The Second World War in photographs /

The Russian Front chronicles the war between the Soviet Union and Germany that began on June 22, 1941, when Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, and ended with a Soviet assault on Berlin in April 1945. Among the military campaigns examined is the brutal battle for Stalingrad in 1942, in which the Red Army lost more than 1 million men in defense of the city, and the engagement at Kursk in July 1943 involving 1 million men and 2,700 tanks. The authors are military historians; their book, illustrated with frightening archive photographs, is a remarkable account of a savage conflict. Holmes' poignant book contains 500 photographs, almost all of them black-and-white and most drawn from Britain's Imperial War Museum. A few were taken by prominent photographers, such as Cecil Beaton and Robert Capa, but many of the photographers--some destined to remain unknown, others ordinary officers and men--served with army film and photographic units. There are also captured German and Japanese official photographs. Presentation is by year, from 1939 to 1945. Holmes prefaces each year with an account of its major events and briefly introduces each block of photos within a year. Although most of the pictures are war photos, some reflect the fact that millions of civilians were affected--young children being evacuated from London, a British air raid warden comforting a child rescued from a bombed-out home, German citizens made to view the horrors of the Buchenwald concentration camp, shaven-headed French women accused of sexually consorting with the Germans. World War II enthusiasts will want both books. --George Cohen

War, the game the world so loves to play, is showcased here in yet another slick photographic history of World War II. This book certainly does not present a new concept and offers no new scholarship on the history of the war, yet it does provide stark, grim, and vivid reminders of the horror and cost of global warfare. British historian Holmes (Footsteps of a Romantic Biographer) furnishes the standard chronological text, and the British Imperial War Museum provides more than 500 black-and-white and color photographs from its massive archives. The book offers a decidedly British view of the war, although the photos do include American, German, Russian, and Japanese perspectives. Photos include propaganda shots, action photos, and staged pictures (identified where possible). Many photos are not for the squeamish or faint of heart, showing gruesome scenes of death and destruction. No maps are provided to help orient the reader. Still, this is a polished product. Recommended for public libraries.DCol. William D. Bushnell, USMC, Sebascodegan Island, ME (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.