The World War II Desk Reference

Rating:
Summary: The World War II Desk Reference
Review: At last! A reference that includes all the major topics relating to World War II and not just the military and political history. I was 10 when Germany entered Poland and 16 when the war ended. Yet, at that young age, I followed the war assiduously. I listened to nightly newscasts and read the local newspaper accounts, even making scrapbooks of the war's progress. The Desk Reference of World War II recently published by Harper Collins is the best single reference to that epochal struggle. There have been many books published on the years 1939 to 1945, many dealing with the military campaigns and other with the causes or other specific aspects of the war. This book is not a narrative,although some chapters chronicle the material in story form. Rather, it is a reference; and what a reference it is. The 33 maps are excellent and easily followed. Numerous tables detail a wealth of information. Whatever topic of the war interests you, you will probably find it here. Timelines outline the major events from 1918 to 1950, the political history from 1918 to 1945, and the holocaust. The causes of the war are discussed. Other chapters relate how the countries -- allies and axis -- paid for the war. Treaties, pacts, alliances, charters, and conferences describe how the countries of europe made decisions relating to peace and war, land and aid from Versailles at the end of world War I to the end of the second World War.
Brief accounts sketch the politicians, dictators, military personnel, spies, and propagandists on both sides of the war. Maps, tables, and narrative provide an excellent overview of the military campaigns in Europe, Africa, and Asia. It's all here: military arms and eqjuipment, how the home front in the major participating countries of the war coped and maintained morale. This book even deals with the arts: books, films, songs, visual art, and entertainers.
Perhaps the most enlightening feature of this volume is its equal treatment of both protagonists and antagonists. Anyone interested in World War II will want to add this volume to their library and refer to it frequently.