“Handbook of World War II: An Illustrated Chronicle of the Struggle for Victory”, by Karen Farrington

 

256 pages, Abbweydale Press, ISBN-13: 978-1435108196

Handbook of World War II: An Illustrated Chronicle of the Struggle for Victory by Karen Farrington was first published in 2001 – although much of the text and illustrations were taken from Witness to World War II: An Illustrated Chronicle of the Struggle for Victory from 1995 by…Karen Farrington. Sooooo…is it not plagiarism if you plagiarize yourself? Not all of the text or illustrations, mind you…just most, while some new stuff has been added to this volume – so ya see, it ain’t the same, man! All in all, though, this new volume is superior to the old, for although many pictures are the same the quality has improved. No, that’s not the problem; the problem is in the captioning, as the wording and details are often subpar.

This is really a shame, as at times this book was a rather enjoyable read, filled as it is with bright pictures, detailed maps and other doodads. It is a kind of mini-encyclopedia with a range of topics and subjects, although the organization is…problematic. This Handbook is broken down into a series of essays with such helpful titles like “The War in Africa” or “Sinking the Bismarck” along with some unhelpful titles like “A Forgotten Army” or “Tiger, Tiger, Tiger” (and you can’t even use the Index to find the subject you're looking for, ‘cause there is none). And so rather than a handbook of facts and details, Handbook of World War II is rather a collection of essays of varying quality. Not bad, really; there’s just better books out there.