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.

©2012 Antony Beevor (P)2012 Orion Publishing Group

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)

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)

Difficult subject matter, great narration.

Any additional comments?

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

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.

Astonishing

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

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).

Not that great narration.

Would you try another book from Antony Beevor and/or Sean Barrett?

Lacks the tautness of Stalingrad and Crete.
Not enough personal episodes.
Narration was bad. Not awful, but just bad.

Would you be willing to try another book from Antony Beevor? Why or why not?

Good writer.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Sean Barrett?

Ray Porter

Could you see The Second World War, Part One: The Phoney War to Stalingrad being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Governator as Hitler, Tom Hanks as Churchill.

A compact, yet satisfying, history of the war

A great listen for Causal history enthusiasts. The writer did a fantastic job of cramming so much complicated history in this book, and he did it in an engaging and easy to follow manor.

Stunning and comprehensive

If you could sum up The Second World War in three words, what would they be?

Stunning, elaborate and comprehensive.

What other book might you compare The Second World War to and why?

It is definitely the best overall history of the Second World War I have read so far. It might be supplemented with a more analytical look at the war by reading Norman Davies "Europe at War 1939-1945. If one wants to explore the different campaigns further Beevor wrote great books on Berlin, D-Day and Stalingrad as well.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The Great Tragedy

Incredible and expansive.

The second world war, what a huge subject and yet Mr Beever succeeds in every way in interweaving battlefield history with stories of the main decision makers, the ordinary soldiers, and the every day people caught up in this momentous, earth shaking apocalypse.
This is way more than just a story of a war, it should be required reading for all high school students in the hope that future generations will never see the like of it again.
Take a bow Mr Beever, you have made this appalling, complex event that saw the death of 60 million people, totally readable and accessible to all
We will never learn from history if it is sanitised

Superb and enthralling - highly recommended.

Where does The Second World War, Part One: The Phoney War to Stalingrad rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Excellent Audible history - up there with the rude boys.

Have you listened to any of Sean Barrett’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

The narrator is excellent. This is a long listen, so the narration is especially important and Sean Barrett's clarity, diction and expression are first class.

Any additional comments?

The mix of grand strategic overview mixed with the words of soldiers and civilians make this brilliantly written history extremely engrossing. I'm eagerly looking forward to Part 2.