Favorite World War II books?

FunkyMonkey · Post by **FunkyMonkey** » Mon Sep 10, 2001 7:29 am

What are some fiction and nonfiction books that would be good to read? I was thinking of reading the Cross of Iron if I can obtain a copy and the War of the Rats (or whatever it is called) the one Enemy at the Gates was based off of.

rlc27 · Post by **rlc27** » Mon Sep 10, 2001 7:55 am

FunkyMonkey,
I think Enemy at the Gates was based on a big of the same name. The author's name is William Craig and the version I read this summer was put out by Reader's Digest Press in 1973, though I've seen a new edition with the picture from the movie flyer in Barnes and Noble. I just read it this summer and thought it was outstanding, similar to Stephen Ambrose's works insofar as Craig actually went to Stalingrad and the Germanies and interviewed survivors of the battle, as well as families who observed the fighting. I haven't seen the movie, but I'm guessing that it only covers a small part of what the book is about.

What are your general geographical/chronological interests? It is hard to suggest a book because there are thousands of WWII books out there. I like Ambrose's stuff for its in-your-face down in the foxholes presentation, though I think he sometimes generalizes and oversimplifies a bit too much (anyone else think so, or not?). But D-Day and the followup Citizen Soldiers are guaranteed to keep you up reading all night.

Gerald Astor's Dark and Bloody Ground is another excellent work that covers the battles for the Huertgen forest and the begining of the Ardennes offensive.

An excellent catch-all one volume of the entire war is Col. E. Bauer's The History of World War II. In my neck of the woods Barnes and Noble is currently offering this 1000+ page (and more than 1000 photograph) book equivalent to a King Tiger for 29.95. In my opinion it's worth every penny. Your spouse/girlfriend/whatever will wonder why you have been in the bathroom for 2+ hours once you have it.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

Kendokabob

Larry W. Wilson · Post by **Larry W. Wilson** » Mon Sep 10, 2001 8:07 am

Anything and everything by Stephen Ambrose, especially "D-Day" and "Citizen Soldier". On the East Front I would suggest "Stalingrad" by Anthony Bevor over "Enemy at the Gate". Also the book "In Deadly Combat" is a very good book written by a German officer on the East Front. Check out the Military Book Club for a source of good reading material.

Possum · Post by **Possum** » Mon Sep 10, 2001 9:08 am

Hello all.
Two other excellent old non-fiction novels are
1) "Night drop"; The actions on the 101st and 82nd Airborn on and just after D-Day
2) "Green Armor"; Australian and US forces fighting the Japanese, over the Kokoda Trail in New Guinea 1942-1943

Grenadier · Post by **Grenadier** » Mon Sep 10, 2001 9:52 am

Both "Cross of iron" and "Crack of Doom" by Willi heinrich are very good. If you want historical books with real life on the line combat anecdotes, then no one compares to paul carell-Hitler Moves east, Scorched earth, The Foxes of the Desert and Invasion-They're Coming

Wild Bill · Post by **Wild Bill** » Mon Sep 10, 2001 10:20 am

Funkey, (You chose it, I didn't <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0"> ) here is a rather short list that includes what I consider some key books to a better understanding of WW2.

Opinions differ. This one is mine.

General - World War II

Delivered from Hell, Leckie (right on, Massimo! I think it is the best)
There's a War to be Won, Perrett (The best short book on general WW2)
The Second World War, Gilbert (I agree with you all)
2194 Days of War, Day by Day Chronicle of WW2 on all fronts - Superb!)
A World at Arms, Weinberg

Early War Years

Hitler's Blitzkrieg Campaigns, Kaufmann
The Blitzkrieg Campaigns, Delaney
A History of Blitzkrieg, Perrett
Blood, Tears and Folly, Deighton Vol.2
War in Europe, Vol.4, Hoyt

North Africa, Mediterranean

War in Europe, Vol.5, Hoyt
Rommel's North Africa Campaign, Greene & Massignani
Operation Torch, Jones
The Rommel Papers, Hart
Foxes in the Desert, Carell

General - The Pacific

War in the Pacific, Gailey
The Pacific War, Costello
Eagle Against the Sun, Spector
Japan's War, Hoyt
The Pacific Campaign, Van der Vat

Early Pacific War

Pearl Harbor, Barker
Fall of the Philippines,
War in the Pacific, Vol.1, Hoyt
War in the Pacific, Vol.2, Hoyt
Incredible Victory, Lord

