Mapping the Second World War: The Key Battles of the European Theatre from Above.

Swift, Michael; Sharpe, Michael

ISBN 10: 1844862496 / ISBN 13: 9781844862498

Published by London: Conway, 2014., 2014

About this Item

Hard cover book in very good condition. No dust jacket. Minor general wear. Landscape 4to. 144pp.

Seller Inventory # 30945

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Mapping the Second World War: The Key Battles of the European Theatre from Above.
• Publisher: London: Conway, 2014.
• Publication Date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1844862496
• ISBN 13: 9781844862498
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Seller catalogs:
  • Militaria

About this title

Synopsis

The Second World War was a watershed in world history: the seizing of power by Hitler and the Nazis, the slowly building crescendo of annexations that led to Blitzkrieg, the conquest of Europe, the U-boat war, the strategic bombing campaign, the invasion of Russia, Stalingrad and D-Day, and the long German retreat to unconditional surrender.

Mapping the Second World War does not try to retell every point in the story of the war in Europe, rather it seeks to provide – through contemporary documents – a different view of the war and suggest avenues for further research. Presenting over 100 maps it looks both at the broad sweep of events – such as the invasion of Europe in June 1944 – and at details – the two-man X-craft attack on the battleship Tirpitz – to provide a fascinating sample of how events during the war were mapped out. Charts and maps were vital to the conduct of the war: before each military event there was planning, the reconnaissance, the conjecture as to enemy dispositions: after the event there would be debriefing, analysis of success and failure, and a redrawing of maps to show new troop positions and boundaries.

Many of the maps selected have been used in actual combat and are marked up accordingly. Such battlefield annotations add to this fascinating overview of some of the key events in the Second World War and are referenced in the extended accompanying map captions. The volume is complete with a detailed narrative introduction to the progress of the war.

About the Author

Michael Swift is the pen name of a publisher who lives in London and writes in his spare time, alongside his interest in industrial archaeology and football. He was educated in the north of England and at Oxford, where he gained an MA in History. He is also the author of Historical Maps of Europe.