A generalized study by the famous military historian H.A. Shefov is dedicated to the preconditions, course and results of the Second World War of 1939–1945. The author covered in detail and in many ways a new light on the collapse of the Versailles system, the process of formation of two blocs (the Axis countries and the powers of the anti-Hitler coalition), Nazi plans for the redivision of the world and the enslavement of the peoples of the occupied countries. Much attention is paid to the armed confrontation of the two coalitions in all theaters of war (from the Arctic to Southeast Asia), the actions of both partisans and collaborators, and solving the problems of the post-war world order. Disputable issues are also touched upon (the causes and culprits of the war, human losses, the cost of victory, the role of Lend-Lease, the validity of the decisions of politicians and military leaders in a number of acute situations).