Heillaðist af þessari bók.
Hastings byggir hana að mestu á bréfum og dagbókum almennra borgara og hermanna. Í gegnum þessi skrif kynnumst við sigurhreifum nasistum í upphafi stríðsins, örvæntingarfullum sovéskum hermönnum, hungri Indverja sem sultu undir yfirráðum bresku nýlenduherranna, deildra meininga á meðal Frakka um hvort taka ætti afstöðu með Þjóðverjum eða bandamönnum og svo ekki sé minnst á hörmuleg grimmdarverk allra stríðsaðila sem Hastings skoðar frá báðum hliðum, bæði fórnarlamba og níðinga.
Í ritinu fylgir höfundurinn stríðinu eftir í tímaröð og hann hefur ótrúlega gott yfirlit yfir gang stríðsins og þekking hans gerir honum kleift að gagnrýna grimmilega ýmsar ákvarðanir og fyrirmenn allra stríðsaðila. ( )

It was informative and all but also found it very boring, tbh I don't care about battle specifics or about weapons at all, so certain aspects were lost on me, I get that it's important to know about battles and certain armory but the details just bore me, I loved the letters and overarching history but I guess I need another kind of approach to maintain interest. ( )

This a very complete history of WW II with the emphasis on the men & women who lived it. Hastings, while giving an overview of the strategy and official views of the leaders and their commanders, focuses on the soldiers lives as combatants and also as prisoners, the experiences of the civilians in various countries and how it differed in each country.

The main point here is that while this is a large volume with immense amounts of material, it is very readable. ( )

It was informative and all but also found it very boring, tbh I don't care about battle specifics or about weapons at all, so certain aspects were lost on me, I get that it's important to know about battles and certain armory but the details just bore me, I loved the letters and overarching history but I guess I need another kind of approach to maintain interest. ( )