The Library of Congress World War II Companion
1st Edition
Published on 2. October 2007
944 pages
978-1-4165-5306-9 (ISBN)
Description
The noted historian John Keegan called World War II "the largest single event in human history." More than sixty years after it ended, that war continues to shape our world. Going far beyond accounts of the major battles, The Library of Congress World War II Companion examines, in a unique and engaging manner, this devastating conflict, its causes, conduct, and aftermath. It considers the politics that shaped the involvement of the major combatants; military leadership and the characteristics of major Allied and Axis armed services; the weaponry that resulted in the war's unprecedented destruction, as well as debates over the use of these weapons; the roles of resistance groups and underground fighters; war crimes; daily life during wartime; the uses of propaganda; and much more.
Drawn from the unparalleled collections of the institution that has been called "America's Memory," The Library of Congress World War II Companion includes excerpts from contemporary letters, journals, pamphlets, and other documents, as well as first-person accounts recorded by the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. The text is complemented by more than 150 illustrations. Organized into topical chapters (such as "The Media War," "War Crimes and the Holocaust," and two chapters on "Military Operations" that cover the important battles), the book also include readers to navigate through the rich store of information in these pages. Filled with facts and figures, information about unusual aspects of the war, and moving personal accounts, this remarkable volume will be indispensable to anyone who wishes to understand the World War II era and its continuing reverberations.
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David M. Kennedy | Margaret E. Wagner | Linda Barrett Osborne
The Library of Congress World War II Companion
Book
10/2007
Simon & Schuster
€61.40
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Person
David M. Kennedy
Content
- Intro
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- Dedication
- Contents
- INTRODUCTION BY DAVID M. KENNEDY
- PREFACE BY JAMES H. BILLINGTON, THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS
- ABOUT THIS BOOK
- CONTRIBUTORS
- 1. THE WORLD AT WAR
- PART I: PRELUDE
- Treaty of Versailles
- Post-Versailles: The State of the World
- Communism versus Fascism
- The Rise of Totalitarianism
- Peace and Disarmament
- Interwar Economics and Depression
- War in the 1930s
- Conclusion: Into the Future
- PART II: A GLOBAL CONFLICT: SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS
- Alliances and Colonies
- Global Transport
- Migrations and Refugees
- Combatants
- Neutral Nations
- The Geography of War
- PRINCIPAL SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
- 2. WARTIME POLITICS
- Time Line
- PRINCIPAL SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
- 3. MOBILIZATION: THE RIFLE, THE WRENCH, AND THE RATIONING BOOK
- Prologue
- Introduction
- Military Mobilization
- Civil Defense
- Industry and War Production
- Other Government Mobilization
- PRINCIPAL SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
- 4. MILITARY LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATION
- THE AXIS
- Axis Military Leaders and Their Armed Forces
- THE ALLIES
- Allied Military Leaders and Their Armed Forces
- PRINCIPAL SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
- 5. INSTRUMENTS OF WAR
- Aircraft
- Artillery, Tanks, and Tank Destroyers
- Cameras
- Camouflage, Decoys, and Deception
- Fortifications
- Mines and Booby Traps
- Naval Vessels and Weaponry
- Small Arms
- Technological Devices
- Vehicles (Land)
- Weapons of Terror, Desperation, and Mass Destruction
- PRINCIPAL SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
- 6. MILITARY OPERATIONS, 1937-1941
- 1937-August 1939: Fire in the East
- September 1939-December 1940: Fire in the West
- 1941: The World's Wars Become a World War
- PRINCIPAL SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
- 7. MILITARY OPERATIONS, 1942-1945
- 1942: The Allies Against the Ropes
- 1943: The Tide Begins to Turn
- 1944: Toward Tokyo and Berlin
- 1945: Allied Victory and an Uneasy Peace
- PRINCIPAL SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
- 8. WAR CRIMES AND THE HOLOCAUST
- The Rules of War
- War Crimes
- The Allies
- The Axis
- The Holocaust
- Time Line
- PRINCIPAL SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
- 9. THE UNDERGROUND WAR
- Underground Warriors: Intelligence Organizations
- Methods of Underground Warfare
- Resistance Movements, Partisans, and Underground Political Organizations
- Jewish Resistance
- PRINCIPAL SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
- 10. THE MEDIA WAR
- Propaganda and Censorship Organizations and Agendas
- Censorship Issues
- Black Propaganda
- Propaganda Techniques
- The Media
- Propaganda, Truth, and Influence
- PRINCIPAL SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
- 11. WAR ON THE HOME FRONT
- Morale
- Labor
- Agriculture
- The Role of Women
- Doing Without and Making Do: Rationing and Salvaging
- Civil Defense, Air Raids, and Bomb Shelters
- Mobility/Evacuations
- Axis
- Japanese Americans on the Home Front
- Religion
- From Home Front to Home
- PRINCIPAL SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
- 12. THE AFTERMATH
- "The War Is Over!"
- A New World Landscape
- Occupation
- Refugees and Displaced Persons
- Prosecuting War Criminals
- Postwar America: The United States after V-J Day
- Balance of Power and the Cold War
- An American Memorial, 2004
- Principal Sources And Further Reading
- INFORMATION ABOUT IMAGES
- INDEX
