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 (1939–1945) and the Pacific War (1941–1945). By extension, it includes works regarding the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). 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 (including the Nuremberg Trials and the Tokyo 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 (see World War II in popular culture). 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.
Military history, by theater
Global military history
Buchanan, Andrew. "Globalizing the Second World War," Past and Present no. 258 (February 2023): 246–281. online; also see
Europe, by theater or front
Asia, by theater or front
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
Kamikaze and suicide attacks
Strategic bombing, general
German strategic bombing of the United Kingdom
Western Allied strategic bombing of Germany and German-occupied Europe
Land warfare For the history of specific theaters or specific units, see the respective sections.
Airborne warfare and paratroopers
Amphibious warfare and naval infantry For histories of the United States Marine Corps, see the respective section under in the specific branches section.
Anti-aircraft warfare
– Released in 1955 upon the disbandment of the British Anti-Aircraft Command.
Armored cars
Armored warfare and tank forces
Artillery
Military fortifications
Naval warfare General
Aircraft carriers
Convoys
Naval battles, Pacific (1941–1945)
Submarine warfare
– About the sinking of SS Athenia by U30.
Military history, by national militaries and national military branches
National militaries
Canada
Germany
Poland, whole military
Soviet Union, whole military
United Kingdom, whole military
United States, whole military
Specific military branches
Australia, military branches
Australian Army
Royal Australian Navy
Royal Australian Air Force
Belgium, military branches
Belgian Army
Canada, military branches
Canadian Army
Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal Canadian Navy
France, military branches
French Army
Germany, military branches
German Air Force (Luftwaffe)
German Army (Heer)
Waffen-SS
Japan, military branches
Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Navy
New Zealand, military branches
Royal New Zealand Navy
United Kingdom, military branches
British Army
Royal Navy
Royal Air Force
United States, military branches
U.S. Army Air Forces
U.S. Army (without USAAF)
U.S. Marine Corps
U.S. Navy
Military history, by specific military units, formations and warships
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
Soviet war crimes
Axis war crimes
Croatian war crimes
German war crimes
Military history, occupation and occupied territories
American occupation Occupation after 1945 should be covered in the postwar section.
American occupation of Italy until 1945
British occupation Occupation after 1945 should be covered in the postwar section.
British occupation of Italy until 1945
German occupation
German occupation of Belgium
German occupation of Denmark
German occupation of France
German occupation of Italy
German occupation of Norway
German occupation of Poland
German occupation of the Soviet Union
German occupation of Yugoslavia
Japanese occupation
Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia)
Military history, other
Colonial troops
United Kingdom, colonial troops
– Bechuanaland Protectorate (Botswana) forces – Basutoland (Lesotho) – Anglo-Egyptian Sudan – Bechuanaland Protectorate (Botswana) forces
Grand strategy
Allied grand strategy
Axis grand strategy
Insignia and military symbols
Prisoners of war
Resistance
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
Basutoland, British (Lesotho)
Bechuanaland, British (Botswana)
Ethiopia/Abyssinia
North Africa, French (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia)
Northern Rhodesia, British (Zambia)
South Africa
Asia Note that the Middle East has its own section.
China
India, British
Indochina, French (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos)
Iraq
Japan
Thailand
The Americas
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
Chile
United States
Europe
Austria Austria was part of Germany between 1938 and 1945 (see: Anschluss). 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.
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany For books specifically about German-owned Austria between 1938 and 1945, see the "Austria" section.
Hungary
Ireland
Italy (Kingdom)
Latvia
Lithuania
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Soviet Union
– historiography
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
United Kingdom
Yugoslavia
The Middle East
Egypt
Fr. Syria (Syria, Lebanon)
Iran
Palestine
Oceania
Australia
New Zealand
Science and technology
Aircraft development and specific aircraft types
Germany
Japan
United Kingdom
United States
Jet engines
Nuclear technology and atomic weapons
Secondary literature, other
Animals
Art and artists
Italy
Soviet Union
United Kingdom
United States
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 (preferably wikilinked) after the respective bibliographical entry to ease searching.
Collections of biographies
Military, generals/admirals
France, biographies of generals/admirals
– Charles de Gaulle
Germany, biographies of generals/admirals
– Wilhelm Canaris – Wilhelm Canaris – Erich Raeder – Wilhelm Canaris – Wilhelm Canaris – Erwin Rommel – Heinz Guderian
Japan, biographies of generals/admirals
– Isoroku Yamamoto – Matome Ugaki
Soviet Union, biographies of generals/admirals
– Georgy Zhukov
United Kingdom, biographies of generals/admirals
– Harold Alexander – Harold Alexander
– Harold Alexander
United States, biographies of generals/admirals
– Dwight D. Eisenhower – Dwight D. Eisenhower – Dwight D. Eisenhower – Dwight D. Eisenhower – Claire Chennault – Keith Argraves – Dwight D. Eisenhower – Dwight D. Eisenhower – Dwight D. Eisenhower – Dwight D. Eisenhower – Dwight D. Eisenhower; George S. Patton; Omar Bradley – Dwight D. Eisenhower – Douglas MacArthur – Dwight D. Eisenhower – George C. Marshall – Dwight D. Eisenhower – Dwight D. Eisenhower
Yugoslavia
– Draža Mihailović
Military, other
Canada, biographies of military personnel (non-generals/admirals)
– Harold Pringle
United Kingdom, biographies of military personnel (non-generals/admirals)
– James Harry Lacey – Leonard Cheshire – Guy Gibson
United States, biographies of military personnel (non-generals/admirals)
– Easy Company, 506th Infantry Regiment – U.S. Army personnel – B24 bomber crews, including George McGovern – John F. Kennedy – Herman Perry – Gene Moore
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
– John Curtin
Belgium, biographies of political figures
– Leopold III of Belgium – Leopold III of Belgium
France, biographies of political figures
– Charles de Gaulle
Germany, biographies of political figures
– Adolf Hitler – Reinhard Heydrich – Adolf Hitler – Adolf Hitler – Adolf Hitler – Adolf Hitler – Heinrich Himmler – Joseph Goebbels – Martin Bormann – Albert Speer – Martin Bormann
Soviet Union, biographies of political figures
– Lavrentiy Beria – Joseph Stalin
United Kingdom, biographies of political figures
– Winston Churchill – Winston Churchill
United States, biographies of political figures
– Franklin D. Roosevelt; Henry Morgenthau Jr. – Harry S. Truman
Scientists
United States, biographies of scientists
Writers and poets
Soviet Union, biographies of writers/poets
– Vasily Grossman
Victims of genocide or ethnoracial persecution/oppression
Holocaust
– Herschel Grynszpan
Japanese Americans
– victims of the internment of Japanese Americans
Porajmos
– survivors of Lety concentration camp
Victims of warfare
Japan
– Sadako Sasaki
Diplomatic history
Economic history, resource production, agriculture
Intelligence and espionage
Literature and fiction
Official histories
– Not technically an official history by the German government, however issued under the supervision of and funded and published by the Military History Research Office, an agency of the German Bundeswehr. Total of 13 volumes, with the two final volumes yet to be translated to English.
History of the Second World War – United Kingdom, 97 volumes
Senshi Sōsho – 102 volumes in the Japanese language; 3 volumes translated to English.
Mass media
Women's history Biographies of individual women are to be found in the biographies section.
Sexual assault and rape during World War II
Women in combat roles during World War II
Women's history, by country
Australia
Soviet Union
United Kingdom
United States
Aftermath of World War II