Rating: 
Summary: Blood, Sweat and Tears
Review: Martin Gilbert is one of the foremost living authorities on the Second World War. This classic work represents the culmination and distillation of that expertise. Gilbert, a noted Churchillian, mixes a "just the facts" style with a profound sense of compassion for the war's victims, particularly those who died in the Holocaust. Gilbert, a British writer, is obviously stronger when dealing with the European theater, but unlike many Western writers he has a sure grasp of the Russian and Balkan campaigns - as well as the weird diplomatic manoeverings of such states as Hungary and Roumania. The accounts of the European front's last days are so good that Gilbert spun them into a separate tome, "The Day the War Ended." Interspersed with the Gotterdamerung of Hitler's bunker are bizarre details, such as the (neutral) Irish president's condolences to the German ambassador on the day after the Fuhrer's suicide, and the latecoming combatants who declared war in the last hours. For blazing-gun military history, try another author, but for the human and political history, Gilbert is matchless.
Rating:
Summary: Grim day-by-day account of WW II
Review: Martin Gilbert's day-by-day account of World War Two is not particularly analytical by intent. He lets his day-by-day account tell the story. On a typical day he might write of how a famous battle is developing but also include some event equally important like a British decoding success. During such-and-such a famous battle, Mr. Gilbert will also inform the reader of a large murder of Jews in Lithuania, the Ukraine or Poland or he might detail the success or failure of an Atlantic or North Sea convoy. Gilbert has sifted through the records and given the reader not only the facts but, by revealing the multitude of wicked acts of many of the combatants, he impresses on the reader of the brutality of the conflict.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Treatments of WW II
Review: Martin Gilbert's volume on the Second World War is truly a complete history. It is not just a story of battles and great men, but also a story of unparalleled suffering. The Second World War was the most destructive conflict ever to afflict our planet, and Gilbert makes the reader realize this, with his relentlessness in reporting death. In an almost day by day account, Gilbert informs the reader that while all the great battles were taking place, while generals were winning fame, the people of Europe, especially the Jews, were suffering unimaginable horrors. This is the true legacy of World War Two, and Gilbert gets the point across well. As you read the book, you cannot help but feel sick at the awesome loss of life taking place in Hitler's concentration camps. The vivid descriptions of gassings, and the ovens working 24 hours a day, made me put the book down more than once. Gilbert also talks about the battles, and his descriptions of these are just as vivid if not as detailed. You can imagine what it was like to be there, but don't know everything that happened. In the end you get the sense that Gilbert's focus was definitely not on the military aspects, but on the overall cost of life. He does not glorify this conflict in anyway, and he leaves you believing that maybe no one really won the war. This is not a book I would tackle all at once, but maybe keep it by your bedside for those restless nights, although you may find you will not be able to put it down once you pick it up. I reccommend this for someone who knows a bit about the war and wants a good general overview. Someone who has done a lot of background reading may not find it as stimulating, but it is still worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Treatments of WW II
Review: Martin Gilbert's volume on the Second World War is truly a complete history. It is not just a story of battles and great men, but also a story of unparalleled suffering. The Second World War was the most destructive conflict ever to afflict our planet, and Gilbert makes the reader realize this, with his relentlessness in reporting death. In an almost day by day account, Gilbert informs the reader that while all the great battles were taking place, while generals were winning fame, the people of Europe, especially the Jews, were suffering unimaginable horrors. This is the true legacy of World War Two, and Gilbert gets the point across well. As you read the book, you cannot help but feel sick at the awesome loss of life taking place in Hitler's concentration camps. The vivid descriptions of gassings, and the ovens working 24 hours a day, made me put the book down more than once. Gilbert also talks about the battles, and his descriptions of these are just as vivid if not as detailed. You can imagine what it was like to be there, but don't know everything that happened. In the end you get the sense that Gilbert's focus was definitely not on the military aspects, but on the overall cost of life. He does not glorify this conflict in anyway, and he leaves you believing that maybe no one really won the war. This is not a book I would tackle all at once, but maybe keep it by your bedside for those restless nights, although you may find you will not be able to put it down once you pick it up. I reccommend this for someone who knows a bit about the war and wants a good general overview. Someone who has done a lot of background reading may not find it as stimulating, but it is still worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Comprehensive Overview of the Second World War
Review: Martin Gilbert, long known as a military historian of merit, has put together this book to provide the basic knowledge of what transpired during the war years of WW2. Obviously, as a general handy reference on WW2, this book can help you fill in the gaps of your memory with a strong attempt to explain the conduct of the war. But for that very reason, this one volume work is not going to be able to focus on unit movements and small details as specific books will provide. Beginning with the invasion of Poland to the signing of the surrender aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay, the book tries valiantly to include as much as possible. When used in conjunction with other similar books, a very strong picture of the overall war can be achieved. On its own, it is a very helpful reference, but obviously is limited in space. Of the several overview book on the war I used for class, I preferred the simplicity of the Idiot's Guide to World War II more, but this was far more scholarly and liekly to be read as a book by someone seeking to learn a great deal more.
Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive Overview of the Second World War
Review: Martin Gilbert, long known as a military historian of merit, has put together this book to provide the basic knowledge of what transpired during the war years of WW2. Obviously, as a general handy reference on WW2, this book can help you fill in the gaps of your memory with a strong attempt to explain the conduct of the war. But for that very reason, this one volume work is not going to be able to focus on unit movements and small details as specific books will provide. Beginning with the invasion of Poland to the signing of the surrender aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay, the book tries valiantly to include as much as possible. When used in conjunction with other similar books, a very strong picture of the overall war can be achieved. On its own, it is a very helpful reference, but obviously is limited in space. Of the several overview book on the war I used for class, I preferred the simplicity of the Idiot's Guide to World War II more, but this was far more scholarly and liekly to be read as a book by someone seeking to learn a great deal more.
