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World War II Richmond, Virginia (Military)
by Walter S. Griggs Jr.The effects of the war raging across Europe were visible in Richmond as early as 1939, and Richmonders are always ready to fight for their cause. In that year, the city saw its first parking meters on the streets and began to collect aluminum scrap for use in war industries. In 1940, pursuant to the new draft law, Richmond's sons between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-five registered for the draft. While bomb shelters were put up all over the town, dances were held to maintain local morale. Even as local German families faced discrimination, Richmonders strived for a sense of unity and solidarity. Author and historian Walter Griggs Jr. revives this conflicted spirit, memorializing the sorrow and celebrating the triumphs of a resilient southern city through world war.
World War II River Assault Tactics
by Peter Dennis Gordon RottmanOn the major European and Russian fronts throughout World War II, the challenge of crossing rivers and other water obstacles under fire was absolutely central to any advance. The Panzers that crossed the Meuse at Sedan in May 1940 cut the French Army in two; the Wehrmacht's ability to cross the great rivers of the western USSR was vital to the lightning advances of Operation Barbarossa in 1941, and in 1943-45 the Red Army had to drive the Germans back from a succession of river lines during their advance to the Reich, culminating in the Vistula and Oder lines; in Italy the Rapido formed a bloody moat for the Cassino defences; and after D-Day the milestones on the Western Allies' advances were the Seine, the Somme, the Moselle, and finally the Rhine. The initial (hopefully surprise) assault could be made by infantry in light assault boats, and over rudimentary improvised bridges. But World War II armies depended on heavy mechanized equipment, and even if a bridgehead was seized, it then had to be held for long enough for engineers to bring up and erect prefabricated bridges strong enough to carry the tanks and artillery without which the bridgehead was doomed. Some of the most savage fighting of the war took place around bridgeheads, and the Allies invested considerable resources in the development of equipment and tactics for contested river crossings.This book explains the methods and the means, and analyzes specific successes and failures. It features a wealth of wartime photos, particularly from German sources, and full-color plates illustrate tactical scenarios that bring the subject alive.
World War II Sacramento (Military)
by Special Collections of the Sacramento Public LibrarySpurred into action by the attack on Pearl Harbor, Sacramento dragged itself out of the morass of the Great Depression and joined the war effort. Local citizens trained for Japanese attacks through Civilian Defense, cultivated thousands of acres of victory gardens and harnessed the agricultural riches of the region. Tens of thousands engaged in war work at local bases like the new McClellan Field, while Sacramento's diverse servicemen distinguished themselves in combat overseas. They would later return and transform the city into the modern Sacramento of today. Exclusive images and stories from the Special Collections of the Sacramento Public Library bring this story to life.
World War II Shipbuilding in Duluth and Superior (Images of America)
by Gerald SandvickWorld War II hinged on the Allies having enough ships to both fight the enemy and to carry millions of tons of war goods across the world’s oceans. Shipyards on the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts built thousands of vessels, but America’s sometimes forgotten Fourth Coast, the Great Lakes, built hundreds of ships as well. From 1940 to 1945, warships, cargo haulers, Coast Guard tenders, and fleet service auxiliaries of many types were launched from the two cities of Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin, which lie at the far western end of Lake Superior. During the war, half a dozen shipyards in Duluth-Superior produced more than 200 vessels of 10 main types, up to 338 feet long and 5,000 tons, all having to make close to a 2,400-mile journey to the ocean. The shipyards grew from nearly nothing in 1939 to become industries employing thousands of men and women by 1945 and making a major contribution to the story of America in World War II.
World War II Snipers: The Men, Their Guns, Their Stories (Casemate Illustrated Special)
by Gary Yee"Gary Yee takes what is already a well-researched deep dive into the specifics of sniper training, employment and equipment to a new level." - American Rifleman MagazineThousands of volumes have been published about World War II but relatively little attention has been given to the sniper. Drawing from memoirs, government documents and interviews, World War II Snipers incorporates eyewitness accounts to weave a comprehensive narrative of snipers in World War II. While certain common traits were shared among belligerents, each had its unique methodology for selecting and training snipers and, as casualties were high, their replacements. Drawn from hunters, competitive shooters, natural marksmen, outdoorsmen, city dwellers, farmers and veteran soldiers, they fought to assert local battlefield dominance and instill among their enemy a paralyzing fear. Sometimes admired and other times reviled by their own comrades because of the retaliation they drew, they were always too few in number. Their battlefield role, their victories and their defeats are retold here from neglected or forgotten sources. The scope of World War II Snipers is extensive with three chapters each on the major theaters of the war including Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the Pacific. This is supported by a lengthy chapter on the sniper rifles used by the snipers and their equipment.
