World War II: The Encyclopedia of the War Years 1941-1945 [Paperback]

Thomas B. Allen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2, 1996

Here is the authoritative and comprehensive reference work on the last world war, from an American perspective.  Published in hardcover in the midst of the 50th anniversary of various aspects of World War II, this ambitious work includes over 2,000 entries on military actions and battles, weapons, people, politics, culture, and everyday life, enlivened by quotes from the leaders of the day.  The result is a complete military and social history of the time.test

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Compiling an encyclopedia is one thing, but doing the job well is quite another. The authors have succeeded in producing an attractive and very nearly comprehensive compendium of World War II's major subjects that is not only accurate but enjoyable. Including more than 2400 entries of battles, weapons, people, places, and events, this oversized volume is replete with photographs and numerous sketch maps and drawings. It even contains a day-by-day chronology of the period. The detail on weaponry alone compares favorably with the many encyclopedias devoted strictly to World War II hardware. Although oriented to the U.S. wartime experience, the book amply covers Allied and Axis subjects. The space allotted each subject is always satisfying, ranging from a brief paragraph to several pages complete with tables and graphs. Best of all, the entries are written in a conversational tone and feature numerous highlighted cross-references that encourage compulsive browsing. Highly recommended for reference collections.
- Raymond L. Puffer, U.S. Air Force History Prog., Los Angeles
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Norman Polmar is a defense consultant as well as author, columnist, and editor, and has written or co-authored more than 30 books on military subjects.  Since 1980 he has served as consultant to several senior officials in the Navy and the Department of Defense and has directed or participated in major studies for the Army and Navy, including their intelligence commands; various other defense agencies; U.S. defense firms; and the Los Alamos National Laboratory.  Thomas B. Allen is the author of The Blue and the Gray, a book on the Civil War (National Geographic Society, 1992); and War Games (McGraw-Hill, 1987), a serious work on military strategy.  

Product Details

• Paperback: 940 pages
• Publisher: Random House Reference; 1 edition (July 2, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679770399
• ISBN-13: 978-0679770398
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,349,154 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars America at War is great reference book about WWII....., November 22, 2003

By 

Alex Diaz-Granados "fardreaming writer" (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: World War II: America at War 1941-1945 (Hardcover)

The Second World War was the defining event that shaped the 20th century. Every major world power of the day participated, some siding with the Axis powers, most others taking up the Allied cause and a few even switched sides as the fortunes of war first favored one band, then the other. Over 50 million people, most of them civilians, died. Millions more were wounded, held captive, or rendered homeless by invasion and aerial bombardment. Nearly every European country became a battlefield, as well as North Africa, China, India, Southeast Asia and the vast reaches of the world's oceans. Its outcome -- Germany, Italy and Japan defeated, France and Britain relegated to second-rate powers as the United States and the Soviet Union gained superpower status, the beginning of the Cold War and the constant fear of a Third World War -- shaped the rest of the century and sowed some of the seeds of this new century's conflicts.

There are, of course, many reference books about World War II on the market, and Norman Polmar and Thomas B. Allen's World War II: America at War 1941-1945 is one of the best affordable volumes. With, as its cover blurb states, "more than 2,400 encyclopedic entries on battles, weapons, people, places, and events," this 1991 work is engrossing and informative.

America at War is divided into four main sections. First, the essay Prologue to War 1919-1941 sets the stage for history's worst conflict by explaining how the end of World War I, the various post-war revolutions all over Europe, the rise of ultra nationalist and dictatorial regimes in Germany, Italy, Japan and the Soviet Union, American isolationism, French and British pacifism, the Great Depression and other forces all contributed to the outbreak of war. The rise of Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin and the Japanese militarists is charted, as are the various crises (the Spanish Civil War, Japan's incursions into China and Italy's invasion of Ethiopia) that culminated with the outbreak of what was first called the European War on Sept. 1, 1939, the day Nazi Germany invaded Poland. The essay briefly describes the war's first two years and concludes with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

The second section is a 52-page long War Chronology that covers most of World War II, with an emphasis on American involvement. It is not a complete chronology (although there is a very rare and expensive day-by-day volume in existence); nevertheless, it's well written and informative.

The bulk of America at War is the War Guide A - Z. From "A: Japanese code name for the capture of Rabaul" to "Zyklon-B: Chemical used to produce lethal gas in Nazi death camps," over 2,400 entries on the personalities, weapons, political and strategic issues and, of course, battles of World War II in every theater (not just battles involving Americans, though the emphasis is on the war starting with American involvement. The entries are, on average, from one to three paragraphs in length, although a few items (such as the Pearl Harbor attack) take up two to four pages and often have maps or photographs.

In a book of such ambitious scope, errors will sometimes slip by. In one glaring case, the isolationist organization America First Committee is consistently mislabeled "American First." But on the whole the War Guide is impressively well researched and addictive; World War II buffs will find themselves going back and forth through the cross-referenced entries as they hunt for data on favorite aircraft, military commanders and specific battles or campaigns. There are even entries detailing the various levels of involvement in the war by Latin America and shedding light on the little-known and almost forgotten contributions of Brazil's Expeditionary Force in Italy and Mexico's Mexican Air Unit, a "squadron that flew P-47 Thunderbolt fighters and saw action in the Pacific."

The essay Epilogue to War 1946-1990 covers the period that the late President John F. Kennedy (whose war service is noted in the K section, as is his father's isolationist/defeatist stance as Ambassador to Great Britain from 1938 to 1940) called "a hard and bitter peace." The Cold War between East and West...the Arab-Israeli conflict...Vietnam... the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.... All of these were part of the legacy of World War II. It is a carefully crafted and revealing analysis of all the side effects the war left behind after the major powers ceased fire in 1945, and chronicles the rise and fall of the former Soviet Union and the emergence of the United States as the globe's remaining superpower, ending on a reflective yet carefully optimistic note.

This (unfortunately) out of print book is a fine and valuable reference work not just for historians or World War II buffs, but for anyone who has an interest in the deeds and misdeeds that helped shape the world as we know it today, and especially for anyone who has a family connection to the dwindling "Greatest Generation" of Americans who served their country and helped save the world from tyranny.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Great Resource, December 14, 2001

By 

L. Novak "thebigtoe" (Long Island, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: World War II: America at War 1941-1945 (Hardcover)

It is a sin that this book is out of print. I am a history major specializing in 20th Century America, yet I learn something new every time I open this book. Over 2,000 entries in this encyclopedia, many of the articles are quite detailed. Authors come to reasoned judgments about the most controversial episodes of the war -- responsibility for Pearl Harbor, execution of Private Slovik, etc. Keep your eyes open for this one at used book sales.

2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Contains a gross misrepresentation, July 17, 2006

By 

Rib15 (Out there) - See all my reviews

This review is from: World War II: America at War 1941-1945 (Hardcover)

I'd give this book a much higher rating except for a reference to the "European War," of 1939 to 1942, that preceded "World War Two. This is revisionism, pure and simple. It's simply glossing over the fact that the United States was late entering the war. Terming that period the European War is an utter inaccuracy, as during that time Japan invaded Manchuria, China, Korea, had sunk much British shipping. What was that? The "Asian War?"

The period between the German invasion of Poland and the attack on Pearl was World War freaking TWO, okay? There are many explanations for the US not entering the war earlier than late 1941, but trying to gloss this over with a fabricated "European War" is something I would not expect from historians of Polmar and Allen's stature.