Fateful Choices

Ten Decisions That Changed the World, 1940-1941

De: Ian Kershaw

Narrado por: Bruce Mann

The newest immensely original undertaking from the historian who gave us the defining two-volume portrait of Hitler, Fateful Choices puts Ian Kershaw's analytical and storytelling gifts on dazzling display.

From May 1940 to December 1941, the leaders of the world's six major powers made a series of related decisions that determined the final outcome of World War II and shaped the course of human destiny.

As the author examines the connected stories of these profound choices, he restores a sense of drama and contingency to this pivotal moment, producing one of the freshest, most important books on World War II in years - one with powerful contemporary relevance.

©2007 Ian Kershaw (P)2020 Tantor

Awful, distracting narration

Good book but incredibly annoying narration that distracted me ever second. It is a painful listen but the information is fascinating which is why it should be recorded again by another narrator.

Extraordinary

The Second World War was the war of my father’s generation and so became the prism through which my generation saw the world and the basis on which many subsequent decisions were made. Because of this I have read a considerable amount on the period from 1930 through 1945 to understand the causes that led to so much destruction and loss of life and Mr Kershaw’s book has been very helpful in understanding why some things occurred as compared to how they occurred.

What Mr Kershaw has done is take 10 decisions made from May 1940 through December 1941 which he feels changed the world. When I first approached this book my assumption was that these were 10 decisions made by heads of government on who to fight and how to wage the war but my outlook was too narrow as one of those decisions had nothing to do specifically with the waging the war itself. What the book does is examine each of these 10 decisions in detail.

The author looks at the background behind each decision, the decision process itself in considerable detail, the effects of the decision and some possible alternatives that could have been made instead. Many of the decision themselves - Britain’s decision to continue fighting after the defeat of France, Hitler’s decision to attack the Soviet Union, Roosevelt’s decision to provide Britain help through the Destroyers for Bases deal and Lend Lease, Japan’s decision to go to war rather than allow diplomacy to continue and Hitler’s decision to declare war on the US - are those that anyone who studied the war would have included in a list of the 10 most important decisions, but some are surprises and Mr Kershaw goes to some length to explain why he feels that the decisions were made and why they were important.

Although I have read a great deal about World War II there was not a single decision covered in the book that did not tell me something I did not know, and much of it was in such detail that it explained not only how, but why the decision was made and I found this very helpful in understanding things I always wondered about. For example, why did Japan decide to “go south” in its attacks instead of attacking the Soviet Union, it’s old enemy? Why did Hitler decide to declare war on the US in spite of the fact that his alliance with Japan did not require him to do so? Why did Japan attack the US when none of its politicians really believed it could win a long war?

Also a bit surprising are some of the decisions left out of the list. I had expected to see France’s decision to capitulate instead of continuing to fight after the German attack and the decision to proceed with the Manhattan Project to be included but neither was.

The narration is adequate, although a bit slow and I ended up listening at 1.1X normal speed to compensate. Still I found the book so interesting and so informative that I ended up finishing it in a little over a week. Since the book is about 27 hours long that meant about 3 hours a day and that is a lot for me. Basically I found it hard to put down, and I recommend this book to anyone interested in why some decisions were made during The Second World War rather than how they were implemented.

Just couldn't stand the narrator

I rarely return a book without finishing but I just could not stand the narrator and returned after 6 hours. I just couldn't imagine going another 21 hours. PLEASE list to the sample before deciding!

Interesting and insightful

I very much enjoyed the way the author took apart the decisions and the factors that influenced them.

Riveting Story

How quickly nations can slip into war - world war. We should take heed in 2023. Loved the book. Did not like the narrator. Distracted from the story.