The Story of World War II: Revised, expanded, and updated from the original text by Henry Steele Commager
In 1945, the noted historian Henry Steele Commager, then employed by the  U.S. Office of War Information, publishedThe Story of World War II,a  comprehensive survey of a struggle still terribly fresh. Donald Miller, himself  an accomplished historian, amplifies Commager's work with this substantially  revised edition.Drawing on oral histories and on the vast body of literature that followed the  original edition, Miller writes vividly of the key events that shaped the  progress of the war, from Dunkirk to the surrender of the Japanese government  aboard the U.S.S. Missouri. Along the way, he examines the war as it played out  on many fronts, incorporating the memories of women defense workers, German and  Japanese combat veterans, and the ordinary Allied soldiers whom correspondent  Ernie Pyle called "doggies." The text is thoroughly illustrated with period  photographs, maps, and sidebars, adding both to its immediacy and its usefulness  as a reference work.Concentrating on the war through American eyes, Miller and Commager's book is  far from definitive. Even so, it makes an important addition to the growing  library of work devoted to the era, and readers with an interest in World War II  will learn much from its pages.--Gregory McNamee