'Inferno: The Second World War 1939-1945' book review
Imagine, for a moment, living in a world where, among other things, 27,000 human beings die violently every 24 hours, most of the Eurasian landmass is either a battlefield or under brutal occupation, the seas – particularly the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans – are viciously fought over by the navies of several world powers and death rains down from the skies in an almost indiscriminate manner, killing or maiming thousands of persons – most of whom have never worn a uniform or carried so much as a handgun to protect themselves. Dystopian science fiction? The plot of the latest Tom Clancy novel? Hardly; this is a thumbnail portrait of planet Earth as depicted in Sir Max Hastings’ Inferno: The World at War 1939-1945, a one-volume history of the Second World War written by the author of Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy and (among many other history books) The Battle for the Falklands, which he co-wrote with Simon Jenkins. Publi...