Mapping the Second World War

by Peter Chasseaud, Imperial War Museum

More than 150 maps, accompanies by descriptions of key historical events, tell the story of how this global war was fought. They include strategic maps showing theaters of war, frontiers, and occupied territories; maps covering key battles and offensives on major fronts; planning and operations maps showing defenses in detail; propaganda and educational maps for the armed forces and general public; maps showing dispositions of Allied and enemy forces; and bomber and V-weapon target maps.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II

304 pages, Hardcover

First published October 8, 2015

About the author

Peter Chasseaud is a British historian specializing in military cartography. He is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a member of the Royal United Services Institute. He also founded the Historical Military Mapping Group within the British Cartographic Society. His book Mapping the First World War showcases rare and previously unpublished maps from the 1914–1918 conflict, offering a detailed visual insight into the Great War.

Reviews

[Richard Newbold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another volume which follows the author's previous exposition of WW1 through examination of the maps of the key battles and campaigns. The mix of maps, pictures and descriptive (though brief) narrative, gives an excellent perspective of the conflict, its scope and scale. Many of the maps describe lesser known areas of conflict - for example the "ice map" of Finland for the 1939/40 Winter War with the USSR is an amazing artefact. The cartographers' sophistication, detail and accuracy came on in leaps and bounds through the war years, the final European campaign of 1944-45 is really detailed. A little disappointed to see so little about the Mediterranean and Malta but there's really so much to pack in it is understandable. Whereas the previous work captured the claustrophobic nature of the static trench warfare of 1914-1918, it's actually the War in Pacific, particularly those describing the vastness of the Battle of Midway, which for me made best use of the graphical approach.