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18ck 's review for:
The Phoney Victory: The World War II Illusion
by Peter Hitchens
Just an audiobook I listened to on long runs. Hitchens is reliable as ever, producing a book with plenty of food for thought and plenty of things that make you want to kick him up the arse.
He sets out to dispel the myth of world war 2 as a manichean struggle of pure good against pure evil, mainly because as such it is used to justify many other, less worthwhile wars, simply by comparing the enemy to Hitler and opponents of war as appeasers. Obviously, in doing this, he is aware of the risk of seeming to downplay the holocaust or engage in moral equivalence, so he starts off by laying down a few pages of covering fire, followed up with occasional extra bursts whenever he gets to an especially controversial bit. There are valuable reminders that for Britain it was a war of national interest, not (at the time) a pure struggle against genocide. He also reminds us of the reluctance of the Americans to join, the dubious morality of siding with Stalin, and the horrendous cost in civilian life inflicted by allied bombing raids.
Of course, in his eagerness to contradict absolutely all received wisdom, (Hitler wasn't planning to invade Britain, Churchill was a bastard, the battle of Britain was no big deal etc etc) he occasionally contradicts himself. So, he laments that Britain didn't wait till later before declaring War to give themselves time to rearm, and also that, having declared it, they waited for so long before attacking. Now, you can believe one of these two things, but they seem mutually contradictory.
Anyway, all good stuff I'm sure. It picks up themes from some of his other books and of course it is well argued, well written and never boring for a single second.
He sets out to dispel the myth of world war 2 as a manichean struggle of pure good against pure evil, mainly because as such it is used to justify many other, less worthwhile wars, simply by comparing the enemy to Hitler and opponents of war as appeasers. Obviously, in doing this, he is aware of the risk of seeming to downplay the holocaust or engage in moral equivalence, so he starts off by laying down a few pages of covering fire, followed up with occasional extra bursts whenever he gets to an especially controversial bit. There are valuable reminders that for Britain it was a war of national interest, not (at the time) a pure struggle against genocide. He also reminds us of the reluctance of the Americans to join, the dubious morality of siding with Stalin, and the horrendous cost in civilian life inflicted by allied bombing raids.
Of course, in his eagerness to contradict absolutely all received wisdom, (Hitler wasn't planning to invade Britain, Churchill was a bastard, the battle of Britain was no big deal etc etc) he occasionally contradicts himself. So, he laments that Britain didn't wait till later before declaring War to give themselves time to rearm, and also that, having declared it, they waited for so long before attacking. Now, you can believe one of these two things, but they seem mutually contradictory.
Anyway, all good stuff I'm sure. It picks up themes from some of his other books and of course it is well argued, well written and never boring for a single second.