10 Must Have Books on WW2

[Mike Scholl]

ORIGINAL: Speedy

I do find Ambroses book readable but I do wonder if they if they are rather one sided.

He's an American Historian writing primarily about the American Army from extensive interviews of remaining vets for an American audience. He's quite opinionated in a couple of ways, but he has done the world a service by gathering those recollections before all the participants had passed on. Good for what it is, but it's by no means comprehensive.

[Terminus]

I like BoB (the book) much better than his D-Day book...

[Kuokkanen]

Is this about history books or novels? What ever, Unknown soldier is novel but it has also some historical value.

[wesy]

One more - it's out of print, but if you look around you should be able to find it...

"Fading Victory" - personal diary of Adm. Matome Ugaki.

[a white rabbit]

ORIGINAL: Terminus

Beevor's "Stalingrad" and "Berlin", if we're not limited to the Pacific. The "Bloody Shambles" series...

."Berlin's" rubbish, just a rehash, and obviuos ffrom other sources..

[Terminus]

No.

[Wargamer39]

ORIGINAL: mantill

I am probably going to get flamed 10 was to Sunday for this but I thought Stephen Ambrose's D-Day was an excellent book and it would be near the top of my list, probably just behind Beevor's Stalingrad.

He does, understandably, fixate on Omaha and Utah only touching on the other landings. Could anyone recommend a similar book which covers the landings at Sword, Gold and Juno in detail

Mantill, I also liked D-Day by Amrose, but The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan would be my recommendation.

[IronDuke_slith]

Depends on whether you are after someone's ten best reads, or the ten books anyone wanting to really understand WWII should read?

Favourites?

Hasting's Overlord. Neat concise study of Normandy and it doesn't skate over the controversial bits.
Reynold's Steel inferno The best Unit history I've read in terms of readability.
Ellis's Brute Force sometimes wide of the mark but iconoclastic, aggressively written and a good read.
Buckingham's D-Day - the first 72 hours Another iconoclast, new to the scene, but not afraid to tackle sacred cows and generally brings sharp new insights into old problems you thought you knew.
Frieser's The Blitzkrieg Legend More than just an exellent history of the 1940 Ardennes campaign. Detailed, insightful, leaves you waiting impatiently for his next work.
Glantz and House When Titans clashed The best short volume on the Ostfront period.
Van Creveld's Fighting power Dryer than the rest, but a fascinating look at an always controversial subject.
Gooderson's air power at the battlefront Forget what you thought you knew about the effects of airpower on the battlefield.
Hart's Montgomery and Colossal cracks A more expensive academic volume but one every Monty hater should read.
Glant & House The battle of Kursk This is how operational history should be written

As you can see, I don't get out to the Pacific very much and the sea and air often leave me cold.

Ten books you really should read in order to understand the war?

Murray and Millett's Military effectiveness VOL III the standard grounding in what everyone was capable of and why. Very pricey, request it at the library or (like me) don't tell the Wife how much it cost.
Van Creveld's Supplying War Its the logistics stupid...
Gooderson's air power at the battlefront Forget what you thought you knew about the effects of airpower on the battlefield.
Citino's the German way of War Want to know what drove them to make all those crazy decisions...?
Kershaw's biography of Hitler A standard work for the next 25 years plus
Hart's Montgomery and Colossal cracks Why Monty did what he did
Weighley's Eisenhower's Lieutenants Another great work in its own right that goes some way to explaining why Americans did what they did.
Ellis's Brute Force This second list will expose some of Ellis's thinking in that it will help explain decisions he explains incorrectly. However, it remains a good read with a lots of evidence to back his central thesis.
Glantz Colossus reborn Understand why the Russians did what they did
Ellis's The world war II databook Facts and figures galore to dazzle your friends with.

As you can see from the seond list, I go for why things happened, not always how.

There are hundreds of others to be fair. The two most recent additions I've readmight be Reinhardt's book on Moscow 1941, Jarymowwycz's Tank tactics from Normandy to Lorraine, a good read but he loses his way when he gets off topic. Anything by Glantz, Di Nardo's Germany's Panzer Arm, a real nuts and bolts study, Buckley's British armour in the Normandy Campaign, almost made it into both lists above, Ellis's Cassino, D'Este's decision in Normandy, Rickard's Patton at Bay, an eye opener for the Patton fan boy fraternity, French's Raising Churchill's Army, House's Combined Arms Warfare, Bailey's Firepower, and if used with extreme care, the memoirs of Manstein, Raus, Mellenthin, Guderian and Luck and interesting reads.

Thinking about it, there are a few I forgot to mention...

[Gil R.]

My father used to work at a Tulsa radio station that was a CBS affiliate back in the 1940's, and he got as freebies two excellent books that CBS put out after the war in which they printed transcripts of the radio broadcasts of Murrow & co. The European theater one is called "From D-Day Victory in Europe," and the Pacific theater one is "From Pearl Harbor into Tokyo." These aren't what one thinks of when listing great WWII books, but they give an amazing sense of immediacy that history books can't provide.

These books are available in libraries and for purchase on the Web.

[sprior]

ORIGINAL: Mike Scholl

ORIGINAL: Speedy

I do find Ambroses book readable but I do wonder if they if they are rather one sided.

