November 1942: An Intimate History of the Turning Point of the Second World War

In November 1942, the Axis powers appeared to be winning the Second World War, but by the end of the month, it was clear they would lose. In this innovative historical marvel, Peter Englund reduces these epoch-making events to their basic components: the individual experience. In thirty memorable days, we meet characters including a Soviet infantryman at Stalingrad, an Italian truck driver in the North African desert, a partisan in the Belarussian forests, a machine gunner in a British bomber, a twelve-year-old girl in Shanghai, a university student in Paris, a housewife on Long Island, a prisoner in Treblinka, Albert Camus, Vasily Grossman, and Vera Brittain. We also witness the launch of SS James Oglethorpe, the fate of U-604, the building of the first nuclear reactor, and the making of Casablanca.

Format: Hardback
Length: 496 pages
Publication date: 02 November 2023
Publisher: Vintage Publishing

An astonishing achievement, ANTONY BEEVOR's An intimate history of the most important month of the Second World War as experienced by those who lived through it, completely based on their diaries, letters, and memoirs. At the beginning of November 1942, it looked as if the Axis powers could win the war; at the end of that month, it was obviously just a matter of time before they would lose. In between came el-Alamein, Guadalcanal, the French North Africa landings, the Japanese retreat in New Guinea, and the Soviet encirclement of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad. In this innovatively kaleidoscopic and riveting historical marvel, Peter Englund reduces these epoch-making events to their basic component: the individual experience. In thirty memorable days, we meet characters including a Soviet infantryman at Stalingrad; an Italian truck driver in the North African desert; a partisan in the Belarussian forests; a machine gunner in a British bomber; a twelve-year-old girl in Shanghai; a university student in Paris; a housewife on Long Island; a prisoner in Treblinka; Albert Camus, Vasily Grossman, and Vera Brittain. We also witness the launch of SS James Oglethorpe; the fate of U-604, a German submarine; the building of the first nuclear reactor; and the making of Casablanca. Not since Englund's own The Beauty and the Sorrow has a book given us one of the most dramatic periods of human history in all its immensity and emotional range. Thought-provoking, SUNDAY TIMES Thoroughly worth reading, TELEGRAPH

Weight: 770g
Dimension: 163 x 243 x 45 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781847924803