Review: Spotlight On History
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 27, 2013
This brief account of World War II really helped me to understand how the war played out from beginning to end. From 1939 to 1945, approximately 60 million people died as a result of this bloody conflict. I knew some of the history, especially the role that the United States and Britain had in defeating Germany. But I think that the great sacrifice of the Soviet Union's people has been underappreciated. Originally, the Soviets were an ally of the Germans. But when Germany needed more resources and "living space," and invaded Soviet Russia, they bit off more than they could chew. The aggressive Japanese forces, drawing the United States into the conflict, were finally defeated with the two atomic bombs called "little boy" and "fat man." The Jewish holocaust by Germany was exposed at the Nuremberg trials in sickening detail. War is always devastating, but the huge scale and the drama of all the battles is brought to light in this excellent account.