World War II Soviet Armed Forces
by Nigel Thomas Darko PavlovicThis title presents a detailed analysis of the Soviet Army at the outbreak of World War II (1939-1945), including the Red Army's campaigns against Japan on the Manchurian plains as well as in Finland. It also covers the Red Army's first operations during Operation Barbarossa when the Red Army was forced to defend Mother Russia against the German onslaught. With a breakdown of all the armed forces including the army, air force, paratroopers, navy and NKVD troops, author Nigel Thomas gives special attention to the evolution of uniforms, equipment and insignia with the introduction of new regulations in 1935 and 1940.
World War II Street-Fighting Tactics
by Peter Dennis Stephen BullOsprey's study of street-fighting tactics during World War II (1939-1945). In a continuation of the tactics mini-series, this new book describes and analyzes the physical tactics of the close-quarter fighting that took place in the ruined cities on both the Western and Eastern Fronts of World War II. Street-to-street fighting in cities was not a new development, but the bombed-out shells of cities and advances in weaponry meant that World War II took it to a new level of savagery and violence. New tactics developed around the defenses that ruined cities offered. This book examines these tactics, describing how a small group of infantry could now destroy whole tank units for very little cost before melting away into the cities' rubble. It also analyzes the need for infantry units to clear ruins of the enemy, and looks at how this was done, and the cost of the slow house-to-house fighting that was seen across the war, from Stalingrad to Berlin. Packed with eye-witness accounts, tutorials from original training manuals, maps, and full color artwork which illustrates these tactics, this is an eye-opening insight into the tactics and experiences of infantry fighting their way through ruined cities in the face of heavy casualty rates and vicious resistance.
World War II Tactical Camouflage Techniques
by Peter Dennis Gordon RottmanThis book explains and illustrates the actual materials and techniques adopted (both successfully and unsuccessfully) by tactical units - i.e. the concealment of personnel, weapons, equipment, field positions, and movement by infantry riflemen and weapons crews, artillerymen, and vehicle crews. It covers all areas and seasons in the European and Mediterranean theaters of operations, for the US, British, German, and Soviet armies. It includes camouflage of the person, personal equipment, and weapons; natural materials and "expedient" techniques; issued camouflage materials such as nets, ponchos, etc; the principles of camouflaging equipment and vehicles, of positioning and terrain integration, the effects of light and shadow, and the use of decoy and dummy positions. Featuring meticulous full-color artwork and specially selected period photographs, this absorbing study casts new light on the camouflaging techniques developed by the major armies of World War II on a host of European battlefields.
The World War II Trilogy: From Here to Eternity, The Thin Red Line, and Whistle (The World War II Trilogy #2)
by James JonesThree classic World War II novels in one collection, including the National Book Award winner From Here to Eternity. An army base at Pearl Harbor. The jungles of Guadalcanal. A veterans hospital on the home front. Inspired by his own experiences in the US Army, author James Jones&’s World War II Trilogy stands as one of the most significant achievements in war literature. This compilation includes:From Here to Eternity Pearl Harbor, 1941. A challenging young private is transferred to a unit where the commander is determined to make his life hell. This edition includes scenes and dialogue censored for the novel&’s original publication. A true classic, From Here to Eternity was made into an Academy Award–winning film and a television mini-series, as well as adapted for the stage.The Thin Red Line The invasion of Guadalcanal ignites a six-month battle for two thousand square miles of jungle and sand. But the soldiers of Charlie Company are not of the heroic mold. The unit&’s captain is too intelligent and sensitive for the job, his first sergeant is half mad, and the enlisted men begin the campaign gripped by cowardice. This searing portrait of jungle combat has been adapted twice for feature films.Whistle After a long journey across the Pacific, a ship finally lands on American soil. For the soldiers&’ loved ones, it&’s a celebration. But on board, hundreds of men are broken and haunted, survivors of the battle to wrest the South Seas from the Japanese Empire. Though on their way to heal in a Tennessee hospital, their road to recovery will take far more than mending physical wounds. This ebook features an illustrated biography of James Jones including rare photos from the author&’s estate.
