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'Purnell’s History of the Second World War was a hugely successful weekly anthology or ‘partwork’ publication covering all aspects of WW2 that was distributed throughout the English speaking world. It was first published in 1966, being reprinted several times during the 1970s. High quality special editions on specific topics were later issued which also proved extremely popular with readers. Background Despite the name, Purnell’s History of the Second World War was published by Phoebus Publishing Ltd in co-operation with the Imperial War Museum which provided its research facilities, expert advice, official statistics and photographs. The now defunct Purnell & Sons, based in Paulton, Avon (Now Bath & North East Somerset), were the printers of the magazine. At the time, Purnell’s were one of the largest and most advanced printing plants in Europe, and had developed a reputation for high quality printing, producing well known titles such as the Observer Magazine and the TV Times. Editorial Stance Each issue contained several articles on differing topics, and the magazine, whose editor in chief was Sir Basil Liddel Hart, was notable for its use of writers from differing nationalities in order to present a rounded view. Typically an important event was viewed from both sides e.g. Stalingrad: The German View, followed by another article, Stalingrad: The Russian View Numerous famous military figures and former senior staff officers contributed articles; because it was originally published just over twenty years after the end of the conflict, many of the surviving protagonists were still alive. General Walter Warlimont, survivor of the July 17th Bomb Plot who was acquitted at Nuremberg was commissioned to produce a piece on life in Hitler’s inner circle, while Marshall G.K. Zhukov contributed an article on how he planned the Moscow counter attack. Other former combatants who wrote for the magazine included; Major General Eric Dorman O’Gowan, former Chief of Staff of General Auckinleck, Freiherr von der Heydte, commander of Rommel’s rearguard during the 2nd Battle of El Alemein General Major Alfred Philippi, who commanded an infantry division on the western front after D-Day Lord Chalfont, who fought in the Burma Campaign former Minister for Disarmament writing on the morality of the atom bomb attacks on Japan. General Leutnant Walther Chales De Beaulieu, commander of a Panzer army at Leningrad Major General JL Moulton Brigadier Rt Hon Sir John Smith VC, MC former MP and minister under the Churchill and Eden governments Lieutenant-General Nikolay Kirillovick-Popel, who participated in the Stalingrad offensive, Other Contributors Prominent historians such as John Keegan, Jerrard Tickell, W.H. Koch, Alvin D. Coox, Phyllis Auty, Martin Blumenson, Antony Brett-James, John Vader, Rudolf Bohmer, Raleigh Trevelyn produced articles, as well as AJP Taylor, who acted as Editor in Chief for later editions after the death of Sir Basil Liddel Hart. Other well known contributors to the publication included Alan Clark MP and the best selling author Dudley Pope. Eyewitness accounts from otherwise anonymous individuals, such as a Japanese housewife telling of the horrors of life after the surrender and the testimony of a former Zero pilot were also included. Cold War Despite the efforts to tell the story from alternative viewpoints, many of the events being discussed remained controversial and sensitive subjects, and there was still scope for Cold War propaganda and government censorship to find its way into print. In issue 45, which covered the Katyn Massacre, the discovery of the bodies of several thousand captured Polish officers in 1943, which was widely believed to have been carried out by the Soviets, and which remained an unmentionable subject between the Allies after the war, the historian Jerrard Tickell attempted to reconstruct the events around the atrocity which took place at the Hill of Goats site. While pointing to the evidence, he left his conclusion open ended, finishing with the comment that it was up to the reader to form their own opinion. His article was followed by a piece by a Soviet scientist purporting to be a forensic re-examination of all the available evidence such as the conditions of the bodies, their levels of decomposition and the remaining artefacts in order to ‘prove’ that the Polish officers could have only been murdered during the period of the German occupation of the region. Using eye witness accounts, selective testimonies and the findings of the official Russian investigation into the affair, Doctor of Juridical Sciences Arkady Poltorak finished with the paragraph; Thus was unmasked the provocative act of the Nazis, thus was established with complete clarity the fact of the monstrous killing by the Nazi authorities of Polish prisoners of war at Katyn Wood During the Perestroika period in 1990, the Russian authorities finally admitted that the killings had been carried out by their own men. It was while travelling to the area to commemorate the atrocity on … that the Polish Prime Minister and leading government figures were killed in a devastating plane crash. Later Editions The series was so successful that although it was initially scheduled to run to six volumes of 16 issues each, a further two volumes were added, covering later themes such as the Chinese Civil War, the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Suez, Korea, Vietnam, and the rise of nationalism which led to the breakup of the European empires in the years after WW2. There were also discussions on the spread of communism, tactics and battle strategy, the post war reconstruction, the use of propaganda, the work of war correspondents and artists, profiles of the leading politicians, generals and ambassadors, and features on uniforms and medals. While the editorial comment justified this move as important for the reader to gain a rounded view of all the inter-connected events, it could also be considered a sound business move to extract as much financial reward for the publishers as possible. As well as the magazine itself, a series of higher quality ‘specials’ were also later produced which were themselves hugely successful, selling over 8 million copies world wide. They centred on specific elements not only of WW2 but also WW1, e.g. Battleships of the First World War, The Desert War, German Secret Weapons, D Day: Invasion of Hitler’s Europe and German Tanks 1939 – 45. While popular, they included a great deal of material previously published in the main magazine.'