He's an American Historian writing primarily about the American Army from extensive interviews of remaining vets for an American audience. He's quite opinionated in a couple of ways, but he has done the world a service by gathering those recollections before all the participants had passed on. Good for what it is, but it's by no means comprehensive.

Read his "Pegasus Bridge" about 6th Airborne. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Procrustes]

A few things off the top of my head - I'm sure that some have already been mentioned...


->  I really like John Toland - "The Rising Sun" is fantastic, as is "The Last 100 Days" (about the fall of Berlin - better than Beevor's book.)

->  Don't forget Cornellius Ryan - "The Longest Day" and "A Bridge Too Far".

->  Beevor's book on Stalingrad is great.  (I was less enamored of his books on the Spanish Civil War & Berlin.)

->  "900 Days - The Seige of Lenigrad" is good (by Salibury?)

->  The two-volume biography of Hitler by Ian Kershaw that came out a few years ago is very good.  (John Toland also wrote a good biography of him some time ago.)

->  Churchill's "History of the Second World War" is fun, if you have the bucks to spend.

->  "Run Silent, Run Deep" - read it as a kid and still remember it.

->  "Nuremberg: Infamy on Trial" by Persico is very good.  (There was a very old book called "Nuremburg Diary" that you should grab if you ever find a used copy.)

Got a few very good memiors at home - I'll try to add them to this list later if I remember.  Best,

P.

[MarcA]

ORIGINAL: Wargamer39

ORIGINAL: mantill

I am probably going to get flamed 10 was to Sunday for this but I thought Stephen Ambrose's D-Day was an excellent book and it would be near the top of my list, probably just behind Beevor's Stalingrad.

He does, understandably, fixate on Omaha and Utah only touching on the other landings. Could anyone recommend a similar book which covers the landings at Sword, Gold and Juno in detail

Mantill, I also liked D-Day by Amrose, but The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan would be my recommendation.

I'll probably take you up on this and his book on Market Garden as well. (Un)forunately I currently have Manstein's Lost Victories, Glantz's Kursk and Leningrad, Beirman and Smiths Alamein and the Red Army Handbook waiting to be read. I should probably do more reading and less playing [:)]

[Jevhaddah]

And on the lighter side we have the memoirs of the late great Spike Milligan [:D]

[/b]Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall
Mussolini: His Part in My Downfall
Monty: His Part in My Victory (War Biography)
Rommel? Gunner Who?: A Confrontation in the Desert
Where Have All the Bullets Gone?
Goodbye Soldier (War Biography)

Cheers

Jev

[Procrustes]

I thought of a couple of others.....

"Stillwell and the American Experience in China 1911-1945" by Barbara Tuchman.  Good book about a neglected topic.   Fantastic author - she also wrote a couple of great books on the preludes to WWI ("A Distant Mirror" and "The Guns of August")  as well as "The Distant Mirror" - about the 13th century.

"Goodbye, Darkness" - William Manchester's memoir of the Pacific War.  Manchester wrote several other excellent books about WWII, including "The Arms of Krupp", "American Ceasar" (biography of McArthur), and "The Last Lion" (epic biography of Churchill) - as well as "A World Lit Only By Fire" about pre-renesance Europe.

"1945 - The War that Never Ended" by Gregor Dallas.  I admit I haven't read this one yet - you may want to hold off, but I'm including it because the topic is worthwhile and the book looks promising.  Just like the title says, it covers the last year of the war and a bit beyond - gets into how things shook out for the people and the institutions that were left, and gives you an idea as to how the post-war world was founded. 

Hope this is of  some use.  Pardon the poor spelling - never been good at that.  Best,

P.

[JudgeDredd]

I agree with Antony Beevors Stalingrad...I couldn't put it down and it was one of the very few books I completed in two weeks...

I've just ordered Antony Beevors Berlin

[Terminus]

Especially yummy were the descriptions of how German doctors had to scoop out handfuls of lice when they wanted to assist their patients.

[BlackSunshine]

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Also Atkinson's book on the Liberation Trilogy was very well written.

Part 1 covers North Africa from Torch to Tunis.

Part 2 should have been out last year though[8|]

A VERY good first book IMO though.

I second this. Surprised not many people mentioned this. I've read quite a few WW2 books, from all theaters, and this one is the best by far. Very well written, in fact it would make a great movie! In addition, Atkinson won the Pulitzer for the book.

As for the second, it will be out in September of 2007 according to his message board. It takes the same troops from the first book from Africa, to Sicily and Italy.

[Procrustes]

Seriously - if you want to read about the fall of Berlin look for John Toland's "The Last 100 Days". Been around for a while - you can often find a used paperback copy in the thrift book stores.

Best,

[JSS]

Rise & Fall of the Third Reich is near the top of my must have WW2 books....   von Mellenthin's Panzer Battles too

[Speedysteve]

ORIGINAL: BlackSunshine

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Also Atkinson's book on the Liberation Trilogy was very well written.

Part 1 covers North Africa from Torch to Tunis.

Part 2 should have been out last year though[8|]

A VERY good first book IMO though.

I second this. Surprised not many people mentioned this. I've read quite a few WW2 books, from all theaters, and this one is the best by far. Very well written, in fact it would make a great movie! In addition, Atkinson won the Pulitzer for the book.

As for the second, it will be out in September of 2007 according to his message board. It takes the same troops from the first book from Africa, to Sicily and Italy.

Hi BlackSunshine.

Many thanks for the info[:)]