Dramatic, uncompromising and intensely moving, The Second World War in Photographs is both unique record of this massive conflict and a reminder to today’s generations, most of whom have not experienced warfare first hand, of the heroism, horror and devastating cost of global conflict. For the first time in its history the Imperial War Museum is collaborating on a book that presents 500 of the best black-and-white and colour images from its huge photographic archive, many of which have never been previously published. It is not simply a view of the war from the Allied perspective: the images come from collections on every side of the war – including Russian, German and Japanese. Accompanied by Richard Holmes’s brilliant and informative text, this is an outstanding addition to the story of the Second World War and will provoke emotion and provide enlightenment.