Inferno by Max Hastings

Yesterday, I finished a book called Inferno by Max Hastings. The book is about World War 2. In contrast to many other books about WW2, Inferno tells the story through the experience of the little people who were affected by the war. The first sentence of the book best describes it: "This is a book chiefly about human experience."

This approach introduces a new story about WW2. One that is not

romanticized by heroic all-good politicians and one-sided propaganda. The story is raw and it taught me more than I could have learned in a classroom.

History is written by the winners. There is no better example of it than in WW2. I had already learned about the horrific war crimes committed by the Germans, Japanese, and Italians. I had heard of the Nuremburg trials, where Nazi officials were prosecuted for their heinous crimes. Their crimes were no doubt, unacceptable and harrowing.

I had not heard about the multitude of war crimes that were committed by Allied armies. Some of these war crimes included: mass rape, torture, and murder committed by the Soviet Army, the Dachau massacre, the Kocevscki Rog massacre of prisoners and civilians, and the pillaging and killings of French and Belgian civilians. Out of these, I had only been taught about the carnage of the Soviet Army.

This book was really helpful for me. I mostly skimmed through the book because I'm practicing speed reading for the ACT. If anyone else is studying for the ACT I'd recommend this book, because the writing has a similar complexity that you'll find in the social science passage.