Hello, I am interested in some suggestions as to where to begin reading about the war. I should be clear that while I am certainly not against reading biographical or first hand accounts, I am more interested in a more general, historical read. For example, in regards to the pacific conflict I have read Eagle Against the Sun and In the ruins of Empire by Ronald Specter, as well as Japan's War by Edwin Hoyt. I found these both to be very thorough, informational and interesting. If there is an account of the general conflict in Europe written along these lines I would be very interested to read it as well. Many thanks for your time and information.
My own #1 recommendation these days for a thorough 'general' WWII history is 'A World At Arms' by Gerhard L. Weinberg. It was published by Cambridge University Press in 1994 and has been reprinted in paperback several times. It shouldn't be too hard to find.
For the Pacfic I strongly recomend Shattered Sword and the First Team series. Neptune's Inferno is also worthwhile. While these deal mostly with a couple of battles they have considerable background info and since they deal with early battles it sort of sets the stage for the latter ones.
"With The Old Breed" by E.B. Sledge, "Flyboys" & "Flags Of Our Fathers" by James Bradley "A Soldiers Story" by Omar N. Bradley Also I'd suggest : Studs Terkel's "The Good War"
You can try Ian Toll's Pacific Crucible, which covers the first part of the Pacific war. You can also look at Hotta's Japan 1941 for Japanese thinking that led up to Pearl Harbor.
