American Heritage History of World War 2

American Heritage History of World War 2  by Stephen Ambrose and C.L Sulzberger

A Kindle “bargain” on Memorial Day.  I would have been happy had I paid the full price.  There have been so many books about the second world war,  and many by author Stephen Ambrose.  Most would argue that Ambrose has written many of the most well received and well known.  This book does its due diligence in that it doesn’t really focus on one, or a few, certain aspects of the particular conflict, it’s simply a  somewhat condensed volume detailing just about everything related to the tragedy.

Due to the vast subject material here, this book could have been several volumes, since it deals with the entire war, but Ambrose and co-author C.L. Sulzberger give the reader just enough information to provide the uninformed enough details to understanding the who’s, when’s, where’s and why’s.

You could make the argument that this is a “Cliffs Notes” type book, but it’s not necessarily a brief read, although there are many other books that are definitely much more long and expanded.  This would be a good book for a high school student that might be curious.

For someone such as myself who has read a large number of accounts already, there was much in this book that I already knew.  Such a compact piece really can’t afford to go into too many deep revelations.  What I found somewhat refreshing is the treatment of the war outside of the battle and the combat zone.  That might seem a bit of an oxymoron, but there are, for example, a couple of chapters talking about what life was like “back home”.  In America, for instance, there was definitely a sense of patriotism and pride, but also fear and trepidation.  Apart from the attack on Pearl Harbor (and Hawaii wasn’t a U.S. state back then, remember) there is virtually no conflict on the continent.  So in a sense, the Americans had it “good”.  That seems a bit bold, and the authors ensure that it was no picnic, especially since everyone living in the United States, it seemed, was related to someone overseas, so the fear never dissipated.  Yet compared to places such as London, Berlin, Shanghai and Sicily, those in the U.S.A. at least never had to worry about their houses being bombed, their possessions being looted, or the women being savaged.  So it was nice to see a book about the war and how it affected those that weren’t literally fighting in it.

This was a relatively quick read, and it should also be pointed out that the Kindle version does not include the illustrations - which tended to leave many purchasers feeling a bit gypped.  I suppose pictures would enhance (when do they not?), but I didn’t think they were necessary.  I’ve never been disappointed by Stephen Ambrose, and this book is par for the course.  Start your older kids with this one for a good overall primer.