Too often, World War II is seen only in terms of vast armies and momentous political deliberations; in this winner of the Pritzker Prize, the author of Operation Pedestal provides strikingly detailed stories of everyday people—of soldiers, sailors and airmen; British housewives and Indian peasants; SS killers and the citizens of Leningrad.

"The best one-volume history of the war yet written. It is in all ways a monumental achievement."—Washington Post