NEW YORK TIMES COMPLETE WORLD WAR II: All the Coverage from the Battlefields and the Home Front

This is an impressive collection of news articles dealing with some of the post First World War issues that would eventually lead into the Second World War, as well as a little of what the consequences were that led into the Cold War. Information contained in this volume is abundant and full of pictures and even maps of where the conflicts and battles took place. I'm just a bit surprised, however, that not as much was covered about the Pacific theatre on the eve of war in that part of the world. For example, despite news article coverage beginning with 1919, it held no mention of the atrocities that happened in Nanking between 1937-1938. The news of rising tension around the world was not fully depicted until 1938 going into 1939. I'm not too sure if it's because being that New York Times was a US news channel, they didn't receive the kind of intel that Britain would have gotten given the investment they had in many parts of China at the time. I was of course, not surprised that it was never mentioned in later articles given the gravity of the war itself, and later during the Cold War, when the US was busy fighting an indirect battle with Communist China and being friends with Japan. Mentioning such an event would be contradictive of the US' goal to keep friendly relations with Japan and and would instead increase sympathy for their opponent. I am glad however, that there is much more information about the happenings of the war that took place in the African Continent as well as the Pacific prior to the US focusing their last offensive against Japan in the aftermath of Germany's surrender. In many books I've come across about the Second World War, barely anything was mentioned of the battles that took place in Africa as well as China against Japan. Aside from my personal inquiry about the gap in information in that specific time period, this volume is otherwise, a rich mine of information to peruse. I'm often wondering why such a source is not being recommended for junior high and high school students in their world history classes. It would make their understanding of their world at that time much more well-rounded. I, myself, anticipate using this as a first-hand source when teaching my own students and children in the future.

Excellent, comprehensive (large!) book. Full of important information. Photographs. Maps. Articles. Editorials. Headlines. Great format! It’s big and heavy, though, even the paperback, so not especially portable. Nice “coffee table” book but not something you’ll want to carry around or put in your backpack 😉.

Very insightful.

This book contains a day by day record of not only WW11 battles, but the key personalities involved in the conflict. Clearly there was great disagreement within these united states, regarding our position on entering the war. Some texts give one the impression that our entrance was just the japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. However the european conflict clearly gave President Roosevelt a greater cause for alarm than did the japanese empire. The news articles show the progress of the conflict, but these articles also show the evolving thought on the war in this country. Slowly but surely isolationism gave way to engagement, and engagement led to action. These newspaper reports chart the war for the public, but they also charted the conflict for history. I definitely recommend this book, to anyone interested in WW11. JRV

I would have given it five stars but this is just the wrong form factor to try and see this data. The book itself ends up only being able to fit the odd article here and there into print, and even there it's awkwardly heavy. It ships with a DVD and, frankly, they should have just shipped the DVD. Having said that, it is fascinating. You don't get a grasp for what the front page looked like from the book, because as I said it's just selected excerpts in the book itself. But this sort of contextual data helps understand how certain things happened during WWII in a way that's a lot more intellectually satisfying than thinking life in wartime America was just like the newsreels showed it, with everyone filing into the factories and arming democracy to a snappy brass soundtrack. If you want to know a little more about what was influencing the thoughts of the day, dig in.

This was a gift for a World War II buff, and it delivered. It's a phenomenal tome of articles for the entire scope of the war. I could not have been more pleased.

Large/heavy book but its worth its weight. These news articles provide really good first hand accounts and opinions that allow the reader to easily understand the mood/knowledge/intensity of WW2 before, during & after. I'd recommend this to anyone who has even a moderate interest in WW2!

This was purchased as a gift for a WW2 buff friend. He absolutely loved it. I'm even thinking of buying it for myself as it is a really interesting way to read the history of WW2. These are all news articles so it gives you a more "you are right there" point of view on how Americans saw/heard about the war.