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I was just curious if people could tell me what are some great books on the WWII subject. Thanks.

There are literally hundreds of thousands of books written on all aspects of WW2. Military, political, biographical, economic aspects of the War. There are current books, out of print books, US Government books (some really neat ones...you find them at US Gov bookstores), book on all subject areas regarding the War.

My suggestion to you is to travel to your nearest bookstore(s) and browse to your hearts content. But, be prepared to pay some heavy duty cash for hardbacks. They can easily be $35 and up....easily.

Anyhow...scan the book selection (Borders has a great selection, some of the best I've seen), see what you are drawn to, and buy one or a dozen.

Good hunting, and good reading.

Delta 3-2

There have also been huge threads about this in the past with many books being listed. Try a search and you may find those threads! I think I have bought every book that was ever mentioned. :rolleyes:

Sun Devil, I'll be happy to give you a list of books if you will give me some more details.

Are you interested in general history of World War II, an overview of the war?

Do you want books that are small unit engagements, ideal for scenario design?

Does a particular theater of war interest you..East Front, West Front, North Africa, Italy, Pacific, Far East? Which ones interest you the most?

Are you thinking of buying these books, or just trying to find them in a library?

If planning to purchase a few books, how much can you invest?

Give me a little more on what you are looking for and I'll pop a list up for you.

I have found that any book that David M. Glantz has been involved in is excellent. They tend to focus on Soviet stuff, but his books on Kursk are really good.

Tomo

Do you mean fiction or fact?

When it comes to facts, my personal favourite is the six-part "World War 2" (if I remember correctly. "Toinen Maailmansota" in finnish). It covers all fronts (Pacific, Atlantic, Europe, Africa). It starts from the rise of Nazis, and it ends in Cold War. It has ALOT of maps, equipment descripitons, photographs, background info.... It has everything!

In fact, me and my brother are arguing who gets to keep those books when the time comes. Well, I guess that I could buy new set if needs be. I just hope that they are still available. And if they are, I think they are pretty damn expensive.

And being a finn, I have to mention William R. Trotters "A Frozen Hell". A book about the finnish Winter War. It gives you a look at a different kind of war.

Thank you for all the responses.

Wild Bill,

My situation is kind of funny. I thought that I knew a lot about the subject of WWII, and then I find this company from the Underdogs website and realize that my WWII understanding is more of an overview and general than specific. I've been reading the posts/discussions on this board and I'm amazed with the amount of information that people have on this subject. Now back to your questions. I'm interested in every theatre of the war except for maybe the Eastern Front. The Far East was just really the Japanese fighting the French and British soliders and the American special forces right? Anyway, mostly about specific divisions and tactics to make this game a little easier to understand and play. I have a basic understanding of units and tactics to employ. I will most likely go to the library first to look at topics and will slowly buy books as I go along. My budget right now could be $100. I'll appreciate any help you can provide.

"In Arduis Fidelis"
Is this latin? If so what does it say.

The only latin phrase I know is:

Lector et Emergo.

I struggle and I come through.

Again thank you for your help.

Go to your local used book store. There you will probably find more books on WW2 that you can shake a stick at. Also, they are ususally pretty cheap.

Frank V.

p.s.: By the way, the U.S. Marines and the British did most of the fighting in the far east.

Originally posted by SunDevil:

I'm interested in every theatre of the war except for maybe the Eastern Front.

No eastern front? You would be ignoring the most important front of the war! I personally think that some of the most interesting battles took place in the eastern fron (Kursk and Stalingrad come to mind). And the sheer scale and brutality of the war there was something not seen elsewhere.

The fact is that the germans lost the war in the east. But of course, we all have our personal taste (even in warfare!).

Originally posted by Nemesis:


No eastern front? You would be ignoring the most important front of the war! I personally think that some of the most interesting battles took place in the eastern fron (Kursk and Stalingrad come to mind). And the sheer scale and brutality of the war there was something not seen elsewhere.

The fact is that the germans lost the war in the east. But of course, we all have our personal taste (even in warfare!).

I thinks he means the war between Japan & China/Burma/Indochina (have to read between the lines )

If you want a good literature mixed with good history about western front I can recommend STEPHEN E. AMBROSE ("CITIZEN SODLIERS") and CORNELIUS RYAN ("The LONGEST DAY", "A BRIDGE TOO FAR"). They wrote best books I've ever read.

