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Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
One theater, two wars. "American and British officers knew that their citizen soldiers were attempting to fulfil tasks which ran profoundly against the grain of their societies' culture. The Germans and Russians in the Second World War showed themselves better warriors, but worse human beings. This is not a cultural conceit, but a moral truth of the utmost importance to understanding what took place on the battlefield ... If American and British soldiers of 1944-45 had matched the military prowess and become imbued with the... more info
The miracle is that Civilisation could ever reemerge from the rubble Yes this is a fine piece of military history that is both immensely informative and utterly harrowing reading. Hastings is not averse to presenting his own judgements about issues such as generalship and fighting quality, but I think he makes reasonably clear that they are his views and provides pursuasive arguments. The point I really want to make, looking at the 'Occicentric' bias of so many fellow reviewers is how delusory the mythography of WWII remains in the West even 60 years on. The question is... more info
Another excellent Hastings War book Max Hastings is not a character I instinctively take to. His bluff manner, pinstripe suits, right wing views and - most of all - strange hair leave me thinking 'okaayyy' every time he pops up as a talking head on the TV. As a rule, I don't like 'celebrity' history books. It's easier to get published if you're a 'name' journalist, but that doesn't mean you're any good. Hastings bucks the trend. This book joins 'The Korean War,' Bomber Command' and 'Overlord' as top quality, popular military... more info
A compelling and sometimes preachy overview An impressive panoramic narrative of the battle for Germany, "Armageddon" combines a wide range of sources (including many veterans) with Hastings's sharp, often iconoclastic judgement. His criticism of the military folly of Operation Market Garden, the Ardennes offensive, and Zhukov's Oder crossing is hard-hitting, but frequently deserved. Hastings is no apologist for military failings, although he frequently gets moralistic: discussions of the justice of the allied cause or the tyranny of Stalin, which is... more info
