"The Second World War Experience" is a four-volume series, published in association with the Imperial War Museum, covering the whole six-year global conflagration. Volume two, "The Second World War Experience: Axis Ascendant", charts the period when the Axis powers reigned supreme. It begins with the German drive eastwards and the invasion of Russia and moves to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and the entry of America into the war. The action continues in Africa and sees the start of the bloody battles in the Far East where British, Commonwealth and American forces faced combat and hardship like never before. Rare items of memorabilia sourced from around the world combined with an audio CD of veterans' first-hand accounts bring the era and the events to life as never before.The memorabilia includes: Roosevelt's handwritten notes for his "day of infamy" speech which saw America's entry into the war; the order to McArthur to abandon the Philippines; Stalin's handwritten notes on his "scorched earth" policy; and the letters home of a British officer in Africa telling of his harrowing involvement in the battles of Gazala and Tobruk.