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.

## Contents

* 1 Major leaders
* 1.1 United States
* 1.2 Britain
* 1.3 China
* 1.4 Germany
* 1.5 Japan
* 1.6 Soviet Union
* 2 Origins
* 3 Pacific
* 3.1 Coming of war in Pacific
* 3.2 Wartime
* 3.2.1 Primary sources
* 3.3 China

### 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