A History of the Twentieth Century: Volume 2, 1933-1951

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Summary: Gilbert's Masterful 2nd Volume of His 20th Century History!
Review: British historian and academic Sir Martin Gilbert (knighted by the Queen in 1995) has a well-deserved reputation as one of the most authoritative academics on the subject of the twentieth century, and has written perhaps more prolifically than anyone else on various aspects of this remarkable epoch. Indeed, he has written such a torrent of different books on everything ranging from a multiple volume biography of Sir Winston Churchill to histories of World War One, World War two, that a complete accounting of his efforts would require more space than is available for the review. Thus it should come as no surprise that he has written a three-volume overview of the twentieth century itself. What is so surprising is how engaging, entertaining, and accessible each of the three volumes is to the reader.

In the second volume Gilbert masterfully guides us through the events that mesmerized and profoundly affected the whole world, from the Depression of the 1930s to the efforts of various world leaders to construct a workable peace in the face of the mounting hostility from a Nazified Germany. Of course, the drift into the Second World War and the conduct of that massive conduct is the centerpiece of the book, and in the effort Gilbert illustrates just how well he can provide an interesting, provocative, and intelligible overview of such a mind-boggling war involving so many people in so many far flung places throughout the world. This really is history that has been shorn of all its externalities, stripped to its bare essentials, clipped free of all its celebrities, all its petty nonsense, and its hoopla, to concentrate only on that which is central, consequential, and the core of the stuff of history. In Gilbert's capable hands we come to better appreciate just how momentous the torrent of worldwide changes were, sweeping away all that went before them. This is a book that engages the reader in the spectacle of the transformation of our world from everything autocratic, traditional and rigidly controlled to all that became so characteristic of the century thereafter; democratic, irrational, murderous, and wildly chaotic. With an amazing and delightful eye for absorbing detail, Gilbert threads his way through the particular personalities, events and issues as they arise chronologically.

This is the one accurate criticism I have read about which may be directed at the book. He does stick fairly much to a faithful chronological narrative. Yet, given the plethora of events, issues, personalities and changes occurring throughout the world, any other organization would suffer from other problems such as maintaining context for the reader, so one can appreciate all that faced a particular leader in a given situation. Understanding how the multitudes of actors, issues, and countries are involved and intertwined lends itself to better comprehension, at least in this reviewer's mind. After all, it is mind-boggling to understand in the last hundred years the western world transformed itself in almost every dimension imaginable; technological, scientific, social, economic, and philosophical. To attempt to do justice to this wide panoply of revolutionary change requires a certain perspective and rigorous discipline to do so, especially in the 3,000 or so pages allotted to the overall work.

The narrative herein works its way fatefully through the events leading up to and including the Second World War, and allowing for a better understanding of the world that emerged from the cauldron of that conflict, guiding us through the tragedy of this most unnecessary of wars, and shows us how the various national interests and ideologies involved not only during the war but in its aftermath set the stage for what follows. One is struck by how masterfully Gilbert threads his way through this most essential lesson of history; i.e., how the past and what it holds profoundly sets the stage and writes the script for all that follows. From London to Berlin, from Moscow to Washington, from Singapore to Paris, we follow the story of our own century as it unfolds, and the act of finishing this particular volume only whets one's appetite for the next volume, which picks up the thread of the story of this century in the early 1950s in the midst of the world's adjustment to the new political stand-off between the United States and the Soviet Union. Enjoy!

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Summary: The History of the Twentieth Century, Vol.Two 1933-1951
Review: Gilbert has a commanding knowledge of the history of World War II and the plight of the victims of the holocaust, which is the strength of this volume. The historical perspective is greatly biased towards the British view of European history and relegates American history during this period almost to a footnote. Still, the perspective an important one, which as an American I have not been exposed to often. The details relating to the extermination of opponents to Nazism and the Jews is very well researched and eye-opening. The greatest weakness of the book is a tendency to delve into too great a detail regarding the demise of various British Empire holdings, such as Burma or India, at the expense of more important historical events during the same years. This is an important historical perspective, but tends to go into archaic detail at the expense or more important events at times.

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Summary: Gilbert zone
Review: Have read the third volume of this series first and having glanced at the first one (both are as brilliant as any other 20th century history book), it appears to me that this period is the one Gilbert is really a master of. Also, comparing the presentation (which is chronogical), with other acclaimed books like Penguin History Of The 20th Century and Hobsbawm's 'A Short Century', I like this one much better. Its to his credit that inspite of presenting the events year-wise, the merit and positioning of his analysis of the broad sweep of events in not affected negatively. The narrative is easy to follow and one does not tend to get lost even if the book is picked up after a couple of days gap.

