Top Ten must have WW2 books in your library

Hey all,
I am new to the study of WW2 history. The American Civil War has been my passion for a long time, I just recently began studies in WW2. My personnal library is obviously lacking in WW2 (packed with Civil War - Gettysburg in particular). Please tell me your "must have" titles.
Thanks,
Todd

 

Some great Eastern Front titles I can suggest are:

Penalty Strike written by a Red Army Penal Company Commander--Alexander Pyl'cyn. His book is excellent.

Shooting the War: Through a Lens by: Otto Giese.

Island of Fire by: Jason Mark.

Armies of the BEar by Michael Avanzini-this is more of a referance book about the Soviet Rifle Divisions from 1917 to 1957-and this is a work in progress which I think will come in 19 parts. The first three are out and are rapidly becoming very hard to fiind.

Soldat by: Siegfried Knapp.

Tigers in the Mud by: Otto Carius.

Is there any specific area you want to know about WWII? If so, please let me know and I can find good titles for you.

 

As Mr Evans has stated it is easier if you know what area you are interested in otherwise you will be inundated with book titles covering every topic. Maybe you are interested in the European Theatre, the African or the Pacific one? Naval or Air? Memoirs or Biographies? Generals or Troops? US Marines, British Commando's or Waffen-SS? Allied or Axis? Holocaust? Unit Histories? Politics & Economics? What Ifs? There is a subject for everyone!

If you don't have a single WW 2 book as yet then a decent starting point is World War II - Day By Day (ISBN: 1-4053-0460-X Dorling Kindersley - Illustrated Reference Publisher). It does what it says on the tin, so to speak. There are also a range of books from the Imperial War Museum on general sale called Forgotten Voices and are full of first hand accounts (just type Forgotten Voices in the search box on Amazon for the range).

 

OK, I'll answer this one in the spirit which I think is intended.

The key words being 'my' and 'personal'. I have many, many books and I've just looked along my shelves to pick ten that I've read and re-read, or that I refer to frequently. If my collection vanished today, these are the ones I would need to replace quickly. I'm not saying they're essential, or the most accurate, or the 'best' - but here's my personal top ten : -

Hitler's War On Russia - Paul Carell
The Battle Of The Falaise Gap - Eddy Florentin
The Mighty Eighth - Roger A Freeman
Warplanes Of The Third Reich - William Green
Stopped At Stalingrad - Joel S A Hayward
Hitler & His Generals - Military Conferences 1942-1945 - Heiber/Glantz
Bomber Command War Diaries - Middlebrook/Everitt
Arnhem 1944 - Martin Middlebrook
Battle Of The Bulge - Then & Now - Jean-Pierre Pallud.
The Forgotten Soldier - Guy Sajer

And please remember that these books represent many of my own personal areas of interest......

 

here are my top ten ww2 books
1.stalingrad
2.d-day
3.pegasus bridge
4.spitfire

 

Thanks for the info thus far, it is appreciated. As to my interestes, so far I seem to gravitate to armored warfare generally (all combatants perspectives), Eastern Front history, D-Day, and North Africa. I have yet to delve into Pacific theater topics.

I also have an interest in airborne operations and special services history.

Some titles I have and enjoyed:

Panzer's in the Mud - Otto Carius
With Rommel in the Desert - Heinz Werner Schmidt
Omaha Beach - Joseph Balkoski
Panzer Leader - Heinz Guderian
The Longest Battle: September 1944 to February 1945 - From Aachen to the Roer - Harry Yiedes (although his maps are terrible)

On deck: (I'm currently reading The Brigades of Gettysburg)
Tank Killers - Yiedes

 

I have this large hard cover book called The World Wars it has everything from the assasination of Franz Ferdinand to the A-Bomb being dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The book is by USBORNE booking company

 

You probably will want to start out with a book that gives you a basic outline of the war and from there figure out which part you want to focus on.

A World At Arms: A Global History of World War II by gerhard weinberg s a good start.(900 pages)

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer is a WWII mainstay.(1400 pages)

The Holocaust by Martin Gilbert is a good intro to the Holocaust, although 800 pages of mass killing will get to you.

