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The Oxford Companion to World War II
Despite Korea, despite Vietnam, despite a dozen smaller conflicts, a generation of Americans refers to World War II simply as "the War." Indeed, there has been nothing like it in human a single war that spanned three continents--a war which saw more men and women under arms, more
deaths, and more destruction than any other. Now Oxford University Press provides the definitive one-volume reference to this cataclysmic event.
The Oxford Companion to World War II brings together an international team of 140 experts to cover every aspect of the conduct and experience of the conflict, from grand strategic decisionmaking to the struggles of daily life. More than 1,700 entries--ranging from brief identifications to in-depth
articles on complex subjects--bring the far-flung elements and events of the war into focus. Here are essays on overarching themes and broad topics, such as the origins of the war, diplomacy, the Greater East Asia Coprosperity Sphere, and the Final Solution. Military campaigns and battles, of
course, receive extensive entries include the Fall of France, Operation Barbarossa, and the Battle of Midway, as well as such smaller events as the sinking of the Scharnhorst and the fall of Wake Island. Scores of analytical biographies range from the national leaders--Hitler, Stalin,
Tojo, Roosevelt, Churchill--to an array of military and political figures, from Dietrich Bonhoeffer to Ho Chi Minh, from Marshal Timoshenko to General von Manstein. World War II was also an era of technological leaps, covert exploits, and horrific atrocities--and the Companion gives thorough
coverage to each, with articles on weapons ranging from tanks to E-boats to rockets, on intelligence organizations (ranging from the O.S.S. to Smersh), and on the German Einstatzgruppen and Todt organization.
The Companion also provides exceptional coverage beyond the military and political spheres, revealing the war as it affected the millions of noncombatants. In addition to exploring the economics and social policies of belligerent states, the Companion addresses such topics as children--explaining
how hundreds of thousands were evacuated from threatened cities, thrown into combat, killed by bombing raids, or made into orphans. Indeed, the Companion 's emphasis on the social history and daily experience of the war makes it the most complete one-volume reference on this critical chapter in
history.
In addition to thousands of entries, conveniently arranged in an a-to-z format, the book also features hundreds of maps, charts, tables, and evocative photographs. There is no finer resource on the war that shaped the modern world.
Features
* More than 1,750 entries ranging from brief identifications to in-depth articles
* More than 140 leading international experts have contributed, including David Kennedy, Martin Gilbert, Robert Dallek, Yogi Akashi, Ben-Ami Shillony, Heinz-Dietrich Lowe, Norman Davies, Wilhelm Diest, and many more
* Massively illustrated with more than 100 evocative photographs and supplemented by 100 maps, thirty diagrams, and over 170 tables, charts and graphs
* Articles on every aspect of the war ,
--surveys of countries, from economics to politics to military structure
--portraits of wartime leaders, including generals, admirals, political figures, and heads of state
--military campaigns and battles, from the Doolittle Raid to Operation Overlord, from Kassarine Pass to the Warsaw Uprising
--intelligence organizations and exploits, from the Abwehr to Smersh, from codebreaking to commando raids
--military technology, ranging from submarines to aircraft carriers, from fighter planes to V-1 and V-2 missiles, from the Enigma machine to radar
* In-depth coverage of the social aspects of the war , such as the role of women, children, war production, and life under occupation
deaths, and more destruction than any other. Now Oxford University Press provides the definitive one-volume reference to this cataclysmic event.
The Oxford Companion to World War II brings together an international team of 140 experts to cover every aspect of the conduct and experience of the conflict, from grand strategic decisionmaking to the struggles of daily life. More than 1,700 entries--ranging from brief identifications to in-depth
articles on complex subjects--bring the far-flung elements and events of the war into focus. Here are essays on overarching themes and broad topics, such as the origins of the war, diplomacy, the Greater East Asia Coprosperity Sphere, and the Final Solution. Military campaigns and battles, of
course, receive extensive entries include the Fall of France, Operation Barbarossa, and the Battle of Midway, as well as such smaller events as the sinking of the Scharnhorst and the fall of Wake Island. Scores of analytical biographies range from the national leaders--Hitler, Stalin,
Tojo, Roosevelt, Churchill--to an array of military and political figures, from Dietrich Bonhoeffer to Ho Chi Minh, from Marshal Timoshenko to General von Manstein. World War II was also an era of technological leaps, covert exploits, and horrific atrocities--and the Companion gives thorough
coverage to each, with articles on weapons ranging from tanks to E-boats to rockets, on intelligence organizations (ranging from the O.S.S. to Smersh), and on the German Einstatzgruppen and Todt organization.
