A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II

Gerhard Weinberg's A World At Arms is an impressive and comprehensive book on the global aspects of World War II. His book isn't as focused on military battles and tactics as other studies, but Weinberg provides the reader with a broader understanding of the war, its effects on many different nations and peoples around the globe and in all theaters of combat, and the strategies employed by all sides. The personalities don't come through as well either, but it would be excessive and probably unnecessary for this study.We get a good, brief understanding of the First World War and its aftermath and how the Second World War developed. After reading several previous books on the First World War, I was quite surprised or just didn't really consider how stark some of the differences were. For example, the swiftness of the German advance in the West (especially with the fall of France), the acts of brutality against civilians and those considered inferior (though of course I knew about the Holocaust), the nature of the type of war fought, and so on. There was no stalemate or trench warfare in France as in the First World War, nor did the Soviet Union collapse or make peace later on in the war with the Axis powers. There were many events, ideas and attitudes that I really never read about or considered such as Hitler's stab-in-the-back theory for losing the First World War or his attitude towards the military and industrial potential of the Americans (which was quite dismissive) or the nature of the inter-alliance between the Germans and Japanese.The strategies of Hitler and his regime are laid out with all their detestable attributes, the false promises he gave to other nations and leaders, and the commencement of aggression by the Germans are quite clearly seen in this account. The British predicament, the Soviet Union's early pact with Germany (which really displayed a real naivete on the Soviet's part in my opinion), the eventual outbreak of war on the Eastern front and just about everything else of major importance to understanding the nature and impact of this war on a global scale are laid out for the reader.Weinberg, as other reviewers have noted, doesn't get bogged down in the details of many of the battles fought nor the personalities of the major leaders. We get brief glimpses into the personalities of Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt, and etc., but no real depth. There is much on the German strategy to win on the Eastern first, then defeat Britain and the US. Other strategies are detailed, such as the British (and American) desire to keep the Soviet Union propped up to lessen the threat to themselves, the agreement by the Allies to defeat Germany first, the Japanese hope to keep the Soviet Union neutral while concentrating on their efforts against the US and Britain and etc. Weinberg gives attention to the strategies from all viewpoints, the developments and challenges in allied and axis alliances, politics and diplomacy, intelligence and logistics, new weaponry, the home fronts, neutral nations and the roles they played, the major campaigns from Europe to Southeast Asia, both on land and sea, and so forth.There is really no need to sum everything up, since the title of the book should give you a good idea of what to expect. His writing style isn't flashy as some reviewers I believe made mention. Its not a real difficult read, but be prepared to slow down on occasion. No one book on World War II includes everything, and this book is no exception in that regard, but it is an impressive piece of scholarship nonetheless. Some topics were too briefly mentioned or ignored, but that's what other books are for. Weinberg's book is definitely worth reading.

This history ties all the many theaters of WWII into a single conflict, showing how seemingly unrelated events affected both the timing and types of decisions the leaders took. Contrary to some other reviewers' comments, I thought it includes plenty of details on battles, given the overall intent of the book, but do agree that you need also a separate book of maps to follow the battle narratives. Just a heads up if you're looking for a quick read: This 2-1/2 inch thick 1994 volume is single spaced and the print pretty well fills the pages, so if it were printed in today's typical book "large white space" format (1-1/2 line spacing, sizable print, and large margins) would probably take two every bit as thick volumes.

The book goes into depth about all of the different theaters and makes it clear why it was a world war. South America probably involved the least but all other continents excluding Anartica were heavily involved and many islands too.

This is only for those who are seriously interested in World War II and it should be read only by people fairly familiar with the basic history of the war. A beginner will get lost in Mr. Weinberg's details and thoroughness. The maps are poor and there are no pictures but the author's mastery of the subject makes up for that. Mr. Weinberger has his preferences : for instance, he is no friend of Montgomery, generally treats the British military with contempt and positively seems to hate Wehrmacht generals for covering up atrocities they did not disapprove of - an opinion I happen to share - but also for writing "self serving memoirs" as though memoirs could be anything else than self serving ! But these are minor details in an otherwise splendid book, an absolute must for anyone wishing to gain a clearer understanding of this planet's history between 1939 and 1945. The book is long, the writing sometime a little heavy, but every 920 page is worth the reader's full attention.

This is a remarkable work. It is a bit dry, it is complicated, but it is tremendously effective. If one is looking for detailed analysis of battles, this is not the book for you. If one wants to know what happened in the big picture of the war, and why decisions were made, this book does a great job. I used this to teach a high school class, and while there were elements that were a bit complex for that age group, with a little guidance this accomplished the task quite nicely.

I bought this book after listening to a podcast interview with the author from the Pritzker Military Library. (You can probably still find the interview at the Pritzker website. I found it through iTunes and listened to it on my phone.)Weinberg is a deeply analytical historian who explains the why of events. This is the most analytical history of World War II that I have ever read.On the negative side, the book is ponderous. I had to concentrate to get through the dense text.But I still love the book.

The book focuses on how and why things occurred - there is almost no analysis of tactics in individual battles, but rather cause and effect analysis of long-term leadership decisions and technological breakthroughs. I have read a lot on WWII, and am very interested in the "grand strategy" of the war. This is the single best text I know of on this area.There are other excellent reviews listed here. The main thing I wanted to note, is that there is no "anti-German bias" or "hatred of the German nation". A few reviewers criticised Weinberg for that, but I have no idea why those reviewers concluded that.

Great book for anyone interested in WWII...very thoroughly examines the different theatres of WWII the causes and effects...explains the background of decisions made and the results