Cornelius Ryan's Trilogy is highly recommended."The Longest Day" "A Bridge Too Far" and "The Last Battle" are highly readable accounts of action in the ETO.

Eagle Against the Sun:The American War with Japan by Ronald Specter provides a good overview of the Pacific Theater.

There are many other good books, but I'd start with these.

 

I would add:

Amazon.com: An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943, Volume One of the Liberation Trilogy: Rick Atkinson: Books

Amazon.com: The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 (Liberation Trilogy): Rick Atkinson: Books

http://www.amazon.com/Mighty-Eighth...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239718579&sr=8-1

And

Amazon.com: The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour: James D. Hornfischer: Books

 

I don't think I'd include a book as controversial as that in my top ten list. Of course I don't have a top 10 list. Too many books I need to read first. However here are 3 for consideration:
Wages of Destruction - If you want to understand the pre war and wartime German economy this appears to be the book. Since the economy determined what was possible and what was not to a large extent if understanding WWII is one of your aims this one belongs on the top 10 list.
Shattered Sword - A tremendous retelling of the Battle of Midway that takes on a number of myths in the popular history. It also gives extensive background on the key players on the Japanese side and helps understand what lead up to it from their point of view.
Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors - A very person oriented description of the Battle of Samar. Many accounts of individuals and commanders of the US DDs and DEs.

 

My 3yrs with Eisenhowre.By capt harry c butcher.
brilliant book by ikes naval aide,cheers.

 

My 3yrs with Eisenhowre.By capt harry c butcher.
brilliant book by ikes naval aide,cheers.

 

Not for sale at Amazon, but highly recommended by authors Terry Copp (Cinderella Army) and Tervor Royle: Battle for the Roer Triangle.
It can be ordered via www.erskine.org.uk For a look inside the book and reviews visit www.operation-blackcock.com

Cheers, Har

 

it really depends on what your interest is in wwii, my philosophy is its good to know a lot about a little then a little about a lot.

Anything by Stephen Ambrose is usually excellent for ETO, I have yet to read but i am greatly looking forward to reading the two parts of the trilogy out by atkinson which texson666 linked for you.

 

I can agree with all of these being nearly mandatory. Wages of Destruction is almost a must for anyone who wants to understand why Hitler did what he did and when. Not nearly as dry as you might think. And Shattered Sword...if you haven't read this, you don't know the full story of Midway. I dreaded another Midway book and came away utterly blown away. Great, great book. Last Stand is a classic of the tactical naval genre. Very good recommendations all.

 

Stanton's World War 2 Order of Battle. A must have for any student of US military history.

 

My Top 10 made up of memoirs & reference type books...

1) The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer - Eastern Front memoir
2) Island Of Fire by Jason D Mark - Stalingrad Factory District
3) Death Of The Leaping Horseman by Jason D Mark - 24 Pz Div at Stalingrad
4) With The Old Breed by Eugene Sledge - US Marine memoir
5) Hells Gate by Doug Nash - Battle Of Cherkassy Pocket
6) Bloody Streets: The Soviet Assault On Berlin by A. Stephan Hamilton
7) Zitadelle by Mark Healy - Kursk
8) Kohima: The Furthest Battle by Leslie Edwards
9) War Without Garlands - Op Barbarossa 1941-1942 by Robert Kershaw
10) Stalingrad: How The Red Army Triumphed by Michael K Jones

 

In no order...

War in Italy - Field Marshal Carver
Iron Coffins..A U-Boat Commander's War 1939-1945 - Herbert A. Werner
Ivan's War...The Red Army 1939-45 - Catherine Merridale
The Forgotten Dead - Ken Small
The Battle of Kursk - David M. Glantz & Jonathan House
When Titans Clash - David M. Glantz & Jonathan House
Barbarossa...The Russian German Conflict 1941-45 - Alan Clark
The Last Year of the Luftwaffe - Alfed Price
Stalingrad - Antony Beevor
Berlin The Downfall 1945 - Antony Beevor

 

andrew roberts,masters and commanders.excellent.