Synopses & Reviews
World War Two was a war of rapid and far-reaching conquest and movement, and a good sense of world geography is essential to grasping its magnitude and sweep. The Concise Historical Atlas of World War Two: The Geography of Conflict consists of 50 full-color maps that vividly convey not only the key military battles and campaigns but also the cultural and political geography of the war. Each map covers a significant phase of World War Two and is accompanied by an adjacent page of explanatory text that clarifies the shifting frontiers and populations of the region represented. These descriptions explain features of the conflict in question, describe changes in circumstances and the movements of battles, contextualize the events, and suggest longer-term consequences of campaigns. Offering a vivid summary of the war over space and time, this unique, full-color atlas covers all theatres of the war. It is ideal for courses on World War Two, American and European history in the twentieth century, U.S. political and military history, and world history. It is also a fascinating resource for anyone interested in the sprawling landscape of the Second World War.
Review
"These maps remind us of the tremendous scale of the conflict; that the war was truly global in nature, that the aggressors had global designs and that the defenders had to counter them around the world and fight on varied terrain on three continents and many seas. War is made vivid and brought into real life terms by these maps and by the author's perceptive commentary." --Tom Zeiler, University of Colorado at Boulder
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Europe in 1914
2. Africa
3. Europe in 1920
4. The French Frontier Between the Wars
5. Spain (1930s)
6. Europe in 1939
7. The Invasion of Poland (1939)
8. The Fall of France (1940)
9. The Partition of France
10. The Battle of Britain (1940-1941)
11. The Battle of the Atlantic (1940-1943)
12. The Desert War (1940-1942)
13. The Battle of El Alamein (October-November 1942)
14. The Conquest of North Africa (November 1942-May 1943)
15. Barbarossa--The German Invasion of the U.S.S.R. (June-September 1941)
16. The Drive on Moscow (October-December 1941)
17. The Caucasus Campaign (May-November 1942)
18. The Battle of Stalingrad (September 1942-January 1943)
19. Kursk (Summer 1943)
20. The Soviets' Move West (December 1943-April 1944)
21. Resistance
22. Strategic Bombing (1942-1945)
23. Italy (1943-1944)
24. Operation Overlord--The Normandy Invasion (June 1944)
25. The Allied Advance (July-August 1944)
26. The Battle of White Russia (Summer 1944)
27. The Liberation of France (August-September 1944)
28. The Battle of the Bulge (December 1944)
29. The Defeat of Nazi Germany (1945)
30. The Fall of Berlin (April 1945)
31. The Liberation of the Camps (1945)
32. Occupied Germany
33. Postwar Europe
34. Asia in the Early 20th Century
35. China in the Early 20th Century
36. The Expansion of Japan to 1938
37. China Divided--The Long March (1934-1935)
38. Pearl Harbor (December 1941)
39. The Conquest of Southeast Asia (December 1941-June 1942)
40. The Battle of Midway (June 1942)
41. New Guinea (1942-1944)
42. The Central Pacific Drive (November 1943-July 1944)
43. The Battle of Leyte Gulf (October 1944)
44. The Starvation of the Home Islands
45. Okinawa (Spring 1945)
46. China-Burma-India
47. The Air War (1944-1945)
48. The Atomic Bomb (August 1945)
49. Occupied Japan
50. Independent Asia