Holmes' poignant book contains 500 photographs, almost all of them black-and-white and most drawn from Britain's Imperial War Museum. A few were taken by prominent photographers, such as Cecil Beaton and Robert Capa, but many of the photographers – some destined to remain unknown, others ordinary officers and men – served with army film and photographic units. There are also captured German and Japanese official photographs. Presentation is by year, from 1939 to 1945. Holmes prefaces each year with an account of its major events and briefly introduces each block of photos within a year. Although most of the pictures are war photos, some reflect the fact that millions of civilians were affected – young children being evacuated from London, a British air raid warden comforting a child rescued from a bombed-out home, German citizens made to view the horrors of the Buchenwald concentration camp, shaven-headed French women accused of sexually consorting with the Germans. World War II enthusiasts will want both books.

包括了1939年到1945的500张黑白图片，多数是为电影和相册所照的，也有德国和日本的官方相片，图文并茂。