In the original dustsheet. Black cloth binding with silver title on the spine.

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Defeat in 1918 left many of the losers recalcitrant, Germany foremost. Drawn to totalitarianism under a new leader in the 1930s, it first made common cause with other discontented nations, including Italy and Spain, which waged wars of their own in that decade, then in 1939 embarked on a second European war to reverse the outcome of the First. That rapidly became a World War, whose character was dominated by the development and refinement of the embryo technology of 1918. This volume covers the blitzkrieg of 1939-41, the war in Russia, and the Anglo-American counter-offensives in Africa, the Mediterranean and North-West of Europe, concluding with the campaigns of 1945 that resulted in the final defeat of Nazism in Europe.

Review: The Second World War is so well documented these days that any new history usually relies to a large extent on the added value of untapped primary sources or personal experience to make its mark. The Second World War in the West is the exception that proves the rule. Charles Messenger sticks to the conventional wisdom of the causes of the 1939-45 war–The Treaty of Versailles, for example–and his analysis of the main conflicts and turning points will equally find few dissenters. Where he scores heavily, though, is in steering a careful path between detail and simplicity to provide a vivid picture of the breadth of the war in the four major European theatres–north-western Europe, the Mediterranean and the Balkans, North Africa and the Middle-East, and The Third Reich and the East. Messenger’s clarity is consolidated by superb design, but pride of place must go to the chronology, the maps and the brief biographies. Many histories are too self- important to give a week-by-week guide to the war, but Messenger’s simple chronology does more to connect seemingly disparate European events than many complete books.

The 21 maps, some of which are virtually in 3D, are minor artworks and, to complete the package, we get a brief resumé of which campaigns the leading generals on both sides were engaged in. If you already have an extensive library of military history, you can probably give this book a miss. But if you are new to the subject and are looking for a comprehensive, comprehensible introduction to one of the key events of the 20th century, then Messenger is your man. –John Crace

Charles Messenger was a Regular officer in the Royal Tank Regiment. He then left the army to take up a career as a military historian and defence analyst. His second career has proved hugely successful, and he has published a large number of books, mainly concentrating on the two World Wars.