Pacific-1942-43

Guadalcanal, Frank
Campaign for Guadalcanal, Coggins
The Glory of the Solomons
MacArthur's New Guinea Campaign, Prefer
Storm over the Gilberts, Hoyt

Western Europe 1944-1945
(I'll include 10 here)

D-Day, Ambrose
Six Armies in Normandy, Keegan
Steel Inferno, Reynolds
The Duel for France, Blumenson
Operation Dragoon, Bauer
A Bridge too Far, Ryan
A Dark and Bloody Ground, Miller
Hell on Wheels, Huston
A Time for Trumpets, MacDonald
One more River, Allen

Pacific 1944-1945

The Two Ocean War, Morrison
Strong Men Armed, Leckie
The Marine's War, Pratt
Iwo Jima, Ross
Typhoon of Steel, Belote

Some good books for scenarios:

Tank Action, Forty
Tank Aces, Forty
Against all Odds, Perrett
Iron Fist, Perrett
Battles Won and Lost, Baldwin
Impossible Victories, Perrett
Last Stand, Perrett
Victories and Battlescenes of WW2, Chandler
Chariots of Steel, Donnely
Tank Warfare in the Second World War, Forty
Surprise Attacks, Darman
Bravery in Battle, Eshel
Hit the Beach, Foster
Daring to Win, Eshel

And this is without the East Front which in itself is a library of its own. I'll add that one later.

This is enough to get a good library started.

Gen.Hoepner · Post by **Gen.Hoepner** » Mon Sep 10, 2001 11:35 am

UUUHHHFFFF!!!!!!!So many books suggested:this will probably win the title of most usefull message of the forum!!!!!
In my opinion,for the little i know,the Wild Bill's list is great.I spent the whole summer reading the 3 Paul Carrel's books (Desert foxes,they're coming and the big one about the war in russia) and i really gotta say that is probably one of the few ww2 writers that can hold u down reading and reading until the morning comes.But to understand every aspect of the war,i like so muc B.H.Liddel Hart with is critical point of view and his capacity to transform the war into a normal human operation.Plus he had the possibility to interview many german generals after the war("the other side of the hill").
and for the rest..........i'll keep buying and reading,there's still so much i don't know!!!
Regards

AbsntMndedProf · Post by **AbsntMndedProf** » Mon Sep 10, 2001 3:19 pm

For a good non-fiction book on the Eastern front, I like 'Hitler Moves East: 1941-1943' by Paul Carell. A good non-fiction book on the airborn opperations on the Western front, I like the late General James Gavin's 'On to Berlin'.

For info on WWII armor, you can't beat the Aberdeen Proving Ground's 'Tank Data' series, I, II, and III. I think all three are out of print, and I lost my copies years ago. <img src="frown.gif" border="0">

Eric Maietta

Paul Goodman · Post by **Paul Goodman** » Mon Sep 10, 2001 9:45 pm

I concentrate on the East Front. For that, I heatily recommend the following.

Any book by David Glantz; these include "Stumbling Colossus: The Red Army on the Eve of World War"; "When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler"; "Kharkov 1942" and "The Battle of Kursk". All these books are definitive, as far as I'm concerned. Soviet data is now much more accurate than German data. Also, one must have "Barbarossa" by Alan Clark; "Panzer Leader" by Heinz Guderian. Another interesting book which must be taken with a grain of salt is "Thunder on the Dnepr", Bryan Fugate & Lev Dvoretsky.

Paul

FunkyMonkey · Post by **FunkyMonkey** » Tue Sep 11, 2001 12:02 am

Thanks for your suggestions... What are some books that cover a German soldier's aspect of fighting on the eastern front? Taken in the first person perspective as he describes the bitterness and the cruelty of fighting against the Russians describing the strong comradeship and you know etc <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

Panzer Capta · Post by **Panzer Capta** » Tue Sep 11, 2001 12:07 am

Originally posted by FunkyMonkey:
Thanks for your suggestions... What are some books that cover a German soldier's aspect of fighting on the eastern front? Taken in the first person perspective as he describes the bitterness and the cruelty of fighting against the Russians describing the strong comradeship and you know etc <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

The Forgotten Soldier

In Deadly Combat

Two i would highly recommend!!!

Redleg · Post by **Redleg** » Tue Sep 11, 2001 12:22 am

For novels, you might like "Gunner Asche" and some of other works by Hans Helmut Kirst. I did.

Venger · Post by **Venger** » Tue Sep 11, 2001 1:49 am

I also recommend A World At Arms. Very comprehensive. Hope you have some time...

