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World War Two: Under the Shadow of the Swastika
This volume of Campfire's graphic history of World War II deals with the war in Europe from the rise of the Nazis through to May 1945 and VE Day. World War II shows the effects of the war on the soldiers, the refugees, the victims and protagonists of the most terrible conflict the world has ever known. In a world that is forgetting the lessons history has to teach, this book is a reminder of the horrors that come from intolerance.
In the 1930s, a great evil was rising in the heart of Europe, a threat unlike any seen before. German leader Adolf Hitler, a madman bent on world domination, was raising an army and growing more violent by the day. The world knew that Hitler had to be stopped. But fearing a war, this growing threat of Hitler's Nazi army was left unchecked. The world simply watched as Germany sank into darkness. The world merely prayed that war would not breach their borders. The world waited. And they waited too long.
As cities fell to ruin and millions were slaughtered, the growing darkness of Hitler and his Nazi empire branched out far beyond Europe—to Asia and Africa and America—and soon threatened to claim the entire world. France, England, Russia, the United States… no single nation had the strength to combat this darkness, at least not on their own.
With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, the one final, desperate hope was that all of these nations united together might muster the strength to save humanity.
In the 1930s, a great evil was rising in the heart of Europe, a threat unlike any seen before. German leader Adolf Hitler, a madman bent on world domination, was raising an army and growing more violent by the day. The world knew that Hitler had to be stopped. But fearing a war, this growing threat of Hitler's Nazi army was left unchecked. The world simply watched as Germany sank into darkness. The world merely prayed that war would not breach their borders. The world waited. And they waited too long.
As cities fell to ruin and millions were slaughtered, the growing darkness of Hitler and his Nazi empire branched out far beyond Europe—to Asia and Africa and America—and soon threatened to claim the entire world. France, England, Russia, the United States… no single nation had the strength to combat this darkness, at least not on their own.
With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, the one final, desperate hope was that all of these nations united together might muster the strength to save humanity.
- GenresGraphic NovelsHistory
184 pages, Paperback
First published November 3, 2015
47 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
Lewis Helfand
47 books10 followersThe creator and writer of Wasted Minute and 4320, Lewis Helfand is a freelance writer whose comic book credits include the graphic novels Kim, A Journey To The Centre Of The Earth, and The Time Machine for Campfire Comics and the monthly mini-comic The Adventures of Roxy Riley for East Coast Biker Magazine.
His past credits include weekly columns for AskMen.com and InsideHoops.com, as well as monthly features for Exposed Magazine and Rockstar Magazine. Other recent clips include articles for American Health & Fitness, Renaissance Magazine, Computer Bits Magazine, Vicious Magazine, The Funny Papers of Philadelphia, ClubPlanet.com, Food-Writing.com, and Modvox.com.
His past credits include weekly columns for AskMen.com and InsideHoops.com, as well as monthly features for Exposed Magazine and Rockstar Magazine. Other recent clips include articles for American Health & Fitness, Renaissance Magazine, Computer Bits Magazine, Vicious Magazine, The Funny Papers of Philadelphia, ClubPlanet.com, Food-Writing.com, and Modvox.com.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 24, 2020
Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it(Santayana)
This is the first part of the two part World War II series from Campfire.It certainly doesn't disappoint.The graphics are one of the best I have seen and the writing is lucid as well.
The better part among prose and graphics are certainly graphics.Many a times,they teleport you to that age and make you witness the crimes committed by Nazis.Some chapters of World War II like the Danish resistance,Nazi crimes against Czechs etc. ,which are not much known outside Europe,have been also included in the text.But the the chapters like death of Mussolini,Battle of the Bulge etc.have not been included.Hence,I regard it as a very good 'graphic novel',which should be read especially by youngsters,though it is devoid of some information.
This is the first part of the two part World War II series from Campfire.It certainly doesn't disappoint.The graphics are one of the best I have seen and the writing is lucid as well.
The better part among prose and graphics are certainly graphics.Many a times,they teleport you to that age and make you witness the crimes committed by Nazis.Some chapters of World War II like the Danish resistance,Nazi crimes against Czechs etc. ,which are not much known outside Europe,have been also included in the text.But the the chapters like death of Mussolini,Battle of the Bulge etc.have not been included.Hence,I regard it as a very good 'graphic novel',which should be read especially by youngsters,though it is devoid of some information.
