With over sixty million casualties World War II was the bloodiest conflict in history. In this incisive introduction, Christopher Catherwood covers all the key battles, while giving the wider story behind them. He also brings a fresh angle to the conflict, emphasising the huge impact of the preceding Sino-Japanese War on World War II and the relative unimportance of the British campaign in Africa.

From the impact of the Hiroshima bombing to the horrors wreaked by the Red Army and the Nazis, Catherwood makes clear the legacy of the war today. Full of text-boxes revealing key details about intelligence, weaponry, and the social milieu of the conflict, there is no better brief introduction.