non-fiction, WWII

Deighton, in accepted-history-debunking-mode, wrote a wide-ranging history of World War Two here in his trademark crisp style. What the title doesn't make entirely clear is this: the focus is on events up to the end of 1941, from a mainly British viewpoint.

The title probably doesn't mean as much as it once did: it references Winston Churchill from his speech shortly after taking office "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat". Despite the word "objective" in the title, this book is arguably quite subjective, though none the worse for it. In these days of "alternative accounts", please be aware that someone is acknowledged as a fact-checker.

This is not a book structured around chronology: it examines the period through six specific themes, and often references events well outside the 1939-41 time frame.

To my mind, it's perhaps best not to read it cover to cover. It may make best sense to a reader who's already familiar with other historical accounts which cover the 1939-41 period, or with any of the six themes .

The novelist is easy to read, but I think the subject is still too large for him to approach and organize. He tracks the war until the attack on Pearl Harbor. His conclusion that after the attack people felt allied victory was inevitable is neither objective nor, in my opinion, true. ( )

A critical look at the early stages of the world cataclysm. Such a big topic that one can easily study a segment Forever. Deighton was a child during the conflict and had first hand memories, and was intent on revising a great deal of the accepted mythology, created perhaps by Churchill's Memoir of WW II. It rings more truthfully than many other books. It concentrates on technology to a larger degree than many more political discussions of the war, and perhaps, rightly. It is a pity that he did not continue it to cover the later stages after the American entry into the war. ( )