Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions That Changed the World, 1940-1941 (Allen Lane History)

I agree with the reviewer Elizabeth Kyten. Clearly, 1940-41 is the key period of WWII, casting shadows onto the years and decades beyond. But Kershaw's treatment of the theme is poor, focusing (as it does) solely on elite politics and written (as it is) in a pinched, monographical way, BY a historian, FOR other specialist historians (or similarly oriented students). Unless you want to know, for example, what a particular memo said on any one day of a key period selected by the author, give this book a miss. Although Kershaw ranges widely in his secondary reading (the book is very well researched), frankly one expects more than a compendium of that research from a historian of Kershaw's rank. The focus on elite actors - each chapter revolves around a very small group of people - gives the book a very narrow feel. Perhaps the most damning aspect, however, is the prolixity of the writing. Like a PhD thesis. Not many historians can write as vividly as Beevor, but this book should have been edited, and edited, then edited again. Badly written and too long at half the length. I say this as someone who studied history at UK universities (including the LSE, where IK taught, though for the record he did not teach me). Kershaw has been lauded for his contributions to the history of the Third Reich, but he needs to peel away the knighthood, the tv documentary attributions, the glowing broadsheet profiles, and remember what he is: a historian. This book is a shadow of what it could have been. Indeed, it's a shadow of what Kershaw himself could have made it had he not been in such a rush to go to print. Less is more.

Informative, but a HUGE pain to get through. (6/6 people found this helpful)

This book is excellent in concept. Certainly, when learning about World War II, one wonders why certain decisions were made. For me, this was particularly true of the German decision to invade the Soviet Union and Hitler's choice to declare war on the United States. The fact that both questions were addressed in this book was one of the things that drew me to it.

This book is well-researched. However, I found it to be nearly unreadable. It is extremely dense and very circuitous in terms of sentence structure. In essence, it is not concise enough. When I got to the end of a section I would often have trouble remembering what the main points of it were because I was having so much trouble following it. I'm sure that part of my frustration was due to the fact that a crazy college schedule made it necessary for me to read it in short segments. However, I am also sure that the 470-page book could have been written in at least 2/3 of the words.

This book drove me crazy, and although I came out of reading it with a better understanding of World War II, I would gladly exchange the knowledge for a little bit of my lost sanity.

well-written, but no breaking news (2/2 people found this helpful)

This is a very well-written narrative that you will find hard to put down once you have started reading. At the same time, those already fairly familiar with the history of WW II will find much that they already knew. For them it is hardly a surprise that Hitler reached his decisions without consulting anyone, that Stalin refused to believe that Russia was about to be attacked, that Mussolini was obsessed with the fear of being left out of the glory and spoils of the war that Hitler seemed to be winning hands down, and that it took Rooseveld a lot of cajoling to get his isolationist country into the war. But these are stories very well told, to the extent that you are annoyed that the story simply stops once the decision has been reached. But of course that is the point of this book.
Certainly for those who only know the big picture on WW II-history, this book provides valuable insight in how its major developments came about.

Fine idea badly executed (9/13 people found this helpful)

Kershaw's book is a great idea: what were the decisions taken in 1940 - 41 which ultimately decided the course of the Second World War? What was the context behind these decisions and how did they play out? There's a great deal of scholarship in here and each chapter is well-researched, even if the conclusions could be summarised much more concisely than here.

My problem is that the writing is poor, often terrible. Kershaw likes to cram a lot into his sentences: so much so that you lose the plot half-way through.

Here's an example:"[Roosevelt] would often receive [Cordell] Hull and the sharp-minded, urbane and polished, but pompous and formal Under-Secretary of State, Sumner Wells - who had attended the same upper-class preparatory school as the president, had worn white gloves while playing in the country as a child and still had an "air of suspecting lurking contamination in his surroundings", his demeanour at best "on the chilly side" - while lying in bed at the White House, propped up against his pillows." That's the President who is propped on his pillow in case you couldn't work it out!

Here's another: "By the time Hitler had overrun what remained of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, soon to be followed by Britain's guarantee for Poland, war in Europe within the near future seemed practically a certainty." I think what he means is that Hitler overran Czechoslovakia and then overran Britain's guarantee to Poland, but who knows? I'm afraid that these roadblocks to reading stop me in my tracks and have left me somewhat disappointed with this book. Perhaps next time Kershaw's editors can help him out.

Kershaw never found the plot. (16/41 people found this helpful)

The subject is fascinating, and Ian Kershaw's reputation promises much. How could Hitler, Mussolini and the Japanese warlords make such crass mistakes? But in 483 pages citing 420 authors Kershaw provides no explanation because he ignores three pivotal factors.

First he is silent about the battle of Kalkin Gol in which Zhukov destroyed Japanese military pretensions in 1939 with pivotal consequences.
Secondly, Kershaw fails to mention Roosevelt's nightmare of the combined fleets of Germany, Britain, Italy, France, the Netherlands and Poland sailing up the Chesapeake and driving him from the White House in 1941 or 1942.
Thirdly, Kershaw never examines the USA's isolationist movement in any detail.

These omissions are extraordinary, and make his book valueless.

For the record, Kalkin Gol led to Zhukov's appointment as destroyer of the Wehrmacht. It also traumatised Japan which chose the southern option and refused to help Hitler fight Russia. Worse for Hitler, it allowed Zhukov to redeploy his Eastern army to the gates of Moscow where it defeated the Wehrmacht.
For the record, FDR's nightmare about the combined fleets in the Chesapeake drove him to commit his warships to the Atlantic in an attempt to fight Hitler to the last Englishman. This exposed him to the Japanese.
And for the record, the isolationist sentiment in the USA made it impossible for FDR to declare war on Hitler even after Pearl Harbour.

Kershaw therefore never asks why Hitler was ignorant of the proven abilities of Zhukov and the Red Army, and why he committed hara kiri by declaring war on a paralysed USA.

If Hitler had ignored FDR's provocations, there could have been no invasion of North Africa, of Sicily or of Normandy because there would have been no landing craft and no US armed forces in Europe. The Luftwaffe would have avoided defeat by the USAAF and in their turn defeated Bomber Command. There would have been no atomic weapons, and the war would have dragged on interminably. How it would have ended is anyone's guess, but Kershaw does not even get to ask it.

He just doesn't get the plot.

Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions That Changed the World, 1940-1941 (Allen Lane History)

Ian Kershaw

Reader Reviews:

Great idea, poor execution (0/0 people found this helpful)

Informative, but a HUGE pain to get through. (6/6 people found this helpful)

well-written, but no breaking news (2/2 people found this helpful)

Fine idea badly executed (9/13 people found this helpful)

Kershaw never found the plot. (16/41 people found this helpful)

Similar Products

Categories