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The Story of World War II

By: Donald L. Miller, Henry Steele Commager
Narrated by: Michael Kramer
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Summary

Drawing on previously unpublished eyewitness accounts, prizewinning historian Donald L. Miller has written what critics are calling one of the most powerful accounts of warfare ever published. Here are the horror and heroism of World War II in the words of the men who fought it, the journalists who covered it, and the civilians who were caught in its fury. Miller gives us an up-close, deeply personal view of a war that was more savagely fought - and whose outcome was in greater doubt - than one might imagine. This is the war that Americans on the home front would have read about had they had access to the previously censored testimony of the soldiers on which Miller builds his gripping narrative.

Miller covers the entire war - on land, at sea, and in the air - and provides new coverage of the brutal island fighting in the Pacific, the bomber war over Europe, the liberation of the death camps, and the contributions of African Americans and other minorities. He concludes with a suspenseful, never-before-told story of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, based on interviews with the men who flew the mission that ended the war.

Donald L. Miller is the John Henry MacCracken Professor of History at Lafayette College. He is a creator and associate producer of the HBO documentary He Has Seen War and has been chief consultant for numerous award-winning PBS productions. He is author of the prizewinning City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America.

©1945 Henry Steele Commager; renewed by Lou Reda Productions and Mary Steele Commager. Revisions; and introduction 2001 by Donald L. Miller (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

"This is the book that deserves to be titled The Story of World War II...." (James Bradley, New York Times best-selling author)
"A major publishing event. Donald Miller’s additions to the original account are outstanding, and the total effect is one few readers will ever forget." (David McCullough, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author)
"Whenever you do a film, there’s always a book that you want in your hip pocket to settle all questions. The Story of World War II was that book." (Ken Burns, creator of the seven-part documentary The War)

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What listeners say about The Story of World War II

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Harrowing

I wanted to know about the past in more detail, the scale, the devastation is almost beyond belief. We need as people to ensure this never happens again.

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Great piece of historical/factual story telling..

I was looking for a book that would give me all the factual information, key points and high lights of WWII and this book really did not disappoint, in fact it gave me more. I loved how the listener was given the information from the first hand perspective as service men gave their account of their personal experiences. Long listening time (over 24 hours) but well other the time.

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1 person found this helpful

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Detailed account of the multi faceted conflict

A great listen giving stories and accounts of battles and suffering throughout world war 2.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Simply beautiful

The story of the Twins at DDay had me in tears being a twin myself. Simply amazing. 5 stars

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So informative

An incredible explanation with the perfect level of detail. I now have a far stronger idea of the whole war picture

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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Very American

The story is good, gave me a lot of information I didn’t know and I’m very into my World War history so Im glad I listened. However, there’s not much mention about Britain in the war even though the Brits were in the war from start to finish. And there’s in next to no mention of the Russian campaign, who again had a massive part in the war. It’s just very typical from an American, America did everything in the war and won the war and no one else was involved. Disappointed with it because it started off well but after the chapter about pearl harbour, next to no mention about the British, French, Russian, Polish and all other countries involved in the war.

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Disappointed!!

I was disappointed with this book, I found it to completely American biased, after a brief half hour skimming over the British pre USA war effort the rest only dealt with America’s part in the 2nd world war, you would have thought Britain played no further part after USA belatedly joined. I only read about half of it before giving up in disgust. Also the narrator wasn’t very good in my opinion, he just seemed to read in a matter of fact way without any drama.

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7 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

massively miss-titled

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. Very misleading. I got this book to learn more about WWII as a whole. This was not what i got. I would recommend this book to all my American friends because that is who this book was written by and for.

What was most disappointing about Donald L. Miller and Henry Steele Commanger ’s story?

This book should have been titled AN AMERICANS OPINION OF HOW THE AMERICANS BEAT THE NAZIS AND THE JAPANESE. There was hardly any mention of the Allied forces unless is was to say something they didn't do or failed to achieve. Apparently it wasn't even a world war till the Americans joined. "They didn't want to make it worse"! That's want this guy said. Not by choice i might add. It wasn't until they got sucker punched at Pear Harbor that they gave a damn about this European scuffle. It WAS a World war and that is already pretty bad in my books. I could only listen to this book in small chunks because the shear disrespect given to the Allied forces. The RAF fire bombing of the German city of Dresden was an "horrific act of barbarism" but when the US air force burnt Tokyo's main housing districts to the ground just to kill the thousands strong workforce was "just war" oh and the two nukes they dropped was the best way to end the war to save American lives. Not quite sure the moral levels were quite set to an un bi-est level.

What about Michael Kramer’s performance did you like?

I can't hold anything against the Mr Kramer. He did a good job of reading the book.

Did The Story of World War II inspire you to do anything?

I inspired me to find another way to learn about the second world war from an un bi-est source.

Any additional comments?

If your an American then grab your finest red, white and blue and prepare to march down the street waving the flag while whistling Dixie. If your are British, European, or even from any other country that was involved in the second world war then prepare yourselves for a tale how the Americans saved the world.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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Title it: The American Story of World War II

Would you try another book written by Donald L. Miller and Henry Steele Commanger or narrated by Michael Kramer?

Yes

Would you ever listen to anything by Donald L. Miller and Henry Steele Commanger again?

yes

Any additional comments?

My father fought with RAF during WWII and I was looking forward to listening to a balanced account of that terrible conflict. From the early chapters this book was clearly going to be another title on how America won the war, helped occasionally by the allied forces. I dislike not finishing any book and persevered with this one until chapter 13 then gave up. Very disappointing.

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23 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Should be called the American story of World War 2

I wanted a collective, impartial, documentary-like account of WW2.

This is absolutely the American perspective of American military action in WW2, with lots of ‘Americana’ thrown in.

The title is misleading.

It is not a bad audio book per say, and has lots of details specifically about what the Americans did , but it is not what I was after.

The title is misleading and it is not impartial.

Hard to recommend in that case.

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