The Second World War: A Complete History

List of Maps  Acknowledgements  1. The German invasion of Poland, September 1939  2. Poland defeated, October 1939  3. Finland defiant, November 1939  4. The Scandinavian cockpit, winter 1939–1940  5. The German attack in the West, May 1940  6. Dunkirk, May 1940  7. The battle for France, June 1940  8. France’s agony, Britain’s resolve, June–July 1940  9. The battle for Britain, August–September 1940  10. ‘The war is won!’ (Hitler), October 1940  11. The ‘new order of tyranny’ (Roosevelt), winter 1940–1941  12. The widening war, January–March 1941  13. The German conquest of Yugoslavia and Greece, April 1941  14. The fall of Crete; war in Africa, April–May 1941  15. The German invasion of Russia, June 1941  16. Terror in the East, July–August 1941  17. Towards Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev, September 1941  18. Russia at bay, September–October 1941  19. ‘Deciding the fate of Europe’ (Hitler), November 1941  20. The limits of German conquest, December 1941  21. Japan strikes, December 1941  22. ‘We are no longer alone’ (Churchill), New Year 1942  23. Global war, February–April 1942  24. The spread of resistance and terror, summer 1942  25. Axis triumphs, July 1942  26. Guadalcanal, Dieppe, El Alamein, August–September 1942  27. Stalingrad and ‘Torch’, September–October 1942  28. The turn of the tide for the Allies, winter 1942  29. Casablanca: blueprint for victory, January 1943  30. The German armies in danger, February 1943  31. ‘Drive the enemy into the sea’ (Montgomery), spring 1943  32. ‘The first crack in the Axis’ (Roosevelt), summer 1943  33. Germany and Japan in retreat, autumn 1943  34. ‘Bleeding to death in the East’ (Goebbels), winter 1943  35. Anzio, Cassino, Kwajalein, January–February 1944  36. Bombing, deportation, and mass murder, February–March 1944  37. Resistance, sabotage and deception, spring 1944  38. D-Day, June 1944  39. Germany encircled, July 1944  40. The battles for Poland and France, summer 1944  41. The bitter-sweet path of liberation, autumn 1944  42. Into Germany; towards the Philippines, September 1944  43. Fighting for every mile, October–November 1944  44. Flying bombs, suicide pilots, death marches, January 1945  45. Berlin, Manila, Dresden, Tokyo, February–March 1945  46. The Axis in disarray; the Allies in conflict, March–April 1945  47. The deaths of Roosevelt, Mussolini and Hitler, April 1945  48. The end of the war in Europe, May 1945  49. Germany in defeat, Japan unbowed, May–July 1945  50. Alamogordo, Potsdam, Hiroshima, July–August 1945  51. The defeat of Japan, August 1945  52. Retribution and Remembrance, 1945–1952  53. ‘Unfinished business’, 1953–1989  Bibliography  Regional Maps  Index