Customer Reviews

Historical Atlas of World War II

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
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This is one of the better atlases of WWII. The book is large at 13 in. by 10 in. and the color maps are large and easy to read. The maps are laid out chronologically from before the war to after the war. There is a running dialog which follows the maps, explaining briefly the events of the war. There is a Table of Contents and a Map list which will greatly help you find the map you're after. There are good photos, some full page which will add to your experience. In addition to maps there are graphic illustrations that depict certain conditions or statistics before and during the war. There is a graphic on industrial production, mobilization numbers, casualties etc.
Though the maps are good and have good eye appeal, I prefer greater terrain details. Having more cities, towns and villages would help greatly for example when you are reading other books and you're trying to follow on your atlas. There would be many times you couldn't because the details are missing. Because rivers are so important in battle and much discussion is made in books, the rivers in your atlas should be named also. There are only few named in this atlas. There are no woods or swamps depicted either but they played an important part in battle. The troop movements in this atlas are not as exacting as they should be.
This atlas is good and should satisfy all but the most demanding.

Excellent, High Quality Map Diagrams from the End of WW1, the German Build Up to WW2, initial battles in WW2 to German advances and eventual losses in WW2.
Excellent inserts of weaponry, pictures of Territory and Towns, the People fighting as well as victims all bring life to the Maps.
The Atlas provides a very good historical overview of some catalysts behind the German issues with Poland and France while staying true to its intent - that being an Atlas. Great Entertainment, Education and Reference Atlas.

When I'm reading books about WW2, I use this atlas as a crucial companion resource. I'm currently reading two books for the first time, "American Caesar", William Manchester's classic of Douglas MacArthur in the Pacific theatre and "When Titans Clashed", David Glantz's account of how the Red Army stopped Hitler. Without this atlas, I wouldn't be able to fully comprehend or appreciate the true breadth and scope of these crucial events in the Pacific and Eastern Front.
This oversize atlas, 13x10 in., has huge color maps that chronologically spotlight major battles and campaigns, while charting detailed troop movements,etc. A brief narrative presents an overview and describes the significance of each campaign and battle. There are a few photos, maybe one every other page, but it's the maps and graphics that are outstanding. I never fully appreciated MacArthurs strategy in the Philippines until I studied these maps. How could he possibly defend a coastline the size of the United States? By referencing the maps and narrative in the atlas, I could better visualize the strategy and timeline behind events surrounding Operation Barbarossa, Stalingrad, Leningrad and truly appreciate the enormity of causalities suffered on the Eastern Front and how crucial the Eastern Front was to allied success.
For military purists, this atlas lacks some rivers, towns and terrain, but for the average person wishing to better comprehend events during WW2, this is a wonderful atlas.

I have found this atlas to be a very useful reference in my readings. While there are a few 1/2 or 1/4 page size maps, the majority of them are full page and in a book of this size they show a good amount of detail of the opposing armies fronts, troop movements and so on.


My readings on WWII cover all theaters, and not having more than a basic knowledge of world gepgraphy it was sometimes hard for me to visualize or understand some of these campaigns or battles - having no point of reference to the names of the towns, cities or locations involved. This atlas helps me understand in greater detail the vast scope of the battlegrounds and campaigns in the Pacific, CBI, China, et al - showing the offenses, counter-offensives and helping me grasp a bit of the startegies.


I just finished reading David Glantz's excellent "When Titan Clashed" and this atlas proved itself as an invaluable reference tool. Glantz's book is very detailed and this atlas has very good coverage of the German thrust of Operation Barbarossa and the major battles around Leningrad, Kharkov, Kursk and Stalingrad. It was especially usefaul covering the 1943 Soviet Winter Offensive which stretched the width of Russia from the Baltic to the Black Seas. It had overview maps of the entire front plus maps detailing the individual fronts such as the Ukraine, the Caucasus' and northern Russia and around Leningrad and the Karelian Front.

I have the hardcover edition and it was worth the few extra $$. It is a huge, heavy sturdy book and the pages are printed on heavy stock paper for durability. The maps are all full colored and the different army groups, armies, divisions and so on involved are labeled with clearly defined arrows showing their movements. It is laid out in chronological order. It begins with the European layout right after WWI and the first 20 or so pages are devoted to the politcal make-up and alliances, the Depression in Germany and the rise of facism and into the invasion of Poland. There are a couple of interesting chapters at the end detailing some statistics of the combatants, such as manpower and troops mobilized, casualties and industrial production.


As good as this atlas is it does miss out in not including or naming some of the topograhic and geographic details that were critical to some of the battles and campaigns, particularly the cities and towns and the rivers that needed to be crossed, or sometimes were the goals and end points of some of the offenses.

This large The Historical Atlas of World War II is a perfect accomplice for history books about the war. In very large detail, it shows overall troup movements, what types of units were involved, and also gives a brief summary on each page, so that one can follow the war, but only in a very general way, without an accompanying history book.

Other WWII books:
We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance Band of Brothers : E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
The Atlas of WWII
The Historical Atlas of World War II

I have this book at the ready whenever I can sit down to read. It's a beautiful graphic history of the War, with a very deep backstory preceding the battles and the war itself. If one could read the book cover to cover and absorb all of its information, you would come out a pretty fair historian at the end. I've been dipping in and out, so I cannot vouch for historical accuracy throughout, but I have yet to find a clinker in the history. The charts themselves are works of art, very understandable and actually beautiful in their own right. I highly recommend the book.

Very descriptive of Pre-WW2 to the battles in detail to Surrender Arrangements after, I completely reccomend it! Haven't seen anything else as thourough

A good history of war requires pictures of the battlefield, description of the battle terrain, the geography of the countries involved, troop alignments, orders of battle, causes and an examination of, and a discussion of, the political events that led up to the war, a discussion of how the battle were fought, who were the key players (military and political), and what their respective roles were, their tactics and strategies, pitfalls, errors and mistakes, battle casualties, attempts at negotiated peace agreements, and winners and losers (and why they won or lost).

If you add in exquisitely computer rendered graphics, high quality battle photos, a very useful table of contents, and a uniform key to all maps, and combine that with excellent writing and organization, then you have this book in a nutshell.

It begins with the peace settlement of World War-I and ends with the establishment of the United Nation and covers all of the causes, decisive battles and squirmishes in between.

I liked this version so much that I also bought the companion volumes on both the Civil War and World War-I. A deserving five star effort.

This is a good source of reference and worth the money. I refer to the maps often when reading text heavy books.

I received an excellent product. Timescale was according the information provided originally. The quality of the maps and information at the book is fantastic