Poland 1939: The Outbreak of World War II

A gripping history of the Nazi invasion of Poland, the true onset of World War II

“Exemplary...About as good as military history can be.” —Timothy Snyder, New York Times

For Americans, World War II began in December 1941, with the bombing of Pearl Harbor; but for Europe, the war began on September 1, 1939, when Hitler’s soldiers invaded Poland, followed later that month by Stalin’s Red Army. The conflict that ensued saw the debut of many of the features that would come to define the later war—Blitzkrieg, the targeting of civilians, ethnic cleansing, and indiscriminate aerial bombing—yet it is routinely overlooked by historians.

In Poland 1939, Roger Moorhouse reexamines the least understood campaign of World War II, using original archival sources to provide a harrowing and very human account of the events that set the bloody tone for the conflict to come.

Winner of the Polish Foreign Ministry History Prize

Shortlisted for the 2020 Wellington Military History Medal