The winds of war and war and remembrance books (or audio books) are a pretty good way to get a feel for ww2. They're historically accurate fiction and offer a lot of long-form detail and context (at least from the US/allies side of things)
The books are excellent, but the two miniseries made from the books are also worth watching. Wouk's strength is not only in portraying the sweep of events in both Europe and Asia before and during the war, but humanizing it with characters who, while they do seem to show up everywhere important, suffer real loss and hardship while doing so.
If you really want to have a solid overview understanding of World War 2, and you are just not the type to read two long books no matter how good they are, then here is probably your best option by far:
1. Pay for an Audible account. (Or figure out how to get free access to audio books from your local library.)
2. Listen to the books “Winds of War” and then “War and Remembrance” by Herman Wouk.
The drama and characterizations are just fine, and will pull you right in to caring for Pug Henry and wanting to know what happens to him and his family.
The battle scenes are true history and will blow you away, and teach you a lot. Midway, incredible.
The coverage of the Holocaust will break your heart, but make you think, “wow, everybody in the world should read this once”.
The character evolution of Werner Beck, in light of today’s world events, might terrify you. Whole nations don’t all of the sudden become evil. Evil powerful leaders push evil down into a country over time.
