At the end of his book, The Second World War, John Keegan offers a list of 50 books in English that "together provide a comprehensive picture of the most important events and themes of the war, which are readable and from which the general reader can derive his own picture of the war as a guide to deeper reading"John Keegan, The Second World War (New York: Viking, 1990), 596. Keegan admits this list is not all inclusive and it reflects his interests. For example, there is no book on the invasion of Poland in 1939.

The list is nearly 20 years old, but it is still valuable to those researching World War II. Some of these books are out-of-print, but most of them are readily available and have been republished several times which means Keegan put together a quality list.

1. The West Point Atlas of American Wars, Vol 2 by Colonel Vincent J. Esposito is the first book listed. Amazon has both volumes listed under The West Point Atlas of American Wars. 2 Volume Set The books have detailed maps of all campaigns, not just the ones involving Americans.

Hitler and Nazi Germany

2. Keegan recognizes Hitler A Study In Tyranny by Alan Bullock as the "best biography of Hitler"Keegan 1990, 596.

3. Hitler's War and the War Path by David Irving is an interesting recommendation by Keegan. The book has been criticized for years as being "pro-Hitler", yet Keegan recognizes it as one of the most import books on the time period.Keegan 1990, 596 In a later book, Keegan acknowledges the criticisms of the book, but he also says it "is unique in that it recounts the war exclusively from the German side"John Keegan, The Battle for History: Re-Fighting World War II (New York: University of Chicago Press, 1996), 50.. Irving's portrayal of Hitler is that of a man trying to do the best for his country. Keegan sees value in the book because of Irving's work "in all the major German archives," interviews with many survivors, and personal discovery of important documents. The major flaw Keegan sees in the book is "it is untouched by moral judgment"Keegan 1996, 52.

4. The German Army and the Nazi Party, 1933-1939 by Robert O'Neill

5. Inside Hitler's Headquarters, 1939-45 by Walter Warlimont, one of Hitler's operation officers.

6. Inside the Third Reich by Albert Speer, Hitler's armaments minister from 1942.

7. Hitler's War Directives 1939-1945 by Hugh Trevor-Roper lists approximately 80 major war directives given by Hitler starting with the invasion plans for Poland in 1939 to the last stand of the Reich in 1945.

8. The Last Days of Hitler by Trevor-Roper

Beginnings and Early Battles

9. Keegan says that although The Origins of The Second World War by A. J. P. Taylor is contentious, it "cannot be bettered as an introduction to that subject"Keegan 1990, 596. In a later book, Keegan described Taylor as a "notorious controversialist"Keegan 1996, 9.

10. To Lose a Battle: France 1940 by Alistair Horne

11. Why France Fell: The defeat of the French Army in 1940 by Guy Chapman

12. Parades and Politics at Vichy by Robert Paxton

13. The Breaking Wave: The Second World War in the Summer of 1940 by Telford Taylor

14. Hitler's Strategy 1940-1941: The Balkan Clue by Martin van Creveld

15. The Struggle for Crete by I. M. G. Stewart, a medical officer of one of the British battalions in the battle.

16. The Desert Generals by Correlli Barnett

The War in the East

17. Keegan describes The Soviet High Command and the following two books by John Erickson as "overthrowing all other writers in English on the war in the east"Keegan 1990, 597.

18. The Road to Stalingrad by John Erickson

19. The Road to Berlin by John Erickson

20. German Rule in Russia by Alexander Dallin

21. Comrades in Arms: British Aid to Russia 1941-1945 by Joan Beaumont

Britain's Strategy On Its Own

22. The Continental Commitment by Michael Howard

23. The Mediterranean Strategy in the Second World War by Michael Howard

Anglo-American Strategy

24. Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare, 1941-1942 by Maurice Matloff

25. Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare, 1943-1944 by Maurice Matloff

26. Command Decisions by Kent Roberts Greenfield

Code Cracking and Intelligence

27. British Intelligence in the Second World War by F. H. Hinsley

28. The Hut Six Story by Gordon Welchman

29. Ultra Goes to War by Ronald Lewin

30. The American Magic by Ronald Lewin

31. Very Special Intelligence: The Story of the Admiralty's Operational Intelligence Centre 1939-1945 by Patrick Beesly

32. Ultra in the West by R. Bennett

The War in the Pacific

33. A History of Modern Japan by Richard Storry

34. Empires in the Balance: Japanese and Allied Pacific Strategies to April 1942 by H. P. Willmott

35. Eagle Against the Sun: The American War With Japan by Ronald Spector

36. Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions, May 1942-August 1942 by Samuel Elliot Morison

37. Allies of a Kind: The United States, Britain and the War Against Japan, 1941-1945 by Christopher Thorne

Wartime Economies and Efforts to Disrupt

38. War, Economy and Society, 1939-1945 by Alan Milward

39. The Design and Development of Weapons by M. M. Postan

40. Keegan values Bomber Command by Max Hasting "for its study of the effects of the campgain both on the Germans and crews who took part"Keegan 1990, 598.

41. Donitz: The Last Fuhrer by Peter Padfield

The North-West Europe Campgain

42. Keegan credits The Struggle for Europe by Chester Wilmot for effectively inventing "the modern method of writing contemporary military history, which combines political, economic and strategic analysis with eye-witness accounts of combat"Keegan 1990, 598. While Keegan admits that some of Wilmot's judgements are no longer valid, he believes the book remains "the supreme acheivement of Second World War historiography"Keegan 1990, 598.

Resistence and Life Under Nazi Rule

43. The Shadow War: European Resistance, 1939-1945
Michel

44. The Embattled Mountain by F. W. Deakin

45. Life with the Enemy: Collaboration and Resistance in Hitler's Europe, 1939-1945 by Werner Rings

46. The Final Solution by Gerald Reitlinger

Personal Memoirs

47. Keegan is "haunted" by With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by E. B. Sledge which he labels one of the "most arresting documents in war literature"Keegan 1990, 598. Sledge writes of his experience growing up, going to war, and attempting to remain civilized while everyone around him became savages.

48. Wartime by Milovan Djilas

49. Berlin Diaries, 1940-1945 by Marie Vassiltchikov

50. The Past is Myself by Christabel Bielenberg