Bibliography of World War II


This is a bibliography 'of works on World War II'. The bibliography aims to include primary, secondary and tertiary sources regarding the European theatre of World War II and the Pacific War. By extension, it includes works regarding the Second Sino-Japanese War. Additionally, the scope of the bibliography expands to the causes of World War II and the immediate aftermath of World War II, such as evacuation and expulsion and war crimes trials. Works on the causes or the aftermath of World War II should only be included if they describe the respective events in the specific context of and relation to the conflict itself.
There are thousands of books written about World War II; therefore, this is not an all-inclusive list. This bibliography also does not aim to include fictional works. It does not aim to include self-published works, unless there is a very good reason to do so.

Origins of World War II

The following lists should include works of secondary literature that are concerned mainly with the origins of World War II in general or with the entry into World War II by one particular country.
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Military history, by theater

Global military history

  • Buchanan, Andrew. "Globalizing the Second World War," Past and Present no. 258 : 246–281. ; also see
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Military history, by type of warfare

Aerial warfare

''For general histories of national air forces, check the "specific military branches" section. For development of airplanes and technical histories, check the "science and technology" section.''

Aerial warfare by country

Germany
  • United States
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Kamikaze and suicide attacks

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Strategic bombing, general

  • German strategic bombing of the United Kingdom
  • Western Allied strategic bombing of Germany and German-occupied Europe
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Land warfare

''For the history of specific theaters or specific units, see the respective sections.''

Airborne warfare and paratroopers

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Amphibious warfare and naval infantry

For histories of the United States Marine Corps, see the respective section under in the specific branches section.
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Anti-aircraft warfare

Armored cars">Armored car (military)">Armored cars

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Armored warfare and tank forces

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Artillery

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Military fortifications

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Naval warfare

General

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Aircraft carriers

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Convoys

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Naval battles, Pacific (1941–1945)

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Submarine warfare

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Military history, by national militaries and national military branches

National militaries

Canada

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Germany

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Poland, whole military

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Soviet Union, whole military

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United Kingdom, whole military

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United States, whole military

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Specific military branches

Australia, military branches

Australian Army
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Belgium, military branches

Belgian Army
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Canada, military branches

Canadian Army
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France, military branches

French Army
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Germany, military branches

German Air Force (Luftwaffe)
  • German Army (Heer)
  • Waffen-SS
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Japan, military branches

Imperial Japanese Army
  • Imperial Japanese Navy
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New Zealand, military branches

Royal New Zealand Navy
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United Kingdom, military branches

British Army
  • Royal Navy
  • Royal Air Force
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United States, military branches

U.S. Army Air Forces
  • U.S. Army (without USAAF)
  • U.S. Marine Corps
  • U.S. Navy
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Military history, war crimes

''Works that are mainly concerned with war crimes trials and persecution of war criminals after the conclusion of the war should be placed in the appropriate list in the "Aftermath of World War" section.''

Allied war crimes

American war crimes

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Soviet war crimes

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Axis war crimes

Croatian war crimes

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German war crimes

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Military history, occupation and occupied territories

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American occupation

Occupation after 1945 should be covered in the postwar section.
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American occupation of Italy until 1945

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British occupation

Occupation after 1945 should be covered in the postwar section.
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British occupation of Italy until 1945

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German occupation

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German occupation of Belgium

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German occupation of Denmark

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German occupation of France

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German occupation of Italy

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German occupation of Norway

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German occupation of Poland

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German occupation of the Soviet Union

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German occupation of Yugoslavia

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Japanese occupation

Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia)

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Military history, other

Colonial troops

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United Kingdom, colonial troops

  • – Bechuanaland Protectorate forces
  • – Basutoland
  • – Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
  • – Bechuanaland Protectorate forces

Grand strategy

Allied grand strategy

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Axis grand strategy

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Insignia and military symbols

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Prisoners of war

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Resistance

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National and regional histories of World War II

The following lists should include works focussed mainly on the history of a particular nation, state, or country during World War II. Histories of sovereign states as well as of colonial subjects and of cultural regions are of interest. ''Histories concerned with a particular theater of war should be placed in military history. For instance, a history of Poland during World War II should be placed in this section, but a history on 1939 invasion should be placed in the respective segment in the military history section.''

Africa

''Colonial names should be sorted alphabetically after their colonial name without colonial overlord identifiers. Colonial identifiers should be added with a comma, current countries names should be placed in brackets.''