The Companion also provides exceptional coverage beyond the military and political spheres, revealing the war as it affected the millions of noncombatants. In addition to exploring the economics and social policies of belligerent states, the Companion addresses such topics as children--explaining
how hundreds of thousands were evacuated from threatened cities, thrown into combat, killed by bombing raids, or made into orphans. Indeed, the Companion 's emphasis on the social history and daily experience of the war makes it the most complete one-volume reference on this critical chapter in
history.
In addition to thousands of entries, conveniently arranged in an a-to-z format, the book also features hundreds of maps, charts, tables, and evocative photographs. There is no finer resource on the war that shaped the modern world.
Features
* More than 1,750 entries ranging from brief identifications to in-depth articles
* More than 140 leading international experts have contributed, including David Kennedy, Martin Gilbert, Robert Dallek, Yogi Akashi, Ben-Ami Shillony, Heinz-Dietrich Lowe, Norman Davies, Wilhelm Diest, and many more
* Massively illustrated with more than 100 evocative photographs and supplemented by 100 maps, thirty diagrams, and over 170 tables, charts and graphs
* Articles on every aspect of the war ,
--surveys of countries, from economics to politics to military structure
--portraits of wartime leaders, including generals, admirals, political figures, and heads of state
--military campaigns and battles, from the Doolittle Raid to Operation Overlord, from Kassarine Pass to the Warsaw Uprising
--intelligence organizations and exploits, from the Abwehr to Smersh, from codebreaking to commando raids
--military technology, ranging from submarines to aircraft carriers, from fighter planes to V-1 and V-2 missiles, from the Enigma machine to radar
* In-depth coverage of the social aspects of the war , such as the role of women, children, war production, and life under occupation
1268 pages, Hardcover
First published May 11, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 26, 2015
If you are a serious student of WWII, this is the first book to buy for your library. It is simply THE best WWII reference book available. I have published two WWII books (and I'm currently half-way through writing my third), and this book has been an invaluable resource time and time again. Dates, names, places, spelling ... this is your guide. While I have found a small error once or twice (simply because I have the actual MI5 files pertaining to a certain person), this work is very reliable (as one would expect from Oxford).
Special note to editors and copy editors: THIS is the resource for fact checking WWII, not Wikipedia, Google, or Webster's. Buy a copy for your office; you'll not regret it.
Special note to editors and copy editors: THIS is the resource for fact checking WWII, not Wikipedia, Google, or Webster's. Buy a copy for your office; you'll not regret it.
July 28, 2013
I have to preface this review with an honest confession: Since the coming of Wikipedia, I hardly ever look at this book. That’s not because it’s inferior in content or style to Wikipedia, but simply a measure of the fact that it’s more convenient to look things up there (and, of course, Wikipedia is more comprehensive in subject matter). This is probably the heaviest book I own, and until I started preparing this review, I don’t think I had opened it since about 2002-03. I’m not sure I’ll be able to justify putting it into a box and moving it the next time I move, and that is sad.
That said, so far as print encyclopedias go, this is a really excellent example. The research is top-notch, and, although it has dated somewhat in almost 20 years, some of the contributors (eg: Gerhard Weinberg, Richard Bessel) remain at the heads of their respective fields. The articles are clear, thoughtful, and well-written, and the coverage of the topic is impressive. There was an especial effort to include insights into intelligence aspects of the war, and it is here that the volume truly shines, because most reference sources prior to this were fairly weak in that area. It includes many detailed maps of important nations and battle-zones, as well as charts and tables that help deliver information effectively.
That is not to say that there are no problems with the book. Due to the constant shifts in historical borders and national identities, it can be hard to illustrate areas of the occupied East to everyone’s satisfaction, but I was really surprised, this time out, to find that not only is there no article for Belarus, there isn’t even a cross-reference or listing for it in the “place-name changes” at the back of the book. The best I could do is look at the section on “Poland,” which includes a map of its re-structuring under German occupation which does show a map of “Western Belorussia” and has some information about that region. I would imagine that a more recently published book would correct this, but at the time (1995) that this came out, Belarus was barely recognized as a political entity.
