The War

Culled from thousands of volumes and myriad accounts of World War II battlefields, The War includes excerpts from soldiers, citizens, and oral historians in a volume that documents the impact the Second World War had on all aspects of life. Historian Stephen Ambrose in "Citizen Soldiers" details the tragic and heroic experiences of ordinary soldiers on the battlefields of Europe; Iris Chang's "The Rape of Nanking" chronicles the horrors of the Japanese occupation of China, including an account of a German businessman who intervened to save thousands; and "Brave Men," a collection of dispatches from Europe by foreign correspondent Ernie Pyle, includes a riveting description of the beaches of Normandy 24 hours after the D-Day invasion began.