The Second World War

By: Antony Beevor

Narrated by: Sean Barrett

A magisterial, single-volume history of the greatest conflict the world has ever known by our foremost military historian.

The Second World War began in August 1939 on the edge of Manchuria and ended there exactly six years later with the Soviet invasion of northern China. The war in Europe appeared completely divorced from the war in the Pacific and China, and yet events on opposite sides of the world had profound effects. Using the most up-to-date scholarship and research, Beevor assembles the whole picture in a gripping narrative that extends from the North Atlantic to the South Pacific and from the snowbound steppe to the North African Desert.

Although filling the broadest canvas on a heroic scale, Beevor's THE SECOND WORLD WAR never loses sight of the fate of the ordinary soldiers and civilians whose lives were crushed by the titanic forces unleashed in this, the most terrible war in history.

Read by Sean Barrett

(p) 2012 Orion Publishing Group©2012 Antony Beevor

Critic reviews

His singular ability to make huge historical events accessible to a general audience recalls the golden age of British narrative history, whose giants include Gibbon, Macaulay and Carlyle (Boyd Tonkin)

Beevor can be credited with single-handedly transforming the reputation of military history (David Edgar)

The myriad pieces of this intricate kaleidoscope are pieced together with exemplary skill ... This is a splendid book, erudite, with an admirable clarity of thought and expression (Roger Moorhouse)

His accounts of the key moments in the Second World War have a sense of colour, drama and immediacy that few narrative historians can match (Dominic Sandbrook)

You feel yourself being carried along on the narrative flow, channelled this way and that through the pools and rapids by Beevor's expert helmanship (Patrick Bishop)

Brocaded with details of the great campaigns and thoughtful explanations of Hitler's murderous belligerence, The Second World War is an absorbing, unsparingly lucid work of military history (Ian Thomson)

Beevor's book is a pleasure to read and an example of intelligent, lively historical writing at its best (Tony Barber)

This is as comprehensive and objective an account of the course of the war as we are likely to get, and the most humanly moving to date (John Gray)

A British historian of great distinction and range, who ... demonstrates his mastery of his sources (Gordon Craig)

A magnificent performance - true excitement from one page to the next delivered in faultless prose (Christoper Silvester)

Beevor is excellent at catching the individual in the flood-tide of events (John Lewis-Stempel)

The book could not really have been done better

If you want to understand the war as military struggle, this book is all you really need. However well you thought you knew the subject, you will learn something new on every page. (Neill Denny)

A truly outstanding historian of war (Michael Howard)

Everyone who is interested in the Second World War should read this book. (Laurence Rees)

The book that Beevor has been building towards writing - and everybody else has been anticipating reading. (Donal O'Donoghue)

remarkably well-written and informative (Norman Stone)

This is the place to begin if you need to get your knowledge of the war in order. (Hew Strachan)

This is history writ large. (James Owen)

the whole story told in the author's usual erudite yet highly readable prose

The heart of Beevor's appeal is precisely that straightforward narrative approach, coupled with his lively, engaging style and his use of memorable, almost cinematic, set-pieces.

He is the most humanitarian of historians, and covers huge sweeps of history through the real stories of the individuals who experienced them. Reading this will be like having him walk me through the history of the war like a personal guide. (Kate Mosse)

This is a book demanding to be read. (Christoper Bray)

Difficult subject matter, great narration.

Any additional comments?

The narration by Sean Barrett is simply outstanding and sensitive to the subject matter at hand.

This will become the seminal work on WWII

Truly global in its scope, any serious study of the war will necessarily include a careful reading of this work.

Excellent

A marvelous example of outstanding history writing.No finer attempt at such a mammoth task exists( as far as I am aware).

Astonishing

An amazing story told by an amazing historian and narrated by a great narrator.
Great Audiobook

Outstanding history, variable performance

Beevor’s histories are outstanding examples of deep research, a clear eyed understanding of politics and outstanding storytelling. This history of WW2 is among his best works.

The only real issue here is Sean Barrett‘s narration, which is at its best when he simply delivers the prose, and at its worst as he delivers an array of accents, and impressions including Churchill, Roosevelt and Hitler. It’s a minor irritation but over an audiobook that exceeds 35 hours it becomes grating and unnecessary.

That said, the power of the story overcomes minor stylistic audio book annoyances. Highly recommended.