The Second World War by John Keegan
Published 1989 · 219,503 words · about 13 hours at an average pace · History, Literary Fiction, Nonfiction
How hard is The Second World War to read?
The Second World War scores 37 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it moderately challenging. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.
- Vocabulary: 70 out of 100
- Keegan employs a precise, academic vocabulary, frequently integrating specialized military and historical terms such as 'Blitzkrieg,' 'Führerprinzip,' 'Landwehr,' and 'Asdic.' While not archaic or invented, the text's reliance on foreign terms and specific historical concepts elevates its complexity beyond general non-fiction, placing it above works like '2666' but below the deep jargon of 'Moby-Dick'.
- Sentence structure: 75 out of 100
- The prose features consistently long and complex sentences, often incorporating multiple subordinate clauses and parenthetical asides to convey nuanced historical arguments. This sustained complexity, while navigable, demands close attention to track intricate relationships and ideas, making it more challenging than 'The Great Gatsby' but less extreme than the experimental syntax of 'Ulysses'.
- Abstraction: 78 out of 100
- The book operates at a high level of abstraction, moving beyond concrete events to analyze underlying causes, strategic dilemmas, and ideological motivations. Keegan frequently discusses concepts like 'economic impulsion,' 'social-Darwinian obsession,' and the 'political philosophy of revolution,' grounding these theoretical discussions in historical context, similar to the philosophical depth found in 'Brothers Karamazov'.
- Information density: 79 out of 100
- The text is exceptionally dense with information, packing numerous facts, figures, names, dates, and interconnected arguments into each paragraph. It rapidly introduces military strengths, population statistics, technological advancements, and strategic shifts across multiple nations, requiring significant attention to absorb and integrate the vast amount of detail, akin to the demands of 'War and Peace'.
- Narrative indirection: 100 out of 100
- John Keegan's historical narrative is characterized by its direct and explicit exposition, clearly stating arguments, connections, and interpretations of events. The author's authoritative voice guides the reader through complex historical analysis, leaving minimal room for inference regarding the meaning or intent of the text. This approach ensures readers are told, rather than left to deduce, the significance of the historical record.
- Symbolic density: 50 out of 100
- As a work of non-fiction military history, the text is almost entirely literal, focusing on factual explanation and analytical reasoning. While Keegan uses descriptive language, it serves to clarify and emphasize historical realities rather than embedding deep allegorical or pervasive symbolic meanings. The narrative remains firmly grounded in concrete events and their direct historical significance.
- Ironic distance: 100 out of 100
- Keegan maintains a consistently serious, academic, and objective tone throughout the narrative, presenting information and analysis without any discernible gap between the literal statements and an implied, ironic meaning. Direct judgments and critiques of historical figures or policies are explicit. The author's voice is straightforward, ensuring the reader perceives the intended meaning without needing to read against the text.
- Resolution withholding: 20 out of 100
- The historical account aims to explain events and their outcomes, providing clear conclusions for the campaigns and strategic dilemmas it covers. Keegan's narrative offers a strong sense of historical closure for specific periods and decisions, detailing causes and consequences. While the broader implications of history are ongoing, the text itself resolves the questions it poses within its analytical framework.
- Structural complexity: 15 out of 100
- The book employs a highly conventional and linear chronological structure, typical of academic history, with clear chapter divisions and thematic sections. The narrative maintains a consistent, omniscient authorial voice, avoiding timeline jumps, shifts in perspective, or formal experiments. Its organization prioritizes clarity and accessibility, despite the density of the historical information presented.
How The Second World War is regarded
The Second World War holds a literary regard score of 72 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.