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Some of the most popular selections from the formidable Eyewitness backlist are now available with a clip-art CD included-with no increase in price!

Book HardcoverPublication 6/25/2007 72Reading Age 8 and Up

72 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2000

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432 people want to read

About the author

Simon Adams

268 books37 followers
Simon Adams is a writer and editor of children’s non-fiction and reference books. He specializes in history, politics and current affairs and has written extensively on exploration, music and the arts. He is also a well established jazz critic and reviewer. Simon has also contributed to family and adult reference books and has been an editorial consultant on various history and other titles.
Simon was born in Bristol and studied history and politics at the London School of Economics and Bristol University, where he gained an MSc. He entered publishing as a publicity copywriter at Routledge and subsequently joined Dorling Kindersley, eventually becoming managing editor of the children's division. He became a full-time writer 15 years ago. Since then, he has written and contributed to more than 60 books for a wide range of publishers on subjects as varied as archaeology, the sinking of the Titanic and the history of jazz. Simon lives in London and is a keen reader and cyclist.


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5 stars
161 (39%)
4 stars
137 (33%)
3 stars
98 (24%)
2 stars
9 (2%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
Profile Image for Obied Alahmed.
246 reviews167 followers
September 26, 2018
ساتحدث بمراجعة واحد عن الكتابين الحرب العالمية الأولى والثانية

الكتابين فيهما متعة واختصار وتوثيق للحرب العالمية الأولى والثانية وهما لا يركزان على توثيق أحداث الحرب وخططها واستراتيجياتها انما هدفهما توثيق و بالصورة ليوميات الحرب و معاناتها و الادوات و الاسلحة والألبسة والرتب التي استخدمت
انهما يوثقان بالصور كيف كان يعيش الجنود في الخنادق و كيف يكتبون الرسائل ويعالجون في المشافي وكيف يدفنون الموتى

انهما مهمان ومكملان لأي وثائقيات تتحدث عن حقبة الحربين
4 reviews
April 3, 2017
My opinion on the book world war 2 by Simon Adams published in 2007 was a non fiction book i personally like it, if you are someone who likes studying war or like learning facts about wars i highly recommend it.the main conflict was the war.the setting of this book is in Germany and also America it was also in the 1930's and 40's.one of the things i like about this book is the card the card was actually a map they use to hide under the card and it would fold open when they wanted to use it.
Profile Image for Rohan Satija.
43 reviews
May 29, 2022
Picture Book after ages!

Turns out, its as fun with coffee, as it was with bournvita!
Profile Image for Little Timmy.
7,389 reviews59 followers
March 22, 2019
OK I know these are supposed to be kid books but they are awesome! Great pictures and just enough text to make you want to learn more. Great choices for a beginning history reader or to start an older reader out in a new area. Every time I pick one of these up and read it I learn new things. Did you know that German women during the war were awarded medals based on the number of children they had to replenish the German Army. Highly Recommended
Profile Image for لو فا.
71 reviews3 followers
February 12, 2021
🌸الحرب العالمية الثانية - مشاهدات علمية - لسايمون آدامز

🌸كتاب عبارة عن مجلة من 70 صفحة فقط، اختصر فيها الكاتب كل ما استخدم واستعمل كأدوات وأسلحة خلال الحرب العالمية الثانية.
أنصح به بشدة لطلبة البكالوريا، فهو مرفق بصور للكثير من الأجهزة والطائرات والأعلام والشخصيات وغيرها، يساعدكم كثيرا في فهم دروس الحرب العالمية الثانية باختصار وبطريقة جميلة جدا ومشوقة♥

🌸أشيروا إلى طلبة البكالوريا لطفا وشاركوا معهم، من لم يستطع إيجاده يمكنه مراسلتي لأرسله له عبر الإيميل♥✨
40 reviews1 follower
March 25, 2017
Did you know that "throughout the war, many men and women braved their lives by entering enemy-occupied countries. They went to spy on the invading forces, work with resistance fighters, and carry out acts of sabotage to foil enemy plan" (pg 26) Eyewitness:World War 2 features information about the events that took place during world war 2. There is information on the people involved, the clothing certain soldiers wore and something we don't hear too often: what the women were doing around this time. With both real and remade photos, this informational book packs in all you need to know about the war.

