Dictionary of the Second World War

Though the Dictionary of the Second World War is a paperback reprint of an original which first appeared in hardback in 1989 and was revised in 1997, the title has not been reviewed in these columns before. It comprises 1,600 articles, the longer ones stretching to several pages and the shortest to a few lines, on all aspects of the war: battles, campaigns, leaders, generals, treaties, and weapons. Economic and political aspects are not neglected. A particularly useful feature is the inclusion of general articles on the leading belligerent countries and the principal theatres of war, thus allowing the reader...