Bibliography Of World War Ii

The Bibliography of World War II is vast. These are the best titles in English on World War II

• Dear, I. C. B. and M. R. D. Foot, eds. Oxford Companion to World War II (in Britain titled Oxford Companion to the Second World War (2005; 2nd ed. 2009). the best reference book; excerpt and text search
• Smith, J. Douglas and Richard Jensen. World War II on the Web: A Guide to the Very Best Sites. (2002)
• Times Atlas of the Second World War (1995)
• Weinberg, Gerhard L. A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II, (1994) the best overall view of the war.

Major leaders[edit]

United States[edit]

• Ambrose, Stephen. The Supreme Commander: The War Years of Dwight D. Eisenhower (1999) excerpt and text search
• Beschloss, Michael R. The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941-1945 (2002) excerpt and text search
• Black, Conrad. Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom (2003). popular excerpt and text search, by a conservative writer
• Brands, H.W. Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (2008)
• Buell, Thomas. The Quiet Warrior: A Biography of Admiral Raymond Spruance. (1974).
• Burns, James MacGregor. vol. 2: Roosevelt: Soldier of Freedom 1940-1945 (1970), excerpt and text search vol 2; major interpretive scholarly biography, emphasis on politics online at ACLS e-books
• Dallek, Robert. Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy, 1932-1945 (2nd ed. 1995) scholarly survey of foreign policy excerpt and text search
• Larrabee, Eric. Commander in Chief: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, His Lieutenants, and Their War (2004), chapters on all the key American war leaders excerpt and text search
• James, D. Clayton. The Years of Macarthur 1941-1945 (1975), vol 2. of standard scholarly biography
• Leary, William ed. We Shall Return! MacArthur's Commanders and the Defeat of Japan, 1942-1945 (1988)
• Morison, Elting E. Turmoil and Tradition: A Study of the Life and Times of Henry L. Stimson (1960)
• Pogue, Forrest. George C. Marshall: Ordeal and Hope, 1939-1942 (1999); George C. Marshall: Organizer of Victory, 1943-1945 (1999); standard scholarly biography
• Potter, E. B. Bull Halsey (1985).
• Potter, E. B. Nimitz. (1976).
• Showalter, Dennis. Patton And Rommel: Men of War in the Twentieth Century (2006), by a leading scholar; excerpt and text search

Britain[edit]

• Addison, Paul. "Churchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer (1874–1965)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online
• Best, Geoffrey. Churchill: A Study in Greatness (2003), 400pp; very well received biography
• Hamilton, Nigel. The Full Monty: Montgomery of Alamein, 1887-1942 v.1 (2001); Master of the Battlefield: Monty's War Years 1942-1944 v. 2. (1984) excerpt and texct search vol 1
• Messenger, Charles, "Bomber" Harris and the Strategic Bombing Offensive, 1939-1945 (1984), defends Harris

China[edit]

• Fenby, Jonathan. Chiang Kai-shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost (2004), 592pp excerpt and text search
• Taylor, Jay. The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-Shek and the Struggle for Modern China (2009), 722 pp. highly favorable scholarly biography

Germany[edit]

• Bullock, Alan. Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives (1993) excerpt and text search
• Kershaw, Ian. Hitler, 1936-1945: Nemesis. (2000). 832 pp. The leading scholarly biography, vol 2 excerpt and text search
• Overy, Richard. The Dictators: Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia (2005) excerpt and text search
• Overy, Richard. Goering (1984)
• Showalter, Dennis. Patton And Rommel: Men of War in the Twentieth Century (2006), by a leading scholar; excerpt and text search

Japan[edit]

• Agawa, Hiroyuki. The Reluctant Admiral (1982) excerpt and text search
• Bix, Herbert P. Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan (2001) excerpt and text search

Soviet Union[edit]

• Bullock, Alan. Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives (1993) excerpt and text search
• Overy, Richard. The Dictators: Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia (2005) excerpt and text search

Origins[edit]

