The Story of the Second World War

I am a baby boomer, raised watching "The Longest Day" and "Combat". Also, my father is a WWII veteran, so I thought I had some sense of what that war was about. Man, was I wrong. The American public was censored from the extreme violence that occurred in "The Big One", but this book sets the record straight. The personal narratives of various people who were in the war are the best part of the book, very effectively communicating their experiences. I am in aw of the heroism of the men who fought and shocked by the unbelievable cruelty of our enemies. The only critism that I have of this book are the maps of the battles, which were somewhat unclear.

I read this book cover to cover in a week. This book is the perfect balance of historical information intertwined with personal stories from the soldiers who were there. It takes you from the first German shot to the atomic bomb in story like fashion. I learned more from this book than I did in all of my college history classes. You will be amazed at the accuracy and details Miller puts into this book. I am also ashamed at myself that I did not completely know the unbelievable sacrifices made by our troops during this conflict. Especially the untold battles in Italy and the Pacific. Also, I have new respect for the role minority soldiers played in combat. True heroes. Buy this book!

I have just finished reading this book,and I have read a number of books on World War II over the years. The Story of World War II by Donald L. Miller is by far the best it covers every aspect of the war from the invasion of Poland in 1939 to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, it is well written and very hard to put down. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in WWII or not

Most graphic account of major operations that I've seen. Gives the flavor of war with superbly written passages. Also emphasizes the blunders and who was resoposible for them! Highly recommended for anyone who wants "the real story."

I really enjoyed this book. For a long time I wanted to read a general history of the entire second world war, and the nice thing about this particular one is its use of some more contemporary perspectives. The book is split almost evenly between Miller and Commager's informative text and first person accounts by the soldiers and reporters who were actually in these battles. As such it paints a vivid portrait of the asolute hell that the world was so relentlessly plunged headfirst into in the first half of the 20th Century. There is emotion as well as research here, and a nice tribute paid to the black and Asian soldiers who fought on behalf of their country - a country which had, paradoxically, treated them with such disdain. This really is not a comprehensive history, per se, but at about 650 pages for the entire war, it never could be. It is an engaging, enlightening, and disturbing book, though, which is all one could ask from a general history. Lots of pictures and about 25 maps round it out - there could stand to be some more maps, but I used the Cassell Atlas of the Second World War to supplement this with. Another good point is that this is really a high quality book. It is oversized and a bit heavy, and the paper is a thick stock with very easy typeface. The book also lies flat, which might be an important consideration. This was obviously the pet project of someone at Simon & Shuster, because in packaging and presentation this book is a cut above most new history books. A fine volume, and a welcome addition to anyone's library, be it a supplement to other history texts or not. I know that I will refer back to it when I continue my ongoing studies on the Pacific War, and that says quite about about its importance right there.