Atlas of World War II: History's Greatest Conflict Revealed Through Rare Wartime Maps and New Cartography

by Neil Kagan (Editor), Stephen G. Hyslop, Kenneth W. Rendell (Foreword by)

Overview

This definitive, lavishly illustrated book from National Geographic features an astonishing array of vintage and newly created maps, rare photographs, covert documents, and eyewitness accounts that illuminate the world’s greatest conflict.

This magnificent atlas delves into the cartographic history of WWII: naval, land, and aerial attacks from the invasion of Poland to Pearl Harbor and the Battle of the Bulge. Rare maps include a detailed Germany & Approaches map used by Allied forces in the final stages of the war, full large-scale wartime maps of the world used by President Roosevelt, and crucial Pacific theater maps used by B-17 pilots.

Satellite data renders terrain as never before seen, highlighting countries and continents in stunning detail to include the towns, cities, provinces and transportation roads for a pinpoint-accurate depiction of army movements and alliances. Gripping wartime stories from these hallowed fields of battle, along with photographs, sketches, confidential documents, and artifacts color the rest of this timeless and informative book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781426219719
Publisher:	Disney Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/30/2018
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	211,006
Product dimensions:	10.50(w) x 13.60(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

NEIL KAGAN, editor, heads Kagan & Associates, Inc., a firm specializing in designing and producing innovative illustrated books. Recently, he edited Great Photographs of World War II, Smithsonian Civil War, and for National Geographic, as well as the best-selling Concise History of the World, Eyewitness to the Civil War, Atlas of the Civil War, The Untold Civil War, Eyewitness to World War II and The Secret History of World War II. Author STEPHEN G. HYSLOP has written several books on American history, including National Geographic's The Secret History of World War II, Eyewitness to World War II, Eyewitness to the Civil War, and The Old West. His articles have appeared in American History, World War II, and the History Channel Magazine. Consultant KENNETH W. RENDELL is the founder and director of the International Museum of World War II, which houses the world's most comprehensive collection of original artifacts and documents relating to the causes, events, and consequences of World War II.

Editorial Reviews

Thoughtfully curated and beautifully designed, this volume is sure to appeal to military history aficionados and anyone with an unadorned coffee table.” –Library Journal

"...perhaps the greatest history and WWII book I have read. Not only does it give great detail about how the war was fought, but it also shows what the greatest generation gave, risked and lost during the war...Never did I feel overwhelmed or bogged down with text; the visuals compelled me to devour this title quite quickly." —Jennsbookshelves

“In addition to these marvelous maps, the book presents many fascinating details on the advancement of cartography during the war, in particular how the amazing new capabilities of rapidly advancing science of aerial reconnaissance photography was merged with traditional mapmaking to produce the incredibly detailed charts used for planning some of the wars most important amphibious invasions. The attention to detail and precision required for many of these maps almost makes them now seem like ancient works of art.” –NY Journal of Books

“I thought this book was incredible, it covers all theaters of the war, provides copies of the maps the generals used (along with their notes on them), a bunch of propaganda and just interesting tidbits along the way. The book is fun to browse, find an interesting section and delve into it. Frankly I found the whole book incredibly compelling – especially if you like maps.” – Man of La Book
 
“One of my favorite parts of this book is that it spends some time talking about escape maps for downed airmen and there are maps that show possible routes that they could have taken to safety. There is a fantastic picture included that shows tiny compasses that were hidden in parts of military uniforms or among their other supplies, like inside of buttons or as part of belt buckles. This fascinates me.” –Into the Hall of Books
 
“Atlas of World War II manages to bridge both the Western and the Eastern Fronts, as well as events in the Pacific, with substantive details, something that isn’t always accomplished so successfully…allows for readers to appreciate the full scope of what was happening. Each page becomes a time capsule of that point in the war, with the slow but painful progression toward Allied victory.” –Dwell in Possibility

“…there were unique gems in this collection. Among them, a small number of old Japanese maps, some for military use in China and a world map for public consumption, were most interesting…German naval navigation charts of waters off North America were captivating as well. Last but not least, as I looked closely, some of the maps reproduced in this volume actually contained front line notes penciled in by the commanders who used them.” –World War II Database

From the Publisher

03/01/2019

Featuring 114 period maps and 100 new ones, this stunning atlas illustrates the military campaigns and political boundaries of World War II. Also included are contextualizing essays, photo reproductions of weapons and soldiers, and pictures of artifacts of the era such as spy gear and tattered wartime flags. Coverage is comprehensive, including major battles (Stalingrad and Midway, where the tide turned against Germany and Japan) and obscure theaters (Burma). Kagan (editor, Great Photography of World War II) and frequent National Geographic contributor Hyslop (Atlas of the Civil War) arrange the chapters chronologically by theater and belligerent. Emphasis is on war and politics, with few maps illustrating economies, populations, or other aspects. Despite the atlas's coffee-table dimensions, several of the full-page period maps are faded, densely detailed, and handwritten, which makes deciphering them tricky without a magnifying glass. One disturbing entry is a Nazi sketch showing the Baltic States and Belorussia, each marked with a coffin and the number of Jewish people murdered as of 1942. Shockingly, this map is labeled Estonia "Judenfrei"—the Nazis believed they had exterminated every Jew in Estonia. VERDICT Thoughtfully curated and beautifully designed, this volume is sure to appeal to military history aficionados and anyone with an unadorned coffee table.—Michael Rodriguez, Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs

Library Journal