Bernd Wegner - Böcker

This is the sixth volume in the comprehensive and authoritative series, Germany and the Second World War. It deals with the extension of a European into a global war in the period from 1941 to 1943. It focuses on the politics, strategy, and operations of the belligerent powers as Germany lost the initiative to the Allies, and it represents, both in content and in composition, the climax and turning points of the war. Series description This is the sixth in the magisterial ten-volume Germany and the Second World War series. The six volumes so far published in German take the story to 1943, and have achieved international acclaim as a major contribution to historical study. Under the auspices of the Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt [Research Institute for Military History], a team of renowned historians has combined a full synthesis of existing material with the latest research to produce what will be the definitive history of the Second World War from the German point of view. The comprehensive analysis, based on detailed scholarly research, is underpinned by a full apparatus of maps, diagrams, and tables. Intensively researched and documented, Germany and the Second World War is an undertaking of unparalleled scope and authority. It will prove indispensable to all historians of the twentieth century.

Volume VI of the 'Germany and the Second World War' series deals with the extension of a European war into a global one in the period from 1941 to 1943. It focuses on the politics, strategy, and operations of the belligerent powers as Germany lost the initiative to the Allies, and it represents, both in content and in composition, the climax and turning points of the war.An account is given of the development of the war at sea in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean until the spring of 1943, of the changeable course of events in the North African theatre of war until the establishment of the bridgehead in Tunisia, and finally of Hitler's 'second campaign' against the Soviet Union until the stabilization of the front following the catastrophe at Stalingrad. Moreover, the United States' transition to open belligerence, after Pearl Harbor, calls for an account of the political developments leading up to that point on the Japanese and the American sides. The opening of new theatres of operations in the Pacific and over Germany, owing to the intensified strategic aerial warfare of the Allies, along with the organization of the Reich's air defences are also treated.

The German attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941 represents one of the major caesuras in European history. Its consequences could still be felt fifty years later. Thirty-five historians from nine different countries (including the former Soviet Union) offer a comprehensive survey of the origins, course and long-term impact of this event. The volume is not merely concerned with political and military history, but also with the experiences of ordinary soldiers and civilians.

At the end of August 2002 a workshop on Electronic Information and Com- nication in Mathematics took place at the Tsinghua University in Beijing. The title was "Find and Post Mathematics in the Web," we were trying to attract contributions from the most important groups worldwide, that are working on this subject. Having date and location tightly connected with the ICM 2002 (- ternational Congress of Mathematicians), organized by the IMU (International Mathematical Union) in Beijing, the workshop bene?ted signi?cantly from h- ing the ICM participants nearby. In particular it was possible to attract several members of the CEIC (Committee for Electronic Information and Communi- tion), which is an IMU committee in charge of the topic of the workshop. Hence the workshopsucceeded in giving a comprehensivesurvey on the state of the art in electronic information and communication in mathematics.The detailed topics coveredby the presentations were: models and standards forinformationandmeta-informationrepresentation;methodsandtoolsfordata search,discovery,retrieval and analysis;access to distributed and heterogeneous digital collections (interoperability, scalability, relevant information discovery, meta-information integration); intelligent user interfaces in electronic libraries, agent technologies, co-operativework on the data; advanced technologies of d- ital collection generation in mathematics; authoring tools and preparation of electronic publications in mathematics; business models for the generation and distribution of digital collections; and data security and information protection. The contributions dealt with both sides, the current practical work for the p- duction anddistribution of electronic informationin mathematics and the str- tural investigations for their management.