Two things can be pretty much guaranteed when it comes to ruins – time will cause them, and war will certainly speed them along. This is a selection of visuals concerning the ruins that were actually caused, not encouraged, by combat – the bunkers, U-boat docks, flak towers and so on that show how much concrete was in Nazi Germany in the early 1940s; the near-hubris of the Maginot Line, that the Nazis then impersonated with their Atlantic Wall; and so on. The issue here is that one bunker looks pretty much like another, and that one concrete tunnel in an underground complex looks much like another, whether or not some failed Austrian artist frequented it. All the beaches have tank traps and similar defences, many a redoubt is a plain cement block to this day, and even if we go from Alaska to the Ardennes, and from the Sahara to Svalbard weather stations, the variety is not really here. The captions (the bulk of the text as usual for such a visual book) do plug away with all seriousness, but they're like a ten-pounder against nine metres of cement wall – they're not really bringing much joy to the user.

Abandoned Places of WWII by Michael Kerrigan proves that a picture is worth a thousand words. Each of these pictures tells a haunting tale of days gone by. There is a stark contrast between what once was overlaid with the modern. Pictures represent military and non-military structures, so all who view can appreciate. The span of geography covers Germany to Japan with all types of structures and places included. Short descriptions for each of the photos provides just enough information to make it informative and not overly long.
I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley and all opinions expressed are solely my own, freely given.

I’ve enjoyed a bunch of books recently from Amber Books that deal with abandoned places around the world, from abandoned towns to abandoned Scotland to abandoned train stations. There’s always a fascination, a pull that gives us a glimpse into our past as we picture what this place might have looked like at some point. Author Michael Kerrigan combines that fascination with another historical interest, that of World War II, the last great war where there were clearly bad guys and good guys, where the fate of the world and western civilization was at a tipping point. This combination leads us to “Abandoned Places of World War II”, the latest photographic collection from Amber Books.

I am surprised how much remains from this war that ended almost 80 years ago. We see rusted wrecks both under the sea and decaying in the forests and beaches where they were attacked. Many of the surviving structures were heavily reinforced with concrete, pillboxes and submarine pens, that have managed to survive almost completely intact due to their hardy construction. We also see the remains of war away from the battlefields, abandoned weather stations and lookout posts slowly being reclaimed by nature.

It is also amazing how many structures/ buildings still exist that were never put to their original use or were built in anticipation of a battle that never happened, from Swiss tank obstacles to prevent invasion to a flak tower in a Viennese park to pillboxes along the California coast.

The saddest pictures of course are those that capture the inhumanity of war, of concentration/ internment camps and abandoned villages where massacres took place, where the innocent were meant to suffer.

As I’ve said before, this is the tenth or so book that I’ve had the pleasure to review from Amber Books, all of them have featured gorgeous photography and interesting stories. One of the keys to their appeal is that they have a global perspective, covering each of the continents (even when WWII focused mostly on Europe and the Pacific) and here even more specific regions, focusing on lesser-known places and pictures. A book to be enjoyed repeatedly.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Amber Books Ltd via NetGalley. Thank you!

This book is such a unique collection of creepy images, locations, and stories! All from horrifying moments of history – reminders of horrific events of a war, yet so fascinating! Many of the places though are not accessible for regular people, and many of the places are long gone altogether, but there is this book, filled with hauntingly, chillingly beautiful photos of abandoned places that once served a purpose and played a role in a war.
It was also somewhat fun to find several places that I visited a long time ago, one in Poland and two in Germany. I believe those both places now look very much unlike what they used to look like several decades ago.

This was an evocative collection of photographs of World War Two structures and vehicles, mostly now being reclaimed by nature. More of a photo book, there is obviously more to the story of each of these places than the brief blurb accompanying the pictures can properly explain. Having visited Oradour and Tyneham, it unfortunately fell very short of describing the complete horror of the murder of an entire village at Oradour, and the sacrifice of the people who were kicked out of Tyneham with nothing but the value of the food in their vegetable gardens in order for it to be used by the army for training purposes.

