Author of World War II - The Entire History

I am currently writing an E-book about World War II. I think this forum is great to discuss certain topics so I can improve my book and I can keep you informed about the progress I'm making with my book.

The E-book, World War II - The Entire History, will consist of 10 books of about 45 pages each and it will contain detailed information about the entire war.

 

Good luck with your book

 

"The Entire History"? Sounds pretty ambitious. Good luck with your project.

 

At my elbow is a chronicle of one single division in WWII; it's 350 pages and woefully inadequate. It barely outlines in the most general way the movements, battles, strategies of that division. I have another 90 books either piled up on my table or in my Kindle with further info on that one single US division. Then I have perhaps 400 to 500 PDF files and personal anecdotes stuffed into my hard drive, again on that one single division.

I'd suggest you pick a single battle, a single unit, even a single man, and then you might produce something that could be condensed into 450 pages.

If I was just looking for sales, I'd pick a battle. There are plenty of fights that have never been well chronicled and such books draw enough interest to generate sales.

 

I think some of you are being a bit harsh.

It depends on what scope, the level of detail, the areas of focus, and the audience for which it is aimed. I do not think it is the OP's intention to bring anything new to light for us.

That said, my version of William Shirer's "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" gets to chapter 14, "The turn of Poland, on page 454.... All the previous pages were prelude ;o)

For something so broad in scope, yet short in page length should probably be called an abridged, abbreviated, concise history of most of the major events. Perhaps not quite so grand as "The Entire History"

For an Entire history of WW2, I'd expect the page length to be measured in kilometers of shelving.

 

I'm currently reading "D-Day The Battle for Normandy" by Antony Beevor. It covers just a few months of battle yet it's over 500 pages long. I bought Steven Ambrose's book yesterday about D-Day and it's over 600 pages. Clay Blair's book about the USN sub war in the Pacific is around 1,000 pages long.

The War covered areas all around the world and as far north as the Artic Circle as well as battles down near Antarctica. Every continent (yes, even South America) had spilled blood on it. I'd say that an 'overall' view of WW 2 would make for a nice, 450 page book.

 

I know absolutely nothing about the OP above. I am unsure how long he has been studying and researching the Second World War. Its obvious he/she is taking an interest and we should applaud that. Regardless of whether or not a History of World War II should be 450 pages or 500,000, cut the OP some slack. As GS mentioned, it may be an outline of key events, clearly not a in depth narrative.

 

I would think that if the OP meant for his work to have been an outline of key events, he would have said so. However, the OP stated that his project "will contain detailed information about the entire war." I take this to mean that his work will be more than a brief outline of key events.

That being said. "The World at War" book by Mark Arnold-Forster of the famed TV series was not all that so long, IIRC the 2001 version was less than 350 pages.

 

It's all a matter of perspective.

 

And the writer's ability to get his information across quickly and concisely, while still keeping the readers attention.

 

Agree with you there. That is the major hurdle for a writer of non-fiction.

 

Wow...my efforts so far has been 3 hours of audio and have only progressed 2 weeks into the war.

 

450 pages is 'doable' for an overview and would be an excellent source for those that don't need the 'details'.

The book could be broken down in many ways too:

1) Chronologically
2) By Theater
3) By nations involved
4) War versus Germany/Italy
5) War versus Japan

 

ten books, 450 pages total?

I'd do

1) Europe: Prelude to War
2) The Blitz: Poland, Norway, France, Yugoslavia, Greece
3) Battle of the Atlantic, North Africa + Italy
4) Russia
5) European Liberation
6) US, Japan and China in the Interbellum
7) The Rising Sun: Japan attacks (Pearl Harbour, Singapore...)
8) Turning the Tide: (Midway, Coral Sea, PNG)
9) China, India, Burma
10) Defeat of Japan
11) Aftermath.

 

Nielsjansen

I wish you good luck in your efforts, but couldn't help wondering how many pages would be needed to cover the battles for Cassino ?

Ron
(Who was there)

 

A heck of a lot Ron

Cassino The Hollow Victory by John Ellis is 587 pages and very good it is too.

Lesley