• Bell, P. M. H. The Origins of the Second World War in Europe. (3rd ed. 2007). 326 pp. excerpt and text search
• Boyce, Robert, and Joseph A. Maiolo. The Origins of World War Two: The Debate Continues (2003) excerpt and text search
• Deist, Wilhelm et al., ed. Germany and the Second World War. Vol. 1: The Build-up of German Aggression. (1991). 799 pp., official German history
• Eubank, Keith. The Origins of World War II (2004), short survey
• Finney, Patrick. The Origins of the Second World War (1998), 480pp
• Henig, Ruth. The Origins of the Second World War 1933-1941 (2005), short, balanced summary excerpt and text search
• Lamb, Margaret and Tarling, Nicholas. From Versailles to Pearl Harbor: The Origins of the Second World War in Europe and Asia. (2001). 238 pp.
• Langer, William, and S. Everett Gleason. The Undelcared War: 1940-1941 (1953) very influential semi-official study of U.S. policy
• Lukes, Igor. The Munich Crisis, 1938: Prelude to World War II (1999), 416pp excerpt and text search
• Mallett, Robert. Mussolini and the Origins of the Second World War, 1933 - 1940 (2003) excerpt and text search
• Overy, Richard. The Origins of the Second World War (3rd ed. 2008) excerpt and text search
• Overy, Richard, and Timothy Mason, "Debate: Germany, “Domestic Crisis” and War in 1939" Past and Present, Number 122, February 1989. pages 200-240
• Prazmowska, Anita J. Eastern Europe and the Origins of the Second World War. (2000). 278 pp.
• Record, Jeffrey. The Specter of Munich: Reconsidering the Lessons of Appeasing Hitler (2006) excerpt and text search
• Reynolds, David. From Munich to Pearl Harbor: Roosevelt's America and the Origins of the Second World War (2002) excerpt and text search
• Watt, Donald Cameron How War Came: The Immediate Origins of the Second World War, 1938-1939, (1989), the major survey
• Weinberg, Gerhard L. Foreign Policy of Hitler's Germany: Starting World War II, 1937-1939, 1980.
• Young, Robert France and the Origins of the Second World War, (1996)

Pacific[edit]

Coming of war in Pacific[edit]

• Barnhart, Michael A. Japan Prepares for Total War: The Search for Economic Security, 1919–1941 (1987)
• Butow, Robert J. C. Tojo and the Coming of the War (1961)
• Dallek, Robert. Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy, 1932-1945 (1995).
• Feis, Herbert. The Road to Pearl Harbor: The coming of the war between the United States and Japan. classic history by senior American official.
• Horne, Gerald. Race War! White Supremacy and the Japanese Attack on the British Empire. (2003). 432 pp.
• Kawamura, Noriko. "Emperor Hirohito and Japan's Decision to Go to War with the United States: Reexamined" Diplomatic History (2007) 31 (1), 51–79. online at Blackwell-Synergy
• Langer, William, and S. Everett Gleason. The Undelcared War: 1940-1941 (1953) very influential semi-offiical study of U.S. policy
• Sun, Youli. China and the Origins of the Pacific War, 1931-1941. (1993). 244 pp.
• Tarling, Nicholas. Britain, Southeast Asia and the Onset of the Pacific War. (1996). 434 pp.
• Thorne, Christopher G. The Issue of War: States, Societies, and the Coming of the Far Eastern Conflict of 1941-1945 (1985) sophisticated analysis of each major power.
• Tohmatsu, Haruo and H. P. Willmott. A Gathering Darkness: The Coming of War to the Far East and the Pacific (2004), short overview.
• Utley, Jonathan G. Going to War with Japan, 1937–1941 (1985)
• Wetzler, Peter. Hirohito and War: Imperial Tradition and Military Decision Making in Prewar Japan (1998), chaps. 2, 3;
• Yomiuri Shimbun. Who Was Responsible? From Marco Polo Bridge to Pearl Harbor (2007) review

Wartime[edit]

