie Salamon * Sam Walton: Made in America by Sam Walton - The German tanks were put together by highly skilled craftsmen. Often, the parts were hand machined or finished for each tank. This meant that the tanks did not have interchangeable parts, and were difficult/impossible to fix in the field. Being unable to fix equipment in the field was a general problem for the German army, as a very large proportion of their trucks and other equipment was captured from other countries, and they had no spares.
Once the Soviets moved their factories beyond the Ural mountains, the Germans, who lacked heavy bombers, had no way to knock out the factories. They stood no chance against the Soviet T34s and tank destroyers at that point.
If you're interested in digging deeper into this kind of history, take a look at "The Second World Wars" by Victor Davis Hanson.
- Something like 80% of the 60 - 65 million people killed during world war 2 were unarmed. They were civilians or prisoners of war.
The vast majority of these were killed by Germany, Japan, Italy, and Soviet Union.
While there were individuals who resisted this, the systems of government and the belief systems that drove the totalitarian states where unprecedentedly horrific.
If you're interested in learning more about this history, "The Second World Wars" by Victor Davis Hanson is a good place to start.
- While there were individuals who resisted this, the systems of government and the belief systems that drove the totalitarian states where unprecedentedly horrific.
There is nothing controversial about saying that. If you are implying that I'm ignorant of such a basic fact, then this is insulting and commenting in bad faith.
What is controversial nowadays, ironically for a society which claims to be founded on inviolate individual human rights, is that the exact same regard for individual culpability should be accorded members of the Wehrmacht. My previous comment supports the notion of group culpability for members of an army. However, the idea that all members of the Wehrmacht are equally culpable is simply ridiculous and untenable, given the facts and given the principles of individual human rights.
If you're interested in learning more about this history, "The Second World Wars" by Victor Davis Hanson is a good place to start.
If you mean to insinuate that I know nothing of the very basic history of WWII, please know that I am already a fan of David Hanson.
As noted elsewhere, it is an act of individual courage to go against the flow of the groupthink. I hardly think "Nazi German Bad" is at all controversial. However, in 2019, "individual rights for all, no exceptions" is controversial, in direct contradiction to our stated values in the US.
- If you're interested in WWII history, check out Victor Davis Hanson's "The Second World Wars". It offers a fresh look at that era.
