Book excerpt: World War II was the greatest conflict in the history of mankind. The Military Atlas of World War II is a comprehensive visual guide to this complex conflict in a large folio edition that allows the fine detail of the maps to be seen clearly. It plots the exact course of the land, sea and air battles, enabling the reader to trace the ebb and flow of the fortunes of both sides. With the aid of 180 large full-color maps, every theater of war is covered. All the maps come with a key to help the reader decipher the action depicted.