56 pages • 1 hour read
Studs Terkel“The Good War”: An Oral History of World War II
Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 1984A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Introduction
Book 1, Section 1
Book 1, Section 2
Book 1, Section 3
Book 1, Section 4
Book 1, Section 5
Book 1, Section 6
Book 1, Section 7
Book 2, Section 1
Book 2, Section 2
Book 2, Section 3
Book 2, Section 4
Book 2, Section 5
Book 3, Section 1
Book 3, Section 2
Book 3, Section 3
Book 3, Section 4
Book 4, Section 1
Book 4, Section 2
Book 4, Section 3
Book 4, Section 4
Book 4, Section 5
Book 4, Section 6
Epilogue
Key Figures
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaBook 4, Section 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses
“Joseph Polowsky” Summary
Joseph Polowsky recalls what it was like fighting in Germany at the end of the war. He describes celebrating the end of the war alongside Soviet soldiers who had occupied Germany.
“Mikhail Nikolaevich Alexeyev” Summary
Russian writer Mikhail Nikolaevich Alexeyev was involved in the Soviet invasion of Germany. Although Mikhail was overjoyed when the war ended, he reminisces about the empathy he felt for the defeated German forces.
“Galina Alexeyeva” Summary
Mikhail’s wife Galina recalls tending to wounded soldiers. Like her husband, she had sympathy for the German soldiers.
“Viktor Andreyevich Kondratenko” Summary
A correspondent of the Soviet army, Viktor remembers what it was like when news of the war’s end arrived.
“Grigori Baklanov” Summary
Grigori Baklanov is a Russian novelist who often writes about World War II. Grigori remarks that he cannot even tell his children about the war. Noting that only 3% of his generation who fought in the war survived, Grigori remarks that being a soldier “is not a worthy occupation for a human being” (458).
Book 4, Section 2 Analysis
Shifting away from the American perspective, this chapter focuses on the reactions of civilians and military personnel who lived in the Soviet Union at the end of the war. Like other chapters, the narratives here express sympathy even for the soldiers of the enemy amid the undiscriminating devastation of war.
Because the Soviet Union suffered the greatest loss of life in World War II, the celebration at the war’s end was especially passionate. Even with that, however, the narratives include people like Grigori Baklanov, who became skeptical about the war.