World War II US Armored Infantry Tactics
by Peter Dennis Gordon RottmanOsprey's study of America's armored infantry tactics in World War II (1939-1945). Little has been published on US armored infantry units and tactics over the years despite their key role in World War II. There were a total of 57 armored infantry battalions and two regiments that served throughout the war and in all theaters. Equipped with halftracks, they fought as part of combined arms teams and combat commands alongside tanks, tank destroyers and artillery battalions. Significantly, they were not simply standard infantry battalions provided with halftracks. Their company and platoon organization was very different from the standard infantry unit and these highly mobile, heavily armed battalions fought in an entirely different manner. Using period training manuals and combat reports this book provides an exclusive look at the unique tactics developed by US armored infantry units including movement formations and battle drills.From the Trade Paperback edition.
World War II US Cavalry Groups: European Theater
by Gordon Rottman Peter DennisThe cavalry regiments of the US Army were in the process of being transformed into a mechanized force when the USA entered World War II. While those cavalry regiments deployed to the Pacific to fight the Japanese were turned into infantry units, those sent to Europe were employed as light armor in the cavalry's traditional spearhead roles - reconnaissance, the screening of advances and flanks, and the pursuit of beaten enemy forces. Equipped with M8 Greyhound armored cars, M5 Stuart and M24 Chaffee light tanks, and halftracks, these units were designated cavalry groups (mechanized), each c. 1,700 strong and divided into two heavily armed squadrons. They were seldom attached to divisions, but to higher-level corps commands, meaning they could be shifted around quickly and independently and be formed at need into flexible battle groups with armored, infantry, and other units, depending on the mission. Featuring specially drawn full-color illustrations depicting uniforms, insignia, armored vehicles, and tactical scenarios, this is the story of the US cavalry units that led the advance to victory in Europe during World War II.
World War II US Cavalry Units: Pacific Theater
by Peter Dennis Gordon RottmanOsprey's elite series title for all cavalry units that participated in World War II (1939-1945). At the time of Pearl Harbor, the United States Army still had ten cavalry regiments that were mounted on horses. One, the 26th (Filipino Scouts) fought on horseback in the Philippines, while the rest were dismounted and fought as infantry. Despite this, the cavalry units maintained their own unique organization, traditions, and identity as they saw action in the Pacific and China-Burma-India theatre. This book covers all of the US cavalry units to see action during World War II, most of which survive to this day. It includes the little-covered Texan National Guard regiments, who took part in the vicious street fighting in Manila in 1945, and who fought beside ex-Merrill's Marauders as a deep penetration unit. It also contains detailed color-plates showing the unique uniforms of the US Army's last mounted cavalry as well as tropical combat dress worn by the dismounted units.From the Trade Paperback edition.
World War II US Navy Special Warfare Units
by Johnny Shumate Eugene LiptakWhen the United States entered World War II, it was apparent that the war would only be won by taking the fight to the Axis, in the shape of large-scale amphibious landings. Accordingly, the US Navy developed several types of specialized unit to reconnoiter potential landing areas, degrade the enemy's ability to resist, and assist the landing forces on to the beaches. These operatives had to get there first, alone, and carry out their missions before the GIs and Marines could land with any chance of success.Formed in September 1942 and active in the Mediterranean, European, and Pacific theaters, the Scouts and Raiders were forerunners of the SEALs; they used canoes to secretly reconnoiter beaches before combat landings, and placed marker beacons. In the Mediterranean and the Philippines, the Beach Jumpers made elaborate simulated landings to fool the enemy as to real locations, including radar and sound deception.Active in the Mediterranean, Normandy, and the South West Pacific, the Naval Combat Demolition Units cleared beach obstacles in advance of combat landings, and guided landing craft to their destination, while the Underwater Demolition Teams carried out similar tasks in the Pacific theater only. In co-operation (and sometimes competition) with the Office of Strategic Services, Naval Group China gathered intelligence in that theater, and trained and fought with Chinese guerrillas behind Japanese lines.All these special warfare units played vital roles in the prosecution of the Allied war effort across the globe. Their distinctive uniforms, insignia, special clothing, equipment, and weaponry are illustrated and described in this engaging study.
