A History of the Second World War in 100 Maps

by Jeremy Black

 
The First World War was marked by an exceptional expansion in the use and production of military cartography. But World War II took things even further, employing maps, charts, reconnaissance, and the systematic recording and processing of geographical and topographical information on an unprecedented scale. As Jeremy Black—one of the world’s leading military and cartographic historians—convincingly shows in this lavish full-color book, it is impossible to understand the events and outcomes of the Second World War without deep reference to mapping at all levels. In World War II, maps themselves became the weapons.

A History of the Second World War in 100 Maps traces how military cartography developed from simply recording and reflecting history to having a decisive impact on events of  a global scale. Drawing on one hundred key maps from the unparalleled collections of the British Library and other sources—many of which have never been published in book form before--Jeremy Black takes us from the prewar mapping programs undertaken by both Germany and the United Kingdom in the mid-1930s through the conflict’s end a decade later. Black shows how the development of maps led directly to the planning of the complex and fluid maneuvers that defined the European theater in World War II: for example, aerial reconnaissance photography allowed for the charting of beach gradients and ocean depths in the runup to the D-Day landings, and the subsequent troop movements at Normandy would have been impossible without the help of situation maps and photos. In the course of the conflict, both in Europe and the Pacific,  the realities of climate, terrain,  and logistics—recorded on maps—overcame the Axis powers. Maps also became propaganda tools as the pages of Time outlined the directions of the campaigns and the Allies dropped maps from their aircraft.
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In this thrilling and unique book, Jeremy Black blends his singular cartographic and military expertise into a captivating overview of World War II from the air, sea, and sky, making clear how fundamental maps were to every aspect of this unforgettable global conflict.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Geography, Cartography, Maps, World History

Hardcover

Published January 1, 2020

About the author

Jeremy Black is an English historian, who was formerly a professor of history at the University of Exeter. He is a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of America and the West at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US.
Black is the author of over 180 books, principally but not exclusively on 18th-century British politics and international relations, and has been described by one commentator as "the most prolific historical scholar of our age". He has published on military and political history, including Warfare in the Western World, 1882–1975 (2001) and The World in the Twentieth Century (2002).

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

The maps are the main attraction here, but the narrative sections surrounding the maps are also fascinating. Maps helped win the war for the allies -- just one of the technological and production advances developed during the conflict. While this book includes maps made for the military, equally interesting -- and often more readable -- are the maps prepared for public consumption, whether in news publications or for propaganda purposes. There's a lot to learn here, but be prepared to have a magnifying glass handy if you really want to explore some of the details shown on the maps reproduced in this book.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting examination of cartography as a tool of warfare and propaganda. It's always nice to get your hands on (reproductions of) primary sources, and it's chilling to see how mass murder or the destruction of cities from the air are plotted in space.

[Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The propaganda maps were the most interesting to me.

[Stephen Lavington · Rating 3 out of 5]

As described, this is a well-produced series of maps tied into the strategic, tactical, operational and non-military (e.g. propaganda and reportage) elements of World War II.

As a history geek I was very much looking forward to this, however it is not quite as entertaining as first expected: the reality is that maps are, well, pretty much maps - whether prepared for war or anything else. As a casual reader, it is difficult to get excited about radical use of scale, perspective or inclusion of data.

Of greater interest are Jeremy Black's descriptive passages, explaining the role (and staggering scale) of map-making, primarily from the allied perspective (there is very little on process from the axis side). There are also good capsule contextualisations for each of the maps, though these are often tangential to the maps themselves, summaries of the history without an explanation of the importance of the particular map in question.

The standout section for me moved away from the (necessarily) dry detail of military maps to those produced for newspaper or propaganda purposes - each exaggerated or biased for a specific purpose. The best of the lot however has to be either a reproduction of an escape map issued to allied airmen, or the astonishingly detailed maps produced on a makeshift press at a German POW camp. Wonderful material history.

[Olly Colluphid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of interesting maps and the maps are used to tell a history of the war as well as illustrating the themes of the book.

[Caiden Walls · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who loves maps and is somewhat of a WWII nerd, I got the best of both worlds!

[Jim Blessing · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I didn't find these maps very interesting.