The Times Atlas of the Second World War

by John Keegan and The Times

Book Overview

An atlas contains more than eight hundred detailed maps, charts, and commentaries that plot the exact course of the war on the land, sea, and in the air and includes a chronology of events that led to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060161787
• ISBN13: 9780060161781
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 254 Pages
• Weight: 4.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 10.8" x 14.6"

Customer Reviews

Best WWII Atlas Available

This book is huge, being 14 by 10.5 inches large, most of the maps are large. With the wealth of information included on each map plus the large size, its easy to grasp the importance of each map. Each map includes pertinent cities, rivers, other terrain features and troop movements. This atlas usually has sufficient details to allow you to follow along when your reading other books. There has been many times when the book I'm reading has no map or a poor map and this atlas will have what is needed. One item that is missing is a mileage scale. When Bryansk fell to the Germans in 1941, it would be interesting to know how close they were to Moscow. Or in the Ardennes offensive, it would be useful when following Peiper's progress, to determine how close he was getting to the Meuse River. In general the atlas is great but there are two areas that disappoint; First area is in the Aachen-Roer River sector when Collins was trying to advance in the last quarter of 1944. There is a map of the area but it lacks details of towns, terrain etc to be really helpful when trying to follow a book you're reading. I've checked four other notable atlases and their coverage of this area and time is also lacking. The second area concerns Hoth's advance in the Abganerovo region, south of Stalingrad in Aug - Sept 1942. There is a map of this area but greater detail would be nice. This is the exception; generally these maps have more data points than other general purpose atlases. There are more towns, cities, rivers, and other terrain features displayed on these maps than on other atlases. There are also many double page maps rendering huge displays, making it easy to study a heavily populated environment. Its 254 pages has a wealth of information and nearly 400 maps plus illustrations and charts. Lets make one comparison. This atlas has twice the number of maps than in Chris Bishop's "The Military Atlas of World War II". In the reviewed volume, it has 48 maps of the Russo-German War as compared to 28 to Bishop's atlas. An example of what this Atlas does that many don't provide is a time sequence or series that separate the overall campaign into key ingredients. The period is Feb 43 - June 43. Operation Little Saturn is being covered. The primary map covers the southern half of Russia showing the big picture of the campaign but accompanying it is a series of four small scale maps of greater detail showing the progress of the Russian Army as it pushes the Germans from Stalingrad to Kharkov. This practice of providing a series of maps occurs at other key offensives as well. There is a running dialog throughout the entire book describing the key events of the war which is useful for new students. It covers all theaters as well: Pacific, Russia, Europe, Africa, Burma and China. It even includes several sea battles. The other features of the atlas are also well thought out. The table of contents, the six column chronology, the glossary of key events and personalities

I've been looking for a book like this for a long time.

s This is a first class comprehensive reference for Maps and Battles as well as a lot of other information of the Second World War. It is an invaluable aid to have handy when reading other books about the war or even when watching documentaties. There are many excellent features of this book,and one particularly good is a 12-page time chart showing events and when they happened, starting with the Treaty of Versailles on June 28,1919 all the way to July 4, 1945, when the US Senate approved America's participation in the UN. It shows this in the 6 separate theatres of operations;W Europe,N & E Europe,Mediterranean & Africa,Mainland Asia,Pacific & Oceania,Atlantic & Americas. So,it is very easy to see what was taking place in each of these areas ,on say, the first week of October,1943, or on the second week of February ,1942. Then, there are all the descriptions of the battles and the maps showing troops, major weapons, and an amazing amount of detail in charts and other format.There are a lot of photographs,but they certainly take second place to Maps and Battle information.And it is all in color!! Along with all the maps and things, there is also 45 pages of Bibliography,Acknowledgements,Glossary( which is excellent),and an extensive index. This has all been organized in a large 10 1/2" X 12 1/2 X 3/4" Volume.It is well bound and the paper,printing and color reproduction is first class. No doubt,any person with an interest in details of WWII will find this a very reader friendly source of information and will turn to it often . One would hardly expect otherwise from a product that was edited by someone as well known and respected for his books on WWII.

The Times: Atlas of the second world war

This is by far the most complete book about world war II battles and strategy. The large color pictures help to show where armies were, what their objectives were and how/if they accomplished them. There is at least one large two page map for every semi-major to major sea and land battle(s) fought throught the whole war. There are also many maps that show economic progress and statuses before and after the war. If you are a World War II collector, hobbyist, or enthusist and don't have this book, you need to make it your life's goal to get a copy. You will be ever so glad you did.