World War II

A Carolina Day School Library Resource Guide

Reference Works

Specific World War II References

General Encyclopedias: Britannica, World Book, and Americana are available in paper format in the library.

Great overviews of the war and war topics.

Great Events From History, Modern European Series. REF 940 MAG

Has various short articles on WWII events such as the collapse of France, the Battle of the Bulge, etc.

Encyclopedia of the Holocaust. REF 940.53 ENC

Note: if your topic is connected with the Holocaust, ask for the specialized olocaust Library Resources helpsheet.

Oxford Companion to World War II. REF 940.53 OXF

Who was Who in World War II. REF 940.53092 Kee 1978

Magill's History of North America. REF 970 MAG

Volumes 8 and 9 deal with WWII in short articles on such topics as "Government Acts to Assure Loyalty at Home in Wartime," "The Battle of Midway," "Dropping of the Atomic bomb on Hiroshima," and more.

The Annals of America. REF 973 ANN

Vol. 15 covers 1928-1939 and Vol. 16 covers 1940- 1949. Reprints of primary documents such as press conference transcripts, speeches, proceedings from The Congressional Record, and so on.

The American Years: A Chronology of US History. REF 973 GRO

Year by year, what happened in various aspects of American life, such as international and national events, business, science, arts, religions, entertainment, sports, journalism, etc.

The Dictionary of American History. REF 973.03 Dic 2003

Be sure to start in the index to see the wealth of subtopics under the World War II heading.

Modern America: 1914-1945. REF 973.9 Gre 1995

Check out Chapter 9: "Military Forces and World Wars," with statistics and sections dealing with types and numbers of weapons delivered to the military, a casualty breakdown by service, names of commanders, tank production, military aircraft production and losses by country, military slang, speeds, ranges, and bomb loads of US aircraft, a complete list of battleships and American ship losses by type, the war and minority groups, the war and women, and more. Also contains statistics and facts on all aspects of American life during and between the world wars, including the economy, religion, transportation, communication, politics, education, technology, crime, art, etc.

American Decades: 1940 - 1949. REF 973.92 Ame 1996

Check the index. WWII is scattered throughout the various chapters on the economy, education government, law, lifestyles, media, health, religion technology, sports, etc. Also has a timeline of world events during the decade.

Atlases

Times Atlas of the Second World War. EF 911TIM

The American Heritage Pictorial Atlas of US History. EF 911 AME

Oxford Atlas of World History. EF 911 Phi

And the war from other perspectives:

Encyclopedia of American Social History. REF 301.097 CAY

The war is mentioned in lots of articles dealing with the effects on the home front, ethnic groups, women, children, etc. Check the index.

American Women's History. REF 305.4 Mat 2000

A short WWII article deals with women in the workforce and armed services. The war also shows up in biographical entries on many women. Check the index.

Lots of stats! The armed forces section is in volume 2, pages 1140-1151. Want to know how many military personnel were on officers and how many were enlisted men in each branch of the services during each year of the war (or from 1789 to 1970, for that matter)? And other bits of info. 

Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. REF 342.73 ENC

Take a look at the WWII article to discover "the inherent conflict between the organizational needs of a nation at war and individual rights" from a constitutional perspective and what Congress, the president, and the courts did about those conflicts. Be sure to not the "See Also" references to other articles.

Check the index. WWII subheadings include international law, inventions, Japanese-American studies, military sociology, and postindustrial society.

Biographical Information

The first two are the most comprehensive. The others may also be helpful.

Dictionary of American Biography. REF 920.003 Dic

Who Was Who in American Politics. REF 920.003 MOR

Encyclopedia of World Biography. REF 920 ENC

Webster’s American Biographies. REF 920.003 VAN

Biographical Dictionary. REF 920.02 MER

Notable American Women, 1607-1950. REF 920.03 NOT

Circulating Books

The general numbers for WWII are 940.53 - .54. However, you might want to check the CDS Online Catalogue for other books of interest. For example, a keyword search using the terms world war ii brought up books about Pope Pius' role in war in the 200s and pacifism and combat aircraft in the 300s. Be sure to sort you results by clicking on the call number button. The subject term for World War II is World War, 1939-1945.

Don’t forget the WRL (Web Resource Library) resources!

The Student Resource Center

The Student Resource Center is a subscription database providing access to essays in reference works, magazine and newspaper articles, and primary documents. To access at school, click on the desktop icon or go to the library webpage. You may also access it from home. Ask at the library for the password.

URL: http://galenet.gale.com/a/acp/name 

Internet Directories and Search Engines

Librarian’s Index to the Internet. http://lii.org/

Paste in the following subject search: world war, 1939-1945 for war posters, wartime editorial cartoons by Dr. Suess, lots of Japanese-American internment sites, USS Indianapolis sites, women in the military, a primary document collection, a conscientious objector information site, American Military Patches, Other Insignia and Decorations, and more. All the sites are reviewed. 

World War II Links on the Internet. http://history.acusd.edu/gen/ww2_links.html

A fabulous list of links by a professor at the university of San Diego. Everything from links to the military branches to battles to postcards to museums to propaganda.

Dewey Browse World War II Links. http://www.deweybrowse.org/ww2.htm

Part of a wonderful set of links maintained by a school librarian in New England.

World War II Resources. http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/

Primary documents, speeches, and lots more, including links to other sites.

World War II Links. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/2691/links.htm

Maintained by a WWII collector. Has a good set of links divided into the following categories: Europe, Africa and Mediterranean Theater Links; Units, Ships, People, Places, etc. Links; Veterans and Miscellaneous Links; Pacific Theater Links; Holocaust Links

About.com. http://about.com

From the main About.com page, go to the History section, choose World War II (on the left under "Magazines"), then choose Article Archive from the reddish-brown menu bar. You be presented with a list of links to articles on all sorts of topics, from the midget subs to McArthur to the unsung heroes of Iwo Jima.

Google's Government Information Search Engine. http://www.google.com/unclesam

A search here using World War II as a topic led to all sorts of military history, from Navaho code talkers to the Air Force Museum's history of the Air Corps in the Pacific.        

ks 4-03