General

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Basutoland, British (Lesotho)

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Bechuanaland, British (Botswana)

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Ethiopia/Abyssinia">Ethiopian Empire">Abyssinia

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North Africa, French (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia)

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Northern Rhodesia, British (Zambia)

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South Africa

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Asia

''Note that the Middle East has its own section.''

China

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India, British

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Indochina, French (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos)

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Iraq

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Japan

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Thailand

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The Americas

Argentina

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Brazil

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Canada

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Chile

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United States

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Europe

Austria

Austria was part of Germany between 1938 and 1945. This section contains books relevant specifically to that segment of the German Reich in the timeframe or to the postwar Republic of Austria in its relationship to World War II.
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Belgium

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Bulgaria

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Croatia

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Denmark

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Estonia

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Finland

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France

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Germany

For books specifically about German-owned Austria between 1938 and 1945, see the "Austria" section.
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Hungary

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Ireland

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Italy (Kingdom)

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Latvia

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Lithuania

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Netherlands

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Norway

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Poland

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Portugal

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Romania

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Soviet Union

  • – historiography
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Spain

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Sweden

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Switzerland

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Turkey

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United Kingdom

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Yugoslavia

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The Middle East

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Egypt

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Fr. Syria (Syria, Lebanon)

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Iran

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Palestine">Mandatory Palestine">Palestine

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Oceania

Australia

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New Zealand

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Science and technology

Aircraft development and specific aircraft types

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Germany

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Japan

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United Kingdom

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United States

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Jet engines

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Nuclear technology and atomic weapons

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Secondary literature, other

Animals

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Art and artists

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Italy

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Soviet Union

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United Kingdom

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United States

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Biographies and person-focussed works

The following lists should include works of secondary literature concerned with a singular person that participated in World War II, as well as with the context and content of that service. These books can either be full biographies or be person-focussed studies of the respective subject's wartime service. ''The subjects of the biography should be listed after the respective bibliographical entry to ease searching.''

Collections of biographies

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Military, generals/admirals

France, biographies of generals/admirals

Military, other

Canada, biographies of military personnel (non-generals/admirals)

Politicians, political leaders, monarchs

''This section should be limited to those persons who were politicians and political leaders during World War II. Postwar political leaders should be placed in the sections relevant to their wartime experience.''
Australia, biographies of political figures

Scientists

United States, biographies of scientists
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Writers and poets

Soviet Union, biographies of writers/poets

Victims of genocide or ethnoracial persecution/oppression

Holocaust

Victims of warfare

Japan

Diplomatic history

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Economic history, resource production, agriculture

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Intelligence and espionage

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Literature and fiction

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Official histories

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Mass media

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Women's history

''Biographies of individual women are to be found in the biographies section.''

Sexual assault and rape during World War II

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Women in combat roles during World War II

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Women's history, by country

Australia
  • Soviet Union
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
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Aftermath of World War II

''The following lists should include works of secondary literature concerned with the immediate and short-term aftermath of World War II, giving strong priority to such works that describe said events in specific relation and reference to World War II.''

General

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Establishment of the Eastern bloc

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Expulsion and refugee movements

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Fugitive war criminals

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Liberated territories

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Postwar occupation

Germany

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Japan

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War crimes trials

Germany

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Japan

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Direct accounts and primary literature

Diaries, letter collections, transcripts of private conversations

''The following lists should include diaries or letter collections written during World War II. The list should be focussed on works that were written during the war for either personal or restricted private consumption, and without authorial intent for widespread publication.''

Civilians

Belgium, civilian diaries
  • Germany, civilian diaries
  • — Initially published anonymously; deals intensively with the rape of German women by Soviet troops.
  • Netherlands, civilian diaries
  • United Kingdom, civilian diaries
  • United States, civilian diaries
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Military

Australia, military diaries
  • Canada, military diaries
  • Germany, military diaries
  • United Kingdom, military diaries
  • United States, military diaries
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Politicians, political leaders, diplomats

Canada, politician diaries
  • France, politician diaries
  • Germany, politician diaries
  • Italy, politician diaries
  • Soviet Union, politician diaries
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Study aides and tertiary literature

Atlases

  • – 7 volumes are viewable at
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Encyclopedias, dictionaries, and lexicons

The following list should include encyclopedias of World War II, i.e. reference works or compendiums containing multiple short entries that are sorted alphabetically.
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Bibliographies

This list should include bibliographies, i.e. listings of books, about World War II.
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