WWII Historical Atlas

[kgsan]

I have appreciated the threads which have appeared from time to time with recommendations for books on the eastern front. There were a lot of good suggestions and comments for books covering everything from broad histories of the entire front all the way down to personal accounts. Based on some of the recommendations I ordered Sajer's the Forgotten Soldier and Kershaw's War Without Garlands which have just arrived in the mail and look great.

I am also interested in getting an historical atlas covering WWII and was wondering if anyone on the board could recommend a good one?

[V]

Atlas of World War II

by Richard Natkiel

ISBN: 0-7607-2043-6

Good book with big pages and nice maps, nearly all operational or strategic in scope.

Photos both color and B&W.

Has allot of text also, but I have not read much of it, usually just use the maps for reference..

But I am glad I own it...

[RobVarak]

I also recently picked up the Cassell Atlas of WW II. Not quite as good as the effort mentioned above, but adequate.

[aka_tom_w]

Originally posted by kgsan:

I am also interested in getting an historical atlas covering WWII and was wondering if anyone on the board could recommend a good one?

Sorry to post without the answer, BUT I hope someone else will make some suggestions

I would really like to have a really well done Atlas of all of the action of WWII, in map form.

Does anyone know of any books or collections or enclopedia's of WWII that are WELL laden with plenty of detailed maps?

Any suggestions.

-tom w

[Little_Black_Devil]

I JUST recieved "The Atlas of Eastern Front Battles", by Will Fowler

ISBN: 0-7394-2607-9

Unfortunately, I haven't had to get into it at all yet, other than a cursory glance. Too busy watching these forums I guess.

In any event, it contains 6 deveoted Chapters to a few of the most pivotal battles on the Eastern Front.

They are;

Leningrad

German Attack/Soviet Counterattack of Moscow

Sevastopol

Stalingrad

Kursk

Battle of Berlin

While the book contains a LOT of colourful pictures, maps and frequent sidenotes about specific vehicles and equipment; it does have the appearence of being written for the novice to intermidiate student of Eastern Front History. It doesn't appear to be the type of book I was after, but since I haven't read it yet - I might yet be surprised.

The next time this, or any other thread on Eastern Front books crops up hopefully I will have had a chance to read this book, and I'll pass on my comments regarding it.

[Lawyer]

I picked up German Campaigns of World War II by Bishop and Warner at Barnes & Noble after reading about it here. It is a nice book for $20 with pictures, text, and maps that gives a good overall view of what happened, including the east front.

I also found Chronological Atlas of World War II by William and Barrie Pitt that covers the whole war month by month with pictures, texts, and maps. It is a bargain section book for $18 at Barnes & Noble.

They are both good for easily understanding what was going on. I have Osprey books on Kursk and Bagradation with some good 3-D maps of parts of the battles. I also have the West Point Atlas of WWII in Europe that offers historic operation maps, including the east front, but to be honest, it isn't easy to follow or particularly helpful unless you already understand what is happening.

[Lt Bull]

I just did a bit of a search myself. Apparently the The West Point Military History Series of books might be worth a look. It will be published in October 2002 but you can order it now.

Lt Bull

[KevGaming]

Don't know if it is the kind of thing you are looking for but, Profantasy Software (the RPG mapping people)do an interactive World War 2 Atlas.

More information can be found here: WW2 Interactive Atlas

[KNac]

Not of the whole WWII, but centered on the eastern front you have a wide serie of atlas and survey from C. David Glantz, here are some of them:

-Atlas of the War on the Eastern Front, 1941-1945

-ATLAS OF THE BATTLE OF MOSCOW: The Defensive Phase (1 October-5 December 1941)

-ATLAS OF THE BATTLE OF MOSCOW: The Soviet Offensive, 5 December 1941-20 April 1942

-ATLAS AND SURVEY: The Soviet Khar'kov Offensive, 12-29 May 1942

etc etc etc

(you can find them here)

An other interesting web page to find any WWII book:

stone&stone

[ August 27, 2002, 10:15 AM: Message edited by: KNac ]

[Lars]

Originally posted by Lt Bull:

I just did a bit of a search myself. Apparently the The West Point Military History Series of books might be worth a look. It will be published in October 2002 but you can order it now.

Lt Bull

Ah, they're reprinting it.

I'll second this one.

[kgsan]

Guys, I just wanted to say thanks for the recommendations. As always, this Board is helpful and informative (well, except for that Peng thread thing )

I found Natkiel's Atlas of WWII on sale at the Barnes and Noble which looks pretty good for only $13. They are also ordering the Pitt's Chronological Atlas so I can "eye ball" it, but apparently the Bishop and Warners German Campaigns Atlas is unavailable.

[Lawyer]

Originally posted by kgsan:

They are also ordering the Pitt's Chronological Atlas so I can "eye ball" it, but apparently the Bishop and Warners German Campaigns Atlas is unavailable.

Oops, sorry, I got the German Campaigns book at Border's six months ago. I think the Pitt's Chronological Atlas is probably what you want, but both books are good for getting an overview. I wish I had started with them three years ago.