Product Description

The Imperial War Museum holds a vast archive of interviews with soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians of most nationalities who saw action during WW2. As in the highly-acclaimed Forgotten Voices of the Great War, Max Arthur and his team of researchers spent hundreds of hours digging deep into this unique archive, uncovering tapes, many of which have not been listened to since they were created in the early 1970s. The result will be the first complete oral history of the war. We hear at first from British, German and Commonwealth soldiers and civilians. Accounts of the impact of U. S. involvement after Pearl Harbour and the major effects it had on the war in Europe and the Far East is chronicled in startling detail, including compelling interviews from U. S. and British troops who fought against the Japanese. Continuing through from D-Day, to the Rhine Crossing and the dropping of the Atom Bomb in August 1945, this book is a unique testimony to one of the world's most dreadful conflicts. One of the hallmarks of Max Arthur's work is the way he involves those left behind on the home front as well as those working in factories or essential services. Their voices will not be neglected.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6225 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Review
" The sound of real human voices: bewildered, sad, often angry, sometimes bitter, bit for the most part remarkable...a shattered relay-race of narrative gives the book a ghostly, choric poetry - Saturday Telegraph ...breathe a sense of immediacy, of being there on the spot; and the spot is, only too often, a place of horror...thoroughly readable by anyone who wants to know what it felt like to be engaged in a world war....That war is horrible, no sensible reader can doubt; that this war was worth fighting, to get rid of barbaric regimes, comes across well - Spectator A unique collection of personal testimonies...a timely reminder of the sacrifices and horrors of war - Sunday Express With the rawness and immediacy that only this kind of oral history can provide - Sunday Times"

From the Publisher
Paperback sequel to the bestselling Forgotten Voices of the Second World War

About the Author
Acclaimed author Max Arthur specialises in first-hand recollections of historical events. Previous titles include The Manchester United Air Crash; Above All Courage; Northern Ireland: Soldiers Talking; Men of the Red Beret; There Shall Be Wings: The RAF 1918 to the Present; The True Glory: The Royal Navy 1914 to Present.

Customer Reviews

Unforgettable Voices!
Right from the beginning - the outbreak of war - the individuals' accounts give an immensely moving insight into such widely different areas of the conflict - and portray such a range of experience, from the home front to the front line. The first-hand reminiscences bring the events of history to life - so vividly. I read the accounts from every year and every campaign with an increasing realisation of just how the war took its toll. The reminiscences of a former prisoner of the Japanese who returned to his family home stunned me. He went to his own room, having never been completely on his own for four years, and was suddenly alone with his thoughts - what had it all been about? It was a really powerful and moving read - whether you're a war-reader or not.

A book that saddens but inspires
What can I say? This book is compelling stuff and a must-read for anyone with an interest in the human aspect of war. The book is divided into chapters corresponding to the years 1939-1945 which makes the events coherent and easy to follow.

The book is made up of accounts from people involved, from evacuated school children to glider pilots, much in the vain of the book ENEMY AT THE GATES by William Craig. We learn their name and position in the war and then they tell their version of what happened. The stories are riveting, exciting, funny and tragic.

This book is based heavily on the British aspect of things (being taken from Imperial War Museum tapes) and as such includes no accounts of the Eastern front or Pacific theatres. Every theatre where the British were involved is included - Home Front, evacuation, Dunkirk, Malta, Crete, North Africa, Burma, D-Day, Arnhem, the list goes on. I found the stories of the Atlantic Convoys particularly gripping. There is the odd account from a German or French soldier thrown in, too, to add a bit of balance.

If you like reading about real people and their own acounts of the War then this is the book for you!

Not to be Forgotten
What a wonderful book. "Forgotten Voices" is one of those books that once you've started, you just can't put down. The contents are split into each year of WW2, covering events from all over over the world.
Not only do veterans from the allies remember their stories, but also there are comments from Germans. Civilians also remember those terrible years.
Having many books on WW2, this one is so different as it puts such a personal touch to events from The Blitz, Battle of Britain, D-Day and the Far East.
The sights and sounds that these people recall will make the reader appreciate exactly the trauma, fear, and elation that prevailed during those 6 years.
The book is excellent in every respect, written not by Historians, but by people who were there. That in itself should tell you that each page is is full of accounts so detailed that you imagine you were there yourself. We must never forget these voices, and books like this will ensure that we wont.