Table of Contents

1 First strike
The German Army invades Poland in 1939 with around 1.5 million soldiers using a devastating new tactic of warfare called 'Blitzkrieg' which means lightning war.

2 Atlantic terror
By June 1940, Allied ships travelling to Britain across the Atlantic Ocean were being targeted for destruction by German submarines, known as U-boats.

3 War in the sky
Bomber planes were used to fight the war from the sky. They flew together in groups on dangerous missions into enemy territory. They dropped bombs on railways, factories and cities. The largest and most advanced aircraft was the American bomber, the B29 Superfortress.

4 Blitzed cities
From September 1940, German bombers attacked British cities through a series of nightly air raids known as the Blitz. It lasted for nine months and caused the deaths of thousands of people.

5 Firepower
Armies developed powerful tanks to fight their enemies. In July 1943, around 6,000 tanks were used in the battle between German and Russian troops near the town of Kursk, in Central Russia.

6 In the Pacific
The Allies battled against Japanese forces for control of the South Pacific using powerful aircraft carriers. These aircraft carriers had powerful rotating cannon and short range machine guns. They held over 100 aircraft and had around 3,500 crew on board. By 1944, the aircraft carriers faced threats from Japanese Kamikaze pilots.

7 D-Day
On June 6, 1944, around around 150,000 allied troops stormed the five beaches of Normandy, in German-occupied France. It was called D-Day and it was the biggest invasion i history.

8 Final months
From June 1944, the German army had been pushed back through Europe by Allied troops from the West and by the Soviets from the East. The Soviets reached the Germany's capital, Berlin by April 1945. The Germans surrendered to the Allies on May 2, 1945. On August 14, 1945, Japan surrendered to the Allies after two atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. German and Japanese leaders were later tried for 'war crimes'.

About the Author

Rob studied Egyptology at university, but never thought he'd do much with it. Since joining Usborne in 2005, he's written loads of books about Ancient Egypt, and on topics ranging from space to the story of Islam. He is also the author of several award-winning historical adventure novels, and a hopeless cook

Reviews

A great overview of the whole conflict... a great book for primary school kids - but also contains enough colourful snippets and insights to appeal to older children, too.
*The Sun*

See inside the Second World War is a child-friendly but extremely detailed account of the run-up to the Normandy Landings. There are over 60 flaps for busy and curious little fingers to open and explore... The See inside series is such a fantastic way to engage children with history and fact-finding.
*Read it Daddy*