The most interesting feature of the book is the contemporary opinions of people, quotations, reports - they make the narrative come alive. I was finally able to really understand the rise of the Third Reich and the events which led to the war and (as an example) could relate it (in a way) to why the US insists Iraq be 'contained'. The complusions/motives of the actors on stage are very well explained with good insight into their personalities (with anecdotes and comments to back it up).

The book is more British-centered that the US, but that only makes it more refreshing.

For my money, he's the best writer if you want to understand the 20th Century. Next is the Penguin Book Of 20th Century history. Hobsbawms book provides good analyis but, I think, does not tell the story very well. The Oxford Book Of the 20th Century is a sham.

One reason for the greatness of this book could be that it does not tell you any more or any less than you would need to know in order to grasp why things happened the way they did in this tumultous period. The series is in 3 huge volumes, unlike the other books mentioned above, and gives the author enough scope to write to his hearts content (how fortunate that this was just right for me!).

What else? Well, its really difficult to read at night coz the size makes it difficult to hold - dare I suggest splitting the current 3 into 6 volumes!

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Summary: Impressive production from the Martin Gilbert machine
Review: How does he do it? Gilbert must have an army of research assistants to produce books on the scale that he does. This book is true to what has become the standard Gilbert formula - a very straight chronological narrative which gains its effects by piling on well-chosen details. There is little attempt at analysis and the book is constructed on a chapter per year basis - a very eccentric way of doing things these days. Other reviewers have commented on the book's Eurocentric bias (it is supposed to be a world history after all). From an Antipodean perspective the book certainly is amazingly Eurocentric. We are used to general histories of World War II minimizing or downplaying or overlooking the British Commonwealth role in the defeat of the Axis powers and Japan - to his credit Gilbert does have a few references to the Australian and New Zealand forces but otherwise this part of the world is something he does not notice. We are used to that, however. However coverage of the Pacific conflict, Japan and China is also quite lightweight compared to the focus on Europe.

The book really has to stand comparison with the other one-volume histories of World War II. It is just not in the same league as say Watt's book on the outbreak of the European war or Weinberg's _World at Arms_. However Gilbert certainly can write well and the book is easy to read and sometimes the Gilbert technique works very effectively. Until I read this book I did not really grasp the importance of the Enigma and Ultra code-breaking efforts, the significance of which Gilbert brings out very clearly. He has his obvious heroes, who most of us would endorse no doubt - Churchill, Roosevelt, and Truman. (In fact the book struck me as particularly good on Truman, but specialists might disagree). The book is good on Korea, Israel and the coming of independence to India, very strong on Europe (although not good on postwar France, surely an important subject), and much weaker on China. The rest of the world - Africa. Latin America, the Southwest Pacific, hardly rates a mention.

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Summary: Historical overview written the old-fashioned way
Review: Martin Gilbert -- that's Sir Martin to us Yanks -- is to 20th century history like Isaac Asimov is to everything else. He's a machine, churning nearly 60 history books on Winston Churchill, the Holocaust, Jewish history and the two World Wars among other subjects. Without a trace of ego or any talent for self-promotion, hands down, he earned the title of the hardest working man in the history biz.

With apologies to James Brown, and the reader as well, Gilbert's brand new bag is this little opus called, "A History of the Twentieth Century," slated to come out in three volumes. The first volume covered one-third of the century, and its sequel covers the years 1933 to 1951.

This is quaint, old-fashioned history, the kind that drive New Historians batty. Gilbert breaks down the century into years and writes a chapter on each year. He's not interested in looking back and drawing inferences and interpretations. He's not even interested in pointing out trends or advancing any particular political agenda. This is history in the here and now, as immediate as the day's newspaper. The result is a book you can open to any page, and be instantly captivated by the story.

Not surprisingly, Hitler and World War II dominates this book, opening as it does with the rise of the ex-German Army corporal, consolidating power after only three months in office, and ending with the executions of his officers for war crimes. Also present in a large measure is Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union, and their catalog of cruelties take up most of the book.

