The Oxford Illustrated History of World War Two

The Oxford Illustrated History of World War Two
Author: Richard Overy
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 521
Release: 2015-04-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 0191045381

World War Two was the most devastating conflict in recorded human history. It was both global in extent and total in character. It has understandably left a long and dark shadow across the decades. Yet it is three generations since hostilities formally ended in 1945 and the conflict is now a lived memory for only a few. And this growing distance in time has allowed historians to think differently about how to describe it, how to explain its course, and what subjects to focus on when considering the wartime experience. For instance, as World War Two recedes ever further into the past, even a question as apparently basic as when it began and ended becomes less certain. Was it 1939, when the war in Europe began? Or the summer of 1941, with the beginning of Hitler's war against the Soviet Union? Or did it become truly global only when the Japanese brought the USA into the war at the end of 1941? And what of the long conflict in East Asia, beginning with the Japanese aggression in China in the early 1930s and only ending with the triumph of the Chinese Communists in 1949? In The Oxford Illustrated History of World War Two a team of leading historians re-assesses the conflict for a new generation, exploring the course of the war not just in terms of the Allied response but also from the viewpoint of the Axis aggressor states. Under Richard Overy's expert editorial guidance, the contributions take us from the genesis of war, through the action in the major theatres of conflict by land, sea, and air, to assessments of fighting power and military and technical innovation, the economics of total war, the culture and propaganda of war, and the experience of war (and genocide) for both combatants and civilians, concluding with an account of the transition from World War to Cold War in the late 1940s. Together, they provide a stimulating and thought-provoking new interpretation of one of the most terrible and fascinating episodes in world history.

An Illustrated History of the First World War

An Illustrated History of the First World War
Author: John Keegan
Publisher: Knopf
Total Pages: 432
Release: 2001
Genre: History
ISBN: 037541259X

Illustrates life on the home front, important battles, war from the perspective of generals and soldiers, the collapse of empires, and glimpses of World War II through photographs, paintings, cartoons, and posters.

The SBS in World War II

The SBS in World War II
Author: Gavin Mortimer
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2013-09-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 1472804813

A gripping history of Britain's Special Boat Squadron in World War II, drawing on veteran interviews and including rare photographs from the SAS Regimental Association. The Special Boat Squadron was Britain's most exclusive Special Forces unit during World War II, and yet its exploits have been largely forgotten. This book tells its story. Highly trained, totally secretive and utterly ruthless, the SBS was established as an entity in its own right in early 1943. Unlike its sister unit, which numbered more than 1,000 men, the SBS never comprised more than 100. Led by men such as the famed Victoria Cross recipient Anders Lassen, the SBS went from island to island in the Mediterranean, landing in the dead of night in small fishing boats and launching savage hit and run raids on the Germans. Through unrivalled access to the archives of the SAS Regimental Association and interviews with the surviving members of the unit, Gavin Mortimer has pieced together the dramatic feats of this elite fighting force. In this new and updated paperback edition, featuring additional content including new text and photographs, the unit and its members are finally granted the recognition that they so richly deserve.

The Italian Front

The Italian Front
Author: Michael E. Haskew
Publisher: Campaigns of World War II
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781782746171

The Italian Front is a superbly illustrated history of the original 'second front' in Europe, including artworks of key materiel and uniforms, and campaign maps showing the movement of troops in the theater.

The Oxford Illustrated History of the Renaissance

The Oxford Illustrated History of the Renaissance
Author: Gordon Campbell
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 515
Release: 2019
Genre: Art
ISBN: 019871615X

The story of the 'long Renaissance' for a new generation from Giotto and Dante in thirteenth-century Italy to the English literary Renaissance in the first half of the seventeenth century.

Explorers Emigrants Citizens

Explorers Emigrants Citizens
Author: Linda Barrett Osborne
Publisher: Anniversary Books Srl
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9788896408148

For this book, the authors have selected 500 images related to the rich history of Italian Americans from the Library of Congress's holdings of photographs, maps, posters, letters, films, and sound recordings. The book's narration is supported by never-b

The Most Dangerous Enemy

The Most Dangerous Enemy
Author: Stephen Bungay
Publisher: Aurum
Total Pages: 542
Release: 2010-09-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 1845136500

Stephen Bungay’s magisterial history is acclaimed as the account of the Battle of Britain. Unrivalled for its synthesis of all previous historical accounts, for the quality of its strategic analysis and its truly compulsive narrative, this is a book ultimately distinguished by its conclusions – that it was the British in the Battle who displayed all the virtues of efficiency, organisation and even ruthlessness we habitually attribute to the Germans, and they who fell short in their amateurism, ill-preparedness, poor engineering and even in their old-fashioned notions of gallantry. An engrossing read for the military scholar and the general reader alike, this is a classic of military history that looks beyond the mythology, to explore all the tragedy and comedy; the brutality and compassion of war.

Italian Destroyers of World War II

Italian Destroyers of World War II
Author: Mark Stille
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 49
Release: 2021-03-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 1472840550

A new illustrated history and analysis of Italy's World War II destroyers. The Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marine or RM) began the Second World War with one of the largest fleets in the world. Included in this was a total of 59 fleet destroyers, and others were added during the war. These were a diverse collection of ships dating back to the First World War, large destroyers built to counter ships of similar size being introduced in the French Navy (the RM's historical enemy), and medium-sized ships which constituted the bulk of the destroyer force. RM destroyers were built for high speed, not endurance since they were only expected to operate inside the Mediterranean. They were also well-armed, but lacked radar. During the war, RM destroyers fought well. With the exception of a small force based in Abyssinia which fought a series of battles in the Red Sea against the British, RM destroyers were active in the Mediterranean. The primary mission of the RM curing the war was to keep the supply lines to North Africa open. The Italians were largely successful in this effort, and destroyers were key in the effort. RM destroyers were present at every fleet action with the British Mediterranean Fleet.. The intensity of these actions were shown by the fact that the RM lost 51 destroyers during the war.

The Day of Battle

The Day of Battle
Author: Rick Atkinson
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 852
Release: 2008-09-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780805088618

In the second volume of his epic trilogy about the liberation of Europe in World War II, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Atkinson tells the harrowing story of the campaigns in Sicily and Italy.