War is the story of individuals painted into a broader tapestry of overpowering events. While examining the wider historical perspective to lay the foundation, this book relates the individual stories of the Second World War – of Allied bomber pilots shot down over Germany, of American dogfaces fighting to grip a toehold on Iwo Jima, of men struggling for survival during the Bataan Death March, of tankers in Europe and pilots who flew the first B-29s against Japan's mainland, of incredible feats of heroism and self-sacrifice, even of great wartime romances.

The author interviewed more than two dozen U.S. veterans for this book. Most of these stories have never before been published. Together, they provide a true account of what the war was really like for those individuals who actually fought it on the two main fronts of the war – Europe and the South Pacific.