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Illustrated World War II Encyclopedia, Set
A 24 volume unbiased account of the most devastating war known to mankind...contains the original text previously published in the United Kingdom plus background articles by a group of distinguished historians...enlivened with color photographs recently uncovered.
3360 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1980
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95 people want to read
About the author
Peter Young
303 books4 followersBrigadier Peter Young, DSO, MC & 2 bars was a British soldier & WWII veteran. He served with the Commandos during that war, ultimately commanding a Brigade. After the war, he commanded a regiment on secondment to the Jordanian Arab Legion. After his retirement from the army, he became a lecturer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and eventually also a well-respected author of books on Military History, particularly with reference to the Second World War, the English Civil War & the Napoleonic Wars.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 31, 2024
This was quite a long journey, with this set being 24 volumes and close to 3400 pages. Seems unfair GR only credits me with a single "read" though I suppose it is just me being a curmudgeon to complain. Thankfully for you all, this review will be much shorter.
This set is exactly what it calls itself, an illustrated encyclopedia of all things WW2. It tackles the war by going more or less chronologically, from the origins and causes of the war up through the VJ Day and post war occupations. The volumes tend to remain focused on specific regions or fronts for time period chapters, and then move to the next region or front to cover what was happening there over the same period of time. The writing is done at a high level, covering the strategic war well and less focused on tactical warfare beyond highlighting new tactics or equipment that was changing warfare. Details on specific battles are lacking for the most part, as is any real analysis of the choices/decisions/ tactics used. High level talk can be less satisfying, but this is an encyclopedia and is meant to point you in the right directions for more detailed research. This was written long before the internet, Google, or Wikipedia existed, so it was the best available for the students of the time. I read this entire set multiple times as a child, as my local library was blessed to have a set. I strongly credit it for sparking my interests in military history.
Now this said, I should point out the "illustrated" part of the name. Honestly, the pictures in this set are amazing, and the color plates of equipment complete with a technical listing of armaments, equipment, armor, etc on each plate page describing the item were invaluable. Now the accuracy of all the details is somewhat variable, as often times it gives details for a single "Mark" of the vehicle or plane which would be inaccurate for later or earlier "Marks". They did tend to focus on the most common variants or most famous, say like the P-51D Mustang over earlier models. I take no issue with that, as the set was already massive and more pages would not be a positive. The included color maps are very well made and easy to follow.
The printing seen in the picture above is the newest edition, and it photocopied the original pages in the blue linen bound edition. This earns it a 1/2 star deduction for some of the pages are not centered or are at odd angles. The page material is lower quality, but glossy enough to make the picture colors really pop. I'd really advocate for folks to get the first edition if it is a choice though. I have about half of the set in first edition, and they are far superior productions.
The references and appendices at the end of the set include propaganda posters which are very uncommon to see. These are also sprinkled through out the work to give some flavor to the chapters. I really liked that they did not dumb these down for "modern audiences" and kept them intact... as offensive and awful as they are. I feel it is important for readers to see just how terrible people can be during war, and to educate ourselves on how war can bring out the worst in all of us. Some of the pictures on the Holocaust are not for the timid either.
So why 5 Stars you ask. Well, it is just about an ideal set for the novices wanting to study WW2, and quality enough to keep the educated coming back for multiple passes to better understand the high level view of the war. The illustrations and maps are worth having it alone, and I consider the cheapening of the book materials not enough of an issue to penalize the score overall.
4.5 Stars , rounded up for being so inspiring for my studies.
This set is exactly what it calls itself, an illustrated encyclopedia of all things WW2. It tackles the war by going more or less chronologically, from the origins and causes of the war up through the VJ Day and post war occupations. The volumes tend to remain focused on specific regions or fronts for time period chapters, and then move to the next region or front to cover what was happening there over the same period of time. The writing is done at a high level, covering the strategic war well and less focused on tactical warfare beyond highlighting new tactics or equipment that was changing warfare. Details on specific battles are lacking for the most part, as is any real analysis of the choices/decisions/ tactics used. High level talk can be less satisfying, but this is an encyclopedia and is meant to point you in the right directions for more detailed research. This was written long before the internet, Google, or Wikipedia existed, so it was the best available for the students of the time. I read this entire set multiple times as a child, as my local library was blessed to have a set. I strongly credit it for sparking my interests in military history.
Now this said, I should point out the "illustrated" part of the name. Honestly, the pictures in this set are amazing, and the color plates of equipment complete with a technical listing of armaments, equipment, armor, etc on each plate page describing the item were invaluable. Now the accuracy of all the details is somewhat variable, as often times it gives details for a single "Mark" of the vehicle or plane which would be inaccurate for later or earlier "Marks". They did tend to focus on the most common variants or most famous, say like the P-51D Mustang over earlier models. I take no issue with that, as the set was already massive and more pages would not be a positive. The included color maps are very well made and easy to follow.
The printing seen in the picture above is the newest edition, and it photocopied the original pages in the blue linen bound edition. This earns it a 1/2 star deduction for some of the pages are not centered or are at odd angles. The page material is lower quality, but glossy enough to make the picture colors really pop. I'd really advocate for folks to get the first edition if it is a choice though. I have about half of the set in first edition, and they are far superior productions.
