It was meh. I hadn't read his previous book, 1941, or his others, so I don't know if they are written in the same style. But really this is just a chronological progression - almost a listing - of things that happened around the world, and mainly in the US, starting in January of 1945, and leading up into April. I thought it was only going to be about the progression of the war, and while most of it is, there is also a lot of news items and factoids from newspapers/magazines/popular culture mixed in to the narrative. For example, here's one from the month of February 1945: "Shirley Temple was a featured speaker on giving advice to teenagers. Her advice was mostly confined to telling teens not to eat chocolate, but she also had time to give out her measurements to the interviewer (34-24-33 1/2), explain how to wash your face, and describe good posture for women, including sucking in your stomach. And, oh yes, she told reporters, 'Tell them to remember the gluteus maximus, that's to be held in too!'" For me, I just didn't care about this kind of thing, and how this relates to being a part of "The Hinge of History" escapes me. It felt jarring to have these little anecdotes interrupting all the time. It mentally took me out of the book on multiple occasions, and I ended up skipping/scanning pages of the book to try and find the things I was interested in. Not all that fun of a read.

Share/Like this Review?