• The Second World War: A Complete History

  • By: Martin Gilbert
  • Narrated by: Bernard Mayes
  • Length: 43 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (243 ratings)

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The Second World War: A Complete History  By  cover art

The Second World War: A Complete History

By: Martin Gilbert
Narrated by: Bernard Mayes
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Publisher's summary

Martin Gilbert, the official biographer of Winston Churchill, offers a complete history of World War II.

It began with the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. By the time it came to an end on V-Day - August 14, 1945 - it had involved every major power, and had become global in its reach. In the final accounting, it would turn out to be - in both human terms and material resources - the costliest war in history, taking the lives of forty-six million people.

With unparalleled scholarship and breadth of vision, Gilbert weaves together all of the war’s aspects - the political, the military, the diplomatic, and, not least, the civilian - charting an almost day-by-day account of the terrible progress of the war’s juggernaut of death and destruction. Through it all, his aim is to show what happened, not from the point of view of any one of the warring nations but from a global perspective. The result is the first total history of this global war, a work that is both a treasure trove of information and a gripping dramatic narrative.

©1989 Martin Gilbert (P)2000 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

“Brings the losses and the horrors of the war home to us more urgently than a more accented account might do.” ( New York Times Book Review)
“Mr. Gilbert brings the strongest possible credentials to his history of World War II, and the result is a magisterial work that shows how the greatest war ever fought reached into every corner of the globe.” ( New York Times)
“In his transmission of the horror of the war, Martin Gilbert has achieved something no historian but he could. There is indeed a relentless force about chronology when it is used as a tool by a historian of the status of Martin Gilbert.” ( Sunday Telegraph)

What listeners say about The Second World War: A Complete History

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A Catalog of Atrocities, Ignores the Japanese

After a while the book became a catalog of Nazi atrocities in Poland and the eastern front. While it is critical that they be documented, it became very difficult to listen to lists of towns followed by numbers of men, women and children murdered. These details could have been cut back and far more focus placed on the Pacific theater. For example, there was no mention of Japan's pre-1941 invasion of China and the Japanese atrocities there (e.g., I don't recall hearing about the rape of Nanking). This was a very Euro-centric account of the war. Lastly, the sound quality was terrible. It sound like it was recorded on cassette tapes which were digitized.

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13 people found this helpful

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was expecting something different

Would you try another book from Martin Gilbert and/or Bernard Mayes?

probably not

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Second World War?

too many to recall

What does Bernard Mayes bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

nothing

What character would you cut from The Second World War?

all were necessary

Any additional comments?

very disappointed....90% of the book was concentrated on europe and the nazi...if memory serves me correctly...there was a lot of "war" in the pacific....but the author writes about the pacific in almost an afterthought.....i'm sorry about the horrible happenings in europe...especially toward the jews and the final solution......but just as much horror was in the pacific......too bad the writer chose to ignore that

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Should be required reading for all students.

The most complete review of the history of WWII I have read. Students of world history need to familiarize themselves with this book. Even though I have traveled to Germany several times and in fact served in the Army for 3 years in peacetime Germany, I was unaware of the extent of suffering and cruelty perpetrated by the Nazi regime. I sincerely hope the German people are not allowed to forget the devastation caused by the Nazi's. Nor allowed to excuse themselves as unaware participants of those barbarians.

Bill Hemby




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9 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

audio bad

couldn't finish the book. After a few chapters, the treble on the tone of the voice was so difficult to listen to I had to return the book. The Story seems interesting, but I didn't get a chance to listen through.

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7 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing. Save your time.

Mostly a recitation of names and dates with only limited analyses and insights into the underlying causes and overall strategies. Unfortunate from an author whose other works have include classics with brilliant analyses and insights.

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6 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Not really history & it doesn't really cover WWII

This is basically a series of human interest stories about the victims of the war in Europe. There is nothing about the causes of the war and almost nothing about the leaders or the generals or the strategy and tactics of the battles. There is very little about the war in the Pacific. In a sense, this is an extremely modern book because it focuses almost exclusively on the victims. (Also, the focus is on the victims of the Nazis; very little about the victims of the Russians.) There are a lot of human interest stories about the horrors of war and the senseless deaths of non-combatants in Europe. If that is what you are looking for then this is the book for you.

I object to the way this book is titled and marketed as a WWII history. I wanted a conventional one volume history of WWII. I already knew that the Nazis were bad and that innocent people died during this war. I am going to return this book.

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5 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Jewish issue

While I’m abhorrent about the treatment of the Jews by the Germans. I don’t need a Jewish body count from every town captured. If you want to read about WW II battles strategy and behind the scenes action. This book fails miserably

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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This is NOT a “complete history” of WWII.

It’s anything but. The interminable accounting of every person that died in that horrible conflict, with the focus heavily weighted with the Jewish victims. Many people died, they weren’t all Jewish. I want to know about the war, not the body count.

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2 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Disjointed and boring.

I have enjoyed most of the Audible offerings on WWII. This one however, was dry and had no flow. It was very holocausts centric. No new ideas or analysis. Gilbert was barely able to contain his English bias. His books on Churchill are much better. As he is better able to manage the scope of a biography. The last three chapters are completely unnecessary and ridiculous.

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Wretched Audio Quality

Audio terrible. Sounds like 1920s gramophone. Words clipped off and garbled. Recording levels inconsistent. Frustrating.

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2 people found this helpful