Beevor is an erudite, meticulous historian of the period, who makes you feel like you were ‘there as it happened.’ Only the best historians can do this. His other titles: Stalingrad, The Fall of Berlin, Ardennes 1944 and D Day are just as riveting.

A good historian should add something new to the historiography of the subject. The opening lines of the book do exactly that – you can hear it in the youtube promotion above- and is about the story of a young Korean man named Yang Kyoungjong who got caught up in a whirlwind of events: In 1938, he was forcibly conscripted into the Japanese army in Manchuria- the following year he was captured by the Soviet military at the Battle of Khalkhin Gol. In 1942, the Soviets drafted him into their army. In 1943, he was taken prisoner by the Germans in the Battle of Kharkov; they in turn put him in a German Wehrmacht uniform. Later, he was captured by the British on the D Day landings in mid 1944 and put in a Prisoner of War camp. After the war he settled in America and died in 1992.

A minor but noteworthy point of interest between both sides of the Atlantic, is how American historians refer to this period as World War 2 or WW2 as if there are sequels, and British historians refer to it as the Second World War. This distinct style of difference was also reflected with the  internal politics between the Allies and their commanders; which often had to be handled just as carefully as the war against the Axis powers.

The war was not a sure thing for the Allies and Hitler made some grievous mistakes. Arguably, the Soviets were the true victors and gained an empire. The war started with the Nazi invasion of Poland and ended with the Soviet invasion of Poland, a divided Germany, and the Iron Curtin across most of eastern Europe.

I enjoyed the unabridged Audible Book: 5 Stars.

Take Care & Cheers

Jason