Hey SunDevil!

Good reply! The slogan "In Arduis, Fidelis," was one that was sent to me by a fellow gamer as encouragement in a time when I was undergoing some unwarranted pressure from a small group of recalcitrant gamers.

It means "In Adversity, Faithfulness." It meant a lot to me then and it still does. It appears not everyone loves the old Colonel , but I've learned to live with that.

I adopted it for the Raider byword.

Now as to books. You've made it pretty clear what you are looking for.

Depending on where you are, (large city, small town), take Frankie's advice. Check used book stores.

A couple of years ago, on a whirlwind vacation while visiting my brother we stopped at a Mall in Virginia for a meal.

I spied a used book store and since I love books (I have about 1500 books on military history - 20th Century - a growing collection of the last 10 years), I sneaked over while waiting for our meal to be served.

What a boon! I found all kinds of books, some for which I had searched and could not find (out of print). I ended up with about $700 (16 books!) worth of books for $80! I wish you such luck.

Especially watch for used book sales at malls, etc. I got antoher $500 worth of books (14 volumes) some totally out of print for as low as $1. My total cost was $35!

Liubraries also sell off old books for nearly nothing. Keep checking.

I'm assuming you are beginning your library so I'll try to give you a list that would eat up that $100 pretty quick.

You need a good general history of WW2. You should be able to find all of these at Amazon.com, or Barnes and Noble. And there are others. I'll list a few at the end, plus whatever bookstores you have where you live.

There are two that are excellent for general history and inexpensive (paperback).

Delivered from Evil, Robert Leckie (997 pages) runs about $20

or...

There's a War to be Won (The US Army in WW2), Geoffery Perrett (about $10 -smaller but very complete!).

Next,a good Atlas. These vary in price but you need some maps to find places mentioned in these books. Some books have good maps. Most don't.

The best one for your need would be The Historical Atlas of WW2, Pimlott (about $20) or The Times Atlas of WW2 (I got this one on sale at B&N for $10).

The next thing is a list of a few books with details on battles.

Here are my suggestions. Look for authors. Anything by Bryan Perrett, Robert Leckie, George Forty, Stephen Ambrose or John Keenan are good. They are ALWAYS good. Watch for those names.

Some books to consider:

Iron Fist, Perrett
Against All Odds, Perrett
Impossible Victories, Perrett
Last Stand, Perrett
Seize and Hold, Perrett
Against the Panzers, Karamales
Death Traps, Cooper (3rd Armored Division)
Six Armies in Normandy, Keenan
Steel Inferno, Reynolds (German Point of View)
Of course the standards of Cornelius Ryan, A Bridge too Far, The Longest Day, and The Last Battle.

The Clay Pigeons of St. Lo, Johns
A Dark, Bloody Ground, Miller
The Texas Army, Wagner
A Time for Trumpets (the Bulge) McDonald

Most of these are available in paperback, which is ideal for a limited budget. You could probably get 8-12 good ones total for the $100 you are ready to spend.

Now some classics you'll want to always look for:

Any books by Paul Carell
The US ARMY IN WW2 (about 30 volumes) These are a must for any collector - the classics on US participation from North Africa to the end of WW2.

I just head the Scholars Bookshelf has some of these on sale for 8.99 each. Unbelievable!
Grab 'em. They retail at the US Govt Printing Office for $35-50 each. These are what is known as "The Green Books."

Anything by Fletcher Pratt, SLA Marshall, Eric Hammel, George Forty,

And on and on. But now THIS is turning into a book. Good luck and let us know what you finally get!
http://www.amazon.com/
(If it can be found, they can find it!)
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/
http://www.sonic.net/~bstone/aberdeen/
http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/
http://www.scholarsbookshelf.com/
(This is where they have those books at such a great price, US ARMY in WW2)
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/online/Bookshelves/WW2-List.htm
http://www.jjfpub.mb.ca/products.htm
(Good, but expensive)
http://home.fuse.net/nafziger/
(Great orders of battle and TOEs)
http://www.merriam-press.com/
http://www.militaria.com/
http://www.pacificapress.com/
http://www2.army.mil/cmh-pg/online/Bookshelves/books-era.htm

This is enough for now.

