This is the first History of World War II to present a complete panorama of the greatest struggle in human history, with authentic text, official photographs, maps, records, and documents in a single volume. Its service is to give homes, schools, and libraries a standard work in which the reader may obtain a comprehensive understanding of the epoch-making events through which we have passed. Here we witness the organization of the greatest armies, navies, and air forces the world has ever known - the gigantic battles on land, sea, and in the air - the might of industrial power and production. The records of World War II, as set forth in this volume, challenge the imagination. The official lists of numbers killed and wounded are a tragic commentary on civilization: more than 20,000,000 casualities; 30,000,000 more men, women, and children driven from their homes; 10,000,000 more massacred; hundreds of thousands of homes left in ruins. The authors have endeavored to make this History of World War II a human history, treating men and events as they direclty affect our own lives. The causes which created this human tragedy are herein analyzed, with sketches of the leading personalities and backgrounds of the nations involved.