World War II

This book is a great source of information on World War II. It provides detailed information on the people, battles, and weapons of World War II as well as photos and maps. Highly recommended.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. ~Marianne Williamson It seems impossible to eradicate the idea of war from our daily existence. War (somewhere on the planet) seems to be a part of daily life, as real as the internal wars of the soul. How can the world ever know peace when we cannot even find ways to be at peace in our homes or in our own communities? It seems we are always fighting an internal war and that war is represented in the experience of physical war. H.P. Willmott, Robin Cross and Charles Messenger explain the reasons behind the most dramatic event in human history. They show how the shock waves of World Wwar II still resonate in our world today. As they analyze the causes of the war and the consequences, we may be able to learn from the past to prevent future destruction. When I read a book like World War II, it does awaken me to the reality of what mankind is capable of in regards to fighting for freedom and trying to suppress freedom. There are shocking accounts of man's cruelty and contrasting accounts of those who would seek to free mankind from tyranny. This book is divided into nine chapters: The Path to War War Begins in Europe Germany Triumphant The War Becomes Global The Initiative Changes Hands The Axis on the Defensive The Allies' Great Offensives The Final Battles A New World World War II is not a calm read and you may find yourself becoming angry or sickened while reading about the atrocities of mankind. Perhaps it is necessary to feel that sense of revulsion in order to make better decisions in the future. There are also interesting moments where pictures show how soldiers adapted to fight in brutal conditions like the picture of the Finnish ski soldier or the pictures of beach landings. The stories of survival will give you a new respect for the soldiers fighting for freedom, while the stories of cruelty and brutality towards human beings will leave you sickened. The hope on the faces of liberated POWs with emaciated bodies and children starving to death because they had to give up food so soldiers could stay in the war makes you think about war on a much deeper level. "...it is a vast furnace lit by the reflection of the flames. And when night arrives, on of those scorching, howling, bleeding nights, the dogs plunge into the Volga and swim desperately to gain the other bank. The nights in Stalingrad are a terror for them. Animals flee this hell... only men endure." Pg. 138 Throughout this well illustrated book, you will find quotes, illustrations of propaganda, stories of heroism, notes from soldiers on the battle field and observers of the destruction, pictures of weapons, timelines, pictures of battle scenes all over the world and maps showing the advancement of various armies involved in conflicts. One of the most shocking pictures in this book does not even contain soldiers

Overall this book is full of very nice pictures and data. However, I have noticed some glitches in this book as following: - The publisher could has used better photos for some tanks especially Tiger I and Tiger II tank. Tiger II photo in the book is the limited production version utilized by the German in the war. The photo in this book is the "Porsche Turret" which was one of the two proposed designs. The Porsche design was not selected for mass production (only 50 produced). It would be more appropiate to use photo of Tiger II with "Production Turret" designed by Henschel in this book. - The book did not mention about the world first assault rifle Sturmgewehr (STG) 44 while the much respected machine pistol MP40 has only limited descriptions. The STG 44 and MP 40 should have enjoyed the same context as the Thompson sub-machine gun. However stunning layouts and pictures compensate these glitches. For those who are interested in WWII, this book is absolutely highly recommended!

When I was a kid used to produce these beutifully illustrated books about World War II. I haven't seen one of them in years. Now this book has come out. I at first thought that it was a reprint of one of the old books, but it isn't. I've seen hundreds, if not thousands of WW II photographs from all fronts. But in reading this book, I didn't recognize any of the pictures as having been used before. The book isn't heavy on strategy. For instance there is a discussion on the lack of food in Japan by the fall of 1944 due to heavy merchant shipping losses. This was not discussed in terms of the lack of emphasis on anti-submarine forces and failure to adapt the convoy system as was done in the Atlantic. This in turn was related to the Japanese concepts of supporting the fighting forces but ignoring the mere commercial side. This is a minor point, there are other books that go into strategy. The pictures that are on that page more than make up for this lack. All in all, an excellent book of a type not seen so often any more.