The Story of World War II: Revised, expanded, and updated from the original text by Henry Steele Commager - Hardcover

Miller, Donald L.; Commager, Henry Steele

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0743211987 ISBN 13: 9780743211987

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2001

Synopsis

A comprehensive history of World War II, expanded and updated from the original work by Henry Steele Commager, draws on previously unavailable letters, memoirs, oral histories, and photographs to incorporate new information on the contributions of African Americans and other minorities, the war in the Pacific, the liberation of the death camps, and more. 35,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

In 1945, the noted historian Henry Steele Commager, then employed by the U.S. Office of War Information, published The Story of World War II, a comprehensive survey of a struggle still terribly fresh. Donald Miller, himself an accomplished historian, amplifies Commager's work with this substantially revised edition.

Drawing on oral histories and on the vast body of literature that followed the original edition, Miller writes vividly of the key events that shaped the progress of the war, from Dunkirk to the surrender of the Japanese government aboard the U.S.S. Missouri. Along the way, he examines the war as it played out on many fronts, incorporating the memories of women defense workers, German and Japanese combat veterans, and the ordinary Allied soldiers whom correspondent Ernie Pyle called "doggies." The text is thoroughly illustrated with period photographs, maps, and sidebars, adding both to its immediacy and its usefulness as a reference work.

Concentrating on the war through American eyes, Miller and Commager's book is far from definitive. Even so, it makes an important addition to the growing library of work devoted to the era, and readers with an interest in World War II will learn much from its pages. --Gregory McNamee

About the Author:

Donald L. Miller is the John Henry McCracken Professor of History at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. He is the host of the PBS series A Biography of America. His articles and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Washington Post, among other publications. He is the author of five previous books, including Lewis Mumford: A Life, a New York Times notable book, and City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America, which won a Great Lakes book award for nonfiction and is the basis of a forthcoming documentary series for The American Experience on PBS.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0743211987
• ISBN 13: 9780743211987
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 704