Synopsis
A new edition of the classic popular history of World War II by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist C. L. Sulzberger, updated and introduced by renowned historian Stephen E. Ambrose.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1997-09-01 | | Edition Description: | Revised |
| Size | | Length: | 628 pages | | Height: | 11.5 in | | Width: | 9.8 in | | Thickness: | 1.8 in | | Weight: | 96.8 oz |
Publisher's Note
Visually stunning, The American Heritage New History of World War II features more than 700 of the most dramatic and haunting photographs from renowned war photographers on the line of battle, from artists who captured the quintessence of war on canvas, and from cartoonists who portrayed the lighter side of war for millions on the front lines and at home. These images, which complement the narrative throughout, have been culled from public and private collections all over the world. New computer-generated color maps also highlight important battles for a better understanding of these complex military campaigns. Just in time for the next generation, this edition captures the courage, commitment, military genius, and true horror of the war that gave birth to a new era in world politics. For students, history buffs, veterans, and fascinated readers, The American Heritage New History of World War II is the definitive single-volume compendium on the subject and will endure as a major narrative of world history.
With the same epic narrative force that made his Undaunted Courage a New York Times bestseller with more than 417,000 copies in print, historian Stephen E. Ambrose has revised and updated The American Heritage® New History of World War II for today's students, history buffs, veterans, and fascinated readers. Seamlessly incorporating a significant amount of new text and captions into the original text by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist C. L. Sulzberger, Ambrose has produced a comprehensive and riveting account of the six-year global conflict that transformed world politics and shaped the course of modern history. Here are the personalities and strategies of Churchill, Roosevelt, Hitler, and Stalin brought vividly to life; the military tactics of Eisenhower, Rommel, and Patton; battles from El Alamein to D-Day to Guadalcanal; completely new chapters on the atrocities of the Holocaust and the secret war of espionage and weaponry, much of it from top-secret sources made available since the end of the Cold War. Hundreds of haunting images from renowned war photographers on the line of battle as well as new color maps illustrate Ambrose's masterful text; together they brilliantly evoke in this definitive single volume the courage, commitment, military genius, and true horror of war. This new edition will endure as a major contribution to World War II scholarship from one of the most highly regarded and widely read historians of our time.
Industry Reviews
Best-selling historian Ambrose offers a thoroughgoing revision of Sulzberger's classic.
Stefanatos
Sulzberger's text for the first version (1966) of this lavishly illustrated history was intended for general readers who had direct experience with the Second World War. It sold nearly one million copies. Ambrose's updating facilitates understanding for a later generation to whom events between 1939 and 1945 are the stuff of cable TV. Without overstating its lines of argument, the book makes a solid case for the war as a three-way ideological struggle among fascism, communism and democracy, with the "grand alliance" against Hitler being essentially a relationship of convenience. Victory over the Axis, Ambrose and Sulzberger demonstrate, was assisted by a series of avoidable Japanese and German mistakes, but it was by no means assured. Ultimately, public morale, political sophistication and hard fighting were needed to overcome enemies committed in principle and practice to total war. The superior arms of the Allies were not in themselves decisive, the authors argue, given the complications faced in their deployment. A particular strength of this volume, in fact, is its emphasis on the problems of transporting men and munitions to where they were needed, whether in North Africa, Russia or the South Pacific. Campaigns and battles, presented from both front-line and headquarters perspectives, are competently summarized, and all the text is boosted considerably by the book's chief selling point, a striking collection of 720 photos and illustrations (many in color; some seen by PW). While of limited use to scholars and specialists, for general readers this was, and still is, a solid introduction to an enormously complex subject. (Oct.)
Lopate
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