''All Hell Let Loose: The World at War 1939-1945'' is a 2011 book by historian
Max Hastings
Sir Max Hugh Macdonald Hastings (; born 28 December 1945) is a British journalist and military historian, who has worked as a foreign correspondent for the BBC, editor-in-chief of ''The Daily Telegraph'', and editor of the ''Evening Standard''. ...
, covering the history of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and complementing Hastings' earlier works ''Overlord'', ''Armageddon'' and ''Nemesis''. In the United States, it was published under the title ''Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945''.
[
]
Synopsis
''All Hell Let Loose'' covers the entire span of World War II, following the military developments of the war but focusing on the reactions and experiences of different individuals (both uniformed and civilian).[ Reviews refer to the book as an "]everyman
The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them.
Origin and history
The term ''everyman'' was used ...
's story" made up of accounts from those with lesser roles in the conflict; "ranging from ship's cooks to wireless operators, farmers and housewives to typists and black marketeers."[
The book addresses several "triumphalist" aspects of written war history by focusing on the "misery, heroism and endurance" of individual accounts.][ Hastings concludes that whilst the Nazis fought individual battles well, their overall ]war effort
War effort is a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and civilian—towards the support of a military force, particular during a state of war. Depending on the militarization of the culture, the relative si ...
showed "stunning incompetence".[
]
Critical reception
Martin Rubin, writing in the ''San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'', gave a positive review, calling ''All Hell Let Loose'' "a true distillation of everything this historian has learned from a lifetime of scholarship".[ In a review in '']The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.
In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'', Ian Thomson noted the book's British-centric Western Front narrative, although not ignoring other aspects of the war, and called it "immensely long, but extremely readable". Thomson also says that Hastings has "a faint antipathy towards foreigners".[ Jonathan Sumption criticised the book's "relentlessly pessimistic message" and says that the everyman perspective gives a distorted view of the war.][
''All Hell Let Loose'' was named as one of '']The Telegraph
''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include:
Australia
* The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...
s Books of the Year 2011, in the category of History Books.[
]
See also
*'' Allies at War: How the Struggles Between the Allied Powers Shaped the War and the World'' by Tim Bouverie
Timothy Pleydell-Bouverie (born June 1987) is a British historian and former political journalist at Channel 4 News.
Early life and education
Bouverie is the son of Peter John Pleydell-Bouverie and Jane Victoria Gilmour. His paternal grandfath ...
(2025)
* ''The Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising ...
'' by Antony Beevor
Sir Antony James Beevor, (born 14 December 1946) is a British military historian. He has published several popular historical works, mainly on the Second World War, the Spanish Civil War, and most recently the Russian Revolution and Civil War. ...
(2012).
* ''The Storm of War
''The Storm of War'' is a non-fiction book authored by British historian and journalist Andrew Roberts. It covers numerous historical factors of the Second World War such as Adolf Hitler's rise to power and the organisation of Nazi Germany as ...
'' by Andrew Roberts (2009).
References
External links
*
* {{cite web, url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle/book/article-23992338-all-hell-let-loose-by-max-hastings---review.do, title=All Hell Let Loose by Max Hastings - review, author=Ian Kershaw, date=29 September 2011, access-date=2011-11-30, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111202183817/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle/book/article-23992338-all-hell-let-loose-by-max-hastings---review.do, archive-date=2011-12-02, url-status=dead
''After Words'' interview with Hastings on ''Inferno'', December 3, 2011
2011 non-fiction books
HarperCollins books
History books about World War II