The Second World War: Europe and the Mediterrean Atlas (The West Point Military History Series)

I gave this to both my boyfriend and my brother in law as a Christmas present along with the companion maps. They both loved it!!

I very much enjoyed this book. It gave a detailed overview of the events leading up to WW2, and many different phases of the war in Europe.

This atlas will do for most of your questions but not all

Excellent content

West Point has done a fantastic job drafting these maps. All are well organized with a simple key and easy to understand troop movements. The complaint of that these are only maps without explanations is correct, but when accompanied by West Point's "The Second World War: Europe and the Mediterranean" book, they work together perfectly. These are perfect for anyone willing to break out of learning basic WWII history and wants to get into the more advanced theories of strategy, tactics, supply, etc.

Good maps of the campaigns but I wanted them to get down to the division level which they did not.

I thought that the maps would be more detailed then they were. I was disappointed in the book.

This is a large atlas; its 14 in by 10 in. Its 65 maps cover Finland, Norway, Eastern Front, North Africa and Europe. The maps take up the full page and is accompanied by a page describing the action depicted on the map. There are varying scales to this atlas but many are in the 25 miles to the inch range.The maps are black and white while the participants are in red and blue. Maps include key cities, rivers and other terrain features.The reason for only 4 stars is the scaling on some of the maps is off. The author shows too much territory, making the key area of the battle smaller than it had to be. If less area was shown, the pertinent area could be larger and easier to see and greater detail could be given. The battle of Kursk on page 51 is a good example.Though these maps aren't in color, they're relatively effective and anybody who collects atlases should consider this one.

gut

I was expecting maps that could stand by themselves and provide fresh insights into World War 2 in Europe.I found the maps to be presented in a dated manner, they layout is like something from 50 years ago and the structure is bare without being easily accessable, and they certainly don't stand by themselves but are supporting maps to a text included elsewhere. This is clear by the selection of battles and campaigns, in North Africa you will find a decent coverage of the Gazala Battles, although it doesn't stand alone but there is no reference on El Alamein. It is clear that these are supporting maps and with out reference to the focus of the map they are of little use.You will find better maps in most modern books of war relating to these battles and this is no complete guide.It is spiral bound and some details are useful but unless you have the main text I wouldn't recommend this to a casual reader.