World War II. Allies. Great U.S. and Russian World War II Photographs edited by Grigori Chudakov and David E. Scherman.

Hugh Lauter Levin Associates/Macmillan, 1989.  Hardcover, fine with near fine dust jacket without significant flaws.  200 pages with notable examples of military photography, wit excellent reproduction quality on glossy pages, by U.S. and Soviet photographers.  Photographers include Lee Miller; William Vandivert; Thomas McAvoy; Alfred Eisenstaedt; Robert Capa; David E. Scherman; Ralph Morse; Bob Landry; Dmitri Kessel; Eliot Elisofon; Peter Stackpole; Margaret Bourke-White; George Silk; Johnny Florea; Tony Linck; Gordon Coster; Dmitri Baltermants; Sergei Strunnikov; Anatoli Garanin; Georgi Petrusov; Viktor Temin; Mark Redkin; Aleksandr Ustinov; Ivan Shagin; Vsevolod Tarasevich; Bopris Kudoyarov; Georgi Zelma; Emmanuil Yevzerikhin; Arkadi Shaykhet; Vasili Arkashev; YakovKhalil; Mark Markov-Grinberg; Robert Diament; Viktor Polikhanov; Yakov Davidzon; Mikhail Savin; Mikhail Kalashnikov; Georgi Lipskerov; and Iosif Fetisov. Heavy book. Summary:

Allies: Great U.S. and Russian World War II Photographs is a photographic history that brings together images made by American and Soviet photographers during World War II, presenting the conflict through the perspectives of the two nations that fought as wartime allies. Edited by Grigori Chudakov and David E. Scherman, the book creates a visual dialogue between East and West, emphasizing shared sacrifice, parallel experiences, and the human cost of global war.

The book juxtaposes photographs from both countries to highlight similarities and contrasts in how the war was documented. Images of soldiers at the front, civilians enduring hardship, industrial production, and moments of endurance and loss reveal common themes of resilience and determination. While shaped by different political systems and visual traditions, the photographs collectively underscore the universality of wartime experience—fear, courage, destruction, and hope.

Accompanying texts provide historical context for the images, explaining the conditions under which photographers worked and the role photography played in wartime communication and morale. The editors address how propaganda, censorship, and national priorities influenced what could be photographed and published, while also recognizing the photographers’ ability to convey authenticity and emotional truth within those constraints.

Allies is significant not only as a record of World War II, but also as a rare collaborative project that bridges Cold War divisions by revisiting a moment of cooperation between the United States and the Soviet Union. The book demonstrates the power of photography to transcend ideology, offering a shared visual history that emphasizes human experience over political difference.