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Collins Atlas of World War II
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Customer Reviews
Rating:  - Excellent but at times Skewed Resource
This is a generally excellent reference source. It contains clear, comprehensive, and well-drawn maps on a variety of issues relating to World War II, including for example, shifting political boundaries and allegiances, as well as battles. The troop formations and movements for major battles are very well done. All charts, tables, and maps are in color for further clarity. The text itself (each mini-topic is given a two-page treatment) is also very well-written.
But a shortcoming to the book is its slant on references to certain activities involving the Soviet Union at the outset of World War II (and beyond). For example, the Soviet Union's invasion of Poland in September 1939 is politely described as an "intervention," suggesting that the Poles somehow needed to be invaded by the Soviet Union to protect themselves. In addition, after the Soviet Union invades Finland and Finland reaches a temporary accord with Germany to protect itself against the Soviet Union, Finland is categorized as an "Axis" power. Furthermore, the Soviet Union's takeover of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania is described as a peaceful process whereby, after the Soviet Union established a military "presence" in these countries, they were annexed to the Soviet Union. (The book does disclose, however, the little-known fact that the Soviet Union, after its mutual non-aggression pact with Germany, "annexed" the province of Bessarabia and portions of the province of Bukovina from Romania.) Further, the book discloses that the Soviet Union took 3 million German soldiers prisoner and says they may not have been treated well but gives no indication whatsoever on how many died (even the Soviet Union's capture of approximately 250,000 members of the German Sixth Army, of whom it is generally estimated 90-95% died in captivity, does not merit a mention). Yet the book does mention the Soviet capture of 600,000 Japanese soldiers as prisoners of war, then mentions that 10% of them died in Soviet captivity, purposely implying that the death toll among German PWs was the same rate when it fact it was several times higher. Finally, the Katyn forest massacre is included in the index but there is no actual discussion of the event in the book.
The point of this seeming digression is that book should only be viewed as a starting point for the topics it discusses, not a comprehensive treatment.
The book is divided into five parts: (1) "The Prewar World"; (2) "The Axis Advances"; (3) "Turning the Axis Tide"; (4) "Allied Offensives"; and (5) "Allies Victorious". There are no photos other than an introductory one for each part. As noted, there is an index. The index does not include any persons, places, or things mentioned in the many maps and tables in the book. I.e., if an American general is mentioned in the text on one page and a map on another, the index only includes the textual reference.
Rating: - Good little ol' atlas
The Collins Atlas of World War II is by no means comprehensive -- but it's not meant to be. What it is and what it does very well, is give an overviews of battles and situtations from the war. It does this with a ton of full-color maps, supported by text and charts. The maps, to be sure, are somewhat small -- but the book is small. It atlas offers itself as a well-illustrated overview, and it more than keeps the promise. The price is extremely enticing.
Rating: - Coherent and attractive
I chose to purchase this Atlas on account of its author, John Keegan. The Atlas is presented in an an attractive format. Each page contains a description of the battle/era alongside a map portraying the relevant events. The maps are clear, colorful and diverse. Map topics range from political developments (pre-war), strategic military events and tactical battle views, down to the battalion level. Of particular interest I found the Stalingrad map, which clearly displays the city's various districts through an isometric view. It's the first map I saw of its kind, and provides excellent understanding of a battle conducted in urban terrain. On the downside, the pages are too small for my taste, degrading the level of detail in the maps. Additionally, while ideally covered in conventional Atlases, I believe that this Atlas should have provided a geographical survey of the battlefields, describing the topography, demography, climate and land-type. It would have saved me the need of consulting another atlas. All in all, an excellent buy, and an interesting read on its own, although mainly suitable as a companion to other WWII literature.
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