The Second World War

This single-volume history narrates the 1939-45 war from the German invasion of Poland to the Japanese surrender, keeping a close chronological line across Europe, North Africa, the Atlantic, and the Pacific. Gilbert attends to military operations, occupation, the Holocaust, home fronts, and the decisions of Allied and Axis leaders, using diaries, signals, and official papers. Ordinary soldiers and civilians appear beside the well-known commanders. The book is a comprehensive narrative of the global conflict, not a memoir and not a study of one campaign.

Bound in blue cloth, cover blocked with a white and black design by Joe McLaren. Colour frontispieces. Mottled grey slipcase blocked in silver and dark blue with an image.