World War II: Visual Encyclopedia (DK Children's Visual Encyclopedias)
by DKThis comprehensive visual encyclopedia explores World War II in fascinating detail and explains why this global event must never be forgotten. World War II: Visual Encyclopedia shows children the causes, battles, people, and aftermath, while cutting-edge CGI technology brings infamous events back to life. Learn about weaponry, tanks, ships, aircraft, campaigns, and military strategies. Read firsthand accounts of major campaigns and battles throughout the war. Uncover hundreds of biographies of wartime leaders and brave soldiers who served on the battlefields. Find out how technological advances influenced the final outcome. Key information is available at a glance, alongside data boxes, facts and stats, and inspiring quotations. From the fastest fighter plane to the longest battle, you&’ll discover everything you ever wanted to know, and much, much more.Whether you&’re a history buff or simply want help on a school project, this standout reference covers every aspect of World War II and the important part it has played in world history.
World War II Winter and Mountain Warfare Tactics
by Stephen Bull Steve NoonAlthough prolonged warfare in subzero temperatures and/or at high altitude had occurred from time to time before 1900, the twentieth century saw an unprecedented emphasis on fighting in all terrains, seasons and weather conditions. Such conditions made even basic survival difficult as subzero temperatures caused weapons to jam, engines to seize up and soldiers to suffer frostbite, snow blindness and hypothermia; even the hardiest, best-equipped troops found defending their positions very difficult, let alone conducting offensive operations. The conditions often favoured small groups of mobile, lightly armed soldiers, rather than the armoured forces or air power that dominated other combat environments.Some European armies developed small numbers of specialist alpine troops before and during World War I, but these proved to be insufficient as nearly all the major combatants of World War II found themselves fighting for extended periods in extremely hostile cold-weather and/or alpine environments. Some, like the German forces invading the USSR in 1941, were - apart from a few specialist formations - poorly equipped and trained for the unique difficulties imposed by such conditions, and were initially forced to improvise. Others, such as the Finns in the Winter War of 1939-40, outclassed their Soviet opponents with their mobility (many soldiers were already competent skiers at the outbreak of war), marksmanship, bold initiative and decisive leadership.Drawing upon manuals, memoirs and unit histories and illustrated with period tactical diagrams and specially commissioned full-colour artwork, this study sheds new light on the winter-warfare tactics and techniques of the US, British, German, Soviet and Finnish armies of World War II.
World War II Women 3-Book Bundle: The Accidental Captives / Greatcoats and Glamour Boots / Props on Her Sleeves
by Carolyn Gossage Mary Hawkins BuchBravery, patriotism, and sacrifice marked the women caught up in conflict during the Second World War. This special collection of three books tells the stories of a young airwoman, prisoners of war, and women in service. Includes: The Accidental Captives: The Story of Seven Women Along in Nazi Germany In April 1941, a passenger ship sailing from New York to Cape Town was attacked and sunk by a German raider. The passengers were pulled from the water and transported to Nazi-occupied France, where the majority were released. Among those left behind were seven Canadian women. This is the tale of the year they spent together in Germany. Greatcoats and Glamour Boots: Canadian Women at War, 1939-1945 The colourful story of Canada’s forgotten women who volunteered for service during the Second World War. Props on Her Sleeves: The Wartime Letters of a Canadian Airwoman A first-hand account of the experiences of a young Canadian airwoman who served both in Canada and on overseas duty, this series of 150 letters brings home the day-to-day immediacy of life in uniform during the Second World War.
World War One (True Stories #4)
by Clive GiffordThe book contains nine short stories dealing with different aspects of life during World War I.World War I includes the stories of flying aces such as the 'Red Baron', the story of Lawrence of Arabia and the stories of brave doctors and nurses such as Edith Cavell in German occupied Belgium.Complete with glossary, further reading section and index.
World War One Aircraft Carrier Pioneer: The Story and Diaries of Captain JM McCleery RNAS/RAF
by Guy WarnerJack McCleery was born in Belfast in 1898, the son of a mill owning family. He joined the RNAS in 1916 as a Probationary Flight Officer. During the next ten months he completed his training at Crystal Palace, Eastchurch, Cranwell, Frieston, Calshot and Isle of Grain, flying more than a dozen landplanes, seaplanes and flying boats, gaining his wings as a Flight Sub-Lieutenant. In July 1917 he was posted to the newly commissioning aircraft carrier HMS Furious, which would be based at Scapa Flow and Rosyth. He served in this ship until February 1919, flying Short 184 seaplanes and then Sopwith 1 Strutters off the deck. He also flew a large number of other types during this time from shore stations at Turnhouse, East Fortune and Donibristle.He served with important and well-known naval airmen including Dunning, Rutland (of Jutland) and Bell Davies VC. He witnessed Dunnings first successful landing on a carrier flying a Sopwith Pup in 1917 and his tragic death a few days later. He also witnessed the Tondern raid in 1918, the worlds first carrier strike mission. He took part in more than a dozen sweeps into the North Sea by elements of the Grand Fleet and Battle Cruiser Fleet. He carried out reconnaissance missions off the coast of Denmark, landing in the sea to be picked up by waiting destroyers. He witnessed the surrender of the High Seas Fleet. Promoted to Captain, he acted as temporary CO of F Squadron for a time postwar.
