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.Hitler's Empire: Nazi Rule in Occupied Europe (Allen Lane History)

by: Mark Mazower

June 05, 2008
This is an excellent book, with a qualifying 'but'. If you want to understand the dynamic of 'Hitlers Empire', how it developed and collapsed, and the details of its particular favour of genocidal gangsterism, then this will satisfy all the curiosity you have, and then some. My only complain about the main content is that it is a bit short on personalities (though this may be an unavoidable problem - the focus of the book is, after all, on process and governance). You get little real feel for the _people_ who did all this. Mazower does not mention anyone having nightmares, or developing a drink problem (lots of people are mentioned as having drinking problems, but only for the usual, soap-opera sort of reasons, not because of a day job in ... Read More:
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.Italy's Sorrow: A Year of War 1944-45

by: James Holland

March 03, 2008
James Holland's generosity of spirit and indefatiguable labour has created one of the best general histories I've read recently--and there's a lot of stiff competition about. As well as using writen sources, Holland personally interviewed survivors from all sides of the conflict; Germans, Poles, Canadians, Britons, Americans, Italian partisans and fascists. These accounts give a vivid picture of the heroism and brutality of war, and instil a sense of sympathy for (almost) all of the participants. Their stories are skillfully blended into the larger narrative, which explains what happened, and why the major players (Alexander, Mark Clark, Kesselring, Churchill, Roosevelt, Mussolini, etc) made crucial decisions. Holland is immenently fair-minded; ... Read More:
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.The Bloody White Baron

by: James Palmer

March 20, 2008
I've been fascinated by this period of Mongolian history ever since I found a musty old copy of Ossendowski's Beasts, Men and Gods in a used bookstore years ago, so I was very happy to find a new look at those times in this book. Finding sources or historical writing on this period is difficult, at least here in the US, since Outer Mongolia almost seems to be a fictitious country in itself. Fortunately, James Palmer has travelled the East and waded through the various scraps and pieces of its history and pulled together a picture of a fascinating, if horrendous, figure who stamped his mark upon the era. Ossendowski's book, while purportedly true, reads like a pulp adventure novel, and his account of Baron Ungern certainly makes a modern reader believe that ... Read More:
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.Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna

by: Adam Zamoyski

April 16, 2007
We are overdue for a readable history of this period, and Zamowski (bar the odd quibble) has done a creditable job.

In particular, he brings out well the crucial importance of the Hundred Days, not for what might have happened - Napoleon's prospects were never very bright - but for what did, in giving the victors a badly needed cold shower. In the Summer of 1814 - barely three months after Napoleon's despatch to Elba - disputes over Saxony and Poland had brought them to the brink of war - with Britain and Austria ready to ally with France against their fellows. With Napoleon's defeat, all thought themselves "home and dry" and free to quarrel among themselves. The Deus ex machina - or "Diabolus ex Elba"? - delivered the mother of all wakeup calls, ... Read More:
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.Empires of the Sea: The Final Battle for the Mediterranean, 1521-1580

by: Roger Crowley

May 01, 2008
This is the best history book I have read in a very long time.

It tells the story of a 60 years old battle fought in the Mediterraneum by the Ottoman Turks against the Christian nations in southern Europe.

It is very hard to put down and the narrative is very engaging. The maps , pictures and drawings are excellent , a rarity in this type of books. although there are some minor issues with some historical aspects ( the muslims lives pacefully in Spain for 800 years ) the book is a very compelling read.

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.Marlborough: England's Fragile Genius

by: Richard Holmes

May 06, 2008
A fine overview of the life of Marlborough with some interesting details and fascinating insights. This may not be the definitive book on Marlborough (I think that honour still lays with Churchill's 3 volume history of his illustrious ancestor) but it would serve as a useful companion to the Churchill series giving some much needed balance to Churchill's occasionally one sided view.
The book has a minor but niggling weakness in that the title, 'England's Fragile Genius' seems to have little connection with the contents. It mentions his headaches and various illnesses but he doesn't seem to be portrayed as particularly fragile.
The major strength of this book is Holmes descriptive capabilities. I've previously read descriptions of the Battle of Sedgemoor and been quite ... Read More:
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.Nemesis: The Battle for Japan, 1944--45

by: Max Hastings

October 01, 2008
At the Winchester Festival, reviewing his book, Hastings made a misguided and alarming remark, "that the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, other than Taranto Raid, played no significant part in WW2". It is therefore no wonder that he has omitted to include in his book the British Pacific Forces's successful attack on the Japanese oil refineries at Palembang (Java) in January 1945. Four British fleet carriers with 244 aircraft embarked disabled the refineries that were supplying Japan precious aviation fuel. Glancing through the book Hastings does not do justice to the Royal Navy in the Far East during 1944-45 period, until he educates himselve on the Fleet Air Arm's war effort, I will stay clear of his books. Question for you Max, which allied torpedo bomber aircraft sank more enemy shipping ... Read More:
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.The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919

by: Mark Thompson

September 04, 2008
For those of you who have read Hemingway's Farewell to Arms, you would be aware that the a war was fought on the Italian Front during the Great War. However, because so much is written about the Western Front, Gallipoli and even the Eastern Front, it is easy to forget this part of the war. Thompson, however, has brought together a book which seeks to redress this balance - and in my opinion it does so beautifully.

Unlike many dry history books, Thompson paints a picture of suffering, confusion and unbelievable bravery from a front which claimed millions of lives over the course of the War. Many of us know how the advent of technology brought about countless deaths on the Western Front, but countless more were lost on the Italian front due to the adherence to out of date tactics and ... Read More:
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.The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia

by: Orlando Figes

October 04, 2007
In this book, Figes has diluted and refined his mastery of the art of weaving historical sources together. These family narratives which, without this book, would certainly have been lost, provide a compelling insight into the reality of Soviet Russia - the 'historical' backdrop of dates and movements takes a back seat to the gritty honesty of real people's testimony of what living through this era was actually like.
A fantastic read.
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.Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions That Changed the World, 1940-1941

by: Ian Kershaw

February 28, 2008
EVENTS, DEAR BOY, EVENTS

By IAIN FRASER GRIGOR

THE PRINCIPLES of warfare are really very simple. As codified by the military sages of antiquity and modernity, they can be reduced to two simple rules. The first is to win without having to fight at all. And the second is: if you have to fight, attack a small, defenceless and entirely unconscious enemy with devastating superiority of force and absolute surprise.

The great Prussian von Moltke knew this. But he was to add one great aphorism to the principles of war, to the effect that no plan survives contact with the enemy. So it was in the wars of his nineteenth century, after all, and so it would prove to be in the first Great War of Europe's bloody twentieth century. But how much scrutiny would von Moltke's aphorism ... Read More:
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