September 15, 2019
It is one of my favorite books. It is one of the two World War II books, the other being 'World War Two: Against the Rising Sun'. This has specific focus on the action in Europe and Africa. It shows all the horrors and triumphs that happened. It also shows the carnage that destroyed and devastated so many countries, and all because of Adolf Hitler. Many claim it started on first September, 1939, but in reality, it started years ago. It also tells the horror of the Holocaust (sacrifice by burning). I don't like the book for only one thing, it doesn't include the legendary Bismark. it also shows how much evil Hitler could do without stopping and his madness. It also shows the trick of the Polish invasion. It showed Dunkirk and I really liked it. The book is terrifying, dangerous, sad and many other evil emotions. I wish this never happened and hope nothing like this ever happens again. But good old Winnie (my nickname for Winston Churchill) kept everyone's hopes up and saved the day.
August 7, 2018
While it is categorized as a ‘graphic novel’, Under the Shadow of the Swastika is more fact than fiction. This is creative non-fiction which tells the story of Europe during World War II. Beginning with the rise of the Nazi Party and the first signs of anti-Semitism, it progresses across Europe, tracing all the main events (and some relatively minor ones) across the continent. The narrative zooms in every now and then on some specific characters—often actual people, like Hitler himself or Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who devoted many years of his life to trying to kill Hitler—but the effect of the war is also shown through the use of fictional characters: Jews who fled Germany, only to find that the spread of Nazi power across Europe meant that they were now unsafe even in their new refuge; war correspondents; soldiers; and many victims of Nazi oppression.
As an enlightening and concise snapshot of the war in Europe, this book is excellent: it’s not excessively full of data and it doesn’t go too deep into each event—just enough to inform, which is as it should be, for a younger audience (or, really, for any audience that is to be introduced to WWII). The text is good (though I found the dialogue a wee bit unrealistic at times) and the graphics are superb. I liked that there were pages at intervals which included photographs of the events and people being discussed in the book (one especially haunting photo is of concentration camp survivors standing and staring into the camera).
At the end is additional material: a timeline, an ‘event map’ of Europe and North Africa during WWII, and—this I found most interesting of all—some trivia about the war: like the Ukrainian football team (comprised of POWs) which played a ‘friendly’ match with the Nazis, and about fashion house Hugo Boss’s connection with the Third Reich.
The one thing I didn’t like was the somewhat uneven balance between fact and fiction in the main story. I can see that introducing fictional characters—everyday people, not just those whom history remembers—is a good way of helping people relate to history, but the problem with the fictional aspect of Under the Shadow of the Swastika is that there are too many fictitious characters, with their stories continued too far apart to be coherent. Even though it might have been a lot tougher, it would’ve been more interesting to trace the lives of just a couple of characters from the start of the war to its end—for me, at least, that would have made them seem more real. As it is, I soon lost track of who was who, and wasn’t really bothered about what happened to them.
As an enlightening and concise snapshot of the war in Europe, this book is excellent: it’s not excessively full of data and it doesn’t go too deep into each event—just enough to inform, which is as it should be, for a younger audience (or, really, for any audience that is to be introduced to WWII). The text is good (though I found the dialogue a wee bit unrealistic at times) and the graphics are superb. I liked that there were pages at intervals which included photographs of the events and people being discussed in the book (one especially haunting photo is of concentration camp survivors standing and staring into the camera).
At the end is additional material: a timeline, an ‘event map’ of Europe and North Africa during WWII, and—this I found most interesting of all—some trivia about the war: like the Ukrainian football team (comprised of POWs) which played a ‘friendly’ match with the Nazis, and about fashion house Hugo Boss’s connection with the Third Reich.
The one thing I didn’t like was the somewhat uneven balance between fact and fiction in the main story. I can see that introducing fictional characters—everyday people, not just those whom history remembers—is a good way of helping people relate to history, but the problem with the fictional aspect of Under the Shadow of the Swastika is that there are too many fictitious characters, with their stories continued too far apart to be coherent. Even though it might have been a lot tougher, it would’ve been more interesting to trace the lives of just a couple of characters from the start of the war to its end—for me, at least, that would have made them seem more real. As it is, I soon lost track of who was who, and wasn’t really bothered about what happened to them.
April 23, 2022
The two great wars fought in the first half of the 20th century impacted every single person who not only lived through them but billions born even decades after their culmination. We cannot learn enough about them. Yet, the more we make an effort to learn about them, the more we understand how these events affected us.
