Imperial War Museum's Victory in Europe Experience [Hardcover]

Julian Thompson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Imperial War Museum | Publication Date: March 7, 2005

This book, published to celebrate the 60th anniversary of VE Day, is a graphic account of the storming and taking of Hitler's Festung Europa ('Fortress Europe') by the Allies during the final eleven months of the Second World War. The book shows spread by spread the relentless progress of the epic war in the European Theatre of Operations, and focuses on the world-famous engagements such as Operation Market-Garden (immortalised in the film A Bridge too Far), the Battle of the Bulge, the bombing of Dresden and other German cities, the fall of Berlin, and VE Day itself. Written by a leading military historian and including a wealth of first-hand accounts on an audio CD, Imperial War Museum's Victory in Europe Experience contains 30 facsimile items of memorabilia integrated into the pages of the book. The reader can re-live this momentous period of history by examining maps, diaries, letters, and other items which up till now have remained filed or exhibited in the Imperial War Museum and other museum collections in Northern Europe.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Julian Thompson is a leading military historian, a Visiting Professor to the Department of War Studies at King's College London, and a distinguished veteran of the Falklands War. He has written several successful books including No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic, The Imperial War Museum Book of the War in Burma 1942-1945, The Royal Marines, and The Imperial War Museum Book of War behind Enemy Lines.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Carlton Publishing (March 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844425959
• ISBN-13: 978-1844425952
• Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 10.9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,252,490 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars An Amazing Experience, December 3, 2008

By 

Jim G. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Imperial War Museum's Victory in Europe Experience (Hardcover)

The 'Victory in Europe Experience' is well-named: this amazing work is to be experienced as much as it is to be read. Published to commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day, it involves the reader, as much as something printed on paper can, in the final year of the war. Its organization, narrative, maps, and photos are all excellent - there's even an accompanying CD - but what truly brings these alive are the facsimiles of archival documents the reader can pull out and experience: A Wehrmacht soldier's personal diary (there are translations in the back of the book), in which the handwriting deteriorates after he takes a bullet in the stomach and begins to run a high fever. A propaganda leaflet, suggesting to GIs that their girls back home are fooling around. A copy of the December 29, 1944 Stars and Stripes, complete with comics. A barrage map, complete with overlay for amendments. Hitler's Last Will and Testament. 'My Military Missal,' complete with a battlefield Mass for the Dead. And many, many more.

All of the documents in my copy seem so real I wondered if the publisher had accidentally included the originals. This work is a masterstroke of the art of bookmaking, a wonderful treasure for you or anyone on your holiday list whose interests tend to World War 2 (Amazon also lists this book under another title, available from third party sellers). I just wish the Imperial War Museum would produce other volumes like this one that would cover the rest of the war.