Total War

Produced by the staff at the Imperial War Museum, this is a look at the global impact of WWII. Although it has a subtitle of A People’s History of the Second World War, its not solely focussed on personal stories. Instead, it’s a general guide to the major campaigns of the war, with plenty of space on Britain and the Empire’s role, with personal stories dropped in. Along with those, there are infographics to represent the big numbers and themes and individual objects for a closer focus.

The authors avoid putting a modern spin on the text but do aim for inclusivity and if that means that relatively minor roles get an emphasis that aren’t warranted in the vast scale of things, it’s still worth doing. With outstanding production values and a fresh, modern design, this is a tremendous overview of WWII for the general reader.

• Thames & Hudson
• ISBN 978-0-5002-5248-2
• 292 pages. Hardback. £35

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