Like the writers of most epics, Wouk approaches his story from a lofty perspective. He uses a complex method of narration in this romance to achieve a breadth of coverage of what is certainly an imposing topic. He alternates third-person narrative with first-person accounts of various characters, entries from fictional journals, even fictional memoirs of a German general "edited" by Pug Henry in the years after the war. Wouk makes it clear in editorial apparatus that he is not attempting to present a faithful picture of history as much as he is trying to bring to life the flavor of the period. Thus some of his characters not only meet real-life figures, but actually influence the course of historical events. Such a technique may disturb the historical purist, but it adds greatly to the drama that Wouk unfolds in The Winds of War; within the context of the...