binstonbirchill's review
4.0
A solid account of the war years of Hitler’s Germany, basically a summary of a handful of accounts, the book is packed full of color photos and worth picking up.
cgoode2000's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Really puts it into perspective of the sheer scale of the war crimes of the Nazis and their atrocities across Europe.
achoward's review against another edition
5.0
The Hitler Years: Disaster 1940-1945 is the companion to The Hitler Years: Triumph 1933-1939, which I previously reviewed.
As with 'Triumph', Disaster is a strict, chronologically presented layout of the events from 1940, when Hitler was at the apex of his power, to 1945, when Germany was defeated and Hitler committed suicide in Berlin.
I'll caution that this is not a narrative nonfiction work. The two books taken together could form a large collection of references about what was happening on what day in what year in (primarily) Germany's sphere between 1933 and 1945. If you haven't read the first volume,it isn't a huge issue as long as you have some kind of base understanding as to how the world got to where it was in 1940.
It's a terrific addition to the field, and I'm giving it five stars, just as I did with the first volume.
One note I will make is that the e-ARC was a terrible mess. Letters are missing from words, entire dates are left out, and it was a tremendously difficult and tedious read to get through it. I'm not dinging it for this, as it is an advanced copy, and it comes with the territory. It was, however, disappointing that it was so very, very bad in this regard.
Thanks to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the reading copy.
As with 'Triumph', Disaster is a strict, chronologically presented layout of the events from 1940, when Hitler was at the apex of his power, to 1945, when Germany was defeated and Hitler committed suicide in Berlin.
I'll caution that this is not a narrative nonfiction work. The two books taken together could form a large collection of references about what was happening on what day in what year in (primarily) Germany's sphere between 1933 and 1945. If you haven't read the first volume,it isn't a huge issue as long as you have some kind of base understanding as to how the world got to where it was in 1940.
It's a terrific addition to the field, and I'm giving it five stars, just as I did with the first volume.
One note I will make is that the e-ARC was a terrible mess. Letters are missing from words, entire dates are left out, and it was a tremendously difficult and tedious read to get through it. I'm not dinging it for this, as it is an advanced copy, and it comes with the territory. It was, however, disappointing that it was so very, very bad in this regard.
Thanks to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the reading copy.
jasminegalsreadinglog's review
5.0
The Hitler Years: Disaster is the continuation of the volume 1 titled The Hitler Years: Triumph. It can be read as a standalone but it is better to read the volume one before. This is a huge book and needs to be read with lot of concentration as the author has chronologically taken us through the whole second world war events. I am a history buff and this book was excellent and well written. Wars are never pretty and some of the events mentioned in this book might be hard to read. One of the images used in the book could be a little triggering to some people.
The author has tried to be non objective while stating as to how the events enfolded but the subject matter of this book is such that it's impossible to be neutral and the after thoughts of the book does reflect that. Having said that this book does an excellent job of recreating the history for people like me who are not of that era.
The book makes you sit and think that how could humanity stoop so low where cost of human life was worth nothing and violating women and children were of no consequence in the bigger scheme of things. It is a disturbing book but everyone needs to read it so that our and future generations do not repeat the same mistakes.
The author has tried to be non objective while stating as to how the events enfolded but the subject matter of this book is such that it's impossible to be neutral and the after thoughts of the book does reflect that. Having said that this book does an excellent job of recreating the history for people like me who are not of that era.
The book makes you sit and think that how could humanity stoop so low where cost of human life was worth nothing and violating women and children were of no consequence in the bigger scheme of things. It is a disturbing book but everyone needs to read it so that our and future generations do not repeat the same mistakes.
kperry2281's review
5.0
Frank McDonough has done a wonderful job again with The Hitler Years: Disaster, 1940-1945. This book gives you the facts and not opinions. I loved getting more of a background on how Italy entered the war and the events that followed. The pictures are stunning and help to bring the words to life.
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