What They Didn't Teach You about World War II

This book is very informative concerning statistics during the war years. I enjoyed it immensely.

I am sure some history buffs out there after noisly clearing their throats of the dust they have inhaled after reading many a weighty volume of history will state that this book is light. Just shut them up in their moldy room and leave them alone. This book is lively exploring the history of World War II in small painless (if not fun) chugs. The book is broken down into themes and explores the war from the battle front to the homefront. What did celebrities do during the big one? How were women and child affected. How was it like to go to boot camp? These questions are answered along with many more in a quirky and fun style. Verdict: A great book to get someone into history without scaring them off. A nice book to read on the train (you should never read while driving your car- you might miss a chapter). I am going to seek out the other books in this series.

This fine overview presents an intriguing examination of World War II history facts which are little-known. One might expect a 'trivia' type of question and answer format, but What They Didn't Teach You About World War II provides such historical facts in chapter form which makes it especially recommended for school use and study.

I've got many other books about World War 2 on my shelf. I've got Ambrose, Keegan, Ryan, and the rest. What this book does though, is not analyse battles or strategy. It fills in the rest of the information that you don't get in history textbooks, and really gives all flavor to anyone's knowledge of World War 2.The writing style makes one seem like one has a favorite relative or teacher telling stories about the war -- not that you're reading a book.

This book departs from the tradition of reciting all the statistics and battle histories of the war and concentrates on the "human" side of things. Sure, there are some "hard facts" presented, but they are there to support the stories of how the folks at home fared under rationing, what the induction centers were like, what the various types of rations were (A-rations, B-rations, etc.), and so on. To someone fascinated by World War II but born long after it was over, this was a welcome insight into the "soft side" of the war.