Since 1996 we've conducted annual surveys allowing our website visitors to vote for the Top Ten non-fiction books about the Second World War published in the calendar year. Each year the Top Ten has attracted more voters, more nominations, and more ballots, and it's always a fascinating process to watch the votes pour in and the year's titles move up and down in the standings.    At the beginning of each new year with a certain amount of fanfare we announce the Top Ten winners. At the beginning of each new year we also receive without fail messages from perplexed voters—and disgruntled authors and publishers—who want to know why their favorite books didn't finish atop the standings, and why some less worthy titles—at least in their eyes—managed to garner so many votes.    Well, there's no accounting for taste. One reader's favorite is another reader's discard, and critical acclaim is no guarantee of popular success. That's why we run the Top Ten voting and let readers pick the books themselves.    A few years ago, however, we decided to institute a companion to the Top Ten books of the year: the Editor's Choice Awards. This allows Stone & Stone to select and acknowledge the titles we rate as the most important new releases of the year, especially ones that were passed over in the Top Ten voting.    Mind you, these awards are in their own way just as subjective and imperfect as the Top Ten. We can only read so many books in twelve months, and we have our own tastes and preferences about specific topics and about what makes a good book. But—hey!—this is our website, so we get to have a little fun once in awhile.    The year 2003 saw publication of quite a few good WWII-related books, so we could have easily made this a very lengthy list. However, we always limit our annual choices to the very best of the year rather than aiming for a particular number or trying to be overly inclusive. This year we rated six titles as the cream of the crop.    Without further ado, the Stone & Stone Editor's Choice Awards for non-fiction books about World War II published in 2003, in alphabetical order by author:   Bartsch, William H. December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2003    Structurally and stylistically more sophisticated than the typical WWII-related history, Bartsch's book weaves together the stories of individual airmen, the war in the air, the view from opposing HQs, and the political-strategic imperatives that propelled decision-making at the highest levels. Brune, Peter. A Bastard of a Place: The Australians in Papua. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 2003    Brune overcomes a couple of minor mis-steps with a powerful book that makes best use of a plethora of first-hand accounts by Aussies who fought in the campaign, and he's not shy about making his own opinions known with mighty blasts aimed at some high-ranking officers. Douglas, W.A.B., Roger Sarty, and Michael Whitby et al. Official Operational History of the RCN, volume II, part 1: No Higher Purpose. St Catherines, ONT: Vanwell Publishing Ltd, 2003    From planning at the highest levels to backwater operations of the Fishermen's Naval Reserve, this is the ultimate history of the Royal Canadian Navy in World War II, with much care lavished on its research, writing, and production. Glantz, David. August Storm, volume 1: The Soviet Strategic Offensive in Manchuria, 1945. London: Frank Cass Publishers, 2003 Glantz, David. August Storm, volume 2: Soviet Operational and Tactical Combat in Manchuria, 1945. London: Frank Cass Publishers, 2003    Originally published as a pair of slim paperbacks in 1983, these solid volumes about one of the most obscure topics of WWII, extensively revised and expanded, represent probably the best work ever by the prolific Col. Glantz. Zuehlke, Mark. The Gothic Line: Canada's Climactic World War II Triumph in Italy. Vancouver, BC: Douglas & McIntyre, 2003    Zuehlke closes his trilogy about the Canadians in Italy with a very strong effort, seamlessly tying together the recollections of veterans with a broader view of the battle that makes exciting history and great reading. Previous Editor's Choice winners:    Editor's Choice for 1999    Editor's Choice for 2000    Editor's Choice for 2001    Editor's Choice for 2002