I'm quite interested in reading some books from the civilian-perspective of the war. Not necessarily a first hand account, but something that gives a good overview on civilian life leading up to the War, at the breakout of war, and then during the war - either in an Occupied Zone or the Homefront.
Fair enough. All I really have to offer are personal accounts. Many pieces, as you know, refer to civilian life in a broad sense and touch on personal struggles but not as in depth. In the case of life in Germany I would recommend Victor Klemperer's memoir. It's a thorough account of his life as Jewish scholar before, during and after the war. The story of his ability to keep a journal and preserve the history is worth the read alone. Recently I finished an interesting book Frauen by Alison Owings. Shes not an historian so it lacks some depth, but she interviewed 20+ women who lived in the Third Reich and the oral histories are eye opening, especially the women who are still ardent Nazis who act the victim. When I get home I will peruse the library for some different perspectives.
A few links for you as well. Rutgers Univ. In NJ has a nice oral history archive. World War II Home Front BBC the Peoples War is also a thorough collection of stories. BBC - WW2 People's War Hope this helps.
Have you read Rich Relations by David Reynolds? It's a good look at England and the influx of American troops in the buildup to D-Day. Covers the social, political, and economic impact of the US on English society.
Have you checked the Green Book on military governors? The bibliography may have titles for you. Civil Affairs: Soldiers Become Governors - U.S. Army Center of Military History
1944- Filipino guerrillas under Capt. Jesus Olmedo come out of the hills and into a 7th Division command post for conference with Maj. Gen. A.V. Arnold. WWII I've not researched about any hard copy or digital books, but there are a lot of first person accounts of speakers and remembrances posted online that have correlation to other materials. I'm bias toward the Pacific Theater for obvious reasons. Namely, accounts from the veterans or associated civilian ones in the Philippines. I think groups like the Hunters ROTC Philippine guerrilla forces and others are pretty vocal in expressing such accounts. Guerilla groups like Hunters ROTC and others fought in concert with regular US forces in southeast Asia. Many veterans and civilians from those groups have first hand accounts of those combat actions. I think this aspect is driven by the perceived lack of recognition they received for their contributions to victory. Here's a one, for example, from the Luzon campaign actions: US Army and Filipino Guerilla Groups join forces to attain victory in the Luzon Campaign. Feb/Mar 1945. American survivors remember the horrors of the Battle of Manila 70 years on | Daily Mail Online
There're quite a few decent titles on the Channel Islands occupation. Was briefly slightly fixated on them, but off the top of my head I can now only recall the ATB 'Then and Now', which perhaps doesn't quite fit the criteria but is certainly full of little occupation nuggets and pictorial glimpses of how the Reich imposed itself on an English-speaking populace. The CIOS always worth a shufti on this (and other) stuff: Channel Island Occupation Society CIOS Jersey - Home
