Written by leading World War II historian Richard Overy and featuring vividly illustrated spreads, this valuable reference delivers large amounts of information with maximum impact. The global flow of events from the German blitzkrieg against Poland in September 1939 to the atomic bombing of Japan in August 1945, and from the islands of the South Pacific to Norwegian fjords beyond the Arctic Circle, is illuminated by the author's keen insights on weapons, strategy, and tactics.
Synopsis
Written by leading World War II historian Richard Overy and featuring vividly illustrated spreads, this valuable reference delivers large amounts of information with maximum impact. The global flow of events from the German blitzkrieg against Poland in September 1939 to the atomic bombing of Japan in August 1945, and from the islands of the South Pacific to Norwegian fjords beyond the Arctic Circle, is illuminated by the author's keen insights on weapons, strategy, and tactics.
Overy's large format book begins in 1919 with the Treaty of Versailles and ends with the looming Cold War. Facing pages present new topics dense with text, photos (including some excellent combat photography), and graphic elements, showing principal players, map locations, timelines, important dates, propaganda campaigns, and more. Some of the most wrenching moments in the book address the effects of WWII on civilian populations; the British, Germans, and Russians were particularly cruel to their enemy civilian populations, believing that their suffering would lead to capitulation. The text is clear and concise, relating only the most pertinent points of the major battles and events of the war and resulting in an excellent coffee table book for history buffs, or as an absorbing introduction to the Great War for students at the middle school level. Illus. (Nov.)