Last year I began reading this series which includes two other books, World War One: 1914-1918 (written by Alan Cowsill, Illustration by Lalit Kumar Sharma), World War Two: Against The Rising Sun (written by Jason Quinn, Illustration by Naresh Kumar). Beginning with the events surrounding the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand till the dropping of Little Boy and Fat Man, these books tell us about the shock, rage, pain and helplessness of millions through the eyes of the soldiers who fought in them.
Since I have been reading and watching documentaries about Hitler and Nazis for a few years, the events of the book were more of a refresher to the tragedies of letting fascism rise. But learning about the circumstances and happenings of WWI in the first book, and the atrocities of Imperial Japan, the prejudice of the Americans in their treatment of immigrant Japanese was a jarring experience.
Graphic novels are the best way to share stories of history, especially with those who shudder at the idea of reading. And this series is a must-read for all.
Last year I began reading this series which includes two other books, World War One: 1914-1918 (written by Alan Cowsill, Illustration by Lalit Kumar Sharma), World War Two: Against The Rising Sun (written by Jason Quinn, Illustration by Naresh Kumar). Beginning with the events surrounding the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand till the dropping of Little Boy and Fat Man, these books tell us about the shock, rage, pain and helplessness of millions through the eyes of the soldiers who fought in them.
Since I have been reading and watching documentaries about Hitler and Nazis for a few years, the events of the book were more of a refresher to the tragedies of letting fascism rise. But learning about the circumstances and happenings of WWI in the first book, and the atrocities of Imperial Japan, the prejudice of the Americans in their treatment of immigrant Japanese was a jarring experience.
Graphic novels are the best way to share stories of history, especially with those who shudder at the idea of reading. And this series is a must-read for all.
March 10, 2022
World War II on the European front officially began in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland and ended in 1945 with the fall of Berlin, Hitler’s suicide and Germany’s unconditional surrender. But the years in between were filled with so much violence and destruction, that it leaves you numb yet emotionally wringed.
As the title suggests, this graphic novel covers all the shocking, devastating and deplorable events in Europe and Africa under the fanatical regime of Adolf Hitler. Told through the eyes of fictional and factual soldiers, resistance fighters, anti-Nazi dissidents, Jews, Germans, journalists and officers, the book starkly and heartbreakingly brings to life the heinous atrocities inflicted by the Nazi regime on the Jews. The battle between the Allies and the Axis powers to bring down one of the scariest dictators of the world unfolds in gruesome and informative detail.
This graphic novel would help many youngsters understand the Holocaust, the genocides, massacres, the never-ending battles to gain some semblance of hope, and how the maniacal will of one man scarred the world forever.
Emotionally gut-wrenching but a must-read.
As the title suggests, this graphic novel covers all the shocking, devastating and deplorable events in Europe and Africa under the fanatical regime of Adolf Hitler. Told through the eyes of fictional and factual soldiers, resistance fighters, anti-Nazi dissidents, Jews, Germans, journalists and officers, the book starkly and heartbreakingly brings to life the heinous atrocities inflicted by the Nazi regime on the Jews. The battle between the Allies and the Axis powers to bring down one of the scariest dictators of the world unfolds in gruesome and informative detail.
This graphic novel would help many youngsters understand the Holocaust, the genocides, massacres, the never-ending battles to gain some semblance of hope, and how the maniacal will of one man scarred the world forever.
Emotionally gut-wrenching but a must-read.
July 5, 2025
WOW
What I liked about this book, a very graphic detail about the rise & fall of the 3rd Reich I am sure some of it is fictional cause no one will ever know what happened with Adolf bunker.
One little flaw a little bit more detail that led up to July 20th at the Wolf Layer.
Overall a very excellent book to read.
What I liked about this book, a very graphic detail about the rise & fall of the 3rd Reich I am sure some of it is fictional cause no one will ever know what happened with Adolf bunker.
One little flaw a little bit more detail that led up to July 20th at the Wolf Layer.
Overall a very excellent book to read.
July 3, 2017
Good information. Definitive recommendation to the young kids.
August 4, 2017
Good informative graphic novel on WW2.. Got to know many things regarding Nazis.. WW2 was the deadliest military conflict in history..
November 21, 2019
Love learning about WW2
March 26, 2016
Probably as good as could be done in one volume, though no mention of the Spanish Civil War seems a bit of an oversight.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews