The U.S. Army in World War II: The Stories Behind the Photos

by Steve Crawford

Troops of the 82nd Airborne Division look over the wreckage of one of their gliders during Operation Market Garden; two soldiers lie dead. A Marine Corps howitzer crew opens fire on a cave full of Japanese soldiers on Tinian. Three German soldiers, caught operating as spies during the Battle of the Bulge, face a U.S. Army firing squad. Weary Marines get a brief rest amid the utter devastation of Tarawa. All such World War II photographs demand further explanation.

Each book in the series The Stories Behind the Photos” takes sixty stunning black-and-white photographs and tells their stories in two-page spreads. Accompanying each photo is a reduced version containing call-out numbers keyed to the caption’s text. This detailed 200-word caption tells the full story of what’s happening in the photograph, how it fits with the subject matter, and what happened next to the individuals shown. Simple but at the same time very effective, each book in the series combines the broad sweep of military events with unique human interest stories. The Stories Behind the Photos” series will appeal to military buffs and casual readers alike.

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 18, 2007