|
|
|
Need a Term Paper for College?
Our very best writers will produce any essay or term paper you are looking for! We offer reasonable prices and deliver top quality papers on virtually any topic. Our service is available 24/7. Be sure that we are reliable and consistent.
Order your custom term paper for only $12.95 a page!
Battle For History By John Keegan
In the book The Battle for History, John Keegan, talks of the many different views on World War II. He takes into account other historical works such as Robert M. Kennedy’s The German Campaign in Poland, Christopher Duffy’s Red Storm on the Reich, The Struggle for Europe by Chester Wilmot and many others. He has already analyzed these other works. He has summarized the authors’ major points and used them to support his own theory, although Keegan’s theory about the written history of the war is quite unclear. The only theory that I could derive, is that “[it] has not yet been written.” (30)
What does he mean by this? The
Works Cited
in the back of the book number over one hundred fifty. Numerous references are made to the works of other authors. Keegan does not seem to tell anything from his perspective, but state what he has read. All good and well considering this is history, but are the past events so clearly set in stone? Keegan seems to bring up questions throughout the book such as: did Roosevelt know of the attack on Pearl Harbor before it happened? “There have also been explorations of the allegation that Roosevelt had foreknowledge but chose not to act on it, as a means of bringing the United States into the Second World War on the anti-Axis side.” (17) Keegan does not do much to answer these questions, simply brings them into the picture. The book gives no feel of ending or resolution to most of the questions he brings about. Maybe this was his purpose.
Topics in the book up from one place to another. In one paragraph Keegan may be discussing the use of the Enigma, a commercial cipher machine; in the next Keegan might begin discussing the use of U-boats. Although there is some logical flow through the book, for the most part the subjects are jumpy, causing the work to be choppy and cluttered babbling. It seems like the author is trying to squeeze as much as he can into as few pages as possible.
Keegan does, however, give a good overview of the major events and inside action that went on during this significant period in world history. He speaks of rebellions, strategic bombing, spies and other elements that played a part in the downfall of the Third Reich. His overview is rather brief, not focusing on specific topics or elements but trying to cover all of them as quickly as possible. This causes the book to lose... something. It leaves a rather dull commentary on the events of the time period.
It seems as though Keegan, who worked as a military history lecturer at the Royal Military Academy, took his lecture notes, typing them up and called it a book. Maybe this is exactly what he did. I cannot say that I agree or disagree with the ideas Keegan presents in the book. They all seem to be quite factual. I do not agree on the way Keegan presented the information and ideas. I feel he should have focused more on specific aspects of the war, elaborating on these aspects or he should have made the book longer. The book is filled with dry facts and little support behind them except to say, this author said this. It is like he wrote a column for a newspaper except that the column is long enough to be the entire Sunday paper.
Bibliography
Keegan, John. The Battle for History. New York, NY 1995. Vintage Books, a division of Random House.
Word Count: 575
|
|
|
Copyright 1999-2004 Wow Essays, All Rights
Reserved
Design by Dream Net Studio
|
|
