With more than 1,700 cross-referenced entries covering every aspect of World War II, the events and developments of the era, and myriad related subjects as well as a documents volume, this is the most comprehensive reference work available on the war.• Provides a clear understanding of the causes of World War II, reaching back to World War I and the role of the Western democracies in its origin• Examines home front developments in major countries during the war, such as race and gender relations in the United States• Recognizes the important roles played by women in the war and describes how the United States mobilized its economy and citizenry for total war• Discusses the Holocaust and establishes responsibility for this genocide• Details the changing attitudes toward the war as expressed in film and literature