World War One British Poets: Brooke, Owen, Sassoon, Rosenberg and Others (Dover Thrift Editions: Poetry Ser.)
by Candace WardA complex series of treaties, tensions and alliances involving the major and minor European states led to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist, on June 28, 1914. In response, the armies of Europe were mobilized and by summer's end, the world was at war. But no one could have foreseen the apocolyptic degree of destruction that ensued. By the time the Armistice was signed on November 11,1918, more than nine million military personnel and five million civilians had been killed. In Great Britain and Europe, an entire generation of young men was wiped out. Most of the poets in this anthology participated in what came to be called the Great War; many of them did not survive to see its end. Some, like Rupert Brooke and John McCrae, believed their services were part of a noble and just cause. Others - most notably Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen - entered the military through a sense of duty, though both poets came to see Britain's participation in the war as unnecessarily prolonged. Antiwar sentiment was not uncommon among soldiers, particularly when it became clear that the war was one of attrition. By September 1914, the Allied and Central Powers were locked into trench warfare, and 1915-1916 were years of stalemate characterized by Pyrrhic victories such as that won by the Allies in Champagne, where 500 yards of ground was gained over the course of two months - at a cost of 50,000 men. Such results contributed to a sense of futility experienced by frontline soldiers, and chlorine gas, first deployed on the Western Front on April 22, 1915 at the Battle of Ypres, intensified the horrors of battle. The initial patriotic fervor that compelled many young men to enlist in the summer of 1914 had, in most cases, by 1916 collapsed into cynicism and anger, as reflected in a saying that circulated among the British troops: "Went to war with Rupert Brooke, came home with Siegfried Sassoon." While not all of the poets contained in this anthology served combat duty, all were touched by the devastation that changed the world's perception of war. Despite the propaganda and intense anti-German sentiment that proliferated during the war, "this was no case," as Edward Thomas wrote, "of petty right or wrong." All of the poetry - whether the manifestation of the poets' despair, outrage or patriotism -- stands as a memorial that has outlasted the battle lines of World War One.
World War One in Southeast Asia
by Streets-Salter HeatherAlthough not a major player during the course of the First World War, Southeast Asia was in fact altered by the war in multiple and profound ways. Ranging across British Malaya, the Dutch East Indies, and French Indochina, Heather Streets-Salter reveals how the war shaped the region's political, economic, and social development both during 1914–18 and in the war's aftermath. She shows how the region's strategic location between North America and India made it a convenient way-station for expatriate Indian revolutionaries who hoped to smuggle arms and people into India and thus to overthrow British rule, whilst German consuls and agents entered into partnerships with both Indian and Vietnamese revolutionaries to undermine Allied authority and coordinate anti-British and anti-French operations. World War One in Southeast Asia offers an entirely new perspective on anti-colonialism and the Great War, and radically extends our understanding of the conflict as a truly global phenomenon.
World War One $ A Short History: A Short History
by Norman StoneThe First World War was the overwhelming disaster from which everything else in the twentieth century stemmed. Fourteen million combatants died, four empires were destroyed, and even the victors’ empires were fatally damaged. World War I took humanity from the nineteenth century forcibly into the twentieth-and then, at Versailles, cast Europe on the path to World War II as well. In World War One, Norman Stone, one of the world’s greatest historians, has achieved the almost impossible task of writing a terse and witty short history of the war. A captivating, brisk narrative, World War One is Stone’s masterful effort to make sense of one of the twentieth century’s pivotal conflicts.
