Kuusela, Kari. Panzers in Finland, 1941-1944. Helsinki: Wiking-Divisioona Oy, 2000.

ISBN 951-97506-3-0
272 pages

Sources; photos; maps; tables

   From Finland comes this oversized history of German armored units which served in that nation during the war, including Panzer-Abteilung z.b.V 40, Panzer-Abteilung 211, Sturmgeschutz-Brigade 303, Sturmgeschutz-Abteilung 1122, and a half-dozen smaller units. The main text, in both Finnish and English, describes the arrival, organization, and operations of the units. Heavily illustrated with unusual photos captioned in Finnish and English. This is a very nicely done, high-quality job.

Lehrer, Steven. Wannsee House and the Holocaust. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc, 2000.

ISBN 0-7864-0792-1
196 pages

Acknowledgments; Introduction; photos; Notes; Bibliography; Index

   This is the story of the Wannsee villa itself; of the Jewish German chemist Fritz Haber who invented a process for synthesizing chemicals for explosives and poison gas during WWI as well as Zyklon B; of the political activities of Friedrich Minoux, owner of Wannsee villa; of the rise of Reinhard Heydrich; of the Wannsee Conference, at which the "final solution" was formally planned; and of how it was carried out, including the use of Zyklon B in the extermination camps. Appendices include the full text of the chilling Wannsee Protocol, and biographies of all the participants of the conference.

Capelotti, P.J. (Editor) The Svalbard Archipelago: American Military and Political Geographies of Spitsbergen and Other Norwegian Polar Territories, 1941-1950. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc, 2000.

ISBN 0-7864-0759-X
180 pages

Introduction; photos; maps; diagrams; Glossary; Bibliography; Index

   In what must rank as one of the most obscure topics covered (and longest titles) in the year 2000, this book brings together "The U.S. Military Intelligence Special Study of Svalbard and Other Norwegian Possessions, 1942" and "Spitsbergen: A Report Prepared by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Published 26 June 1950." The former is considerably longer and contains numerous photos and exacting information about airfields, harbors, ice, and other facilities—all the better for planning raider operations.

Copp, Terry. (Editor) Montgomery's Scientists: Operational Research in Northwest Europe: The Work of No. 2 Operational Research Section with 21 Army Group, June 1944 to July 1945. Waterloo, Ontario: Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies, 2000.

ISBN 0-9697955-9-9
478 pages

Preface; Introduction; Glossary; photos; maps; diagrams; tables; Index

   This is a long, oversized book with a title to match, and it is the first in a series of volumes "which will document the contribution of operational research in the Second World War." The reports here are broken into four main categories—Air Support, Artillery, Tanks, and Infantry, Anti-Tank, Etc—and each category has at least two chapters—such as "Heavy Bombing of Enemy Forward Defences"—while each chapter has at least two individual reports—such as "Heavy Bombing in Operation Charnwood." The reports are typically packed with photos, charts, diagrams, numbers, and conclusions. Very exacting and measurable, but in some cases worth remembering that not all the facts were available for constructing a complete evaluation. Still quite valuable.

Treptow, Kurt W. (Editor) Romania and World War II. Iasi, Romania: The Center for Romanian Studies, 1996. Distributed in the United States by International Specialized Book Services

ISBN 973-577-030-X
317 pages

Foreword

   A few years old, but newly available in the United States, is this collection of essays originally presented at the international conference on "Romania and World War II" in Iasi in May 1995. There are twenty-one essays on a wide range of topics. Unfortunately for Western readers, only five of these are in English; the remainder are in Romanian. The English-language essays include "The Moldovan ASSR on the Eve of the War," Incompatible Alliances: Small States of Central Europe during World War II," "Romanian Expansionism beyond the Dniester," "The End of the War in Europe," and "Recent American Historiography on Romania and the Second World War." Would love to see more English-language works on WWII from this publisher.

Hlihor, Constantin and Ioan Scurtu. The Red Army in Romania. Iasi, Romania: The Center for Romanian Studies, 2000. Distributed in the United States by International Specialized Book Services

ISBN 973-98392-5-8
288 pages

Preface; tables; Index

   Unlike Romania and World War II, this title is entirely in English. Its subject proves to be yet another unusual and obscure topic, and one unfortunately with little bearing on the WWII years, covering as it does mostly the Soviet occupation of the country in the post-war years, with relatively little on the tail end of World War II or the occupation of Bessarabia in 1940. Very scholarly and detailed. Again, we can only hope to see more books from this publisher more directly related to Romania's part—military, diplomatic, political, and economic—in the war.

   All six of these unusual books are available from online booksellers, local bookshops, or directly from the publishers.
   Thanks to the publishers for providing these review copies.