My April shopping list

Here we go again, i know i've been dropping thread after thread about books, but you guys really know your WWII literature, and since i don't know anyone else i should ask for advice, it fall on you.
These are the books i'm planning to buy in april, is there anyone i should avoid??
Arnhem 1944: The Airborne Battle - Martin Middlebrook;
In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front - Gottlob Herbert Bidermann;
When the Odds Were Even: Vosges Mountains Campaign - Keith E. Bonn;
Michael Wittmann and the Waffen SS Tiger Commanders of the Leibstandarte in WWII: v. 1 & 2 - Patrick Agte;
Panzer Commanders of the Western Front - Samuel W. Mitcham;
The 12th SS: The History of the Hitler Youth Panzer Division: v. 1 & 2 - Hubert Meyer;
Victory Was Beyond Their Grasp - Douglas E. Nash;
Tigers in the Mud - Otto Carius;
Grenadiers - Kurt Meyer;
Goodwood: The British Offensive in Normandy, July 1944 - Ian Daglish;
Panzers in Winter: Hitler's Army and the Battle of the Bulge - Samuel W. Mitcham;
Kampfgruppe Peiper at the Battle of the Bulge: The German Race for the Meuse - David Cooke;
Soviet Blitzkrieg: The Battle for White Russia, 1944 - Walter S. Dunn;
Panzer Commander - Hans von Luck;
Victory at Mortain - Mark Reardon;
Rommel: Battles and Campaigns - Kenneth Macksey;
The Germans in Normandy - Richard Hargreaves;
Breaking the Panzers - Kevin Baverstock;
Combat History of German Tiger Tank Battalion 503 in World War II - Franz-Wilhelm Lochmann;
Combat History of German Heavy Anti-Tank Unit 653: In World War II - Karlheinz Munch;
Panzer Legions: A Guide to the German Army Tank Divisions of World War II and Their Commanders - Samuel W. Mitcham;
Roads to Falaise: 'Cobra' and 'Goodwood' Reassessed - Ken Tout;
Panzerschlacht: Armoured Operations on the Hungarian Plains September-November 1944 - Perry Moore;
Hitler's Commander: Field Marshal Walther Model, Hitler's Favorite General - Steven H. Newton;
Battlefield - Series 2 [DVD].

There are two series that are calling me, but i still don't if they are worth it, Battleground Europe e Battlezone Normandy.
What appeals to me in them is that each volume deals with a tiny bit of the normandy, and post normandy offensive, operations that usually don't have books of their own, but i still don't know if they're battlefield guides ou military/history books.

 

I'll just throw in my 2 penn'orth....

Some very good ( and very expensive ! at least in the case of Agte... ) books there. The only author that I'm not too sure about is Mitcham, none of whose books I have ever bought.

It's interesting to note that Richard Hargreaves actually joined this forum and made a couple of contributions when his Normandy books was published.

As for Battleground Europe and Battle Zone Normandy.. yes, these are mainly meant as battlefield guides for the visitor. Having said that, Battleground Europe are rather better at 'history' than 'guiding', but the Zone guides, while not so detailed on history, are absolutely invaluable to the 'battle tourist' and have been recommended on this forum by professional battlefield guides.

Please keep in mind that the above comments are my personal ones only - others may disagree !

 

Your pennyworth and everybodys pennyworth, is always welcome, whatever the opinion.

 

There are certainly some great books there. I'd recommend Middlebrook , Cook , Von Luck, Lochmann, Munch.

Besides, I must humbly admit that I don't know all of the authors/books you mention , but I hope my opinion helped out a bit.

 

If you don't mind but, i'll not only include ones i've read, but others that I have talked at length with-people and dealers have read and in which are on my to-get list.