Venger

parusski · Post by **parusski** » Tue Sep 11, 2001 2:31 am

I must agree on
1. "Stalingrad" by Anthony Bevor

A couple of outstanding books about the East Front on an operational scale are:
3. "The Russo-German War 1941-1945" by Albert Seaton
4. "Fighting in Hell:The German Ordeal on the Eastern Front"; edited by Peter G. Tsouras

Books From an Indivdual German Soldiers perspective are:
5. "In Deadly Combat" by Gottlob Herbert Biderman
6. " The Forgotten Sodier" by Guy Sajer

Fictional History
7 "Hitler's Panzer's East" R.H.S. Stolfi

Finally, for the West Front I must recommend:
8. "War Without Garlands:1941-1942" by Robert Kershaw
Good luck reading all these posted on the forum. All the suggestions are great. But mine are outstanding. Dasvanonya, Dodya.

Don Doom · Post by **Don Doom** » Tue Sep 11, 2001 3:26 am

I would add:
Grenadiers by Kurt Meyer.
Good book on infantry/armored infantry fighting from poland to normandy.

nyarlathotep · Post by **nyarlathotep** » Tue Sep 11, 2001 3:29 am

Three books I routinely go back to:

The Battle of Leyte Gulf by Thomas J. Cutler

The Devil's Anvil by James H. Hallas

War Beneath the Sea by Peter Padfield

Greg McCarty · Post by **Greg McCarty** » Tue Sep 11, 2001 4:15 am

My favorite continues to be:

Sajer's "The Forgotten Soldier."

Read it several times. Wrote an extensive paper on it in college. Its one that is hard to forget.

KG Erwin · Post by **KG Erwin** » Tue Sep 11, 2001 8:10 am

I'll add three to Wild Bill's Pacific War list: "Peleliu:Tragic Triumph", by Bill Ross, "Guadalcanal:The Definitive Account", by Richard Frank, and James Bradley's "Flags of Our Fathers". The last-named book is a must read for the stories of the Iwo Jima (second) flag raisers, how they coped with the battle itself and how the aftermath shaped the rest of their lives.

bradmbrown · Post by **bradmbrown** » Tue Sep 11, 2001 10:59 am

Kendokabob Wrote:

"...I think he [Ambrose] sometimes generalizes and oversimplifies a bit too much (anyone else think so, or not?...

I love how he oversimplied USA's foreign policy prior to WW2:

[NOT verbatim]
"Foreign policy? FORIEGN POLICY???!!! Harrumph, we don't need no steenking foriegn policy!"

My favorite books in or about ww2 are:
[not in this order]
King Rat (Clavell)
Duel Of Eagles (Townsend)
Good Bye Mickey Mouse (Deighton)
Catch 22 (Heller)
Sink The Bismark (Forester)
and others...

[ September 11, 2001: Message edited by: General Amnesty ]</p>

Les_the_Sarge_9_1 · Post by **Les_the_Sarge_9_1** » Tue Sep 11, 2001 4:28 pm

Lots of good titles here, but my collection specialises in the older more obscure too maybe.

I have a great wealth of first person stuff.
For instance I have Kay Summersby's book (I will leave that as a trivia challenge to see if anyone knows her name). With all the talk of recent film books, I might mention I have Vasili Ivanovich Chuicov's (spelling approximate, not going upstairs to look right now) book. He was the actual General who defended Stalingrad. I have Adolf Gallands book, I dont think its commonly mentioned. Kesselrings book is a good one as well. Also have Hans Rudels book Stuka Pilot. Alas so many are paperbacks marketed back when I was just an idea in my dad's head.

I have a good many of the more accessible books for the famous men on the allied side, but they are easy to obtain.

Something I dont see much of is stuff from Italian or Japanese authors. I wonder if its a language barrier to us english speaking types. I have one good book by a japanese ace but thats about it.

I dont recall seeing them mentioned here, but wasnt looking to close though. If you havent got the Canadians at War (a two volume option originally with outstanding map inserts) from Readers Digest, then your library hasnt got the best source of material on the Canadian invlovement (best source from a normal commercial standpoint I guess).

Its likely apparent to most, but I will mention it for those that might has not heard it before. The ASL (Advanced Squad Leader) wargames DYO (Design Your Own) chapters vehicle and ordnance sections chapter notes are a most outstanding level of nit picking level detail. This material is obtainable through MMP who market the game for those that just want those chapter notes.