Abandoned places are haunting, but the ones you know are connected to war seem even more haunting. This book has fantastic images of haunting places all over the world. (It was a world war, after all.) Everything from tunnels and buildings to parts of the Maginot Line. Some areas are even underwater! I took this book one step further; I tried to find some of the abandoned places of World War II in virtual reality.

Thank you, NetGalley and Amber Books, for an advanced copy.

An interesting collection of photos and descriptions of places we should never forget. From abandoned factories where V2 rockets were built to crumbling bunkers and sunken vessels, this book showcases the history of world war 2 through the buildings and wrecks left behind. A reflective and informative read, thank you NetGalley and Amber books Ltd for the opportunity to read and review this interesting book.

This is a brilliantly photographed and sobering look at abandoned places of WWII. That era is probably the one I've read about most in fiction and biography, and I'm still amazed at how much there is still to learn--including in books like this!

I had no idea there were so many remnants of the war still viewable today. I enjoyed the little connections to some of what I've read (unintended by the author, as I doubt we've read the same things, heh); it really brought those stories to life for me in new ways, and helped me realize anew the scope of the war and the impact it had on the world. Well done.

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This is an interesting and informative tour of abanoned Second World War buildings and fortifications. The photographs are clear and give a sense of the urgency and scale, the submarine hangars were particularly startling as to how vast they were. The book is organised into different countries and regions, and the captions assigned to each photograph give detail and background to what led to the building and use of each subject. There are several photos dedicated to abandoned shells, and ruins so ruined it would be difficult to know what we are looking at without the caption. I would have been interested in seeing even more of the abandoned locations of Europe in particular. A note for the digital edition I viewed - the book ended, and then began again, for the next 80 pages or so. So two copies of the books appeared in the download. Thank you very much for letting me read & review this informative title! I always enjoy Amber Books publications.

Abandoned Places of World War II by Michael Kerrigan showcases just over one hundred abandoned structures and war paraphernalia all over the world from a dark era in history. The photography is evocative and compelling, often starkly beautiful but poignant as the reader contemplates the horrors which took place. Real people, real lives, real stories. When reading one cannot help but envision last moments, fear and the constant threat of death meted out by evil to millions of innocents. Hitler had to have it all and countries had to respond accordingly.

Amongst the highlights in this book are the massive Flak Tower G in Austria, tank traps in Eifel, a bunker in the Czech Republic, concealed passages reinforced with metal, unexploded shells in Albania, concrete pillbox in Italy, a fort in Montenegro, observation post in South Africa, an air raid shelter in Greenland, gun battery in Japan, aircraft parts in Western Australia, a pretty deserted hamlet in England and listening ears in England (had only heard of them once before) and a weather station in Norway's tundra Some are ruined and decaying, others mainly intact. They all give chills.

I live near pillboxes and bunkers which are brilliant to explore, yet sobering. If you would like to learn more about how numerous countries defended themselves during the war (some mentioned were constructed and not used), do prioritize this book. Reading about this time in history never fails to evoke thought and emotions.

My sincere thank you to Amber Books Ltd. and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this superb book.

There are lots of interesting photo collection books out there, with a good deal of emphasis on the scenic, the abandoned, the ruined, the inaccessible, the melancholy, and the romantic. This book touches a bit on all of that, but the larger theme - the traces left by World War II on otherwise prosaic locations, is unique and engaging. The photos are top quality and well selected, with an eye for the odd, unusual, and arresting. Even better, it seems that more thought has been given to the text and the captions than is common for books like this. Rather than just cryptic and minimal captions, the text here has a bit more narrative drive and content, which adds considerably to one's appreciation of the photos. A nice find.

Stark, beautiful, and sad. This collection of photos (with fascinating descriptions) shows what is left after a world conflict. Some of the structures didn't even work to serve their purpose, but serve as a reminder of what happened.
It's amazing that this period of time is so well documented.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me preview this ARC