Those of us who've quite had our fill of WWII history did not look forward to the prospect of looking back. I've read the books, seen the documentaries, watched the History Channel (motto: All Hitler All the Time), visited some of the places and even gamed the battles and campaigns from tactical to strategic. Could this really tell me something I haven't learned?

As it turns out, it does. Gilbert's genius in writing history is in constructing a fascinating chain of stories. His narrative flow is interrupted only when he turns to an extract from a contemporary account, or by brief footnotes in which Gilbert drops the authorial mask to relate a personal anecdote or reveals a pertinent fact that wouldn't otherwise fit into the chronological narrative. His "here and now" technique means you can dip into the book at any place and find some interesting nugget of history.

The result is something like an extended mini-series, with the narrative shuttling among the main characters and locations, with brief subplots that may or may not be equally important. The 1947 chapter, for example, opens with Gen. George C. Marshall reporting from China that neither the Communists nor the Kuomintang want a negotiated settlement or a coalition government. Following that is a one-page summary of the struggle over the rest of the year then an eyewitness account of life during the winter in a Manchurian city under Kuomintang control. After that is a series of brief stories, many taking less than a page. Various countries execute German officers for war crimes, German prisoners-of-war are repatriated back to the fatherland, Britain and France sign a mutual-aid pact against Germany, the coffins of 6,248 American war dead are returned home and given a memorial service in Central Park, attended by four hundred thousand people, more peace treaties signed, not-so-free elections held in Poland, the Truman Doctrine was issued in which anti-Communist aid was given to Greece and Turkey, the Marshall Plan formulated, the next stage in the decline of the British Empire formulated with the independence of Burma as led by Aung San, who was later assassinated. In a footnote, Gilbert mentions that San's daughter, Suu Kyi, was two years old. She would be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 while under house arrest by the military government.

All this in about 10 pages. And so goes the rest of the book, over 927 pages, 38 pages of maps, and an extensive bibliography and index.

As I mentioned before, some historians look down at this basic attempt at recalling the past. In his review of the first volume, historian John Charmley in the London Daily Telegraph called this, "`titbits' history, useful for Trivial Pursuit, but not much else."

But there are many ways to learn the history of our times, our past, our heritage, and Gilbert employs the method by which we all learn it: by a direct telling of the facts as they occurred. It is fundamental to our learning, because it allows us to sort through the facts and derive meaning from them. Gilbert leaves it to others to provide their interpretation of what's important and what's not, and there is certainly no lack of historians elbowing their way onto the stage to do just that. But the process has to start somewhere, and Gilbert provides a readable, entertaining and sometimes terrifying and heartfelt guide. One sees no reason to ask it to do anything more than that.

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Summary: More Euro-centric than Volume 1, what will vol 3 look like?
Review: No, the excuse cannot be made that a work that spans WWII has to be this Eurocentric. Gilbert's analysis of the Pacific theater is much too brief and his analysis of the battles between Chiang and Mao gain brief notice relative to much more minor events in Europe. It's clear that Gilbert is dumping into this book stuff from his larger work on WWII. But it is just not justifiable to record every Allied bombing raid into the continent (I'm serious see for yourself) while giving short change to China, India, and Africa in this war. A distressing realization has entered my mind. Volume I was impressive for focussing on Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, and I was pleased that he included so much "third world" history in his work. Now I suspect that it is not "third world" history that was his focus but the history of the British Empire. So what will the third volume be like? As these nations drop from the British Imperium will they drop out of his narrative? Does Gilbert really have an interest in non-western regions of the world, or does he only focus on them when they involve Europeans? I don't trust this man to write a decent history of the post-colonial world. More food for thought. Gilbert makes a point of placing Henry Kissinger in this second volume. A friend of this beloved war criminal, Gilbert lets his readers know when he was born, when he traveled to Canada, and other supposedly adorable events from his first decade of life. What exactly will Gilbert, with such an adoring attitude towards this technocrat with a loose definition of checks and balances, write about Vietnam and Cambodia? This volume placed Gilbert's biases so much more out in the open that I have to say I doubt I will buy any futher volumes of this series. I can't give this work less than 3 stars because it is, to Gilbert's credit, very well written. If you read it enjoy, but be VERY VERY aware of what a slanted vision of "world" history this is. In a long standing western tradition Gilbert mistakes the west for the world.