I give Eyewitness:World War 2 (5) stars. I was excited to see that there was more than just the holocaust featured because the war was much more than that. I also liked how, for the most part, the author made the text as subjective as possible. In the end you are free to make your own judgement about Hitler and the countries/people who followed him. You get to learn about things that the top website in an google search may not provide for you. For example, the children were taught to put on something they called a "Mickey Mouse" which was a gas mask they carried everywhere they went. However, I did wish that they had focused on individual people. I understand that there were short spaces disbursed within the pages that talked about people, but I would love there to be a whole page dedicated to people like Hitler and Anne Frank. Because this encyclopedia is geared toward eight graders I expected it to be advanced but not this advanced. History is not my best subject so certain words connected to historical events threw me of. Perhaps there should be a section that helped out younger or historical vocabulary challenged people like myself. Overall, this was one of the only encyclopedias I could read like a normal book without wanting to take a nap between pages.

If there is a simplified version of this book that still featured similar content I would use this book in place of a textbook in my future classroom. To me textbooks tend to skip over the less mainstream details and Eyewitness:World War 2 skimmed the mainstream details and hit heavy with the lesser known facts.
Profile Image for رحيق يماني.
23 reviews
February 7, 2025
أنهيتُ الكتاب وقد دفعني للبدء فيه الفضول معرفة ماذا حدث لكي تنجُم الحرب العالمية الثانيةِ من كثرة ما يتردد منذ بداية أحداث غزة من قول الساسة: لا نريد دفع المنطقة / العالم لحرب عالمية جديدة..
نعم، دفعني الفضول لا أكثر..
وعلى الرغم من كون الكتاب عشوائيًا بشكل ما.. يفتقد للترتيب والتسلسل وجذب القارئ.. إلَّا أنِّي قلت للا بأس به كبداية..

وقد خرجت من هذه التجربة بعدة نقاط :
- القراءةُ في التاريخ حقًا ماتعة، وليست مملة وعقيمةً كما صُدرت لنا في المناهج الدراسيَّة .. لا .. القارئُ في التاريخ أقدر على فهم الواقع من غيره، وفعلًا صدق من قال : التاريخ يعيد نفسه.
- كنتُ سابقًا أعتقدُ أن البلاء حكرٌ على المسلمين، وأن كوني مسلمةً فأنا سأُبتلى يومًا ما، في حين أن غيري يتمتع بالحياة ويتذوق كل أنواع الراحة فيها.
لكني بحقٍ أدركتُ بعد هذا الكتاب معنى سُنة " التدافع" التي أخبرنا الله بها في القُرآن، أدركتُ أن البلاء والإخراج من البيوت وفقد الأولاد والموت ظلمًا والسجون وغيرها وغيرها ليست لأنك مسلمًا!، لا لا، بل أنت محظوظ إن مسَّكَ هذا وأنت مُسلم :")، فأنت مأجورٌ على كل هذا في الدنيا والآخرة، خلافًا لأولئك الذين يفقدون أرواحهم وأولادهم وأموالهم ولا ينالون بذلك خيرٌ في الدنيا ولا في الآخرة.
- أدركتُ أن "السلام" و"الإنسانية" و"الإرهاب" مصطلحاتٌ صنعها من يظهرون لك أنهم مسالمين وهم في الحقيقة أحرص الدول على التسلح والعتاد والقوة.. مهما أنكروا ذلك.. غرضهم الوحيد أن يضعف العالم الإسلامي وحسب.. وأن تكون لهم القوة المطلقة.. فإذا ما تحقق لهم ذلك فلن يبقى بعدهم حجرٌ ولا شجر.. لكن أنَّى لهم ذلك وهم يمكرون والله خير الماكرين؟.
-ما أشبة اليوم بالبارحة.. ذات البيوت المهدمة في غزة، والناس الذين باتوا بلا مأوى، والمقاومة التي تصنع من اللاشئ شيئًا للدفاع عن أرضها .. كل ذلك كان سيناريو البارحة .. ولا بُد أن يصل السيناريو إلى نهايته.. سيندحر المحتل، وسيُهزمُ الظالم، وسيتمكن المظلوم ولو بعد حين ...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Epos Opus.
210 reviews
March 17, 2025
Title: Toinen Maailmansota
Author: Simon Adams
Illustrator: Andy Crawford
Translator: Matti Kinnunen
Publisher: Sanoma Magazines Finland
Language: Finnish
Pages: 64
Published: 2002
First Published: 2000
ISBN: 951-32-1296-381674
Format: Hardcover
Read and Review: 2025
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4)

Toinen Maailmansota (World War 2) by Simon Adams is a short overview about the main causes, major events, and the aftermath of the most deadly war in history. A war which resulted in unprecedented loss of life, destruction, and suffering, making it the deadliest event in human history by many measures.