Wild Bill

Originally posted by lnp4668:


I thinks he means the war between Japan & China/Burma/Indochina (have to read between the lines )

Oh yes. Well, I agree, it is a bit boring battle. There are no big manouvers or anything like that. Conpared to the Big Three (West front, East Front and Pacific), the Far East doesn't seem as interesting.

Well, I just started up the game for the first time today, and I must say that I was speechless. I've obviously gotten over that but now all I can say is WOW! Everyone at Matrix games did a great job on this game and its FREE! I will have no problem endorsing or buying future products from this company. If Matrix is ever looking for more testers, programmers or researches, I will sign up in a hurry.

Wild Bill,

Thank you for your very informative posts, you just gave me a new hobby.

Originally posted by Nemesis:



Oh yes. Well, I agree, it is a bit boring battle. There are no big manouvers or anything like that. Conpared to the Big Three (West front, East Front and Pacific), the Far East doesn't seem as interesting.

Well, I disagree here. A little while ago I did some research for my next big PBEM-battle (Burma/1945), and I suddenly noticed that there were in fact, lots of interesting battles and such in Burma.

After a week or so, a book was already coming from Amazon.Com
'Tales By Japanese Soldiers' (Burma 1942-1945)
(by John Nunneley/Kazuo Tamayama)

Rare stories. Not published before, either in Japanese or English.

--------(concerning SPWAW...)------------

So...how many Burma-based scenarios are there in SPWAW 5.0?

Three? Ten? Two?
If I remember correctly - ONE.

And I thought you guys are WWII experts
Where is Myitkyina? Meiktila? Mandalay? Kohima?

Burma was part of WWII, and should not be ignored - more than 300,000 soldiers died there! (but it is ignored by most, so I shut up now )!

[ June 14, 2001: Message edited by: Peregrine Falcon ]

Originally posted by Peregrine Falcon:


Well, I disagree here. A little while ago I did some research for my next big PBEM-battle (Burma/1945), and I suddenly noticed that there were in fact, lots of interesting battles and such in Burma.

[ June 14, 2001: Message edited by: Peregrine Falcon ]

Well, of course Burma was important! Without it, Japan would have invaded India! It was important, and there were important battles and alot of lives were lost. But there weren't similar big manouvers as we saw in Europe and Pacific. The battle there seemed more chaotic with no solid frontlines.

Yes, I guess I also underestimate the war in Burma. But it just doesn't have the same sex-appeal as the other theater of operations.

When you find books that you want but they are too expensive, give www.militarybookclub.com a try. They have a deal where you get 4 books for 98 cents, and I used that to get 3 of Nafzigers OOB books and a 6-book set on Gettysburg, all worth almost $300 for about $12 including shipping. Then you have to buy only 4 books and they are discounted. I've been pretty happy with them, and have not gotten any books I did not want.

Nothing more stirring in military drama than the saga of the "Chindits" or "Merrill's Marauders!"

I hope to do a whole series of scenarios on that theme.

There is one scenario even now in SPWAW, called "Flying Chindits." You should give it a try.

It is scenario #35

In fact, there is a plethora of Pacific scenarios, including the Guadalcanal and the Tulagi Campaigns, with more to come!

Here are a few of them included in SPWAW

Scen016 The Bushmasters
Scen018 Brave Men of Betio (hard)
Scen020 Angels of Los Banos
Scen035 Flying Chindits
Scen048 The Raiders Hold
Scen050 Jungle Rats
Scen068 Water to Blood
Scen076 A Marine Ordeal
Scen082 Blood Soaked Trail
Scen090 Hospital Heroes
Scen091 Chiang's Nightmare
Scen118 A Marine Moment
Scen125 Latecomers
Scen131 A Marine Proving Ground

Wild Bill

It was my pleasure, SunDevil. I'll definitely keep that offer in mind

Good reliable testers are not that easy to find. I do have a great team of testers both inside and outside the Raider group.

In my mind, they have ALL proven to be worthy of the Raider name.

Good luck with your books. Let me know if I can help with any other ideas.

Wild Bill

Sun devil a book that may change your opinion of the Burma campaign is Field Marshall Slim's memoirs. I don't believe there was a more underrated general in WW2. I also think Slim cared more for his troops than the average general of any nationality. The mix is interesting there were British troops from several parts of the empire, India, Burma, West Africa, East Africa,England,Ieland, Scotland, and Wales. There were American and Chinese troops serving in the Burma area as well. The Axis troops included some Indian troops fighting with the Japanese. It's not dull!