Illustrated with 1,350 original press and military photos, this work on the second world war describes the successes and failures of Allied and Axis armies and governments.

Includes index.

Cause and effect : Versailles to Poland and the Pact of Steel -- The world watches and waits : Poland, Finland and the phoney war -- The battle for Norway : and the fall of Denmark -- The invasion of the low countries : and the little ships of Dunkirk -- The humiliation of France : the avenging of Versailles -- The summer of 1940 : and the Battle of Britain -- The blitz : the bombs rain down -- Neutrality as a weapon : the U.S.A. takes a hand -- The beginnings of the sea war : and the stalking of the Graf Spee -- Gamble in North Africa : Mussolini?s venture / Hitler?s intervention -- The Balkans : Rumania, Greece, Yugoslavia and the Fall of Crete -- Barbarossa : Hitler?s invasion of Russia and the advance on Moscow -- Pearl Harbour [sic] : The United States goes to war -- Japan takes all : the Allies driven from S.E. Asia -- Roosevelt and Churchill : and their war leaders -- Rommel and the desert campaign : the push to Egypt -- The battle of the Atlantic : the U-boat war -- Pacific turning point : the Coral Sea and the battle of Midway -- Montgomery and the Desert Fox : Alamein and the Allied recovery -- Operation torch : The U.S. A. steps into Africa -- The eastern summer offensive : Stalingrad, and the beginning of the end -- Stalemate in Burma : Wingate, the Chindits and the Burma Road -- U.S. counter-attack : Drama in the Pacific ? Guadalcanal -- Casablanca : strengthening of the Alliance and the balance of power -- Tunisia : and the end of the Afrika Corps -- Toehold in Europe : the assault on Italy-- The U-boat beaten : Allied successes at sea -- The cards stack up against Japan : New Guinea and the Solomons -- The politics of war Quebec, Cairo and Teheran -- Soviet advances : Kursk, the counter-attack and the Ukraine -- The battles for the islands : the Gilberts, Marshalls and Philippine Sea -- The advance on Rome : Anzio, Kesselring and the struggle in Italy -- Bomber offensive : the assault from the air -- Overlord : the Atlantic wall and D-Day -- The breakout from Normandy : and the liberation of France -- Russia's indomitable advance : Poland and the approach to Germany -- Back in the Philippines : America?s triumph won with blood -- The German retreat : from the Baltic and the Balkans -- Revenge : Hitler?s V-weapon turned on Britain -- Arnhem : the autumn of 1944 in the west -- The Battle of the Bulge : Hitler?s last offensive -- The battle for the Rhine : the land war reaches Germany in the west -- The Russians sweep into Germany : the strike at the Third Reich?s heart -- Dividing the spoils : the Allies confer at Quebec, Moscow and Yalta -- The end in Italy : the net closes -- Victory in Europe : the end of Hitler?s Germany -- The final push in Burma : the end of Japanese domination -- The last of the islands : Iwo Jima and Okinawa -- Final surrender : the air offensive / Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- The legacy of war : and its post war impact.