Military Review English Edition July-August 2016 | Page 137

BOOK REVIEWS

result in America’s acceptance of Japan’s Great East
Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
Hirohito’s War suffers from the lack of maps or illustrations in the book. Maps and illustrations are referred
to throughout the book, but the readers can only access
these on Pike’s website. Readers may also find Pike’s prose,
in addition to 1,184 pages of reading, a challenge.
In summary, Pike provides a detailed and highly useful narrative of the Pacific War. Hirohito’s War is strongly
recommended, despite its length and lack of maps or
illustrations, for the balanced view it presents. It is a great
addition to any World War II collection.

Jesse McIntyre III, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

TO HELL AND BACK
Europe 1914–1949

Ian Kershaw, Viking, New York, 2015, 624 pages

E

minent British historian Sir Ian Kershaw lends
his considerable skills to To Hell and Back:
Europe 1914–1949, the eighth installment of
The Penguin History of Europe, which spans the classical
period up to modern day. (The author will also write
the ninth and final volume in the series, covering 1950
to the present.) Kershaw, perhaps best known for
his masterful biography of Adolf Hitler as well as his
chronicles of the Third Reich, is eminently qualified to
pen this history.
Kershaw admits that To Hell and Back is “by some
distance the hardest book” he has ever written, and
that, except for some primary research on the interwar
period, he uses mainly secondary sources in to compose
his history of Europe during the turbulent first half of
the twentieth century. Readers need not worry—there
is much to learn from Kershaw’s impressive ability
to distill and explain the complex social and political
trends that form the crux of the book.
Europe was at war for ten of the thirty-five years
spanned in Kershaw’s work. However, the author
reminds us that for much of the remaining period,
Europe was anything but at peace, and was wracked by
constant turmoil, chaos, and death. To Hell and Back
effectively and equally conveys the horrors of both
world wars as well as their aftermaths—whether the
political turmoil and economic chaos of post-Versailles
MILITARY REVIEW  July-August 2016

and post-depression Europe, or the utter destruction
and social disorientation affecting the continent following World War II.
This is neither a combat history of the world wars nor a
detailed examination of the interwar period, but Kershaw
covers more
than enough
to provide
context. His
main approach
is identifying
the social and
political forces
that shaped
both wars,
the interwar
period, and
the onset of
the Cold War.
Chief among
these seminal
factors are
nationalism
rooted in
race and ethnicity, revisionist demands for lost territory, a
heightened sense of class conflict, and a breakdown in the
efficacy of capitalism.
How these forces affected the entirety of Europe—not
just Western Europe as one might expect based on the
author’s expertise—is perhaps To Hell and Back’s greatest
strength. Kershaw seamlessly integrates a state-by-state
analysis into his narrative, never making the reader feel
that the book is simply an accumulation of individual
national histories. His coverage of central, southern, and
eastern Europe is particularly instructive, especially for
readers accustomed to a western perspective. Kershaw always seems on the mark, whether covering the destructive
ethnic conflicts that continuously ravaged Eastern Europe,
or explaining why fascism took such a firm hold in Italy
and Germany during the interwar period.
To Hell and Back is certainly a worthy entry to the
Penguin European history anthology, and it stands alone
as a solid, well-researched, and eminently readable work.
Kershaw’s work makes a memorable contribution to our
understanding of the forces and trends that continue to
shape modern-day Europe. It is highly recommended to
students of both world wars, the interwar period, and
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