Rating: 
Summary: The Greatest Conflict of All Time
Review: John Keegan's, "The Second World War," is a detailed overview of the greatest conflict in history. The author gives his readers a behind the scenes view of deliberations conducted at the highest levels leading up to the major battles in each theatre. He then analyzes the combatant's preparations and schemes of maneuver and provides sound analyses of both the outcomes and the long-term implications of each campaign. The result is one of the most thorough reviews of World War II ever written. Keegan begins with an overview of the factors that led to the outbreak of a second world war only 21 years after the, "war to end all wars," ended. The economic devastation caused by harsh surrender terms gave rise to crime, unemployment and rampant inflation. Paramilitary groups, composed of frustrated young men desperately looking for leadership and a means of avenging their national honor, sprang up and flourished in the post war chaos. Also, promises made to nations to entice their participation in World War I went unfulfilled leaving some former allies, disillusioned and bitter. These factors combined to open the way for despots such as Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo. The world would pay a heavy price for these mistakes beginning in the 1930's. Keegan then narrates the major conflicts in each theatre. He reviews the grand strategies and tactical actions of the commanders involved and dispenses praise or condemnation solely on the results achieved. Allied and Axis commanders are glorified or condemned based on their generalship alone in one of the most completely objective accounts ever. Professor Keegan recounts most world leaders agreed, at the end of the First World War, the lethality of 1918 vintage weapons had made war invalid as an instrument of foreign policy. In 1945, the devastated cities of Europe and Russia reaffirmed those findings. Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan emphatically confirmed the analysis with mushroom shaped exclamation points. Yet, the alliances that evolved from World War II made nuclear holocaust a distinct possibility for the next 45 years. Fortunately, the lessons learned in World War II kept this from occurring. Second World War is an outstanding analysis of the major campaigns fought in World War II. My only advise is unless the reader is as well versed in world geography as the author, he would do well to keep an atlas at his side to help visualize the schemes of maneuver described. Never the less, the book deserves a place in the library of every serious student of this, the greatest conflict of all time. 5 stars!!
Rating:
Summary: WWII 101
Review: Keegan calls World War II the largest single event in human history, and therefore, it would be impossible to write a complex history of the war that is also short and concise. Keegan does as good a job as one could imagine. This is a great introduction to the war. I've read this and now know that there are certain aspects I'd like to read about in greater detail. Like his "The First World War," Keegan is primarily interested in generals, campaigns, strategy, and weaponry. Perhaps the events leading up to the war could be developed more but overall, the book is organized very thoughtfully with nice photography, but with a poor quality and quantity of maps - I found the photo of the Red Amry waving the Soviet flag over the street of a destroyed Berlin particularly chilling for some reason. He does a nice job getting into the heads of the five major leaders with his strategic dilemma chapters: Hitler, Tojo, Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt. The theme chapters(something lacking in "The First World War") are thoughful and well-placed including: war supply, war production, occupation/repression, stategic bombing, resistance/espionage, and super-weapons. And his focus on a few major battles as illustrative of the rest make the complex more managable.
A great World War II Primer
Rating:
Summary: Best single-volume account
Review: Keegan has put together the best single-volume account of World War II. Keegan covers the war from its inception in the Japanese expansion in the early 30s to V-J day in August 1945. The book's focus is mainly on strategy, giving the details of battles only when they can be used to make a larger point. Keegan's prose, as usualy, is elegant and lucid. What sets this book apart from other single-volume surveys is the focus Keegan gives to developing styles of combat -- amphibious, airborne, urban fighting, submarine, and naval air warfare. Today it is easy to take for granted that these things were done, but Keegan gives us the true sense of danger and mystery that these new forms of combat had surrounding them. Finally, the one detractor from Keegan's book is that there are not enough maps. However, a good WWII atlas should fix that problem quickly.
