The Storm of War - by Andrew Roberts (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"Gripping. . . . splendid history. A brilliantly clear and accessible account of the war in all its theaters. Roberts's prose is unerringly precise and strikingly vivid. It is hard to imagine a better-told military history of World War II." -New York Times Book Review

Andrew Roberts's acclaimed new military history has been hailed as the finest single-volume account of this epic conflict. From the western front to North Africa, from the Baltic to the Far East, he tells the story of the war--the grand strategy and the individual experience, the brutality and the heroism--as never before.

Meticulously researched and masterfully written, The Storm of War illuminates the war's principal actors, revealing how their decisions shaped the course of the global conflict. Along the way, Roberts presents tales of the many lesser-known individuals whose experiences form a panoply of the courage and self-sacrifice, as well as the depravity and cruelty, of the Second World War.

This comprehensive single-volume history delves into every theater of the war, revealing:

• Grand Strategy: An examination of the principal actors whose decisions determined the fate of nations.
• Total Global Conflict: In-depth coverage of every front, from the shores of Western Europe and the sands of North Africa to the Baltic and the fierce fighting in the Far East.
• The Human Experience: Moving tales of heroism, self-sacrifice, and suffering from the lesser-known individuals who fought, endured, and perished.
• Definitive Single-Volume History: A masterful and meticulously researched account that brings the entire epic of World War II into sharp focus in one book.

From the Back Cover

Andrew Roberts's acclaimed new history has been hailed as the finest single-volume account of this epic conflict. From the western front to North Africa, from the Baltic to the Far East, he tells the story of the war--the grand strategy and the individual experience, the brutality and the heroism--as never before.

Meticulously researched and masterfully written, The Storm of War illuminates the war's principal actors, revealing how their decisions shaped the course of the conflict. Along the way, Roberts presents tales of the many lesser-known individuals whose experiences form a panoply of the courage and self-sacrifice, as well as the depravity and cruelty, of the Second World War.

Review Quotes

"The best full history of World War II yet written." - Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Wall Street Journal

"Elegantly balances fact, thought and fresh, clear prose. . . . Roberts has set a high bar for future historians of mankind's greatest bloodbath; Roberts splendidly weaves a human tragedy into a story of war's remorseless statistics." - The Wall Street Journal

"Andrew Roberts has produced what Gen. George Patton might call 'a helluva book'--the first totally readable one-volume history of World War II, a literary and historical blitzkrieg, propelled by strong, positive prose, written with concision yet a wealth of detail, and supplied with an arsenal of sources." - The Washington Times

"In one irresistibly readable book, Roberts has done what I thought was impossible--given us the whole bloody second world war from the brass buttons of the generals down to the mud-filled trenches and stretching across the globe." - Tina Brown, Newsweek

"Roberts's narrative gifts are such that it is almost impossible to read his retelling of these nightmares without some feeling of encountering the new. No history book can ever truly be definitive, but this comes close. Roberts never loses sight of the human side of this epic." - National Review

"Roberts is a first-rate historian. He has a sharp eye for a good subject and a knack of getting to its heart. The second world war, which cost more than 50 million lives, has a perennial fascination that Roberts conveys through an admirably lucid narrative." - Piers Brendon, The Sunday Times

"A magnificent book;It manages to be distinctive but not eccentric, comprehensive in scope but not cramped by detail, giving due weight both to the extraordinary personalities and to the blind economic and physical forces involved." - The Economist

"Roberts is a great historian because of a rare triune mastery: of the movement of history, in both its broad sweep and particular revelatory detail; a felicitous prose style and gift for narrative; and a commanding moral vision." - Roger Kimball, The Daily

"Gripping. . . . splendid history. A brilliantly clear and accessible account of the war in all its theaters. Roberts's prose is unerringly precise and strikingly vivid. It is hard to imagine a better-told military history of World War II." - Timothy Snyder, The New York Times Book Review

"With his new book on the Second World War, British historian Andrew Roberts has not only written the single best history of that conflict but has also claimed his place as one of our top historians." - Michael Korda, The Daily Beast

"Andrew Roberts achieves a marvel of concision in producing a splendidly written, comprehensive new history of the greatest conflict in history, The Storm of War--particularly good in its insights into Axis strategy." - Sir Ian Kershaw, The Guardian, Books of the Year

"In what might be his best book yet, Roberts gives us the war as seen from the other side of the hill. He has the knack of making complex military operations comprehensible and salting the grand strategic sweep with vignettes of how it felt to be a soldier." - Nigel Jones, The Sunday Telegraph