Synopses & Reviews
Get a different view of World War Two. These 100 maps not only capture the broad sweep of events such as D-Day, but also the details, including a two-man X-Craft attack on the battleship Tirpitz. Together they give a fascinating overview of military strategyand#8212;the planning, the reconnaissance, the guesses as to enemy dispositionsand#8212;as well as the debriefings and analyses that followed each battle. Many of the maps here were used in actual combat and include the illuminating original markings and captions.
Synopsis
The Second World War was a watershed in world history: the seizing of power by Hitler and the Nazis, the slowly building crescendo of annexations that led to Blitzkrieg, the conquest of Europe, the U-boat war, the strategic bombing campaign, the invasion of Russia, Stalingrad and D-Day, and the long German retreat to unconditional surrender.
Mapping the Second World War does not try to retell every point in the story of the war in Europe, rather it seeks to provide through contemporary documents a different view of the war and suggest avenues for further research. Presenting over 100 maps it looks both at the broad sweep of events such as the invasion of Europe in June 1944 and at details the two-man X-craft attack on the battleship Tirpitz to provide a fascinating sample of how events during the war were mapped out. Charts and maps were vital to the conduct of the war: before each military event there was planning, the reconnaissance, the conjecture as to enemy dispositions: after the event there would be debriefing, analysis of success and failure, and a redrawing of maps to show new troop positions and boundaries.
Many of the maps selected have been used in actual combat and are marked up accordingly. Such battlefield annotations add to this fascinating overview of some of the key events in the Second World War and are referenced in the extended accompanying map captions. The volume is complete with a detailed narrative introduction to the progress of the war."
Synopsis
Follow the events of World War One from a unique perspective: more than 100 large-format maps and charts, plus related documents filled with wartime details about conscription, weapons, raids, and stations. These images capture the entirety of the devastating conflict, tracing its movements from Germany's 1914 goals to the final positions of the troops. All the maps are drawn from the National Archives at Kew in London.
About the Author
Michael Swift is the pen name of a publisher who lives in London and writes in his spare time. He was educated in the north of England and at Oxford, where he received his MA in History. He is also the author of
Historical Maps of Europe (Book Sales).and#160;Michael Sharpe was born in 1970 into a forces background and developed a fascination for flying and military history at an early age. He has worked on numerous publications and articles and is widely published.