Author Description

Who's Who in the Second World War is a completely original view of World War II, as seen from the human, rather than military, viewpoint. This fascinating and authoriative guide assembles the most important and significant characters from amongst the vast array of those involved in this monumental conflict. World War II, unlike World War I, was truly a global conflict, fought in every one of the five continents, and by combatants from every continental region. It was also, as World War I had not been, a conflict of ideologies. As a result its most significant figures have a particular richness and depth, including not only soldiers and statesmen of orthodox background but three dictators of world stature, and a host of politicians, heroes, martyrs, idealists, and traitors. From the British minister Duff Cooper to the dictator Joseph Stalin, from Nancy Fiocca of the French Resistance to Hitler in all his manifestations, every angle of the war is represented in intriguing detail. Each entry conveys not only the salient facts about the life and career of each figure but also the flavor of their individuality. Full of meticulous research and up-to-date scholarship, and including a thorough chronology of the war, Who's Who in the Second World War in an invaluable aid to an understanding of the characters, as well as the action, of the Second World War.