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Summary: Not inspired writing
Review: Since this book is full of history I enjoyed it but it is not inspired writing. Sometimes it seemed plodding. Much of the account of World War II consisted in a continuing catalog of German atrocities and losses in air raids. I cannot say Gilbert has a good sense of proportion. Some insignificant things get mentioned (McDonald's gets a sentence) and important things are omitted (U.S. politics is the subject of the merest nods). Even the birth of Israel is directly mentioned only in telling that the U.S. recognized it minutes after it was proclaimed. I was glad to finish this book, and I am not sure it'll be worth while to read Volume III. There is a bibliography (heavy on books published in England) but no footnotes or source notes.

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Summary: The Crucible of Conflict: Hitler and His Legacy
Review: The main focus of this book is Adolf Hitler: his diabolical ability, his crimes against humanity, and his aftermath. Hitler is the undisputed great villain of the 20th century, and did more than any other person to influence the course of modern history. This account begins in 1933 as Hitler settles in as the leader of Germany. The 1930s unfold with Germany taking adjoining territories, Japan wreaking early havoc in China, and the Spanish Civil War raging. In Britain, Neville Chamberlain and the appeasement supporters are unwittingly enabling Hitler, and Franklin Roosevelt is refuting totalitarianism everywhere by exalting a healthy democratic republic in the United States, the Great Depression notwithstanding. If Hitler is the great villain of the 20th century, then Winston Churchill and FDR are the great heroes. Churchill had the clear vision to resist the encroaching Nazi menace from the start, and Roosevelt walked a fine line of secretly supporting Britain during the early days of WWII while maintaining a posture of public neutrality.

The heart of the book is the long mid-section describing WWII. The range of the subject is so broad it is only possible to hit the high points. Critical events such as the Normandy invasion or the atomic bomb are dealt with in a paragraph or a few pages. There is conspicuous attention given to body counts and death tolls. Casualty counts from bombing raids, both in the air and on the ground, are meticulously recorded. This is a vivd illustration of the true cost of war. The deliberate mass execution of the Jews by the Nazis, documented throughout this section of the book, adds to the horrific mounting death toll. Anyone who doubts the truth of the Holocaust should consider the Nazi's "final solution" at the death camps, and the mounds of bodies discovered by Allied armies as they advanced into the heart of Germany. The book also gives an interesting account of the war in Russia, a less familiar aspect of WWII to many American readers.

After the war, the specter of communism envelops China and Eastern Europe. In Southeast Asia, an obscure insurgent named Ho Chi Minh is busy. Israel is founded, and the first Arab-Israeli war is fought. India gains independence from Britain, and Gandhi, one of history's great proponents of non-violence, is assassinated. The United States and Russia explore the effective use of atomic energy, both for military and peacetime purposes. The bloody Korean conflict begins.

This book is of value to anyone who enjoys reading good history. This is a narrative history, and many events are mentioned only briefly before the text moves on to the next subject. It is a good over-view of world history, told mainly from a European perspective. Readers expecting an in-depth analysis should look elsewhere. However, this is not mindless recitation of historical dates and events. The human interest side of history is also given adequate treatment. The suffering of the refugee, the displaced person, and the outcast is treated sensitively. Casual readers should be careful of this book because of the time commitment it takes to stay the course. Minus the maps, notes, and index, the paperback edition is over 900 pages of smaller case print. Recommended reading for history buffs.

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Summary: If you truly appreciate good writing...
Review: Then you must buy this book! I have read extensively on WWII, and this book is the most complete and definitive I have read to date. Martin does a masterful job of presenting the facts in a personal way, without getting bogged down in dry detail. He does an excellent job of putting a name and a face beside his content. The research was absoulutely exhaustive, and the manner in which he uses names instead of just numbers and cold statistics is superb. The overall picture of a world gone mad is tightly woven into individual experiences, and the result is a comprehensive overview that shows the incredible sacrifices of so many. Being English, the author does tend to Lionize Churchill, but his contributions to the war may be largely unknown to many. He was indeed a man of great foresight, and accurately predicted what so many politicians in the U.K. either were unwilling to admit, or simply failed to comprehend. This book is a must read for any WWII historian.

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Summary: Second Book of a Great Series
Review: There are many good reviews here so I'll keep it short. If you're looking something that covers the period in a general way with lots of relevant details thrown in then get this book. It's very readable for a history book that covers so much area and the chronological setup is very effective at giving you the sense of the times. I read this series from book 1 to 3 and recommend that as it gives you the best flow and all the events build on one another. I think some people are overly critical here. For what this book is and was meant to be it's a very worthwhile read.