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The New York Times printed more words on World War II than any other newspaper and had more than 160 correspondents worldwide reporting on the war. Now, for the first time, The New York Times Complete World War II offers a singular opportunity to experience all the battles, politics, and personal stories through daily, first-hand journalism. Hundreds of the most riveting articles from the archives of the Times—including firsthand accounts of major events and little-known anecdotes—have been selected for inclusion in The New York Times: The Complete World War II. The book covers the biggest battles of the war, from the Battle of the Bulge to the Battle of Iwo Jima, as well as moving stories from the home front and profiles of noted leaders and heroes such as Winston Churchill and George Patton. A respected World War II historian and writer, editor Richard Overy guides readers through the articles, putting the events into historical context. The books is illustrated with hundreds of maps and historical photographs plus battlefield maps that originally appeared in the newspaper. Together they provide an engrossing look at this pivotal and defining era of world history.

The book explores the reasons why the Second World War broke out in September 1939 and not sooner, and why a European war expanded into world war by 1941. The war has usually been seen simply as Hitler’s war and yet the wider conflict that broke out when Germany invaded Poland was not the war that Hitler wanted. He had hoped for a short war against Poland; instead, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Richard Overy argues that any explanation of the outbreak of hostilities must therefore be multi-national and he shows how the war’s origins are to be found in the basic instability of the international system that was brought about by the decline of the old empires of Britain and France and the rise of ambitious new powers, Italy, Germany and Japan, keen to build new empires of their own.