This Atlas contrasts 21 World War II battle plans with their actual outcome. Each battle is covered in an in-depth essay that is complemented by original maps, producing fresh insight into the technical aspects of warfare that drove the last worldwide conflict of the twentieth century. Placing individual battles in context, an introductory essay by the editor provides a strategic overview of the whole of the war. The battles are thereafter presented in seven sections: The Armored Blitzkreigs, The Amphibious Landings, The Slogging Matches, The Airpower Factor, The War at Sea, Airborne Assault, and The City Battles. Each section starts with an introductory essay on the common theme of the group.

Includes index.

The strategy of World War II /Stephen Badsey -- The armoured blitzkriegs : The Fall of France 1940 : blitzkrieg in the west / Sean McKnight The Battle of Gazala : 1942 Rommel's masterpiece / Matthew Bennett Operation Bagration 1944 : the Soviet sledgehammer / Stephen Walsh -- The Amphibious landings : Anzio 1944 : the stranded whale / Aryeh Nusbacher -- D-Day 1944 : the longest day / Stephen Hart -- Iwo Jima 1945 : hell in the Pacific / Tim Bean -- Slogging matches : Operation Barbarossa 1941 : to the gates of Moscow / Duncan Anderson -- The Second Battle of El Alamein 1942 : hitting them for six / Niall Barr -- Kursk 1943 : cauldron of armour / Tim Bean -- The air power factor : The Battle of Britain 1940 : spitfire summer / Lloyd Clark -- The Schweinfurt Raid 1943 : America's worst day / Edmund Yorke -- Monte Cassino 1944 : victory through air power? / Stephen Walsh -- The war at sea : Sink the Bismarck! 1941 : battle in the Atlantic / Andrew Lambert -- Pearl Harbor 1941 : strike from the sea / Ian Stewart -- Operation Pedestal 1942 : the Malta convoy / David Pickup -- The airborne assaults : The Battle for Crete 1941 : the Pyrrhic victory / Simon Trew -- Operation Market-Garden 1944 : the bridge at Arnhem / Lloyd Clark -- Operation Thursday 1944 : Wingate and the Chindits / Edmund Yorke -- The city battles : Stalingrad 1942-43 : the city of the sword / Stephen Walsh -- The Battle of Manila 1945 : MacArthur's return / Duncan Anderson -- The Battle of Berlin 1945 : the final battle / Simon Trew.