Rating: 
Summary: A mishmash of a history book
Review: Mr. Martin does not seem to able to make up his mind whether he wants to write a military history of WWII or a political history of WWII or a history of the holocaust. Thus, while the book is packed with details and anecdotes due to the lack of a unifying theme it leaves anyone interested in any particular aspect of war completely unsatisfied.
Rating:
Summary: A Terrific Overview Of The Second World War!
Review: No one has been more acclaimed or prolific in writing about the total scope of twentieth century history than British author and historian Sir Martin Gilbert, who sometimes seems to represent a kind of one-man revival in British historical publication. Here he focuses impressively on the total scope of World War Two, from the opening shots fired in Poland to the surrender of the Japanese in Tokyo Bay. He brings impressive credentials to the task; as the foremost biographer and authority on Winston Churchill (with an 8 volume biography already published), he is obviously well versed on the particulars of the European theater of the conflict, and in this volume he displays how comprehensive his knowledge of the other theaters of wars, especially the Pacific campaign, is as well. Readers looking for specific orders of battle or "blow by blow" detailed accounts of particular engagements are likely to be disappointed, but even die-hard military huffs like me sometimes tire of such endlessly specifics, and it is refreshing to have an approach like Gilbert's which concentrates more on the context and connections of such engagements to use to get a better and perhaps more complete appreciation for what was happening in the same time or in the local area that materially affected the progress and eventual outcome of a particular battle. After all, this war was indeed global, and it is indeed useful to recognize that events transpiring in Stalingrad were materially affected by the dispositions of troops and airplanes dedicated to other Nazi commitments in the Mediterranean theater or to defend the skies of Berlin against British and American air raids. Gilbert's sweeping prose style and selection of topics makes for entertaining and informative reading; he masterfully weaves together a meaningful context in which the political, military, and diplomatic aspects of the conflict are connected in a perspective that always pays compassionate heed to the civilian impact of the bloody struggle. As one of the foremost authorities on the Holocaust, Gilbert blends the particulars of the "Final Solution" into the history as part of the ongoing narrative, placing it in context and offering the opinion that it seemed more the result of exigent circumstance and expediency that it evolved the way it did rather than as a calculated and well-organized campaign of deliberate mass extermination. This isn't to say the Nazis didn't mean to solve their so-called "Jewish Question" violently; it just means that the particular way this was accomplished owed much more to happenstance than to contrived evil brilliance. Of particular interest is the way Gilbert uses personal recollections and anecdotal details to humanize the epic struggle and to bring home the horrific and monstrous scale on which this war brought terror, death and destruction to much of the civilized world. He reminds us with compelling evidence and stirring narratives that people died horribly and needlessly every day during the disastrous, painful, and nearly six-year long struggle. If you want to better understand what happened during WWII and why it did, this wonderful and admirably comprehensive overview will serve you quite well. Enjoy
Rating:
Summary: A Terrific Overview Of The Second World War!
Review: No one has been more acclaimed or prolific in writing about the total scope of twentieth century history than British author and historian Sir Martin Gilbert, who sometimes seems to represent a kind of one-man revival in British historical publication. Here he focuses impressively on the total scope of World War Two, from the opening shots fired in Poland to the surrender of the Japanese in Tokyo Bay. He brings impressive credentials to the task; as the foremost biographer and authority on Winston Churchill (with an 8 volume biography already published), he is obviously well versed on the particulars of the European theater of the conflict, and in this volume he displays how comprehensive his knowledge of the other theaters of wars, especially the Pacific campaign, is as well. Readers looking for specific orders of battle or "blow by blow" detailed accounts of particular engagements are likely to be disappointed, but even die-hard military huffs like me sometimes tire of such endlessly specifics, and it is refreshing to have an approach like Gilbert's which concentrates more on the context and connections of such engagements to use to get a better and perhaps more complete appreciation for what was happening in the same time or in the local area that materially affected the progress and eventual outcome of a particular battle. After all, this war was indeed global, and it is indeed useful to recognize that events transpiring in Stalingrad were materially affected by the dispositions of troops and airplanes dedicated to other Nazi commitments in the Mediterranean theater or to defend the skies of Berlin against British and American air raids. Gilbert's sweeping prose style and selection of topics makes for entertaining and informative reading; he masterfully weaves together a meaningful context in which the political, military, and diplomatic aspects of the conflict are connected in a perspective that always pays compassionate heed to the civilian impact of the bloody struggle. As one of the foremost authorities on the Holocaust, Gilbert blends the particulars of the "Final Solution" into the history as part of the ongoing narrative, placing it in context and offering the opinion that it seemed more the result of exigent circumstance and expediency that it evolved the way it did rather than as a calculated and well-organized campaign of deliberate mass extermination. This isn't to say the Nazis didn't mean to solve their so-called "Jewish Question" violently; it just means that the particular way this was accomplished owed much more to happenstance than to contrived evil brilliance. Of particular interest is the way Gilbert uses personal recollections and anecdotal details to humanize the epic struggle and to bring home the horrific and monstrous scale on which this war brought terror, death and destruction to much of the civilized world. He reminds us with compelling evidence and stirring narratives that people died horribly and needlessly every day during the disastrous, painful, and nearly six-year long struggle. If you want to better understand what happened during WWII and why it did, this wonderful and admirably comprehensive overview will serve you quite well. Enjoy
Rating:
Summary: Of horrors and repercussions
Review: This is one of the most outstanding books I have studied. It should be required reading in every school. I've read many accounts of the Holocaust but no other book shows so clearly how sick the Nazis were. Also valuable are those accounts of how WW2 affected lives for many years afterward.
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