The book begins by explaining how the world was divided, how Adolf Hitler rose to power, and how blitzkrieg warfare started. It follows events up to the point when the USA joined the war and continues until Germany fell and Japan surrendered, bringing the war to an end. The aftermath saw the Nuremberg Trials, a devastated Europe, and the immense suffering of the Jewish people. Yet, at the same time, the war had boosted the U.S. economy, leading it to grow stronger than ever. Of course such a short book like this can’t cover everything, but it does a good job covering the bigger picture of the events.

The book does not focus only on the big picture. It also includes interesting parts about codebreakers, women and children in the war, propaganda, partisan groups, desert battles, key fights and many other things. The book is also filled with great pictures.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Mia.
82 reviews27 followers
November 13, 2023
این موقعیتی که میگم تصور کن!
تو در جنگ جهانی دوم یک خانم ازدواج کرده‌ی آلمانی هستی که، اگه بچه‌های بیشتری، ۶ یا ۷ تا، به دنیا می‌آوردی بهت مدال نقره اهدا میکردن! حاضر بودی بچه بیشتری داشته باشی؟ 😂🦦
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این کتاب مصور شامل اطلاعات چکیده در مورد اتفاق‌هایی که در جنگ جهانی دوم رخ داده، نقش زنان در جنگ، سربازان، لباس‌ها، اسلحه‌ها و تانک‌ها هست که ممکنه تو همه‌ی کتاب‌ها نباشه.
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ممکنه بگید که این کتاب و کتاب جنگ جهانی اول مصور برای کودک نوجوان هست ولی من به کسانیکه تازه میخوان از جنگ جهانی بخونن هر دو کتاب رو پیشنهاد میکنم!
با عکس‌ها و صفحه‌آرایی خوب، یه مطالعه لذت‌بخش می‌تونید داسته باشید. و از شروع خواندن کتاب‌های تاریخی و جنگی خسته نمیشید.
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توضیح بیشتری نمیدم چون به نظرم همه چیز واضح هست!
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قسمتی از کتاب:
ناوبر هواپیمابر
اژدرافکن‌های داگلاس دیوستیتر هواپیماهایی قدیمی و کند بودند که آمریکایی‌ها در ناوهای هواپیمابرشان از آن‌ها استفاده می‌کردند. در معلوم شد که این هواپیماها به پای جنگنده‌های سریع میتسوبیشی اِی ۶ام صفر ژاپنی‌ها نمی‌رسنپ: جنگنده‌هایی که همه‌ی بمب‌افکن‌های ناو هواپیمابر یواس‌اس اینترپرایز جز چهار بمب‌افکن را سرنگون کردند. اما در کل ژاپنی‌ها در نبرد میدوِی شکست خوردند.

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امتیاز من از پنج: ۴
امتیاز Goodreads از پنج: ۴.۱

مشخصات کتاب من: #دانشنامه_مصور_جنگ_جهانی_دوم
نویسنده: #سیمون_آدامز
مترجم: #داریوش_دل_آرا
ناشر: #سایان
چاپ سوم، ۱۴۰۱
۷۲ صفحه
925 reviews25 followers
February 19, 2021
I think the target audience was for maybe middle school kids or older, I ended up reading this with my 1st grader, who is a really good reader and since I am really interested in this subject he wanted to read it to (with) me.

It was great to read and with the photo's it showed him what was happening with each subject title. I recommend this to all.