Rating: 
Summary: Vastly overrated
Review: Keegan is a vastly overrated historian and so is this book. Unlike books such as Martin Gilbert's book on WW II Keegan jumps from topic to topic and its only marginally organized by chronology of events. This structure would work except Keegan really neglects to form an overall picture of the war at any point so the reader can really connect all of the chapters. Some of them are easy to connect, but many are not.
Keegan is also, by his own admission, strictly a "military historian of a rather technical sort." Among other historians of WW II, he's known as a "rivet counter" and makes no real attempt to include social history of any sort. This really is why the book ultimately fails.
WW II wasn't just about Hitler making a land grab, it was about Hitler's insane racial theories as well, particularly against the Jews and Russian communists. No where in this volume does Keegan really address these issues. One cannot write a good history of WW II without discussing its major legacy of horror, the Holocaust. Despite Keegan's reluctance to admit that behind almost every decision Hitler made, particularly the invasion of the Soviet Union, were racial reasons, he makes no attempt to even discuss the Holocaust as it relates to the lack of resources given to the army due to the elimination of the Jews taking precidence, particularly late in the war by late 1943 and 1944. Any good military historian knows that logistics is the most important part of winning any operation and the German armed forces didn't get as much due to the trains and other things being used to kill Jews.
However, Keegan's obvious personal views I believe can explain why he indeed does not include the Holocaust. After notorious British nutcase David Irving sued Deborah Lipstadt for calling him a Holocaust denier in a book, and lost, Keegan stated that Irving was a fine historian and the profession has much to learn from him while he didn't believe anyone would hear from Lipstadt again. Simply put, Keegan's views are rather suspect to say the least.
A much better book is "A War to be Won."
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic Narrative
Review: Keegan provides an excellent narrative of a topic that is almost too big to include in one volume. He organizes the book into six parts, each covering a specific time frame and theatre of war (e.g., The War in the East 1943-1945). In each part he provides the reader with a description of important events, as well as "tidbits" of his own analysis. I found these "tidbits", where Keegan provides commentary on the usefulness of a particular strategy, long-term effect of a battle, etc., the most enlightening aspect of the book. I was frustrated by the lack of depth in the book, but I suppose that in a one-volume history one can expect only so much. I recommend this book for readers who have never read anything on World War II, or those who are interested in "brushing up" their general knowledge. If you are looking for detalied description and analysis of specific World War II events you should search elsewhere, but for a single volume general history Keegan's work is excellent.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Basic Overview of WWII
Review: Keegan provides some good commentary throughout this basic overview of WWII. If you need an overall summary of the war, buy the book. If you're looking for detailed accounts of any of the various phases or battles, this is not the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic summary of WW II
Review: Keegan, a great military writer, has produced another masterpiece. This comprehensive summary of the Second World War is ideal for military history courses.
Rating: 
Summary: Too many mistakes
Review: Martin Gilbet wrote a simmilarly written account of the Second World War - a big flat narrative taking everything in one volume. I thought it was quite inadaquate, but Gilbert at least tried to get the facts right. I was amazed by some of Keegan's statements, such as his belief that Koenig surrendered in at Bir Hakeim. Even the most casual student of the north African theatre in of 1940-43 knows that Koenig and his soldiers broke through the German lines and escaped to fight another day. A serious historian would not make such a blunder. But I do not think Keegan is a serious historian for there are many such instances in the book. He does not seem to really care for his subject. Having read a few of his books I am disapointed and even surprised that some readers and reviewers regard him so highly. He does not diserve it.
Rating:
Summary: It's hard to go wrong with Keegan
Review: Once again Keegan makes history interesting. I always love reading his books; I find them very easy to digest while still able to convey a wealth of information. I recommend this book to anyone with even the slightest interest in WWII.
Rating:
Summary: Keegan's masterpiece
Review: Prof. Keegan's masterpiece is an excellent addition to any library. It is well-written and covers both theaters of the war. It is not witten from the view of the common soldier, but rather that of the general or politician. It is the view of strategies, policies, and so on. In this arena it excels. For anyone who wishes to learn about WWII, look no further. It is a very reader friendly book and never bores. I consider it a must have.
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