Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Cambridge University Press (1995), Paperback
Description
Widely hailed as a masterpiece, this is the first history of World War II to provide a truly global account of the war that encompassed six continents. Starting with the changes that restructured Europe and her colonies following the First World War, Gerhard Weinberg sheds new light on every aspect of World War II. Actions of the Axis, the Allies, and the Neutrals are covered in every theater of the war. More importantly, the global nature of the war is examined, with new insights into how events in one corner of the world helped affect events in other distant parts. In a new edition, with a new preface, A World at Arms remains a classic of global history.
Media reviews
Gerhard L. Weinberg's "A World at Arms," first published in 1994 and reprinted five times since 2005, focuses on the underlying strategic, industrial and economic factors that determined the course of the war. There is no mystery, he argues, about Hitler's decision to declare war on the U.S. after
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the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. "Hitler had long intended to fight the United States" but felt his navy was inadequate. "If the Japanese . . . took the plunge, then his naval deficit would automatically disappear." Mr. Weinberg is less engaged by actual military action: He describes the epic naval Battle of Midway in barely two pages of a 920-page book. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member stellarexplorer
WONDERFUL book by a scholar with the broadest grasp of the conflict, its origins and implications in all their political and global dimensions. Highly recommended, intelligent book. For the reader prepared to work to understand the conflict in its myriad complexities.
LibraryThing member kgodey
I've been looking forward to learning about more contemporary history and I decided that World War II was the next topic on my agenda. World War II is prevalent enough in public consciousness that I knew a lot of random facts about it, but I wanted an overview of the war and how all the pieces fit
The recommendation entry for A World at Arms describes the book as “one of the best histories of the Second World War from a global perspective”, and although I haven’t read any other World War II histories, I would agree with that. Weinberg covers a vast scope – every theater and front, including the “home fronts” of all countries involved in the war, sociopolitical changes, international relations, economic changes, strategy, and so on. The book seemed meticulously researched, the references are extensive, and Weinberg often mentions which sources he used or did not have access to when proposing a theory for why something happened a certain way.
The writing style is somewhat dry, but there’s so much information packed into every paragraph that I didn’t mind at all. Even on days when I was only able to read 20 pages or so, I still felt like I was learning rapidly. Also, didn’t notice any huge biases by the author, which I found refreshing when compared to a lot of other non-fiction I’ve read. I guess it makes sense from such an academic book, though.
Because of the scope of the book, most of the detail in it is about high level strategy and machinations; there isn’t much of a perspective from the trenches. I happened to be watching the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers (which follows the American “Easy Company” attached to the 101st Airborne Division) at the same time that I was reading this book, though, and I found that to be a nice “on the ground” complement to the global view that A World at Arms offered.
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together. I wasn’t sure where to start, but I found that the Ask Historians subreddit (which is pretty amazing) has a book recommendation list, which is where I found A World at Arms.The recommendation entry for A World at Arms describes the book as “one of the best histories of the Second World War from a global perspective”, and although I haven’t read any other World War II histories, I would agree with that. Weinberg covers a vast scope – every theater and front, including the “home fronts” of all countries involved in the war, sociopolitical changes, international relations, economic changes, strategy, and so on. The book seemed meticulously researched, the references are extensive, and Weinberg often mentions which sources he used or did not have access to when proposing a theory for why something happened a certain way.
The writing style is somewhat dry, but there’s so much information packed into every paragraph that I didn’t mind at all. Even on days when I was only able to read 20 pages or so, I still felt like I was learning rapidly. Also, didn’t notice any huge biases by the author, which I found refreshing when compared to a lot of other non-fiction I’ve read. I guess it makes sense from such an academic book, though.
Because of the scope of the book, most of the detail in it is about high level strategy and machinations; there isn’t much of a perspective from the trenches. I happened to be watching the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers (which follows the American “Easy Company” attached to the 101st Airborne Division) at the same time that I was reading this book, though, and I found that to be a nice “on the ground” complement to the global view that A World at Arms offered.
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LibraryThing member wenestvedt
Pretty definitive, pretty huge.
LibraryThing member 4bonasa
Great first book about WWII
Subjects
Awards
Language
Original publication date
1994
Physical description
1198 p.; 9.26 inches
ISBN
0521558794 / 9780521558792