This major work covers the whole six-year global conflagration that shattered and then re-shaped the world. From the German blitzkrieg against Poland in September 1939, to the surrender of Japan following the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki almost exactly six years later. After a seemingly endless run of Axis victories - the fall of France, the surrender of Singapore, and the Russian withdrawal to the outskirts of Moscow - this book shows how the Allies slowly turned the tide of war in their favor, winning a decisive victory over Rommel in north Africa and destroying the German 6th Army in Stalingrad. The pace then quickens as the long, hard struggle for victory reaches it dramatic climax with the D-Day landings and subsequent bitter campaign through western Europe to Germany, the Red Army's unstoppable march to Berlin, and the final brutal battles with the Japanese in the Far East. Each key event is presented precisely, spread by spread, with maps, photographs and documents, biographical features and timeline.