• Appleman, Roy Edgar, et al. Okinawa: the last battle, (United States Army in World War II: The war in the Pacific) (1948), very thorough U.S. Army official history online edition
• Bartley, Whitman S. Iwo Jima: Amphibious Epic (1954) online edition
• Bergerud, Eric M. Fire in the Sky: The Air War in the South Pacific (2000) online edition
• Bix, Herbert. Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan (2000)
• Blair Jr., Clay, Silent Victory (1975), on submarines
• Boggs, Major Charles W., Jr. Marine Aviation in the Philippines (1951) onlne edition
• Buell, Thomas. Master of Seapower: A Biography of Admiral Ernest J. King (1976).
• Buell, Thomas. The Quiet Warrior: A Biography of Admiral Raymond Spruance. (1974).
• Costello, John. The Pacific War. (1982). survey
• Craven, Wesley, and James Cate, eds. The Army Air Forces in World War II. (1958). Official history in 7 vol; Vol. 1, Plans and Early Operations, January 1939 to August 1942 online edition Vol. 4, The Pacific: Guadalcanal to Saipan, August 1942 to July 1944. 1950 online edition; Vol. 5, The Pacific: Matterhorn to Nagasaki. 1953. parts on-line
• Dull, Paul S. A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy (1941 - 1945), (1978) (ISBN 0870210971)
• Dunnigan, James F., and Albert A. Nofi. The Pacific War Encyclopedia. (2 vol 1998) 772p.
• Gailey, Harry A. The War in the Pacific: From Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay (1995) online edition
• Hastings, Max. Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45 (2008), 656pp
• Hayashi, Saburo, and Alvin Coox. Kogun: The Japanese Army in the Pacific War. Quantico, Va.: Marine Corps Assoc., 1959.
• Inoguchi, Rikihei, Tadashi Nakajima, and Robert Pineau. The Divine Wind. 1958. on Kamikaze.
• James, D. Clayton The Years of MacArthur. Vol. 2., 1972.
• Kirby, S. Woodburn. The War Against Japan. 4 vols. London: H.M.S.O., 1957-1965. Highly detailed official Royal Navy history.
• Leary, William M., ed. We Shall Return: MacArthur's Commanders and the Defeat of Japan. (1988).
• Long, Gavin. Australia in the War of 1939–45, Army. Vol. 7, The Final Campaigns. Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1963.
• McCarthy, Dudley. Australia in the War of 1939–45, Army. Vol. 5, South-West Pacific Area—First Year: Kokoda to Wau. Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1959.
• Marston, Daniel, ed. The Pacific War Companion: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima (2005), 272pp excerpt and text search
• Matloff, Maurice, and Edwin M. Snell. Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare 1941–1942, (1990), grand strategyfrom Washington perspective online edition
• Morison, Samuel Eliot. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Vol. 3, The Rising Sun in the Pacific. (1961); Vol. 4, Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions. 1949; Vol. 5, The Struggle for Guadalcanal. (1949); Vol. 6, Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier. 1950; Vol. 7, Aleutians, Gilberts, and Marshalls. (1951); Vol. 8, New Guinea and the Marianas. (1962); Vol. 12, Leyte. (1958); vol. 13, The Liberation of the Philippines: Luzon, Mindanao, the Visayas. (1959); Vol. 14, Victory in the Pacific. (1961). classic official history of U.S> Navy
• Nichols, Chas. S. Jr., and Henry I. Shaw, Jr. Okinawa: Victory in the Pacific (1955), excellent official Marine Corps history; online edition
• Okumiya, Masatake and Mitso Fuchida. Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan. (1955).
• Potter, E. B. and Chester W. Nimitz. Triumph in the Pacific. (1963). Naval battles
• Potter, E. B. Bull Halsey (1985).
• Potter, E. B. Nimitz. (1976).
• Prange, Gordon W. At Dawn We Slept. (1982), the standard history of the Pearl Harbor attack excerpt and text search
• Prange, Gordon W. Miracle at Midway. (1982), the standard history excerpt and text search
• Shaw, Henry et al. History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II. Vol. I: Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal; Vol. II: Isolation of Rabaul; Vol. III: Central Pacific Drive; Vol. IV: Western Pacific Operations; and Vol. V: Victory and Occupation (1968) online edition
• Smith, J. Douglas and Richard Jensen. World War II on the Web: A Guide to the Very Best Sites. (2002)
• Spector, Ronald. Eagle Against the Sun: The American War with Japan (1985). excerpt and text search
• Toland, John. The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945 (1970); Pulitzer Prize history from Japanese perspective; excerpt and text search
• Willmott, H. P. Empires in Balance. (1982).
• Weinberg, Gerhard L. A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II, (2005), the most thorough coverage of grand strategy excerpt and text search
• Woodward, C. Vann. The Battle for Leyte Gulf (1947) online edition
• Yahara, Hiromichi. The Battle For Okinawa (1997), Japanese perspective excerpt and text search
• Y'Blood, William. Red Sun Setting: The Battle of the Philippine Sea. (1980).
• Zimmerman, John L. The Guadalcanal Campaign (1949) online edition

Primary sources[edit]

• Evans, David C., ed, The Japanese Navy In World War Ii: In the Words of Former Japanese Naval Officers, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 1993 (ISBN 0870213164)

• Sledge, E. B. With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa. Presidio, 1981. Memoir.

China[edit]

• Byrd Martha. Chennault: Giving Wings to the Tiger. (1987). American general who led "Flying Tigers" in China
• Ch'i, Hsi-sheng. Nationalist China at War: Military Defeats and Political Collapse, 1937–1945 (1982), 309pp
• Fenby, Jonathan. Chiang Kai-shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost (2004), 592pp excerpt and text search
• Hsiung, James C. and Steven I. Levine, eds. China's Bitter Victory: The War with Japan, 1937–1945 (1992) online edition
• Hsi-sheng, Ch'i. Nationalist China at War: Military Defeats and Political Collapse, 1937–1945 (1982)
• Liu F. F. A Military History of Modern China, 1924-1949. (1956).
• Romanus, Charles F. and Riley Sunderland. Stilwell's Mission to China (1953), official U.S. Army history online edition
• Romanus, Charles F. and Riley Sunderland. Stilwell's Command Problems (1956) online edition
• Schaller Michael. The U.S. Crusade in China, 1938-1945. (1979). online edition
• Taylor, Jay. The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-Shek and the Struggle for Modern China (2009), 722 pp. highly favorable scholarly biography
• Tsou, Tang America's Failure in China, 1941-50 (1963).
• Tuchman, Barbara. Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45, (1972), 624pp; Pulitzer prize (The British edition is titled Against the Wind: Stilwell and the American Experience in China 1911-45,) excerpt and text search, very hostile to Chiang
• Ven, Hans van de. War and Nationalism in China: 1925-1945 (2003), negative on Stilwell online edition