World War II in Photographs

Aerial bombing of Barcelona in 1938 by Franco's Nationalist Air Force

The Atlantic is running "World War II in Photos", a 20 part photo essay about World War II. New photographs will be posted every Sunday for the next 20 weeks. Yesterday kicked off the series with a collection of photographs from the years leading up to the war. I was surprised to learn that 4% of the world's population died in battle or as part of the Holocaust during World War II. The photographs from this first installment, "Before the War", create an eerie anticipation of the destruction that is to follow. Go here for the index of weekly chapters in this long-running essay.

- Joel