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November 1942
- Author
- Peter Englund
- Narrator
- Mark Bramhall
- Publisher
- Random House
- Publish Date
- 2 November 2023
- Run Time
- 18 hours 41 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Rating
- 5.0 (1 review)
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What to expect
Brought to you by Penguin.
An intimate history of the most important month of World War II, as experienced by the people 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 still win the Second World War; at the end of that month, everyone realized that it was just a matter of time before they would lose. In between was 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. It may have been the most important month of the 20th century. In this hugely innovative and riveting historical marvel, Peter Englund has reduced an epoch-making event to its basic component: the individual experience.
Englund's narrative is based solely on what he learned from the writings of soldiers and citizens alike. Not a word is made up. It didn't have to be, because the material is incredible. In 30 memorable days we meet: a Soviet infantryman at Stalingrad; an American pilot on Guadalcanal; an Italian truck driver in the North African desert; a partisan in the Belarussian forests; a machine gunner in a British bomber; a 12-year-old girl in Shanghai; a university student in Paris; a housewife on Long Island; a shipwrecked Chinese sailor; a prisoner in Treblinka; a Korean sex slave in Mandalay; Albert Camus, Vasily Grossman, and Vera Brittain-40 characters in all. In addition, there are threads about the construction and launching of SS James Oglethorpe, a Liberty ship built in Savannah; the fate of U-604, a German submarine; the building of the first nuclear reactor in Chicago, and the making of Casablanca.
Not since the publication of the author's The Beauty and the Sorrow, which similarly looked at World War I, have we had such a remarkable, mesmerizing work of history.
©2023 Peter Englund (P)2023 Penguin Audio
Critics Review
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An astonishing achievement
Antony Beevor
-
By interweaving the detailed experiences of 39 individuals from all parts of the conflict, Englund presents an extraordinary panorama of this pivotal moment. A haunting narrative imaginatively conceived, brilliantly told
Julia Boyd
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Absolutely revelatory. A stunning tour de force. So much in here that is truly fresh and new. Englund chronicles the gripping tale of one month that changed everything in WWII, and it is so beautifully written and timeless. Once read, you'll want to return to this again and again
Damien Lewis
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What makes Englund's work original and remarkable is his narrative technique, which could be called 'the mosaic method' ... A coherent and moving portrait of a world at war
BBC History Magazine
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Majestic … This is an extraordinary evocation of a pivotal moment in the 20th century. Englund captures not only the gnawing tension, the moments of terror and the flinty endurance but also the fractal complexity of this global conflict. Resonantly written and utterly gripping, this book will stay with you
Sinclair MacKay
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Thought-provoking … Englund’s book … deserves an audience, to increase knowledge not only of this particular war, but also of the stupendous sacrifices and tragedies of all human conflicts
Sunday Times
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Succeed[s] in giving a very human (and, inevitably sometimes, inhuman) snapshot of events ... Thoroughly worth reading
Telegraph
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Superb ... a stimulating read
New Statesman
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The stories of the individual people featured make the global personal in an astonishing way
Alan Parks, Daily Express *Books of the 2023*
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Extraordinary ... with a scrupulous and skilful hand [Englund] has created an original panorama of humankind's most destructive war
New York Times
User Reviews
Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
-
5.0 5.0
An unusual book detailing one month of warfare in 1942. The tale is told via multiple people personal accounts and is a huge cross section featuring allied/axis troops and civilian tales.
Unusual but very interestingHojohns 2023-11-24
Details
- Author
- Peter Englund
- Narrator
- Mark Bramhall
- Duration
- 18 hours 41 minutes
- Release Date
- 2 November 2023
- ISBN
- 9781529928914
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Random House
- Genre
- Second World War, True war and combat stories, Published diaries, letters and journals
- Rating
- 5.0(1 review)
- Narration
- 5.0(1 review)
Synopsis
Brought to you by Penguin.An intimate history of the most important month of World War II, as experienced by the people 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 still win the Second World War; at the end of that month, everyone realized that it was just a matter of time before they would lose. In between was 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. It may have been the most important month of the 20th century. In this hugely innovative and riveting historical marvel, Peter Englund has reduced an epoch-making event to its basic component: the individual experience.Englund's narrative is based solely on what he learned from the writings of soldiers and citizens alike. Not a word is made up. It didn't have to be, because the material is incredible. In 30 memorable days we meet: a Soviet infantryman at Stalingrad; an American pilot on Guadalcanal; an Italian truck driver in the North African desert; a partisan in the Belarussian forests; a machine gunner in a British bomber; a 12-year-old girl in Shanghai; a university student in Paris; a housewife on Long Island; a shipwrecked Chinese sailor; a prisoner in Treblinka; a Korean sex slave in Mandalay; Albert Camus, Vasily Grossman, and Vera Brittain-40 characters in all. In addition, there are threads about the construction and launching of SS James Oglethorpe, a Liberty ship built in Savannah; the fate of U-604, a German submarine; the building of the first nuclear reactor in Chicago, and the making of Casablanca.Not since the publication of the author's The Beauty and the Sorrow, which similarly looked at World War I, have we had such a remarkable, mesmerizing work of history.©2023 Peter Englund (P)2023 Penguin Audio
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