First the ones i've read that I thoroughly enjoyed are:

Tigers in the Mud, Panzer Commander,

Ones I am planning on getting based on personal interest in the subject written about as well as based on the opinions of several people I talked with who read them are:

In Deadly Combat (Bidermanns book), Panzer Commanders (Mitchams book), Victory Was Beyond Their Grasp (which is a title a member of this site had posted his esteemed opinions on inthe Eastern Front titles thread, Panzers in Winter (Mitcham), Combat History of Tiger Tank Btn 503,

Some I just got in and will be starting to read tonight that i've heard nothing but great reviews about are: Island of Fire by: Jason Mark, and Penalty Strike by: Alexander Pyl'cyn. Im reading Penalty Strike first and will post in the Eastern Front titles thread-my opinions about it when I finish it.

 

Excellent choices and if I may I'd suggest the Battleground Europe series over the Battlezone Normandy one.....I've read a couple of the latter and IMHO not as good as the BE although there are one or two horrendous airborne mistakes in one of the BE guides to Normandy.....the Pegasus Bridge/Merville Battery one....

 

I have Hubert M.'s volumes 1/2 on the 12th W-SS but these are in the original German not seeing the English as a comparison will vise to say that the photo copying is probably not as bright as the German issues. This IS the story of the 12th W-SS of their whole operative career as a staunch mis-guided W-SS unit run but older veterans usually from the 1st W-SS Pz. Div. I am hoping if you purchase, that the excellent maps at least 10-12 are included as they do show quite clearly the disspositions of both the W-SS unit and the British ground forces during the Normandie campaign in all it's horror. The 1st volume which does cover Normandie has many first person accounts and shows the truth about the overall slaughter of the unit by the Allies ~

sounds to me you have a rather large pocket book and empty space on the bookshelves ~ go for it !

E

 

Well, for my twopenneth...

Arnhem 1944: The Airborne Battle - Martin Middlebrook. Personally, I'd buy Kershaw's It Never Snows in September. Middlebrook's a bit formulaic - if you've read one, you've read them all.
In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front - Gottlob Herbert Bidermann; Yes, yes, yes and again yes!
When the Odds Were Even: Vosges Mountains Campaign - Keith E. Bonn; excellent book.
Michael Wittmann and the Waffen SS Tiger Commanders of the Leibstandarte in WWII: v. 1 & 2 - Patrick Agte; Yes, yes, yes and again yes!
The 12th SS: The History of the Hitler Youth Panzer Division: v. 1 & 2 - Hubert Meyer; Yes, yes, yes and again yes!
Victory Was Beyond Their Grasp - Douglas E. Nash; Yes, yes, yes and again yes! If you can find a copy, grab Hell's Gate as well.
Tigers in the Mud - Otto Carius; very good
Grenadiers - Kurt Meyer; an absolute must have. For me it's the very best German memoir of the war (although it's also politically rather dubious...).
Soviet Blitzkrieg: The Battle for White Russia, 1944 - Walter S. Dunn; I'd go for Niepold's book personally, but Dunn's is very detailed.
Panzer Commander - Hans von Luck; first-rate memoir.
Victory at Mortain - Mark Reardon; excellent.
The Germans in Normandy - Richard Hargreaves; slightly biased as I wrote it If you like the human story of Normandy, you'll like it, if you want tactics and statistics you'll hate it. Personally, my second book Blitzkrieg Unleashed is streets ahead.
Combat History of German Tiger Tank Battalion 503 in World War II - Franz-Wilhelm Lochmann; excellent book.
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Wish I had that much money to spend on books next month.

 

Ok Halder, here it goes....
It never snows in september - i'm halfway through it, and it's blowing me away!!
Hell's Gates - The price is way too high, i got Korsun Pocket by Zetterling instead.
Mayer and his politically dubiousness, frankly i just want to read about his exploits and military experiences, and he had a lot of those!
Niepold's book is selling for £ 200 + insane!!!!
The Germans in Normandy - I love the "human experience" to know what really happened there by someone who was really there, with all it's limitations, i also like the tactical aspect, quite frankly i have no patience for the statistical aspect.
Blitzkrieg Unleashed is on my list
As for the money to buy all this... well, these are the ones i'll try and buy during the next few weeks, i'll try and get the better deals for each and everyone, and since i'll be visiting London from the 26th to the 30th i hope to find very interesting bookshops where i can find nice books on WWII (new or otherwise).
And Erich wish i had empty shelves...
I'd like to thank everybody for such feedback: C. Evans, Martin Bull, halder, Erich, Skipper, Airborne Medic, it really made worthwhile the decision to join the forum and discuss WWII books, and have other enthusiasts and experts opinions about books.
Cheers!!!!!

