"Dwitiyo Mahayuddher Itihas" or "The history of the second world war" by the legendary Bengali journalist Vivekananda Mukhopadhyay is undoubtedly one of the most memorable books belonging to the field of the most devastating war in human history. This book ( written in two volumes containing more than 2500 pages ) is in fact the very first one on WW2 which i gobbled up within one and half months. It introduced me to the horrific war which pushed the world to the brink of utter destruction. It made me aware of the terrible suffering of the millions of innocent civilians, who were unwillingly entangled in the vortex of the horrible war. Seriously speaking, before reading this book i did not bother to know who Hitler was or why Churchill is considered one of the greatest statesmen in the world or what do 'concentration camp' and 'Holocaust' mean or why did USA and Soviet Union emerge as superpowers or the significance of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After reading the book WW2 became more or less intoxication to me. I still remember the day, when a vital class was going on in a competitive exam center and each and every student except me was listening to the tutor's lecture with full concentration. I was just pretending to listen to the lecture but my eyes were glued to the open pages of Vivekananda Mukhopadhyay's book.

Vivekananda Mukhopadhyay was perhaps among the few handful of Indian authors who seriously and extensively researched on WW2. As a renowned journalist and editor of one of India's leading newspapers 'Jugantor', Mr. Mukhopadhyay was invited by the governments of several European countries to pay visit to the war-ravaged sites of the respective countries. This unique opportunity of visiting the notorious Holocaust sites had enriched Mr. Mukhopadhyay's practical experience and consequently helped him immensely to compile the two volumes. While reading each page of this book the mind of the reader wanders about the famous WW2 battlefields around the globe. I felt that i was watching the battle in front of my very eyes. Even sometimes i felt myself participating in the battle blasting through the enemy lines with the fiery band of soldiers.

Another significant fact is that Mr. Mukhopadhyay made us convinced that he, like most of the Western historians, did not want to write biased history of the war. He in one hand praised heavily the leadership of Churchill, the courage of Roosevelt and the dogged determination of Stalin. In the final chapter of his book he commented that in order to win the war and liberate the world from the peril of Fascism America gave money, Britain gave time and Russia gave blood. On the other hand Mr. Mukhopadhyay was full in praise for the undaunted courage and bravery of the German soldiers and the patriotism of the Japanese soldiers. He even dedicated a whole chapter to the immense contribution of the British-Indian army and another one to the legendary tale of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army. I personally hail Mr. Mukhopadhyay as great a WW2 historian as William Shirer, although the former's task to write entire history of the war was perhaps much more difficult than the latter.

But as far as my western friends are concerned, i feel pity for them because these two unique volumes were originally written in Bengali language. No English translation is perhaps available. Even if it is available i suggest one to read the book in original language. Then only one can understand what a genius Vivekananda Mukhopadhyay was. But alas ! For that my non-Bengali friends have to toil hard to master Bengali language first. So the choice is yours !!