One note is they had the tail end of a German airplane that was piloted by Rudolph Hess and crashed over Britain. In the book it said the true nature of him there is still unclear. Actually he was there to try to broker a peace deal with Britain and Germany. Hitler did not know about it.
Profile Image for Reese Richter.
25 reviews3 followers
June 15, 2018
There are no characters in this but there are interesting facts about World War 2. I learned that there was a Russian squad of women who cut their hair and joined the military. There were armed with standard bolt action rifles but the Germans thought that they were being shot at with machine guns. That was how fast and deadly they were. There was also food stamps and civilian rations to help give the soldiers more food. They also said to grow as much food as possible so that the government could give the soldiers more.
Profile Image for Dot.
23 reviews
January 31, 2019
This book has taught me a lot about World War Two that I didn’t know about. It explains what role important people played during the war. It talks about the sad aftermath of some countries because of the war. It does a great job highlighting important battles why they were fought. It does a great job of painting a picture how how people felt during that time. My only complain is that there is a timeline that seems to be rushed. I would recommend this book to people who have an in-depth look of World War Two.
1 review
February 20, 2019
I am a World War Two fan and I thought that this book is pretty good for me, Not only the book tells me about the main battles of the war, for example, Hell on the eastern front, Battle of Stalingrad and Battle of Italy. It also tells me about objects such as guns and vehicles that were used at that time so it gives me more information about World War 2 and my favorite part of this book is about the secret weapons or items from the British agents of that time of the war.
27 reviews2 followers
October 5, 2018
This book is great. I love to learn about old weapons and strategies, it just amazes me how cool and awesome it was. This book tells you everything about what kids did up to what strategies they used back then. I like it the most when the author talks about old weapons and vehicles. Yes, a lot of people might not like this book, but I love it.
Profile Image for Chaimaa Driss.
37 reviews2 followers
Read
March 3, 2023

🌸الحرب العالمية الثانية - مشاهدات علمية - لسايمون آدامز

🌸كتاب عبارة عن مجلة من 70 صفحة فقط، اختصر فيها الكاتب كل ما استخدم واستعمل كأدوات وأسلحة خلال الحرب العالمية الثانية.
أنصح به بشدة لطلبة البكالوريا، فهو مرفق بصور للكثير من الأجهزة والطائرات والأعلام والشخصيات وغيرها، يساعدكم كثيرا في فهم دروس الحرب العالمية الثانية باختصار وبطريقة جميلة جدا ومشوقة♥
4 reviews
May 26, 2017
I think this book had a lot of good information but in my opinion was boring, if you are doing a world war 2 book report it would be good because of all the information it has.It talks about how the war started and ended and everything that happened during the war.
1 review
September 6, 2018
I thought that this book was very Interesting and it was fun to learn about the details of what people were doing and what was happening during World War II. And I learned things that I never new happened during that time period.
18 reviews3 followers
March 21, 2019
This book is a great book! Well-worded and VERY interesting. I highly suggest this book. This book is great for anyone older than 7. The book has photos and is medium sized for a picture book. Plenty of reading! Great book. You should get it!
25 reviews2 followers
April 9, 2019
This was an awesome book. I really like learning all about World War II and all the information about all the things. I really liked the old motorcycles they used. You should definitely read this book.
Profile Image for Soha El-shishtawy.
31 reviews6 followers
January 4, 2022
التقييم: ٤/٥
كتاب جميل يأخذنا في رحلة ممتعه إلى أربعينيات القرن الماضي منذ بداية الحرب العالمية الثانية أسبابها وأهم معاركها ثم نهايتها مدعومة بالصور الرائعه، عيبه الوحيد هو صغر عدد صفحات الكتاب وبالتالي إغفال ذكر الكثير من التفاصيل.
Profile Image for Robert.
322 reviews4 followers
December 2, 2025
A decent book, but the picture from the battle of TOBRUK DOES NOT show british tanks. its actually a scene from the late 1960's movie: THE BATTLE OF THE BULDGE and shows M-47 Pattons with the swastika on them to pretend in the movie to be Tiger Tanks. LOL
Profile Image for Samira Majd.
92 reviews20 followers
May 12, 2018
illustrations pass the exact creepy feeling that was meant to be passed... so much still to say about WWII but all in all this book is a big help.
8 reviews
September 14, 2018
I like this book because it shows a lot of information about World War II, and showed me the brave warriors, leaders, and events. It also gave a bunch of facts and stats about the war.
31 reviews1 follower
October 1, 2018
I really like this book because it’s very well detailed. The author is very good at giving details on what happened and how. It shows the object and then elaborates greatly on it, which I really like. In my opinion, to make this book better is to make it longer. I want to know more about the objects and what they mean.
19 reviews2 followers
October 11, 2018
I enjoyed the book because of the interesting facts, and people, who if they didn’t exist the outcome could have been terrifying.
Profile Image for Cool.
153 reviews2 followers
September 16, 2019
Fun book. Lots of pictures. Great bathroom read for adults. I got into WWII this year and included this as part of my learning and read it front to back.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews

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