"Jon Diamond is to be commended for his attention to detail, great use of maps and amazing photographs." — IPMS/USA In 1944 with the war in Europe turning in the Allies' favor, Japan still occupied vast swathes of South East Asia and the Pacific. In Burma, the seemly unstoppable Japanese advance was halted at Kohima and Imphal in June and July 1944. Six months later the advances made by British-led forces enabled the re-opening of the supply routes from India to US forces in China. It was ...

"A compelling chronicle of the Battle of Papua New Guinea with rarely viewed images from World War II . . . an excellent book." — Naval Historical FoundationThe Japanese seizure of Rabaul on New Britain in January 1942 directly threatened Northern Australia and, as a result, General Douglas MacArthur took command of the Southwest Pacific Area. In July 1942, the Japanese attacked south across the Owen Stanley mountain range.Thanks to the hasty deploym...

"Highly recommended . . . excellent maps, [a] large number of black and white images, and detailed coverage of the subject." — AMPSAfter the Normandy breakout, the Allies' headlong dash east came to a halt in the autumn with the ill-fated Market Garden operation and overextended supply lines short of the Rhineland. After repulsing the Nazis' daring Ardennes offensive, Montgomery's and Bradley's Army Groups cleared the Reichwald and Rhineland and closed on ...

The 80th Anniversary of the historic final Battle of El Alamein is the ideal time to study the events leading up to General Bernard Montgomery's famous victory over Field Marshal Rommel's Panzerarmee Africa in Autumn 1942. Four months earlier after the loss of Tobruk , Rommel's forces were in the ascendancy. Prime Minister Winston Churchill removed General Auchinleck from Command of Eighth Army and appointed Bernard Montgomery in his place. After the successful defense of Alam El Halfa Rid...

Early in 1944 the Allied advance was halted by the German defence of the Gustav Line. Even with the deployment of Eighth Army reinforcements from the Adriatic, every effort to capture Monte Cassino failed.Fifth Armys VI Corps amphibious landing at Anzio in January, while initially successful stalled in the face of formidable German counter-attacks and the beach-head was effectively besieged.The stalemate at Anzio and along the Gustav Line was finally broken in mid May by the Allied Spring ...

In September 1943, shortly after the conquest of Sicily, the Allied armies made amphibious assaults on the Italian Mainland at Calabria, Taranto and along the Gulf of Salerno beaches. The Italian Government quickly capitulated but the Germans fought on. Although the British XIII Corps and 1st Airbornes attacks were largely uncontested in Calabria and Taranto, the Allied Fifth Armys beachheads at Salerno underwent savage Nazi counterattacks.After Salerno, the Allied Fifth and Eighth Armies ...

General Douglas A MacArthur, Commander of the Southwest Pacific Area, saw the liberation of the Philippines Archipelago as the launching board for the invasion of the Japanese Home Islands. By late 1944, with the capture of New Guinea and surrounding islands, the US Sixth and Eighth Armies were poised for the challenge. American forces landed on Leyte on 20 October 1944 with the Leyte Gulf naval battle quickly following. By 25 December the island was cleared opening the way for Lieutenant ...

This WWII pictorial history covers a little-known but hard-fought Pacific War campaign with striking combat images and expertly researched text.In September 1944, to prevent Japanese air interdiction against General MacArthur's invasion of the Southern Philippines, the Americans attacked Peleliu and Angaur in the Palau group of the Western Caroline Islands. Admiral Halsey, commanding the US Third Fleet, feared the heavily defended Palaus would be costly for his III ...

This latest Images of War series book examines the controversial development of the Allied campaign in Normandy in the weeks after the D-Day landings. After overcoming Rommel’s beach obstacles and ‘Atlantic Wall’ fortifications, a secure Allied lodgment of the five beaches developed along the Caen-Bayeux-Carentan axis with a period of consolidation while reinforcements and supplies were built up.The early arrival of 12th SS Hitlerjugend, 21st Panzer and the Panzer Lehr Divisions de...

The decisive WWII campaign that brought Italy to its knees is vividly captured in this in-depth photographic history.With victory in North Africa complete, the Allies had a choice. The Americans wanted an early cross-channel attack from Britain on Northwest Europe. Churchill favored invading the soft underbelly of Italy to weaken the Axis forces and gain Italian surrender. With Eisenhower's army and battle-hardened Eighth Army in North Africa, Churchill prevailed.

A pictorial history of one of World War II's most bitterly fought campaigns.The American campaign to capture Okinawa, codename Operation Iceberg, was fought from April 1 to June 22, 1945. Three hundred and fifty miles from Japan, Okinawa was intended to be the staging area for the Allied invasion of the Japanese mainland. The Japanese Thirty-second Army defenders were on land and the Imperial Navy at sea fought tenaciously. They faced the US Tenth Army, comprising ...

Rome was liberated on 5 June 1944 but the Italian campaign had another eleven gruelling months to run. The US Fifth and British Eighth Armies drove across the Arno River, capturing Florence on 5 August. Once again The Wehrmachts Tenth and Fourteenth Armies eluded destruction, withdrawing into the Gothic Line in the Northern Apennines. The Eighth Army, advancing along the Adriatic coast and the Fifth Army in the mountains north of Florence penetrated this strong German defensive belt betwee...