Mapping the Second World War

by Peter Chasseaud

The history of the war through maps from 1939 to 1945

Experience the Second World War as you travel through time and follow the conflict of the war from 1939 to 1945 with this unique and invaluable volume!

From the earliest onslaught of troops in the Invasion of Poland to the D-Day and the Liberation of France. Features historical maps and photographs from their archives, and fascinating commentary from an expert historian. The events of the battles are detailed and illustrated, artfully telling a story of what occurred through maps with handwritten notes from the front lines. Complete with detailed courses of action for air strikes and naval battles along with annotated maps that illustrated the planned supply routes and attacks for soldiers is pictures of ruins, troops, world leaders, newspaper clippings, and more!

Types of maps featured:

Maps cover key battles and offensives on major fronts

Planning and operations maps showing defenses in detail

Maps showing dispositions of Allied and enemy forces

Bomber and V-weapon target maps

Key topics include:

1939: Invasion of Poland

1940: German invasion of the Low Countries & France

1940: Battle of Britain & German invasion threat

1941: Pearl Harbor

1941-1945: Barbarossa and the Eastern Front

1942: Turning Points: midway, Alamein, Stalingrad

The War at Sea

The War in the Air

1944: Neptune & Overlord; D-Day & liberation of France

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 His book Mapping the First World War showcases rare and previously unpublished maps from the 1914–1918 conflict, offering a detailed visual insight into the Great War.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.