June 25, 2007
The typical Western view of WWII's European Theater—as a struggle between freedom and fascism that climaxed with the Normandy landings—is harshly critiqued in this scathing reappraisal. Historian Davies (Rising '44: The Battle of Warsaw
) argues that British and American campaigns were a “sideshow†to the titanic conflict between the Wehr-macht and the Red Army on the Eastern Front, where most of the fighting and decisive battles occurred. The war was therefore not a “simple victory†of good over evil, he contends, but the defeat of one totalitarian state, Nazi Germany, by another, the Soviet Union, whose crimes were just as vast, if less diabolical. Davies's topical approach judiciously surveys the military, economic and political aspects of the war, often from an Eastern European perspective. He observes, for example, that the region that suffered the most civilian deaths was Ukraine, and that the Soviet Union was initially as much an aggressor—against Poland, Finland and the Baltic states—as Germany. (Poland's travails, Davies's professional specialty, are somewhat overemphasized.) Davies cuts against the grain of popular war histories like Stephen Ambrose's accounts of D-Day and the Bulge, but his interpretations rest on solid scholarly work. Photos.
December 24, 2007
Davies's latest book about the Second World War is an extended argument that most Americans and Europeans—even well-educated ones—have failed to grasp even the most basic facts about the single largest event of the 20th century. His polemic is laid out slowly and carefully, beginning with the mistakes (the American WWII memorial lists the years of the war as 1941–1945) and proceeding from there. Such a book requires a reader who can hold listeners' attention for long stretches of facts and figures, and Vance is just the man. He sounds like a narrator for a History Channel documentary, and considering the topic, this is perfect for Davies's book. Vance makes Davies's work not another rehashing of familiar material, but a riveting, sustained performance. Simultaneous release with the Viking hardcover (Reviews, June 25).