Econintersect: The Atlantic has published a 20- part retrospective of World War II. Each of the twenty parts contains 45 photos that detail 900 views of one of the most dramatic periods of human history. The series was published in The Atlantic.com from June 19 to October 30, 2011 (every Sunday morning). The author, Alan Taylor, says the images explore the events that shaped the lives of our parents, grandparents and great grandparents. That statement overlooks the fact that there are still hundreds of millions alive today who lived through the Second World War, Econintersect’s Managing Editor among them.
From The Atlantic:
World War II is the story of the 20th Century. The war officially lasted from 1939 until 1945, but the causes of the conflict and its horrible aftermath reverberated for decades in either direction. While feats of bravery and technological breakthroughs still inspire awe today, the majority of the war was dominated by unimaginable misery and destruction. In the late 1930s, the world’s population was approximately 2 billion. In less than a decade, the war between the nations of the Axis Powers and the Allies resulted in some 80 million deaths — killing off about 4 percent of the whole world.
Below are two of the photographs, the first from Part 1 and the second from Part 20. Enjoy these two and then move on to the The Atlantic.com to review the other 898. Click on pictures for larger images.
Adolf Hitler, age 35, on his release from Landesberg Prison, on December 20, 1924. Hitler had been convicted of treason for his role in an attempted coup in 1923 called the Beer Hall Putsch. This photograph was taken shortly after he finished dictating “Mein Kampf” to deputy Rudolf Hess. Eight years later, Hitler would be sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, in 1933. (Library of Congress)
A P-47 Thunderbolt of the U.S. Army 12th Air Force flies low over the crumbled ruins of what once was Hitler’s retreat at Berchtesgaden, Germany, on May 26, 1945. Small and large bomb craters dot the grounds around the wreckage. (AP Photo)
Source: The Atlantic.com
