An hour-by-hour re-creation of the D-Day invasion and its aftermath, told through new and highly detailed computer-generated maps, explanatory texts, and contemporary photographs. June 2004 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the largest amphibious military operation in history. D-Day was the culmination of four years of planning and preparation, which had begun in summer 1940 when Britain stood alone and under imminent threat of a German cross-Channel invasion. This groundbreaking study of D-Day and the subsequent campaign charts the gradual evolution of the invasion plan, encompassing the intelligence efforts, the Anglo-U.S. strategic debate over where the Allies should attack, and the elaborate deception put in place to fool the Germans about the true D-Day objective. The buildup culminates in an hour-by-hour and day-by-day account of the landings by air and by sea on the beaches of Normandy—Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword—and the subsequent grim struggle for six weeks to break through the German defenses. At the center of this fascinating re-creation of the D-Day invasion are 70 maps in full color, which incorporate the latest computer technology. Many are in fact based on the same maps used by the Allies in 1944. Detailed drawings and 80 photographs, both modern and contemporary to the period, help bring the beaches of Normandy to life. The book also includes contributions by French and German historians. Featuring:
A New York Public Library Outstanding Reference Book
A visual celebration of nearly 400 years of New York City's history.
To celebrate the one-hundredth anniversay of Greater New York, what Alfred Kazin calls "a treasure of a book" is now a gorgeous paperback. The New York Times Book Review raved that The Historical Atlas of New York City "may be as close to a printed CD-ROM as paper can get." Now, this visual cornucopia of full-color maps, charts, photographs, and drawings covering four hundred years of the city's history is a trade paperback. Neighborhood by neighborhood, the Atlas takes the reader back through history, detailing such crucial events as the initial settlement of 270 people in thirty log houses; John Jacob Astor's meteoric rise from humble fur trader to the richest and most powerful man in the city; Frederick Law Olmsted's design for Central Park; and the fascinating ethnic mix of modern Queens. For both history buffs and the twenty-five million people who visit New York each year, The Historical Atlas of New York City is the guide to America's first city.
From ninth-century Kievan Rus through World War II, 34 maps and associated commentary detail political, geographical, and historical evolution of Russian state and peoples. "An atlas to be welcomed by every student of Eastern Rurope."--Choice
(1)*14 illustrations
* 169 full-page color maps
* 13 x 10
* Large color maps show the course of each campaign
* Complemented by a full narrative history
A superb historical atlas that is a seminal work and provides a comprehensive overview of the battles and campaigns between 1796 and 1815. The 169 maps chart the course of twelve crucial campaigns including Marengo, Austerlitz, and Borodino. It illustrates Napoleon's concept of war, his grasp of strategy, and his complete mastery of battlefield tactics. Vincent J. Esposito was professor and head of the Department of Military Art and Engineering at West Point from 19561963. Colonel John R. Elting is the foremost expert on Napoleon's Grande Arme.
The challenge to understanding history lies in the tendency to focus on single scenes instead of the big picture, akin to looking at a tapes-try by examining individual stitches instead of the entire design. The Atlas of World History undertakes a fair-minded journey through the human story by mingling close-up looks at events with broader views of what was then happening elsewhere in the world. Each of this book's six sections, arranged chronologically, opens with a world map that shows developments at various points of the compass, along with an essay about what was happening and why. Cross-cultural time lines run through the book like a thick thread, tying all of history together. Thus, as one reads a section on Charlemagne, for example, the time line shows selected events happening in Nubia, in India, in China, and in Cyprus. The text by author Noel Grove, a staff writer for 25 years with the National Geographic magazine, continues with a world-wide perspective usually ignored in works of history: "By A.D. 100, when the Roman Empire was in full swing, some Maya cities were already in decline." Events are examined for their local as well as global impact: "Great empires butted heads and power changed hands, but these episodes fed a...kinship with a wider community." Here, then, as Daniel J. Boorstin says in his foreword, "...is an invitation to discover both the mystery and the miracle of human experience on our planet," as Grove shapes complex history into an understandable tale with a storyteller's eye for little-known details: "Russia's...Peter the Great died at the age of 53 after diving into the Neva River in winter to rescue drowning sailors." And "Vikings were not just ruthless killers; they traded as often as they raided, and their wives knew rights that other medieval women could scarcely imagine." Artwork, maps, and photographs complement the text to tell the story of human history in a single volume.
This is the first Civil War atlas to depict multiple aspects of the war's action, month by month, from April 1861 through May 1865. Fifty full-color maps--one for each month of the war--convey as never before a sense of the war's progression on all fronts--battles, sieges, infantry campaigns, naval operations, cavalry raids, and even shifts of national frontiers. One set of additional maps provides background into the political state of the nation as it headed into the war; another set covers the war as it was fought in the western reaches of the country. The text on facing pages supports each map with extra facts and figures, while the atlas's big 14 x 10 format allows for exceptional line clarity, color, and detail. * Fifty maps show the events, including relatively small engagements, that took place in the successive months of the war. * Thirteen additional maps focus on the Far West theater. * Six maps, beginning with November 1860, detail the political situation in the months leading up to the war's outbreak. They show such information as free and slave states; secessionist sentiment; and the results of the 1860 census and the presidential election of the same year. * Events of each month, including such details as dates, place-names, commanders, and statistics on troop strength and casualties, are summarized in the text facing each map. * Confederate and Union positions, as well as towns that were occupied, raided, or burned, are clearly marked.
Revised and updated to include recent archaeological discoveries and historical events, the World History Atlas is the most wide-ranging portrait of world history ever published. Combining state-of-the-art cartography with historical information and detailed regional mapping, this is a compelling look at the human journey.