On some level, that illustrates the problem with print-text references, as well. What worked in 1995 may not be the way things are categorized in 2013 or 2023. An online resource, whatever its flaws in accuracy or bias, can adapt more rapidly to changes in terminology and political designation. Of course, this also means that many users won’t notice the changes, making history a somewhat more obscure process. This really is a great book, in spite of its flaws, but I think the audience for this sort of print text will become increasingly specialized as time goes on.
That said, so far as print encyclopedias go, this is a really excellent example. The research is top-notch, and, although it has dated somewhat in almost 20 years, some of the contributors (eg: Gerhard Weinberg, Richard Bessel) remain at the heads of their respective fields. The articles are clear, thoughtful, and well-written, and the coverage of the topic is impressive. There was an especial effort to include insights into intelligence aspects of the war, and it is here that the volume truly shines, because most reference sources prior to this were fairly weak in that area. It includes many detailed maps of important nations and battle-zones, as well as charts and tables that help deliver information effectively.
That is not to say that there are no problems with the book. Due to the constant shifts in historical borders and national identities, it can be hard to illustrate areas of the occupied East to everyone’s satisfaction, but I was really surprised, this time out, to find that not only is there no article for Belarus, there isn’t even a cross-reference or listing for it in the “place-name changes” at the back of the book. The best I could do is look at the section on “Poland,” which includes a map of its re-structuring under German occupation which does show a map of “Western Belorussia” and has some information about that region. I would imagine that a more recently published book would correct this, but at the time (1995) that this came out, Belarus was barely recognized as a political entity.
On some level, that illustrates the problem with print-text references, as well. What worked in 1995 may not be the way things are categorized in 2013 or 2023. An online resource, whatever its flaws in accuracy or bias, can adapt more rapidly to changes in terminology and political designation. Of course, this also means that many users won’t notice the changes, making history a somewhat more obscure process. This really is a great book, in spite of its flaws, but I think the audience for this sort of print text will become increasingly specialized as time goes on.
August 6, 2018
Received this great book today and spent hours travelling by its entries (obviously didnt read it all, but expect to return to reference all the time since its what its intended for). Anyway, It remembered when I was a kid and hadnt too much "adult" books and liked to read small bits of encyclopedias everyday. It may teach you something even if you have not too much time.
The graphics are very good, also the maps and the (few) photos. Even in the small entries you can learn something great (didnt know Argentina was neutral till march 1945 and the latin american session also made me proud of former brazilian president Vargas.)
I may not agree completely with the opinions of the authors all the time (e.g. the article about Göering was a bit harsh) but you must respect anyway the massive team of contributors who lent their names and credibility to such a great work. You must learn much more from this than on internet.
The graphics are very good, also the maps and the (few) photos. Even in the small entries you can learn something great (didnt know Argentina was neutral till march 1945 and the latin american session also made me proud of former brazilian president Vargas.)
I may not agree completely with the opinions of the authors all the time (e.g. the article about Göering was a bit harsh) but you must respect anyway the massive team of contributors who lent their names and credibility to such a great work. You must learn much more from this than on internet.
November 12, 2025
An excellent tome (yes it could also be used for a bit of light weightlifting at over 1,000 pages) covering the events of World War II.
It is arranged alphabetically, so can make some more obscure topics a little difficult to find. I think an Index would be really helpful but that would significantly add to the page count.
A solid reference work to help point you in the right direction for additional, and more detailed, research.
It is arranged alphabetically, so can make some more obscure topics a little difficult to find. I think an Index would be really helpful but that would significantly add to the page count.
A solid reference work to help point you in the right direction for additional, and more detailed, research.
May 8, 2010
I will simply cite John Keegan on this one: The most complete Second World War reference book yet.
Anyone with a serious interest in World War Two should possess this book. It has literally tons of information about most WWII-related, general topics and is usually a very good starting point for any more specialized researches. Excellent illustrations/charts/tables/maps add to the overall clarity of the book.
Very highly recommended reference book.
Anyone with a serious interest in World War Two should possess this book. It has literally tons of information about most WWII-related, general topics and is usually a very good starting point for any more specialized researches. Excellent illustrations/charts/tables/maps add to the overall clarity of the book.
Very highly recommended reference book.
January 18, 2011
If you need one book as a reference to the Second World War, then this is it. Does Wikipedia replace it? I think not!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews