Time Life WW2 Series (3 Viewers)

[Currahee Chris]

I recently jumped into the Time Life WW2 Series published in the very early 80's. I was reluctant to do so at first as I was concerned they would be old and the books were a bit large and unwieldy.

What I found was a TREASURE TROVE!!! The flow of the information is very well paced- nice big pictures and simple words for a guy like me to understand. This is a comprehensive collection of 39 volumes (I have 5) but they do a SUPERB job of giving the reader a flavor of the military and political background of the war- a truly remarkable set.

This set doesn't go too far in-depth regarding major battles- for example, I finished "Russia Beseiged" and there was scant mention of Kursk (probably saved for a later volume).

These books can be had at bargain prices on Ebay and places like that.

 

[desk11desk12]

I recently jumped into the Time Life WW2 Series published in the very early 80's. I was reluctant to do so at first as I was concerned they would be old and the books were a bit large and unwieldy.

What I found was a TREASURE TROVE!!! The flow of the information is very well paced- nice big pictures and simple words for a guy like me to understand. This is a comprehensive collection of 39 volumes (I have 5) but they do a SUPERB job of giving the reader a flavor of the military and political background of the war- a truly remarkable set.

This set doesn't go too far in-depth regarding major battles- for example, I finished "Russia Beseiged" and there was scant mention of Kursk (probably saved for a later volume).

These books can be had at bargain prices on Ebay and places like that.

Thanks for the tip.

Carlos

 

[maddadicus]

I have the entire ACW series and they are a great read.........Michael

 

[Leadmen]

Chris: I have the Time-Life series and refer to the books often. The book that has the Kursk battle and Russian front is called: THE SOVIET JUGGERNAUT. I use the books also for diorama ideas. Leadmen

 

[Currahee Chris]

Chris: I have the Time-Life series and refer to the books often. The book that has the Kursk battle and Russian front is called: THE SOVIET JUGGERNAUT. I use the books also for diorama ideas. Leadmen

Ahhh!! There we go- I knew it HAD to be in there somewhere. This series is just too good.

I am almost done with "The War in the Pacific" or whatever it's called- the first one with the island hopping New Guinea, Papua, etc. It's very good too!!!

A lot of GREAT pictures though- In RUSSIA BESEIGED- there is a very VERY dramatic (graphic) picture of a Soviet female sniper left to freeze in the snow- it's pretty gut wrenching.

But perhaps the hardest for me to look at was the pictures of the suffering Europeans in PRELUDE TO WAR- there are pictures of little children lying hungry and dead in the streets. Just GOD AWFUL stuff.

Then, there are fun pictures too like in BLITZKREIG- the one picture of the one family leaving on vacation in September 1939- the back of their car has a sign which reads "Half a MO Hitler- let us have our summer first". I got a kick out of that.

In PRELUDE TO WAR and BLITZKREIG- I got a real sense for how different war can be for countries outside of America. Reading about the invasion of France, for example- there was a lot of detail behind the moving of the French government from Paris. I discussed it with my wife "What would it be like if we had to move the government out of DC??" Gets you thinking.

I will complete this set- it's just too good to miss- I have done some more research on this set- I guess they did a Leatherbound ? rerelease of the set too.