World War II in Numbers ― An Infographic Guide to the Conflict, Its Conduct, and Its Casualities

A different way to understand the magnitude of World War II.

Countless books exist about the Second World War and in those can be found all of the statistics to be had: numbers killed, bombs dropped, battles won and lost, ad infinitum. But to see these numbers as infographics gives the reader a fresh perspective on the war.

World War II in Numbers uses color graphics and succinct text to tell the key stories of the battles that engulfed the globe and affected virtually everyone alive during the 1940s.

To see the war set out in numbers tells the story with a new certainty:

• how the Polish Home Army carried out more than 700,000 acts of sabotage
• the large number of Japanese lost in the Pacific War
• how Allied tanks stood up to the armor-piercing power of the Panzerfaust
• the damage the Kamikaze inflicted on Allied ships during the Okinawa Campaign
• the number of unexploded bombs reported on the island of Malta
• that in 1944 alone 914,637 tons of bombs were dropped on German cities
• by how much the Allied forces outnumbered the Germans in Normandy
• how the ten costliest land battles in WWII compare with those of WWI.

The book sets out six chapters with topics discussed in two- and four-page infographics spreads, including certainty:

• Preparation for War -- Territorial skirmishes, shifting borders, militarism and alliances.
• Land Campaigns -- Key battles and the military might that fought them.
• Weapons and Innovations - From the Polish Calvary to the A-Bomb.
• In the Air -- Aces and blitzes.
• At Sea -- The war expands to the world's oceans.
• Costs -- The price of war and its legacy.

Compelling, a superb teaching tool, ideal for casual reading and a must-have for military hobbyists, World War II in Numbers is an exciting and powerful perspective on the global conflict.

Peter Doyle is a scientist and military historian specializing in the role of terrain in warfare. He is visiting Professor at University College London, and is co-secretary of the All Party Parliamentary War Heritage Group. In addition to numerous scientific papers and books, he has written The Home Front 1939-1945, The British Soldier in Europe 1939-1945 (both with Paul Evans), Prisoner of War in Germany 1939-1945 and The Blitz.