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Title: Our War: How the British Commonwealth Fought the Second World War by Christopher Somerville ISBN: 0-297-81668-3 Publisher: Trafalgar Square Publishing Pub. Date: 01 February, 1998 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $50.00

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Average Customer Rating: 3.5 (2 reviews)

Rating: 3
Summary: Three and a Half Stars---Good but Flawed
Comment: Aimed at a popular audience, this book will both entertain and inform, though perhaps more the former than the latter. When Americans interested in World War II learn about Great Britain and the war, they tend to undervalue the contributions of the British Empire, which provided a large proportion of the manpower of the "British" Army and the resources supporting it. "Our War" will improve our understanding of those who struggled and sacrificed to win that epic conflict.

The book has three main merits. It's written in an accessible style, and is in fact engaging reading. Second, its scope is truly inclusive with thorough coverage of nonwhite residents of African, Asian and West Indian colonies as well as the better-known Dominions (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa---though this last country fits in both categories). This makes it a truly "multicultural" work, in an unforced way. Lastly, it contains solid chunks of oral and written evidence in the words of veterans, both men and women, letting them speak for themselves. This final point leads directly to one of the book's flaws. In seeking a broad readership, the author eschews direct references to his sources. This weakens the book for research purposes, even for school and college papers. It also has some easily-avoided factual errors, such as on p.329 where the author cannot give the proper colonial-era names for independent Zambia and Malawi. Finally, the numerous maps are well-geared toward the various theaters of war in which Commonwealth-men and -women served, but are less helpful for locating their places of origin. The bibliography is sadly skimpy considering how much material is available.

In sum, "Our War" is comparable to Studs Terkels' American counterpart, "'The Good War.'" Though Somerville does not match that masterpiece of oral history, his work is better supported with photos, maps, an index and his own text. Narrative flow and powerful personal testimony strongly commend this book as an introduction to its subject, but for fuller detail and deeper analysis readers should also look at, among other works, T. Parsons, "The African Rank and File;" D. Killingray & R. Rathbone eds., "Africa and the Second World War;" and P.W. Fay, "The Forgotten Army" (on the thousands of East Indians who fought with Japan AGAINST Britain). Overall, the recent historiography of the French Empire in World War II is better developed, though now there is also N. Lawler, "Soldiers, Airmen, Spies and Whisperers," on wartime Ghana.

Rating: 4
Summary: Different view of the Second World War
Comment: This book offers a refreshing and different view of the Second World War. For most people of the British Commonwealth be it Australians like myself or from the far flung reaches of Africa most accounts concentrate on England, America, German, Japan or Russia. I would think that many people who read this book would be surprised at the number of Countries of the old Empire/Commonwealth who supplied men and women to help in the war effort. The author also attempts to show how racism reared its ugly head at times and the effects on the men involved. I throughly enjoyed this book, it had accounts from sailors, airmen, soldiers and female volunteers from many varied and different countries of the Commonwealth. I was surprised by some of the nations who supplied men to fight in Italy and in the skies above England and Europe. The book also made me sad at times, for the lives lost and wasted in this terrible conflict. I would recommend this book for anyone of the old Commonwealth who would like to see what their country-men did for their nation during WW2 or for any reader who enjoys a good book on the Second World War. An excellent account!