World War Two: A Military History (Warfare and History)
by Jeremy BlackCutting through over half a century of historical build-up, this new and convincing account of World War II uses a global perspective to explain the complicated course in military terms. Black, a distinguished military historian , bucks the current trend to demilitarise and gives due weight to the campaigns and battles that made up the war. In doing so he challenges common interpretations and includes new insights to make this one of the most exciting new histories of the Second World War. Covering all the main areas of conflict, the chronological approach includes analysis of attacks at land, air and sea and a comparison of military resources. The focus is always operational, but social, cultural and political aspects are also included. Providing a crucial counterweight to previous histories, Jeremy Black's World War Two offers fresh insights into operations at the Eastern Front and during the war against Japan.
World War Two (True Stories #1)
by Clive GiffordThe book contains nine short stories dealing with different aspects of life during World War II.Included is the remarkable survival story of future US President J F Kennedy, the story of the dambusters and a plotted assassination attempt on Hitler.Complete with glossary, further reading section and index.
World War Two: A Short History
by Norman StoneAfter the Great War, the United States and the nations of Europe longed for a lasting peace. As far as they were concerned, they had just experienced OC the war to end all wars. OCO Over 15 million lay dead, and much of Europe had been reduced to rubble. The possibility of another such conflict was practically unthinkable. And yet within two decades of the signing of the Versailles Treaty, war broke out once again, on such a cataclysmic scale that it would forever transform international geopolitics. In "World War Two," Norman StoneOCoone of the greatest living historians of the twentieth centuryOCoprovides an unprecedentedly concise, utterly authoritative account of the deadliest war of human history. Over 60 million people perished in World War Two, and the story of how the conflict roared to life from the ashes of the Great War is shocking, tragic, and also completely preventable in hindsight. The peace that Europe so craved after World War I hinged on European stabilityOCobut by demanding a massive indemnity from Germany in order to keep it from rearming, the Allies prevented Germany from recovering from the trauma of the Great War. The results, as Stone shows, were disastrous. Riding a tide of popular desperation and resentment, Adolf Hitler soared to power in Germany, and promptly made good on his promises to return the country to its former strength. He reinvigorated the German economy by rearming at a breakneck pace, then muscled his way into neighboring countries under a variety of pretenses, all while intensifying his campaign of anti-Semitic terror and forming a fascist bloc with the totalitarian regimes in Japan and Italy. His gamble was that the Allies, still shaken from the previous war, would not attempt to stop himOCoand for a time, he was right. a Britain and FranceOCOs eventual decision to declare war on Germany following the invasion of Poland in 1939 was utterly irrational, argues StoneOCobut then again, Hitler had driven the world insane. He had bullied all of Europe into giving him his way, and in doing so he had backed the victors of the Great War into a corner. Driven as much by a sense of outrage as anything else, the British leapt into the conflict; the French, fearing for their security, joined in. In time, and for their own unique reasons, the Americans and Soviets would enter the fray on the side of the Allies, as well. And so the conflagration spread across the globe, fanned by political and racial ideologies even more poisonous, and weaponry even more destructive, than those that had ravaged Europe in the previous war. Stone leads his reader through the inexorable escalation, savage climax, and mournful denouement of this sprawling conflict, providing along the way encapsulated accounts of the crucial battles of the war, from El Alamein, Stalingrad, and Midway to Anzio, Saipan, and Normandy. By the time World War Two had finally burned itself out in the capitals of Germany and Japan, the victors were already beginning to feel the chill of the oncoming Cold WarOCoa new sort of conflict, and one defined by the hitherto unseen devastation the globe had just experienced. With astonishing aplomb, Norman Stone traces the causes, course, and conclusion of this epic war. A stunning achievement, "World War Two" is a work of history of which only Norman Stone is capable. Brisk yet profound, pithy but endlessly informative, it is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the twentieth century and its most defining conflict. "
World War Two at Sea: The Last Battleships
by Philip KaplanThis wide-ranging naval history features rare wartime battleship images combined with thrilling first person accounts from servicemen.During the Second World War, big-gun battleships represented the ultimate power of the world’s greatest navies. In this book, veteran battleship crew members describe their unforgettable experiences aboard these iconic vessels. Here are the vivid recollections of a Royal Navy officer at Jutland; tales of the loss of the German warship Scharnhorst in the arctic; combat experience inside a sixteen-inch gun turret aboard an Iowa-class battleship during the Gulf War; and many others.Included too is the story of the great German battleship Bismarck, which sank the pride of the British fleet; the story of HMS Hood; and that of the USS Missouri,on whose deck the final surrender document of the Second World War was signed.The text is combined with a compelling selection of historic images representing the era of the great battleships from the early years through the First and Second World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and the preservation of a handful of these vessels as museum pieces today.