Europe at War 1939-1945: No Simple Victory [Hardcover]

'Davies challenges the myths of good and evil that colour popular perceptions of war'
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Norman Davies' brilliant new history of the Second World War

What was the biggest operation of World War II in Europe? It wasn't D-Day* What was the name of the largest concentration camp operating in Europe between 1939 and 1945. It wasn't Auschwitz** What European nationality lost the largest number of civilians between 1939-45? It wasn't the French - or the Germans.*** Bringing his usual fresh eye to bear on a story we think we all know, Norman Davies answers these questions, and many more, in this concise, vivid and thought-provoking new history of the Second World War. Powerfully argued, compellingly written and devastating in its conclusions, Davies forces us to look again at those six years and to discard the usual narrative of Allied good versus Nazi evil and reminds us that for the greater part of the continent, the Allied victory and the 'liberation of Europe' was the beginning of more than fifty years of totalitarian oppression. *Barbarossa; **Vorkuta; *** Ukraine

One of our finest historians, Norman Davies is the bestselling and critically acclaimed author of Europe: A History; The Isles: A History and Rising '44. He is also the author of the definitive history of Poland, God's Playground and several books on European history. He is a Supernumerary Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford, Fellow of the British Academy, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and Professor Emeritus of London University. He lives in Oxford and Krakow, Poland.