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In a recent post, I let you know how excited I am to be able to teach an extended study of World War II.  As I said before, I truly believe everyone should have a working knowledge of what happened during this period of time. We all should learn from history. We certainly don’t want to repeat our mistakes.

 I’m sure all of you teachers out there understand the need to be prepared as we instruct the younger generation. Personally, I always feel intimidated by teaching others. So, I tend to compensate by gathering lots of good resources to help with the task.

With this class, I purchased a few new books to gain more information.  Today I want to briefly tell you about two of the new books I bought in order to take my students to a deeper dive into World War II.  I really love both of them.

The first book is the Smithsonian World War II Map by Map by DK/Penguin Random House.  Loaded with tons of information, this book contains more than 100 “specially created and historical maps”. 

The chapters

It is divided into the following chapters:

• The Slide to War  1918-1939
• Germany Triumphant 1939-1941
• The Widening War 1942
• Turning the Tide 1943-1944
• Endgame and Aftermath 1944-1945

Each chapter is subdivided into “units” and begins with a timeline for that section.  The timelines are in actual lines and give you a good appreciation for the period of time discussed within that chapter.  However, the subjects of the timeline change with each chapter.  An example of this would be that in one chapter the timeline covers Europe, Asia, and America.  In a different chapter it covers Path to War, Japanese Offensive, and America Fight Back.

I understand why they did it this way. But, you never really get one timeline that includes the entire war.  I don’t know if this is even feasible, but I’d love to have one.

With that said, the information in this book is easy to gather. It is well organized making it easy for me to grab the information I need in the order I need it. I’m not a natural teacher like my husband, so this is extremely helpful for me.

The maps

With a title that includes the words “map by map” this book is no doubt filled with maps. Most of these maps are “newly created” to present certain aspects of the war.

Included on these are the numbered, informational blocks that follow the key developments of World War II.  The numbers keep it in chronological order and help to explain the information given on the map.

The maps themselves are very good and usually easy to understand.  When taken with the blocks, I get a good bit of the information I need to teach the class. And, this information is well organized which is super helpful. Especially since being organized is also not one of my strong points.

These maps, as well as many of the photos, actually take up a page and a half.  So the actual size of them is about 14” by 11”.  This greatly increases the impact that they have on you.  It makes the maps easy to read and the larger photos are impressive.

A picture is worth a thousand words

Many of the photos from that time period are visually stunning.  The power of a picture holds true.  There is a photo of an American soldier sharing his rations with the children in Okinawa.  We see Soviet soldiers raising their flag over the Reichstag building.  In a photo of a Nazi roundup of a ghetto we see the stark terror in the eyes of a child.

These photos show us some of the lessons of WWII that we should never forget. We see love and compassion shown to hungry children by an American soldier. We also see the horrific practices of the Nazi regime to children of basically the same age. Not that the American soldier is perfect. But it does show the difference between a nation that had temporarily turned its back on God and a nation that had not.

Out of the Holocaust

The second book

The second of my new books is The Atlas of World War II put out by National Geographic.  This book is the “official book of the International Museum of World War II”.  I can understand why.  It is an incredible book that contains almost 150 photos of the actual maps and artifacts that resided in the museum.

Some of the maps included are escape and invasions maps. They are not only from the United States, but from several different countries.  Included are maps that have been hand drawn as well as those that have handwritten notes on them.

The handwriting on these maps brings a personal touch to the study…these were men and women…not machines. I will be sharing these with my class.

Newly created maps are also in the book which give vital information to understand the events and progression of the war.  While several of these maps were quite interesting, my attention was snagged by the map titled “Battle of the Atlantic”.  One aspect of this map is the sunk or scuttled U-Boats across the Atlantic.  Did you know that U-Boats were patrolling off the North Carolina coast?

I can’t wait to explore this with my students! There has to be a “project” waiting to be assigned here…just saying.

The chapters

The chapters of The Atlas of World War II are as follows:

• Prelude to War 1941-Blitzkreig
• Prelude to War 1943-War in the Pacific
• 1942-1944 Breaking Hitler’s Grip
• 1944-1945 Victory over Germany
• 1943-1945 Defeating Japan

Each chapter in the book has a detailed timeline that has brief information about the specific event.  Then, in each “sub-chapter” there is a “chronology” with similar information.  Along with being quite interesting, this was useful in pulling information together for teaching.

Spaced periodically through the book are “Close Up” articles that dive into different topics.  Theses topics include things like “Overlord and Bodyguard”, “Operation Sea Lion”, and “The Nazi Death Cult”.  These essays are intriguing as well as informative.

And yes, you guessed it. These essays will also be used for “something” in the class. I’m just not sure what that will be …yet.

The book includes more than 400 pictures of maps, artifacts, and photographs.  Again, the photographs bring the reality of WWII into focus.  An example of this is the photo of a “bloodied infant crying amid the wreckage” caused by the incident known as the Rape of Nanking.

Some of these photos will and should break your heart. Still, they are photos we need to see.

Inside cover

Yet another fascinating aspect of this book is the inside cover.  On both the front and back inside cover, you will find a map of the D-Day Invasion at Omaha Beach. One could easily spend a great deal of time scrutinizing this alone.

Both of my new books do an excellent job of presenting information that I can use for the study of World War II.  The photos and maps are quite thought-provoking. My kids and I are easily “lost” in these books.

If you want to learn about World War II, check out one or both of these books.   If you are a history teacher, they will definitely add a good bit to any class on the subject. They are helping me immensely as I prepare to teach the class next year.

Now, I just have to be able to get them away from my boys!

FYI…the above picture is an Allied forces memorial in Normandy