Celebrating 50 years of fine, rare & collectable books     1974 - 2024

WWII: Purnell's History of WWII

Purnell's mammoth endeavour is arguably the crowning achievement of the 'partwork' fashion of the late 60s. Produced in collaboration with the Imperial War Museum, edited by Barrie Pitt and written by a host of eminent historians, scholars and veterans, the series is equally fortunate in having Liddell-Hart as editor-in-chief. Produced in 'magazine' format, the work as a whole makes full use of its size and space to create a lucid, vivid and valuable account of the conflict. The number, choice and quality of the photographs, illustrations and diagrams are worthy of special mention.

First published between 1966 and 1969, the work was planned originally as six volumes (ending with the Japanese surrender), but as the series neared its conclusion it was decided to extend it to eight volumes to include the global consequences of the conflict such as the birth of the nuclear era, the foundation of the UN and so on. It is worth pointing out that these 'extra' two volumes are far scarcer than the rest.

Technically the set is complete in the original six volumes (complete with  Chronologies and detailed Index issued at that point); an additional cumulative index was issued for those subscribers who wished to continue collecting the extended set. The series as a whole was reissued with considerable revision in 1970-72.

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  • HISTORY OF THE WORLD WARS

    Purnell’s History of the World Wars. Special. Battle of the Atlantic

    Edited by Andrew Kershaw.

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  • HISTORY OF THE WORLD WARS

    Purnell’s History of the World Wars. Special. The Desert War

    Edited by Andrew Kershaw and Ian Close.

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  • HISTORY OF THE WORLD WARS

    Purnell’s History of the World Wars. Special. Battle of the Pacific

    Edited by Andrew Kershaw and Ian Close.

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  • HISTORY OF THE WORLD WARS

    Purnell’s History of the World Wars. Special. The Machine Gun

    Edited by Ian V. Hogg and John Batchelor.

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  • HISTORY OF THE WORLD WARS

    Purnell’s History of the World Wars. Special. Infantry at War 1939-1945

    Edited by J.B. King and John Batchelor.

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  • HISTORY OF THE WORLD WARS

    Purnell’s History of the World Wars. Special. Allied Secret Weapons

    Edited by Ian V. Hogg and John Batchelor.

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  • HISTORY OF THE WORLD WARS

    Purnell’s History of the World Wars. Special. The Tank Story

    Edited by Andrew Kershaw.

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  • HISTORY OF THE WORLD WARS

    Purnell’s History of the World Wars. Special. Sea Warfare 1939-1945

    Edited by Donald Macintyre.

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  • HISTORY OF THE WORLD WARS

    Purnell’s History of the World Wars. Special. Weapons and Uniforms of the USSR

    Edited by Fred Stevens, Ian V. Hogg and John Batchelor.

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  • HISTORY OF THE WORLD WARS

    Purnell’s History of the World Wars. Special. Warplanes 1939-1945

    Edited by Andrew Kershaw.

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  • HISTORY OF THE WORLD WARS

    Purnell’s History of the World Wars. Special. Warships of the Second World War

    Edited by Bernard Fitzsimons.

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  • HISTORY OF THE WORLD WARS

    Purnell’s History of the World Wars. Special. Naval Aircraft 1939-1945

    Edited by Louis S. Casey and John Batchelor.

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  • HISTORY OF THE WORLD WARS

    Purnell’s History of the World Wars. Special. The Battle of Britain

    Edited by Bernard Fitzsimons and Christy Campbell.

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  • HISTORY OF THE WORLD WARS

    Purnell’s History of the World Wars. Special. Jet Fighters

    Edited by David A. Anderton and John Batchelor.

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  • HOGG, Ian V.

    The Machine Gun

    [Purnell's History of the World Wars. Special].

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  • KERSHAW, ed., Andrew

    The First War Planes [Purnell’s History of the World Wars

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  • MACDONALD, Charles

    By Air to Battle

    [Purnell's History of the Second World War. Weapons Book No. 12.]

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  • MACKSEY, Major K.J.

    Panzer Division. The Mailed Fist

    [Purnell's History of the Second World War. Weapons Book No. 2].

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  • PITT, ed., [Barrie

    Purnell’s History of the Second World War

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  • PITT, ed., [Barrie

    Purnell’s History of the Second World War

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  • PURNELL'S HISTORY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR

    Purnell’s History of the Second World War. [Second Edition. Extended Set.]

    [Edited by Barrie Pitt.]

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  • PURNELL'S HISTORY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR

    Purnell’s History of the Second World War. [First Edition.]

    [Edited by Barrie Pitt. First Edition]

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  • PURNELL'S HISTORY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR.

    Purnell’s History of the Second World War. Vol. 1. No. 4. Raider at Large

    [Edited by Barrie Pitt.]

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  • PURNELL'S HISTORY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR.

    Purnell’s History of the Second World War. Vol. 1. No. 5. The Trap

    [Edited by Barrie Pitt.]

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  • PURNELL'S HISTORY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR.

    Purnell’s History of the Second World War. Vol. 1. No. 6. Hitler Strikes North

    [Edited by Barrie Pitt.]

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127 Results | Page 1 of 6