Wilmot's Struggle for Europe, Irving's Hitler's War

These two books were the tail end of my reading about war arising from the works of John Keegan. They are both excellent books, and I found very revealing the discussion of various mistakes: the unconditional surrender requirement of the Allies that prolonged the war by several months; the lack of protest of the taken-aback German high command at some of Hitler's more fanciful decisions. I admired the inclusion of all troops in Struggle for Europe. The opening gambit of Hitler's war about the lack of direct responsibility of Hitler for the Holocaust strikes me in retrospect to have been either a career move to attract attention or the start of a revisionist's career.

I also found at the bottom of my book pile a forgotten novel from the Goncourt list, Croix de bois, which I will now read before moving on to a review of intro textbooks in preparation for a proposal for a scholarly press.