Review: Not the Best in the Series
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 5, 2013
Despite my illustrious two years as the wife of a submariner, I am not an expert in military history. I always wanted to take one of the naval history class with the ROTC program at UNC, but did not have any room in my already-overloaded schedule. Therefore, I must obtain an education on military history through movies, which are often footloose-and-fancy-free with their facts, or books, which attempt to be more accurate. Hitler's Blitzkrieg: A Very Brief History was a great introduction to the genre of military history with a topic that many have heard of, but few truly study.Hitler's Blitzkrieg by Mark Black is the second installment of A Very Brief History series that I have read. In just seventy-three pages, Black explains the history of Blitzkrieg from before the reign of Hitler to its impact of warfare after World War II. The book is divided into nine chapters: Blitzkrieg, A New Type of War?, A Controversial Term, The Invasion of Norway, Panzers Roll Across Western Europe, The Invasion of France, Aftermath of Defeat for France, Historical Beginnings of the Blitzkrieg Strategy, Learning the Technological and Tactical Lessons of World War I, and Limitations of the Blitzkrieg Strategy.I extolled the A Very Brief History series after reading The Battle of Britain because it was written like an encyclopedia article without the dryness. Hitler's Blitzkrieg is still riveting; I discovered much about WWII simply because the book was written from Germany's, not the Allies', viewpoint. But the author tended to repeat himself in a way that confused or frustrated me. I found myself saying, "Wait, I thought Hitler already invaded Norway" or "Yeah, yeah, trench warfare was not good for Germany. I get it!" This book definitely made me less excited about the A Very Brief History series.