The World War II Collection

Full-length accounts of three decisive WWII events—Pearl Harbor, Midway, and the evacuation of Dunkirk—from a #1 New York Times–bestselling author.
In May 1940, the remnants of the French and British armies, broken by Hitler’s blitzkrieg, retreated to the beach at Dunkirk. Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered an evacuation on May 26, expecting to save no more than a handful of his men. But Britain would not let its soldiers down. Hundreds of fishing boats, pleasure yachts, and commercial vessels streamed into the Channel to back up the Royal Navy. The Miracle of Dunkirk is a striking history of a week when the fate of Britain—and the World—hung in the balance.

On the morning of June 4, 1942, doom sailed on Midway. Hoping to put itself within striking distance of Hawaii and California, the Japanese navy planned an ambush that would obliterate the remnants of the American Pacific fleet. On paper, the Americans had no chance of winning. But because their code breakers knew what was coming, the American navy was able to prepare an ambush of its own. In Incredible Victory, Walter Lord recounts two days of savage battle, during which a small American fleet defied the odds and turned the tide of World War II.

December 7, 1941, began as a quiet morning on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. But as Japan’s deadly torpedoes suddenly rained down on the Pacific fleet, soldiers, generals, and civilians alike felt shock, then fear, and then rage. From the chaos, a thousand personal stories of courage emerged. Drawn from hundreds of interviews, letters, and diaries, Walter Lord’s Day of Infamy recounts the many tales of heroism and tragedy of those who experienced the attack firsthand.

These three acclaimed war chronicles showcase Walter Lord at the top of his game as a narrative nonfiction master.