Allright you bookworms, time to compile a list of books. The objective of this thread is to come up with an agreed-upon list of books that cover various aspects of the war, that are all highly recommended reads. This will be a comprehensive list, I should imagine, given the number of categories, books on each subject, and personal opinion. I think it would be quite useful to devise such a list for future reference and reading. The Categories: The Pre-War Years: How did the Nazis come into Power in Germany? The Fascists in Italy? What were Britain/France doing during this time? American Isolationism? - books dealing with these sorts of things, given a background to the conflict. The Early Years: The Anschluss, German Expansion, Poland, The Fall of France - books dealing with the opening stages of the war. North Africa: Tobruk, Al Alamein, the conflict in North Africa. The Eastern Front: From Barbarossa to Berlin. The Western Front: Normandy, Operation Market Garden, Crossing the Rhine, etc. Italia: The War in Italy and the Med, Greece, Yugoslavia, etc. The Pacific: War in the Pacific, Naval Battles, Iwo Jima, etc. The War in General: More general brooks that cover things like Secret Wars or broad spectrum analysis of WWII. Personal Accounts: Books written by those who experienced the war first hand. Fiction: The Best WW2 Fictional Stories, based on real events or other. The List: Pre-War Years The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - Shirer The Nightmare Years - Shirer Hitler: Hubris - Ian Kershaw Devils Disciples - Anthony Read Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy - Adam Tooze The Early Years To Lose a Country: France 1940 - Alistair Horne North Africa The Eastern Front The Road to Stalingrad - John Erickson The Road to Berlin - John Erickson Russia's War -Richard Overy The Western Front Italia The Pacific Last Stand of the Tin Can Soldiers - Hornfischer Kohima: The Furthest Battle - Leslie Edwards Shattered Sword - Parshall and Tully With the Old Breed - EB Sledge Helmet for my Pillow - R Leckie The War In General The Klemperer Diaries: 1933 - 1945 - ??? Operatives, Spies and Saboteurs - Patrick O'Donnell Personal Accounts As far as my feet will carry me - Clemens Forell Fiction
"as far as my feet will carry me" based a true story, Clemens Forell, real name "cornelius rost" a German soldier, was sentenced to 25 years of forced labour in a Siberian lead mine after the WWII. Rebelling against the brutality of the camp, he staged a daring escape, enduring an 8000-mile journey across the trackless wastes of Siberia. This book evokes Forell's desperation in the prison camp, and his struggle for survival.
War in the Pacific - Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by Hornfischer Pre-War - Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by Shirer
Pre War - I agree with The Rise & Fall Of The Third Reich but to add an alternative I'll go for Hitler: Hubris by Ian Kershaw Early Years - To Lose A Country: France 1940 by Alistair Horne Eastern Front - such a huge topic with so much scope I'd go for the 2 vol set (so counting as 1!!) The Road To Stalingrad & The Road To Berlin by John Erickson General - I was going to put The Storm Of War and Masters & Commanders both by Andrew Roberts but have just remembered The Klemperer Diaries 1933-45 and can not believe that I have left it off of my all time fave lists! A haunting book that demonstrates how the anti-semitic policies of the Third Reich affected the daily life of the Jews through the eyes of a Jewish man married to a German wife in Dresden. Can be a very hard book to get into, but well worth sticking with... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Klemperer-D...r_1_22?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268259612&sr=1-22 Pacific - Kohima: The Furthest Battle by Leslie Edwards
If you liked Rise and Fall, you almost have to include The Nightmare Years, which is a more personal look at the same period, except Shirer is telling you what he did and saw personally. It's almost an addendum. the Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy by Adam Tooze is brilliant, an absolute must for anyone wanting to understand how the patchwork Nazi economy worked, and the timing of why Hitler did what he did. For the Pacific War, Shattered Sword is the definitive work on Midway.
suggestions for some of the topics The Pre-War Years: Devils Disciples by Anthony Read (although that covers more than just pre-war) The Eastern Front: "Russias War" by Richard Overy Stalingrad books by W Craig and A Beevor The Western Front: Any Cornelius Ryan and Stephen Ambrose books about ETO The Pacific: EB Sledge "With the Old Breed..." R Leckie "Helmet for my Pillow" The War in General: "Operatives, Spies and Saboteurs" by Patrick O'Donnell
Updated the List, also added two new categories. When suggesting a book, name specific books and not 'All books by XXXXX'. Keep in mind I would like to keep things down to 5 books per category, so debate about the selection is encouraged. Also, if I have mis-categorized a book, let me know so I can put it in its correct category.
As far as personal accounts go in the Western ETO, I am a fan of "Company Commander" (1947) by Charles B. Macdonald. A great story from a replacement Captin taking over a veteran company in the 2nd I.D., 23rd Inf. Reg't. on the Siegfried Line, a few weeks before the Bulge. A true must read classic in my book.
I've looked along my shelves and offer the following suggestions ; most of these are not too specialist and hopefully have stood the test of time ; - North Africa : - The Crucible Of War 1 : Western Desert 1941 by Barrie Pitt The Crucible Of War 2 : 1942 - Year Of Alamein by Barrie Pitt An Army At Dawn by Rick Atkinson Western Front : - The Struggle For Europe by Chester Wilmot The Mighty Endeavor by Charles B MacDonald Eisenhower's Lieutenants by Russell F Weigley Armageddon : The Battle For Germany 1944-1945 by Max Hastings Italy ; - Tug Of War by Dominick Graham / Shelford Bidwell Monte Cassino by Matthew Parker The Day Of Battle by Rick Atkinson ( Incidentally, a very good place to look is the little book called 'The Battle For History : Re-Fighting World War Two' by John Keegan, being '...a selection of books which one historian has found an indispensible guide to the war's drama and tragedy' ).
I'm not sure where these should go - they are both Early War / War in General / Personal Accounts. Although we must treat German accounts with caution as they are often self-serving, I feel that these two in particular are important ; - Panzer Leader by Heinz Guderian Inside Hitler's Headquarters by Walter Warlimont
Perhaps no more so than some Allied memoirs, Montgomery's perhaps... Guderian's very good for the early campaigns and pretty truthful; I cross referenced his accounts of Poland and France with the original KTBs and they match up, occasionally word-for-word - I'm guessing he had access to them while writing his memoirs. Aside from Guderian, Rommel's memoirs (The Rommel Papers) are a must-read, Bock's and Halder's diaries are essential for serious students. Of ordinary soldiers, Bidermann's In Deadly Combat is first-rate, but probably the best German memoir will remain in its native tongue, Hans-Jürgen Hartmann's Zwischen Nichts und Niemandsland. Outstanding.. and a ******* to translate.
Here's my lot- North Africa & Italy- My three Years with Eisenhower- Cap. HC Butcher AB Austin Birth of an Army Secret War- Prof. RV Jones- Most Secret War General- Ack-Ack- Lt Gen. F. Pile
