1001 Things Everyone Should Know about World War II (review)

The noted historian and president emeritus of Texas A&M University, Frank Vandiver, has undertaken to write a popular, accurate reference book on World War II. On the whole, he has succeeded. His account is chronological by years with appropriate subsections, and he has effectively woven song lyrics, cartoons, posters, portions of letters and speeches, and numerous anecdotes into the narrative. In addition, the work is inclusive and well balanced between military operations and activities on the various home fronts. Especially noteworthy are Vandiver's appreciation of politics in wartime America, his coverage of the Holocaust, and his judicious treatment of Hirohito. The author also goes into some of the war's controversies, such as Pearl Harbor, Yalta, and the dropping of the atomic bomb, but he does not render an opinion as to which side of each controversy he considers correct. Other positive features of the book are 159 carefully selected black and white photos and ten maps.

Vandiver's work differs from an encyclopedia in that rather than an alphabetical listing, he has placed the individuals, battles, equipment, and terms in context among the 1001 "things" we supposedly should know about the war. Still, if one wants to learn about Pétain or Okinawa or Blitzkrieg, one has to turn to the index, which is not altogether adequate, before finding the answer.

As is normal in books of this nature, factual errors crop up, and Vandiver's account is no exception. For example, the author has Eisenhower selected as commander for Overlord in August 1943 instead of December, has German U-boats pulling out of the entire Atlantic instead of only the North Atlantic in May 1943, and has Churchill disinterested in America's Pacific strategy. The Prime Minister was truly interested, but he could do little about it. Moreover, the author is still taken in to an extent by the apologia of Germany's generals, including Guderian and Manstein, and the narrative ends abruptly with the postwar Tokyo trials, whereas one would have appreciated a conclusion that takes advantage of Vandiver's insights. Finally, while one might quibble with the author's "highly personal" choices as to what to include (why, for instance, no sketches of Harry Hopkins, Ivan Konev, Alanbrooke, and Viscount Slim?), he mentions most of the war's important persons, places, and things.

Vandiver and his publisher, Broadway Books, a division of Random House, have already published a similar book on the Civil War, and others undoubtedly will follow. Whether the 1001 series will, as the author hopes, attract a wide audience is yet to be determined.