Hear what you say about Anthony Beevor but his Second World War book is far better in my view than his single campaign books like Stalingrad and Berlin (though I enjoyed those too). It gives a great overview of the geopolitics, regional conflicts and alliances around the world which led to a truly global war. how the Sino Japanese war, Russo Japanese war, the Chinese civil war etc. all affected the conduct and outcome of WW2. How in fact WW2 was just an extension of WW1.
There is an incredible example of the global element at the beginning of the book. A picture of a young Korean in Wermacht uniform captured by the Americans in Normandy. He had been captured and conscripted in turn by the Japanese, the Red Army, then the Germans!
The other great thing about Beevor is his use of eyewitness accounts, by ordinary fighting men and civilians as well as the generals and politicians which makes it all a little easier to relate to.
Give him another try!