Book Review: World War II on the Web

Reviews

World War II on the Web

by J. Douglas Smith
& Richard Jensen
Scholarly Resources
ISBN: 0842050213

Softcover, 2002
224 pages
Book + CD-ROM
$23.95

A Guide to the Very Best Sites

The phenomenon of 'internet websites' has lead to an explosion of websites related to nearly every facet of WWII. This book covers internet websites related to a variety of topics, and provides a summary review of the website and its contents, and rates them with a 'star system' in terms of content, navigation and aesthetics.

World War II Sites Profiled
This book covers WWII sites in ten chapters, under the following categories: World At War, Political & Military Leaders, ETO / Mediterranean Theater, Pacific Theater, Soldiers Stories, Home Front, Women & African Americans, Holocaust & War Crimes, Unit Histories and Photo / Posters / Propaganda sites.

Little Pacific Content
Like most general WWII books, the Pacific theater gets far less coverage in this book, while the focus is more on European theater leaders, units, and experiences. For those interested in WWII Pacific specifically, they will find this book a disappointment, as even its Pacific Theater chapter only covers very obvious and well known sites, and only twelve for the entire "Pacific" theater, and only a handful of entirely Pacific sites in the other chapters.

Fails To Examine
The book fails to examine the phenomenon of researched based websites, that do more than just present information on WWII, sites engaged in active research, or collaboration of people worldwide. Or, sites that have veteran audiences or discussion components. And, how many of these sites are being created by initials or small groups, versus larger museums or traditional mediums. Rather, the sites it profiles are more sites about presenting photos, static research or accounts in most cases.

Included CD-ROM - Text on Disc
The book comes with a CD-ROM in the back. Unfortunately, this disc proves to be a disappointment. It is merely a PDF text version of the entire book. More useful, would have been a file with active hyperlinks to each of the websites profiled. Or, even a collection of other links, that did not 'fit' in the pages of the printed book. Or, some kind of links to an online website that contained all the profiled links, or a way for readers to add their own links. Sadly, this CD-ROM adds zero value to the reader, or the content of the book.

This book is a good overall summary of WWII sites on the web, but disappointing for those who seek more specific or Pacific related information. For those seeking more on these topics, it seems thee best option is still just use search engines on topics of interest. Although there is a great turn over of websites, this book would have been more worthwhile to expand outside its scope of sites presented into the more exciting 'underbelly' of WWII and history on the web, where the really exciting sites can be found.