Abandoned Places of World War II

A rusting anti-aircraft fort in the North Sea. A German submarine base in France. A Flak tower in a Viennese park — more than 70 years after the end of World War II, its legacy can still be seen from Europe to Japan. Abandoned Places of World War II explores more than 100 bunkers, pillboxes, submarine bases, forts and gun emplacements from the North Sea to Okinawa. Included are defensive structures, such as the Maginot Line on France’s eastern border with Germany, Germany’s own western and eastern border defences, and the Atlantic Wall, the German-built bunkers and pillboxes on the coast from Denmark down to Brittany. The book also includes both Hitler’s and Himmler’s Eastern Front bunkers in Poland. But beyond the military installations, the book explores the ruins of concentration camps, the empty village of Oradour-Sur-Glane, Hitler’s mountain retreat at Berchtesgaden and the dilapidated Nazi party rally grounds in Nuremberg, among other non-military places. With 150 outstanding colour photographs, Abandoned Places of World War II is a brilliant pictorial examination of both the military and non-military legacy of the conflict.

Michael Kerrigan was educated at St. Edward’s College and University College, Oxford, England. He is the author of History of the World, Abandoned Places of World War II, The Cold War and Amazing Churches of the World. He is a columnist, book reviewer, and feature writer for publications including the Scotsman and the Times Literary Supplement. Michael Kerrigan lives with his family in Edinburgh.