 

Quite welcome and also please let me know your opinions on the book about the Korsun Pocket-its one on my interested in buying list ;-)) Also, i'll do the same with the five im getting in as I finish eac. Right now im reading Penalty Strike and has been thoroughly interesting to say the least.

 

If you're looking for the German aspect of the war, it's very worthwhile joining the Feldgrau and Axis History Fora where things are very German centric. There are a lot of authors on there (Stephan Hamilton, Doug Nash, Mike Miller, Samuel Mitcham, Marc Rikmanspoel, Mark Yerger - some really big Ostfront 'hitters') as well as some really, really knowledge chaps from Germany. The books sections on both fora are well worth looking over as we're always debating the quality of titles (or lack of quality!).

There's not a lot in London these days specialist wise. Motorbooks has gone Ian Allan still exists near Waterloo Station (good, but not as good as it used to be). Foyle's in Charing Cross Road is probably the best bookshop in the world (with an excellent military section), but most of the shops now are online rather on the street.

 

well to be truthful knowing German will help and the inclusion of an equal number of German speaking titles to your collection will be of great benefit besides looking at the first hand account, there are many German book specialty shops on the net and throughout Europe

 

Ok this week i placed my first order, both 12th SS volumes, the combat history of Tiger Tank Battalion 503, Granadiers, another one i hadn't seen before but it sounded very interesting - Panzer in Normandy: General Hans Eberbach and the German Defense of France, Panzer Legions and ..... The Germans in Normandy

And the Battlefield season 2 DVD also.

 

This one's to halder...
Germans in Normandy has arrived and i'm reading it, and very pleased with it, it somewhat reminds me the feeling of when i read for the first time Keegan's "Five Armies in Normandy", it was about 1993 i guess, reading this book is giving me about the same thrills Five Armies gave me, only this time more focused on the German perspective, which nowadays i do favour more.

Loved the Kurt Mayer quote at the beginning of the book.

 

To be fair to Motorbooks, they closed their old shop late last year and incorporated their military section into the basement of their motoring bookshop around the corner in Cecil Court - but due to space limitations, it's nowhere near as comprehensive as it was previously.

 

Glad you're enjoying it. It went through a lot of re-writes and huge chunks were excised (you can find some of the Brittany section online at the Axis History Forum). I wish the maps were better, I wish there were more images and I wish there were a few accounts I'd incorporated. I may yet do an expanded/revised version. I learned a lot of lessons from the writing, many of which I used to finish Blitzkrieg Unleashed. Its written in the same vein but its light years ahead.

 

Ok, need help from our British friends, i'll be taking the plane to London tomorrow at 7.10 am, and i just need to know something... where can i find the biggest "cluster" (can't think of a better term at the moment, sorry) of used bookstores in central London
Thanks!!!

 

Ok, need help from our British friends, i'll be taking the plane to London tomorrow at 7.10 am, and i just need to know something... where can i find the biggest "cluster" (can't think of a better term at the moment, sorry) of used bookstores in central London
Thanks!!!

 

Charing Cross Road is the home of books - not as good as it used to be, but you cannot go to London without visiting Foyle's in Charing Cross Road. Best bookshop in the world. Half a floor of military history

 

Wish I had that much money to spend on books next month.[/quote]
Arnhem 1944 by Martin Middlebrook is the best account of the battle to date you will ever read and to say his books are all the same is ridiculous