The references and appendices at the end of the set include propaganda posters which are very uncommon to see. These are also sprinkled through out the work to give some flavor to the chapters. I really liked that they did not dumb these down for "modern audiences" and kept them intact... as offensive and awful as they are. I feel it is important for readers to see just how terrible people can be during war, and to educate ourselves on how war can bring out the worst in all of us. Some of the pictures on the Holocaust are not for the timid either.
So why 5 Stars you ask. Well, it is just about an ideal set for the novices wanting to study WW2, and quality enough to keep the educated coming back for multiple passes to better understand the high level view of the war. The illustrations and maps are worth having it alone, and I consider the cheapening of the book materials not enough of an issue to penalize the score overall.
4.5 Stars , rounded up for being so inspiring for my studies.
August 20, 2022
Vol 1 only. I wish I had the other volumes. Great illustrated mini-reference book of WWII. Covers the lead up to and start of WWII. Great photos. Lots of interesting facts that I was not aware of.
October 24, 2012
An Excellent World War II Resource …
I remember checking out individual volumes of this encyclopedia from the public library as an elementary school student (almost 35 years ago) and wishing I owned the entire set. After college, I actively sought to build a personal World War II library and immediately thought THE ILLUSTRATED WORLD WAR II ENCYCLOPEDIA (along with the Time-Life World War II book series) would be a great foundation.
While this substantive 24-volume set is somewhat dated (originally published in the 1960s) and doesn’t have the glossy/polished appearance of the Time-Life series, it still remains one of the better World War II resources I have in my library. Compact, yet thorough, each volume provides a treasure-trove of data covering almost every facet of World War II, even touching on more obscure subjects. The graphic content alone makes this encyclopedia worth every penny. Many of the pictures I’ve never seen published before and many of the pictures are in color. Additionally, peppered throughout the volumes are two-page “inserts” highlighting specific weapons’ (planes, tanks and ships) technical data along with three colorful profile views (front, top and side) of the particular weapon. The textual content is straight-forward, informative and appears to live up to its claim of being “unbiased”. What separates this series from others is that it covers so much. In addition to the standard fare, this encyclopedia also covers lesser-known topics as well: remote battles, small-arms, propaganda, Luftwaffe plane art, etc. The ILLUSTRATED WORLD WAR II ENCYCLOPEDIA covers it all.
My only frustration with this encyclopedia is that it is somewhat difficult to navigate. Other than the number, each volume cover is identical. The generic cover and the encyclopedia’s semi-chronological format make it difficult to simply choose a specific volume on sight. Additionally, the page numbers run continuously from the first to the last volume. While the final (24th) volume is dedicated as an index for the entire encyclopedia, it references pages numbers only … meaning the user has to determine which volume contains the referenced page number … ugh.
Although the ILLUSTRATED WORLD WAR II ENCYCLOPEDIA offers a crude organizational structure, the diversity and thoroughness of the content more than make up for it. The true value of this set of books, however, is the massive visual content. I would suggest the ILLUSTRATED WORLD WAR II ENCYCLOPEDIA as a solid reference for anyone interested in World War II.
I remember checking out individual volumes of this encyclopedia from the public library as an elementary school student (almost 35 years ago) and wishing I owned the entire set. After college, I actively sought to build a personal World War II library and immediately thought THE ILLUSTRATED WORLD WAR II ENCYCLOPEDIA (along with the Time-Life World War II book series) would be a great foundation.
While this substantive 24-volume set is somewhat dated (originally published in the 1960s) and doesn’t have the glossy/polished appearance of the Time-Life series, it still remains one of the better World War II resources I have in my library. Compact, yet thorough, each volume provides a treasure-trove of data covering almost every facet of World War II, even touching on more obscure subjects. The graphic content alone makes this encyclopedia worth every penny. Many of the pictures I’ve never seen published before and many of the pictures are in color. Additionally, peppered throughout the volumes are two-page “inserts” highlighting specific weapons’ (planes, tanks and ships) technical data along with three colorful profile views (front, top and side) of the particular weapon. The textual content is straight-forward, informative and appears to live up to its claim of being “unbiased”. What separates this series from others is that it covers so much. In addition to the standard fare, this encyclopedia also covers lesser-known topics as well: remote battles, small-arms, propaganda, Luftwaffe plane art, etc. The ILLUSTRATED WORLD WAR II ENCYCLOPEDIA covers it all.
My only frustration with this encyclopedia is that it is somewhat difficult to navigate. Other than the number, each volume cover is identical. The generic cover and the encyclopedia’s semi-chronological format make it difficult to simply choose a specific volume on sight. Additionally, the page numbers run continuously from the first to the last volume. While the final (24th) volume is dedicated as an index for the entire encyclopedia, it references pages numbers only … meaning the user has to determine which volume contains the referenced page number … ugh.
Although the ILLUSTRATED WORLD WAR II ENCYCLOPEDIA offers a crude organizational structure, the diversity and thoroughness of the content more than make up for it. The true value of this set of books, however, is the massive visual content. I would suggest the ILLUSTRATED WORLD WAR II ENCYCLOPEDIA as a solid reference for anyone interested in World War II.
October 31, 2011
I have this entire collection. These volumes originally belonged to my grandfather, a WWII veteran. I've read through them many times. There is so much to World War II, it requires something of this length and detail to truly understand it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews