Bibliography of World War II explained

This is a bibliography of works on World War II.The bibliography aims to include primary, secondary and tertiary sources regarding the European theatre of World War II (1939–1945) and the Pacific War (1941–1945). By extension, it includes works regarding the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). Additionally, the scope of the bibliography expands to the causes of World War II and the immediate aftermath of World War II, such as evacuation and expulsion and war crimes trials (such as the Nuremberg Trials and the Tokyo Trials). Works on the causes or the aftermath of World War II should only be included if they describe the respective events in the specific context of and relation to the conflict itself.

There are thousands of books written about World War II; therefore, this is not an all-inclusive list. This bibliography also does not aim to include fictional works (see World War II in popular culture). It does not aim to include self-published works, unless there is a very good reason to do so.

Origins of World War II

The following lists should include works of secondary literature that are concerned mainly with the origins of World War II in general or with the entry into World War II by one particular country.

Military history, by theater

Global military history

- - - - Buchanan, Andrew. "Globalizing the Second World War," Past and Present no. 258 (February 2023): 246–281. online; also see https://academic.oup.com/past/article-abstract/258/1/246/6521353

Europe, by theater or front

See main article: articles and Bibliography of World War II battles and campaigns in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

Asia, by theater or front

See main article: articles and Bibliography of World War II battles and campaigns in East Asia, South East Asia and the Pacific.

Military history, by type of warfare

Aerial warfare

For general histories of national air forces, check the "specific military branches" section. For development of airplanes and technical histories, check the "science and technology" section.

Aerial warfare by country

United States

Strategic bombing, general

Western Allied strategic bombing of Germany and German-occupied Europe

Land warfare

For the history of specific theaters or specific units, see the respective sections.

Amphibious warfare and naval infantry

For histories of the United States Marine Corps, see the respective section under in the specific branches section.

Anti-aircraft warfare

– Released in 1955 upon the disbandment of the British Anti-Aircraft Command.

Military fortifications

Naval warfare

Submarine warfare

- - - – About the sinking of SS Athenia by U30.

Military history, by national militaries and national military branches

National militaries

Germany

Book: Mitcham, Samuel W. . Hitler's Legions: The German Army Order of Battle, World War II . Stein & Days Publishing . 1985 . 0-8128-2992-1.
Book: Jurado, Carlos Cabellero . Foreign Volunteers of the Wehrmacht 1941–45 . Osprey Military . 1983 . 0-85045-524-3.
Book: Thomas, Nigel . Wehrmacht Auxiliary Forces . Osprey Publishing . 1992 . 978-1-85532-257-8.

United States, whole military

Specific military branches

Australia, military branches

Royal Australian Air Force

Belgium, military branches

Belgian Army

Canada, military branches

Royal Canadian Navy

France, military branches

French Army

Germany, military branches

German Air Force (Luftwaffe)

Gurtner . René . August 1956 . Deutsche Luftwaffen-Felddivisionen im Weltkrieg 1939–1945 . German Luftwaffe Field Divisions in the World War 1939–1945 . Allgemeine schweizerische Militärzeitschrift . de . 122 . 8 . 592–608.

Waffen-SS

Japan, military branches

Imperial Japanese Navy

New Zealand, military branches

Royal New Zealand Navy

United Kingdom, military branches

Royal Air Force

United States, military branches

U.S. Navy

Military history, by specific military units, formations and warships

See main article: articles, Bibliography of World War II military units and formations and Bibliography of World War II warships.

Military history, war crimes

Works that are mainly concerned with war crimes trials and persecution of war criminals after the conclusion of the war should be placed in the appropriate list in the "Aftermath of World War" section.

Allied war crimes

Soviet war crimes

Axis war crimes

German war crimes

Military history, occupation and occupied territories

American occupation

Occupation after 1945 should be covered in the postwar section.

American occupation of Italy until 1945

British occupation

Occupation after 1945 should be covered in the postwar section.

British occupation of Italy until 1945

German occupation

German occupation of Yugoslavia

Japanese occupation

Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia)

Military history, other

Colonial troops

United Kingdom, colonial troops

– Bechuanaland Protectorate (Botswana) forces
– Basutoland (Lesotho)
– Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
– Bechuanaland Protectorate (Botswana) forces

Grand strategy

Axis grand strategy

Resistance

National and regional histories of World War II

The following lists should include works focussed mainly on the history of a particular nation, state, or country during World War II. Histories of sovereign states as well as of colonial subjects and of cultural regions are of interest. Histories concerned with a particular theater of war should be placed in military history. For instance, a history of Poland during World War II should be placed in this section, but a history on 1939 invasion should be placed in the respective segment in the military history section.

Africa

Colonial names should be sorted alphabetically after their colonial name without colonial overlord identifiers. Colonial identifiers should be added with a comma, current countries names should be placed in brackets.

South Africa

Asia

Note that the Middle East has its own section.

China

- - - - Encyclopedia: An Unexpected Encounter with Hybrid Warfare: The Japanese Experience in North China, 1937–1945 . Hybrid Warfare: Fighting Complex Opponents from the Ancient World to the Present . Cambridge University Press . Cambridge and New York . Yamaguchi . Noburu . 2012 . Murray . Williamson . Mansoor . Peter R..

Japan

Allen . Louis . 1971 . Notes on Japanese Historiography: World War II . Military Affairs . 35 . 133–138 . 10.2307/1984792 . 1984792 . 4.
- - - - Koshiro . Yukiko . 2001 . Japan's World and World War II . Diplomatic History . 25 . 425–441 . 10.1111/0145-2096.00276 . 24914126 . 3.
Koshiro . Yukiko . 3 . 2004 . Eurasian eclipse: Japan's end game in World War II . American Historical Review . 109 . 417–444 . 10.1086/530338 . 10.1086/530338 . 2.

Thailand

The Americas

United States

Book: Abrahamson, James L. . The American Homefront: Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, World War II . National Defense University Press . 1983 .
Book: Adams, Michael C.C. . The Best War Ever
America and World War II
. 1993 . Johns Hopkins Univ. Press . Baltimore.
Book: Andrade, Dale . Luzon: The United States Army Campaigns of World War II . 1996 . Government Printing Office . Washington, D.C..
Book: Baer, George W. . One Hundred Years of Seapower: The U.S. Navy, 1890–1990 . 1994 . Stanford University Press . Stanford, California.
Book: Bentley, Amy . Eating for Victory: Food Rationing and the Politics of Domesticity . 1998 . University of Illinois Press . Urbana.
Book: Bernstein, Alison R. . American Indians and World War II . 1991 . University of Oklahoma Press . Norman.
Book: Binns . Stewart . America at War in Color: Unique Images of the American Experience of World War II . Wood . Adrian . 2001 . Carlton . 978-1-84222-349-9 . London . 47992974 . Stewart Binns.
Book: Blum, John Morton . V was for Victory: Politics and American Culture During World War II . 1976 . Harcourt Brace . New York.
Book: Breitman . Richard . U.S. Intelligence and the Nazis . Goda . Norman J. W. . Naftali . Timothy . Wolfe . Robert . 2005 . Cambridge University Press . 978-0-521-61794-9 . Cambridge, UK . 10.1017/CBO9780511618178 . Richard Breitman.
Book: Campbell, D'Ann. . Women at War with America: Private Lives in a Patriotic Era . 1984 . Harvard University Press . Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Book: Clay, Blair Jr. . Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War against Japan . 2001 . United States Naval Institute . Annapolis, Maryland.
Cole . Wayne S. . 1957 . American Entry into World War II: A Historiographical Appraisal . Mississippi Valley Historical Review . 43 . 595–617 . 10.2307/1902275 . 1902275 . 4.
Book: Cooke, Alistair . The American Home Front, 1941–1942 . 2006 . Atlantic Monthly Press . New York.
Book: Crane, Conrad C. . Bombs, Cities, and Civilians: American Airpower Strategy in World War II . 1993 . University Press of Kansas . Lawrence.
Book: Dallek, Robert . Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy, 1932–1945 . 1995 . Oxford University Press . NY.
Doenecke . Justus D. . 1979 . Beyond Polemics: An Historiographical Re-Appraisal of American Entry into World War II . History Teacher . 12 . 217–251 . 10.2307/491983 . 491983 . 2.
Book: Doherty, Thomas . Projections of War: Hollywood, American Culture and World War II . 1993 . Columbia University Press . New York.
Book: Dziuban, Stanley W. . Military relations between the United States and Canada, 1939–1945 . U.S. Department of the Army . 1959 . Washington DC.
Book: The War in American Culture: Society and Consciousness during World War II . 1996 . University of Chicago Press . Erenberg . Lewis A. . Chicago . Hirsch . Susan E..
Book: Francis, Michael J. . The Limits of Hegemony: United States Relations with Argentina and Chile during World War II . 1977 . Notre Dame University Press . Notre Dame, Indiana.
Book: Frank, Gary . Struggle for Hegemony in South America: Argentina, Brazil, and the United States during the Second World War . 1979 . University of Miami Press . Miami.
Book: Friedrich, Carl J. . American Experiences in Military Government . Rinehart . 1948 . New York.
Book: Greenfield, Kent R. . American Strategy in World War II: A Reconsideration . 1979 . Greenwood Press . Westport, Connecticut.
Book: Hassel . Agostino von . Alliance of Enemies: The Untold Story of the Secret American and German Collaboration to End World War II . MacRae . Sigrid . Amerskamp . Simone . 2006 . Thomas Dunne . 978-0-312-32369-1 . New York.
Book: Hearden, Patrick J. . Roosevelt confronts Hitler: America's Entry into World War II . Northern Illinois University Press . 1987 . 0-87580-124-2.
Book: Henderson, Aileen Kilgore . Stateside Soldier: Life in the Women's Army Corps . 2001 . University of South Carolina Press . Columbia, South Carolina.
Book: Herman, Arthur . Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II . 2012 . Random House . New York.
Book: In Defense of a Nation: Servicewomen in World War II . 1998 . Vandamere Press . Holm . Jeanne M. . Arlington, Va..
Book: Jeffries, John W. . Wartime America: The World War II Homefront . 1996 . I.R. Dee . Chicago.
Book: Jones, John B. . The Songs That Fought the War: Popular Music and the Home Front, 1939–1945 . 2006 . Brandeis University Press . Waltham, Massachusetts.
Book: Jordan, Jonathan W. . American Warlords: How Roosevelt's High Command Led America to Victory in World War II . 2015 . NAL Caliber . New York.
Book: Kennedy, David M. . . 1999 . Oxford Univ. Press . Oxford . David M. Kennedy (historian).
Book: Kennedy, Paul . Engineers of Victory: The Problem Solvers Who Turned the Tide in the Second World War . 2013.
Kennedy . Thomas C. . 1963 . Charles A. Beard and the "Court Historians" . Historian . 25 . 439–450 . 10.1111/j.1540-6563.1963.tb00227.x . 24442426 . 4.
Book: Kennett, Lee . G.I.: The American Soldier in World War II . 1987 . Schribner . New York.
Book: Krammer, Arnold . Nazi Prisoners of War in America . 1996 . Scarborough House . Lanham, Maryland.
Book: Kühl, Stefan . The Nazi Connection: Eugenics, American Racism, and German National Socialism . 2002 . Oxford University Press . New York.
Book: Lily, J. Robert . Taken By Force
Rape and American GIs in Europe in World War II
. 2007 . Palgrave Macmillan . London.
Book: Linderman, Gerald F. . The World within War: America's Combat Experience in World War II . 1997 . Free Press . 978-0-684-82797-1 . New York.
Book: We're in this War Too: World War II Letters from Women in Uniform . 1994 . Oxford University Press . Litoff . Judy Barett . Judy Barrett Litoff . New York . Smith . David C..
Book: Malkin, Michelle . In Defense of Internment
The Case for 'Racial Profiling' in World War II and the War on Terror
. 2004 . Regnery Publishing . Washington, D.C. . Michelle Malkin.
Book: Miller, Donald L. . Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War against Nazi Germany . 2006 . Simon & Schuster . New York.
Book: Minear, Richard H. . Dr. Seuss Goes to War
The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel
. 1996 . New Press . New York . Richard Minear.
Book: Morison, Samuel Eliot . . 1963 . Little, Brown & Co. . Boston.
Book: Motley, Mary Penick . The Invisible Soldier: The Experience of the Black Soldiers in World War II . 1975 . Wayne State University press . 978-0-8143-1550-7 . Detroit.
Book: Okihiro, Gary Y. . Whispered Silences: Japanese Americans and World War II . 1996 . University of Washington Press . Seattle.
Book: O'Neill, William L. . A Democracy at War: America's Fight at Home and Abroad in World War II . 1993 . Free Press . New York.
Book: Province, Charles M. . Patton's Third Army: A Chronicle of the Third Army Advance, August, 1944 to May, 1945 . 1991 . Hippocrene Books . New York.
Book: Samuel, Lawrence R. . Pledging Allegiance: American Identity and the Bond Drive of World War II . 1996 . Smithsonian Institution Press . 978-1-56098-707-9 . Washington, D.C..
Book: Stoler, Mark A. . Allies and Adversaries: The Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Grand Alliance and U.S. Strategy in World War II . 2000 . University of North Carolina Press . Chapel Hill.
Book: Terkel, Studs . "The Good War": An Oral History of World War Two . 1984 . Pantheon . 978-0-394-53103-8 . New York.
Book: Roscoe, Theodore . United States Submarine Operations in World War II . 1949 . United States Naval Institute . Annapolis . Theodore Roscoe.
Book: Weigley, Russell . Eisenhower's Lieutenants . 1974 . Indiana Univ. Press . Bloomington . Russell Weigley.

Europe

Austria

Austria was part of Germany between 1938 and 1945 (see: Anschluss). This section contains books relevant specifically to that segment of the German Reich in the timeframe or to the postwar Republic of Austria in its relationship to World War II.

Germany

See also: List of books about Nazi Germany. For books specifically about German-owned Austria between 1938 and 1945, see the "Austria" section.

Poland

Soviet Union

See main article: articles, Bibliography of the Soviet Union during World War II and Bibliography of Stalinism and the Soviet Union.

Book: Andreyev, Catherine . Vlasov and the Russian Liberation Movement, Soviet Reality and Emigré Theories . 1987 . Cambridge Univ. Press . Cambridge.
Book: Applebaum, Anne . . 2003 . Doubleday . New York . Anne Applebaum.
Book: Armstrong, Richard N. . Soviet Operational Deception: The Red Cloak . 2008 . U.S. Army Command and General Staff College . Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Book: Bacon, Edwin . The Gulag at War: Stalin's Forced Labour System in Light of the Archives . 1994 . New York Univ. Press . New York.
Book: Barber, John and Mark Harrison. . The Soviet Home Front, 1941–1945: A Social and Economic History of the USSR in World War II . 1991 . Longman . London.
Book: Bellamy, Chris . Absolute War: Soviet Russia in the Second World War . 2007 . Alfred A. Knopf . New York.
Book: Davies, R. W. . Soviet economic development from Lenin to Khrushchev . Cambridge University Press . 1998 . 978-0-521-62260-8.
Book: Dunn, Walter S. . Stalin's Keys to Victory: The Rebirth of the Red Army . 2006 . Praeger Security International . Westport, Connecticut.
Book: Ellis, Frank . The Damned and the Dead: The Eastern Front through the Eyes of Soviet and Russian Novelists . 2011 . University Press of Kansas . Lawrence.
Book: Glantz, David M. . Stumbling Colossus: The Red Army on the Eve of World War . 1998 . University Press of Kansas . Lawrence, Kansas.
Book: Glantz, David M. . Colossus Reborn: The Red Army at War, 1941–1943 . 2005 . University Press of Kansas . Lawrence.
Book: Gorbachevsky, Boris . Through the Maelstrom: A Red Army Soldier's War on the Eastern Front, 1942–1945 . 2008 . University Press of Kansas . Lawrence.
Book: Nasha voina . 2005 . Izd-vo zhurnala "Zvezda" . Gordin . I. . Saint Petersburg . ru . Our War.
Book: Gorodetsky, Gabriel . The Grand Delusion: Stalin and the German Invasion of Russia . 1999 . Yale University Press . New Haven, Connecticut.
Book: Haslam, Jonathan . The Soviet Union and the Struggle for Collective Security in Europe: 1933–39 . Springer . 1984 . 978-1-349-17601-4.
Book: Hill, Alexander . The Red Army and the Second World War . 2017 . Cambridge University Press . Cambridge, UK.
Book: Hill, Alexander . The War Behind the Eastern Front: The Soviet Partisan Movement in North-West Russia, 1941–1944 . 2005 . Frank Cass . Abingdon, Oxon.
Book: Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses in the Twentieth Century . 1997 . Greenhill . Krivosheev . G. F. . London.
Book: Krylova, Anna . Soviet Women in Combat: A History of Violence on the Eastern Front . 2010 . Cambridge University Press . Cambridge, UK.
Book: McMeekin, Sean . Stalin's War: A New History of World War II . 2021 . Basic Books . New York.
Book: Merridale, Catherine . Ivan's War: Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939–1945 . 2006 . Picador . New York.
Book: Miner, Steven Merritt . Stalin's Holy War: Religion, Nationalism, and Alliance Politics, 1941–1945 . 2003 . University of North Carolina Press . Chapel Hill.
Book: Overy, Richard . Russia's War: A History of the Soviet Effort: 1941–1945 . 1998 . Penguin Books . New York.
Book: Overy, Richard . The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia . 2006 . W. W. Norton & Company . New York.
Book: Parrish, Michael . The Lesser Terror: Soviet State Security, 1939–1953 . 1996 . Praeger . Westport, Connecticut.
Book: Reese, Roger R. . Stalin's Reluctant Soldiers: A Social History of the Red Army 1925–1941 . 1996 . University Press of Kansas . Lawrence.
Book: Reese, Roger R. . Why Stalin's Soldiers Fought: The Red Army's Military Effectiveness in World War II . 2011 . University Press of Kansas . Lawrence.
Book: Seaton, Albert . Stalin as Warlord . 1976 . Batsford . 978-0-7134-3078-3 . London.
Book: Stalin's Generals . 1993 . Weidenfeld & Nicolson . Shukman . Harold . London.
Book: Snyder, Timothy . Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin . 2010 . Basic Books . New York.
Book: Stalin and Europe: Imitation and Domination, 1928–1953 . 2014 . Oxford University Press . Snyder . Timothy . Oxford and New York . Brandon . Ray.
Book: Statiev, Alexander . The Soviet Counterinsurgency in the Western Borderlands . 2010 . Cambridge University Press . Cambridge, UK.
Book: Stephan, Robert W. . Stalin's Secret War: Soviet Counterintelligence Against the Nazis, 1941–1945 . 2004 . University Press of Kansas . Lawrence, Kansas.
Book: The Soviet Union at War, 1941–1945 . 2010 . Pen & Sword . Stone . David R. . David R. Stone . Barnsley, UK.
Book: Suvorov, Victor . The Chief Culprit: Stalin's Grand Design to Start World War II . 2008 . Naval Institute Press . Annapolis, Maryland.
Uldricks . Teddy J. . 2009 . War, Politics and Memory: Russian Historians Reevaluate the Origins of World War II . History and Memory . 21 . 60–82 . 10.2979/his.2009.21.2.60 . 2 . 153650494. – historiography
Book: From Peace to War: Germany, Soviet Russia, and the World, 1939–1941 . 1997 . Berghahn . Wegner . Bernd . Bernd Wegner . Oxford.
Book: Weiner, Amir . Making Sense of War: The Second World War and the Fate of the Bolshevik Revolution . 2001 . Princeton University Press . Princeton, New Jersey.
Book: Werth, Alexander . Russia at War, 1941–1945 . 1964 . Barrie & Rockliff . London.

Turkey

Cossaboom . Robert . Leiser . Gary . 1998 . Adana Station 1943–45: Prelude to the Post-War American Military Presence in Turkey . Middle Eastern Studies . 34 . 73–86 . 10.1080/00263209808701210 . 4283918 . 1.
- MacFie . A. L. . 1989 . The Turkish Straits in the Second World War, 1939–45 . Middle Eastern Studies . 25 . 238–248 . 10.1080/00263208908700778 . 4283302 . 2.
Olmert . Y. . 1987 . Britain, Turkey and the Levant Question during the Second World War . Middle Eastern Studies . 23 . 437–452 . 10.1080/00263208708700720 . 4283204 . 4.

Yugoslavia

The Middle East

Egypt

- - Morsy . Laila Amin . 1994 . Indicative Cases of Britain's Wartime Policy in Egypt, 1942–44 . Middle Eastern Studies . 30 . 91–122 . 10.1080/00263209408700985 . 4283617 . 1.

Iran

Dadkhah . Kamran M. . 2001 . The Iranian Economy during the Second World War: The Devaluation Controversy . Middle Eastern Studies . 37 . 181–198 . 10.1080/714004394 . 4284160 . 2 . 153831209.

- - - Melka . R. . 1969 . Nazi Germany and the Palestine Question . Middle Eastern Studies . 5 . 221–233 . 10.1080/00263206908700130 . 4282292 . 3.

Oceania

New Zealand

Science and technology

Aircraft development and specific aircraft types

United States

Nuclear technology and atomic weapons

Secondary literature, other

Art and artists

United States

Biographies and person-focussed works

The following lists should include works of secondary literature concerned with a singular person that participated in World War II, as well as with the context and content of that service. These books can either be full biographies or be person-focussed studies of the respective subject's wartime service. The subjects of the biography should be listed (preferably wikilinked) after the respective bibliographical entry to ease searching.

Military, generals/admirals

France, biographies of generals/admirals

– Charles de Gaulle

Germany, biographies of generals/admirals

– Wilhelm Canaris
– Wilhelm Canaris
– Erich Raeder
– Wilhelm Canaris
– Wilhelm Canaris
– Erwin Rommel
– Heinz Guderian

Japan, biographies of generals/admirals

– Isoroku Yamamoto
– Matome Ugaki

Soviet Union, biographies of generals/admirals

– Georgy Zhukov

United Kingdom, biographies of generals/admirals

– Harold Alexander
– Harold Alexander
- – Harold Alexander

United States, biographies of generals/admirals

– Dwight D. Eisenhower
– Dwight D. Eisenhower
– Dwight D. Eisenhower
– Dwight D. Eisenhower
– Claire Chennault
– Keith Argraves
– Dwight D. Eisenhower
– Dwight D. Eisenhower
– Dwight D. Eisenhower
– Dwight D. Eisenhower
– Dwight D. Eisenhower; George S. Patton; Omar Bradley
– Dwight D. Eisenhower
– Douglas MacArthur
– Dwight D. Eisenhower
– George C. Marshall
– Dwight D. Eisenhower
– Dwight D. Eisenhower

Yugoslavia

– Draža Mihailović

Military, other

Canada, biographies of military personnel (non-generals/admirals)

– Harold Pringle

United Kingdom, biographies of military personnel (non-generals/admirals)

United States, biographies of military personnel (non-generals/admirals)

– Easy Company, 506th Infantry Regiment
– U.S. Army personnel
– B24 bomber crews, including George McGovern
– John F. Kennedy
– Herman Perry
– Gene Moore

Politicians, political leaders, monarchs

This section should be limited to those persons who were politicians and political leaders during World War II. Postwar political leaders should be placed in the sections relevant to their wartime experience.

Australia, biographies of political figures

– John Curtin

Belgium, biographies of political figures

– Leopold III of Belgium
– Leopold III of Belgium

France, biographies of political figures

– Charles de Gaulle

Germany, biographies of political figures

Soviet Union, biographies of political figures

– Lavrentiy Beria
– Joseph Stalin

United Kingdom, biographies of political figures

– Winston Churchill
– Winston Churchill

United States, biographies of political figures

– Franklin D. Roosevelt; Henry Morgenthau Jr.
– Harry S. Truman

Scientists

United States, biographies of scientists

Writers and poets

Soviet Union, biographies of writers/poets

– Vasily Grossman

Victims of genocide or ethnoracial persecution/oppression

Holocaust

– Herschel Grynszpan

Japanese Americans

– victims of the internment of Japanese Americans

Porajmos

– survivors of Lety concentration camp

Victims of warfare

Japan

– Sadako Sasaki

Diplomatic history

- - - - Boyd . Carld . 1981 . The Berlin-Tokyo Axis and Japanese Military Initiative . Modern Asian Studies . 15 . 2 . 311–338 . 10.1017/S0026749X00007095 . 312095 . 145782449 . JSTOR. subscription .
- Charmley . John . 2001 . Churchill and the American Alliance . Transactions of the Royal Historical Society . Sixth Series 11 . 353–371 . 10.1017/S0080440101000184 . 0080-4401 . 3679428 . 154790604.
- DiNardo . Richard . Oct 1996 . The Dysfunctional Coalition: The Axis Powers and the Eastern Front in World War II . The Journal of Military History . 60 . 4 . 711–730 . 10.2307/2944662 . 2944662 .
  - - Gorodetsky . Gabriel . 1990 . The Impact of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact on the Course of Soviet Foreign Policy . Cahiers du Monde russe et soviétique . EHESS . 31 . 1 . 27–41 . 10.3406/cmr.1990.2200 . 20170697 .
Hein . David . July 2013 . Vulnerable: HMS Prince of Wales in 1941 . Journal of Military History . 77 . 3.

Economic history, resource production, agriculture

Literature and fiction

Official histories

- – Not technically an official history by the German government, however issued under the supervision of and funded and published by the Military History Research Office, an agency of the German Bundeswehr. Total of 13 volumes, with the two final volumes yet to be translated to English.
  - - - History of the Second World War – United Kingdom, 97 volumes
  - Encyclopedia: . War History Branch . Wellington . 1949–1986 . Kippenberger . Howard . Howard Kippenberger . Fairbrother . Monty C..
- Encyclopedia: . Australian War Memorial . Canberra . 1952–1977 . Long . Gavin . Gavin Long . 1–22.
Senshi Sōsho – 102 volumes in the Japanese language; 3 volumes translated to English.
- Encyclopedia: . 1955–1960 . Stacey . Charles P. . Charles Perry Stacey . 1–3.

Women's history

Biographies of individual women are to be found in the biographies section.

Women's history, by country

United States

Aftermath of World War II

The following lists should include works of secondary literature concerned with the immediate and short-term aftermath of World War II, giving strong priority to such works that describe said events in specific relation and reference to World War II.

Postwar occupation

Japan

War crimes trials

Germany

Japan

Direct accounts and primary literature

Diaries, letter collections, transcripts of private conversations

The following lists should include diaries or letter collections written (at least partially) during World War II. The list should be focussed on works that were written during the war for either personal or restricted private consumption, and without authorial intent for widespread publication.

Civilians

Belgium, civilian diaries

Book: Brusselmans, Anne . Rendez-vous 127: The Diary of Madame Brusselmans, M.B.E., September 1940 – September 1944 . Benn . 1954 . London.

Germany, civilian diaries

Book: Hillers . A Woman in Berlin . 2005 . Virago . London . Marta Hillers. A Woman in Berlin. — Initially published anonymously; deals intensively with the rape of German women by Soviet troops.
Book: Kardorff, Ursula v. . Diary of a Nightmare: Berlin 1942–1945 . Hart-Davis . 1965 . London.
Book: Klemperer, Victor . "Ich will Zeugnis ablegen bis zum letzten." Tagebücher 1933–1945 . 1995 . Nowojski . Walter . 1–8 . de . Victor Klemperer . Klemperer . Hadwig.
Book: Studnitz, Hans-Georg v. . While Berlin burns: the diary of Hans-Georg von Studnitz, 1943–1945 . Weidenfeld & Nicolson . 1964 . London.

Netherlands, civilian diaries

Book: Frank, Anne . Diary of a Young Girl: Anne Frank . The Diary of a Young Girl . Bantam . 1944 . 978-0-553-57712-9. Anne Frank.

United Kingdom, civilian diaries

Book: Shipley, Paul . Bristol siren nights: diaries and stories of the blitzes . comp. . Rankin . 1943 . Bristol .

United States, civilian diaries

Book: Shirer, William L. . Berlin Diary: The Journal of a Foreign Correspondent, 1934–1941 . Hamilton . 1941 . London . William L. Shirer.
Book: Smedley, Agnes . . 1943 . Alfred A. Knopf . New York . Agnes Smedley.
Book: Tregaskis, Richard . . 1943 . Random House . New York . Richard Tregaskis.

Military

Australia, military diaries

Book: Word from John: An Australian Soldier's Letters to his Friends . Cassell . 1944 . Ackland . John . Melbourne . Ackland . Richard.

Canada, military diaries

Book: Clegg, Howard . A Canuck in England: Journal of a Canadian soldier . Harrap . 1942 . London.

Germany, military diaries

Book: Böll, Heinrich . Briefe aus dem Krieg 1939–1945 . 2001 . Kiepenhauer & Witsch . Cologne . de . Letters from the War 1939–1945 . Heinrich Böll.
Book: Halder, Franz . War Journal of Franz Halder . 1947 . A.G. EUCOM . 1–8 . United States . Franz Halder.

United Kingdom, military diaries

Book: Brooke, Alan . War Diaries, 1939–1945 . 2001 . Univ. of California Press . Danchev . Alex . Berkeley . Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke . Todman . Daniel.
Book: Dunford Wood, Colin . Big Little Wars: The War Diaries of Colin Dunford Wood, 1939–41, India and Iraq . Independent Publishing Network . 2020 . 978-1-83853-848-4 . London.
Book: . 1985 . Viking . Middlebrook . Martin . London.
Book: Langstaff, C. K. . Diary of a driver with the R.A.S.C., in Britain and France, 1939–1940 . Epworth . 1943 . London.
Book: Offenburg, Jean H. M. . Lonely Warrior: The Journal of a Battle of Britain Fighter Pilot . Souvenir . 1956 . London.
Book: Pownall, Sir Henry . The Diaries of Sir Henry Pownall . 1972 . Leo Cooper . Bond . Brian . London . Henry Pownall.
Book: Seaven, Michael . Hell and high altitude!: the thoughts, letters and diary notes of a pilot in the Bomber Command, R.A.F. . Methuen . 1943 . London.

United States, military diaries

Book: We're in this War Too: World War II Letters from Women in Uniform . 1994 . Oxford University Press . Litoff . Judy Barett . Judy Barrett Litoff . New York . Smith . David C..

Politicians, political leaders, diplomats

Canada, politician diaries

Book: King, William L. M. . The Diaries of William Lyon Mackenzie King . Library and Archives Canada . 2006 . Ottawa . William Lyon Mackenzie King.

France, politician diaries

Book: Baudouin, Paul . Private Diaries: March 1940–January 1941 . 1948 . Eyre & Spottiswoode . London . Paul Baudouin.

Germany, politician diaries

Book: Bormann . Martin . The Bormann letters: the private correspondence between Martin Bormann and his wife from January 1943 to April 1945 . Bormann . Gerda . Weidenfeld & Nicolson . 1954 . London . Martin Bormann.
Book: Goebbels, Joseph . Joseph Goebbels Tagebücher 1924–1945 . Goebbels Diaries . Piper Verlag . 1992 . 3-492-21411-8 . Reuth . Ralf Georg . de . Joseph Goebbels .
Book: Hitler, Adolf . Hitler's Table Talk: 1941–1944 . 2000 . Enigma Books . London . Adolf Hitler. Hugh. Trevor-Roper. Hugh Trevor-Roper. 1953. 1-929631-05-7.

Italy, politician diaries

Book: Ciano, Galeazzo . Ciano's Hidden Diary, 1937–1938 . 1945 . Doubleday . Garden City, New York . Galeazzo Ciano.
Book: Ciano, Galeazzo . The Ciano Diaries: 1939–1943 . 1946 . Doubleday . Wilson . Hugh . New York . Galeazzo Ciano.

Soviet Union, politician diaries

Book: Maisky, Ivan . The Maisky Diaries: Red Ambassador to the Court of St James's 1932–1943 . Yale University Press . 2015 . 978-0-300-18067-1 . Gorodetsky . Gabriel.

Memoirs and autobiographies

See main article: articles and Bibliography of World War II memoirs and autobiographies.

Study aides and tertiary literature

Atlases

- Book: Brown, Ernest F. . The War in Maps: An Atlas of the New York Times . Oxford University Press . 1946 . London.
  - - – 7 volumes are viewable at archive.org

Encyclopedias, dictionaries, and lexicons

The following list should include encyclopedias of World War II, i.e. reference works or compendiums containing multiple short entries that are sorted alphabetically.

- - - - Encyclopedia: World War II in Europe: An Encyclopedia . Routledge . New York . 1999 . Zabecki . David . 2 volumes.

Source collections

The following list should include source collections, i.e. collections of primary documents or accounts about or in reference to World War II.

Bibliographies

This list should include bibliographies, i.e. listings of books, about World War II.

Book: Bird, Keith W. . German Naval History: A Guide to the Literature . Garland Publishing . 1985 . New York & London.
- - - Book: Homze, Edward L. . German Military Aviation: A Guide to the Literature . Garland Publishing . 1984 . New York & London.
  - Book: Tuider, Othmar . Bibliographie zur Geschichte der Felddivisionen der Deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS: 1939–1945 . Heeresgeschichtliches Museum . 1984 . 1–2 . Vienna . de . Bibliography of the History of Field Divisions of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS: 1939–1945.