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What Are You Reading?

Discussion in 'WWII Books & Publications' started by Mahross, Feb 1, 2004.

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  1. cruachan

    cruachan Member

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    I have just finished The White Rabbit: Wing Commander F.F.E. Yeo Thomas by Bruce Marshall, Tigers in the Mud by Otto Carius, Few Returned, A Diary of 28 days on the Russian Front Winter 1942-43 by Eugenio Corti. They are all really good books.

    I am currently reading Foley the spy who saved 10,000 lives by Michael Smith.
     
    cruachan, Jan 10, 2008
    #881
  2. FramerT

    FramerT Ace

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    Just finished "The German Defeat in the East[1944-1945]" from Stackpole books. Can't say
    I enjoyed it.

    Started "Grenadiers...The story of Waffen SS General Kurt Meyer." This book is right interesting so far.
     
    FramerT, Jan 11, 2008
    #882
  3. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    Regarding 800 Days on the Eastern Front: A Russian Soldier RemembersWorld War II Nikolai Litvin, ed Stuart Britton

    Well, I finished it. I was an easy read, being only 143 pages. It was long on general history and short on specifics. The book gives a fair overview of what generally goes on the rear areas of a regimental HQ, but provides little on the daily life of the combat soldier. Litivn spent most of his time as a chaffeur (in the US, he would be called a driver) for a the Regimental commander. He really spoke little of the day to day activities of a front-line soldier.

    He was a machine gunner in a penal battalion for a few weeks saw heavy action here, but spoke little of it in the book. He seemed to have strings to pull to get him out of dangerous spots, which he used several times. I don't blame him, he survived the war.

    He spoke highly of US made trucks and jeeps and spent most of his time driving a Willys.

    He talked about the murder of prisoners and of his participation in them. He did not like being involved and decried that type of action several times in the book. He said that while it was not officially sanctioned, it occured quite often.

    One thing I learned from the book was how little motorization the infantry units had. In his regiment, there were 4 vehicles, all captured, except for the jeep. All artillery was horse-drawn, except early in the war when the crew themselves did the pulling. There were several instances of him stopping to help artillery crews who were man-handling their tubes.

    As I read in earlier books on the WWII era Red Army, food procurement was a constant issue, although he did not go into great detail.

    Litvin was very fond of his regimental commander, Col V. N. Dzhandzhgava, later general and the general was protective of Litvin.

    After the war, Litvin was sentenced to 4 years hard labor in Siberia for possessing a pistol at the time of his discharge. He said it was a souvenir he was keeping for an officer friend (who could possess them) but they could not get together to get it to him.

    The book is okay if have nothing else to read. If you want to read a good book on the average Red Army soldier, you will be better off to read Tank Rider by Evgeni Bessonov. It is a much superior book.
     
    Slipdigit, Jan 14, 2008
    #883
  4. Sloniksp

    Sloniksp Ставка

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    143 pages??

    Looks like he squeezed in 4-5 days in a page :D
     
    Sloniksp, Jan 14, 2008
    #884
  5. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    Yeah, it was a weak book, Slava. Not sure I am even going to keep it and that says a lot, I never give away or sell books.
     
    Slipdigit, Jan 14, 2008
    #885
  6. Weisenwolf

    Weisenwolf Member

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    Weisenwolf, Jan 21, 2008
    #886
  7. Martin Bull

    Martin Bull Acting Wg. Cdr

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    Very good book - and the author is an occasional contributor here.....;)
     
    Martin Bull, Jan 21, 2008
    #887
  8. konigstiger

    konigstiger Member

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    Just finished reading Crno Seme (Black Seed) by Tasko Georgievski. It's a partly fictional novel about the aftermath of the Greek civil war (1946-1949).
    Both Greek and Macedonian soldiers serving the Greek royalists are detained and then sent to an island prison camp under the accusation of being communists. Then they are tortured and forced to sign a paper which says that they are resigning from the communist party and are no longer communists.
    A very interesting book though...:D
     
    konigstiger, Jan 21, 2008
    #888
  9. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

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    Kai-Petri, Jan 24, 2008
    #889
  10. mikebatzel

    mikebatzel Dreadnaught

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    Currently reading Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the US Navy by Ian Toll
     
    mikebatzel, Jan 26, 2008
    #890
  11. geord

    geord Member

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    I have read 3 Antony Beevor books,
    Stalingrad
    The Fall of Berlin 1945
    and Crete
    All 3 of them are very well written and I highly recommend them.
     
    geord, Jan 27, 2008
    #891
  12. JCFalkenbergIII

    JCFalkenbergIII Expert

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    Finished reading "The Last Battle" by Cornielius Ryan again LOL Now Im reading "The Atlantic Wall,Rommel's plan to stop the Allied Invasion!" by Alan F. Wilt. Along with my various military history magazines like World War II,Military Heritage,Military History,Strategy&Tactics,Ect LOL.
     
    JCFalkenbergIII, Jan 27, 2008
    #892
  13. cruachan

    cruachan Member

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    Just finished The Forsaken Army by Heinrich Gerlach it's about the 6th army after Stalingrad being surrounded by the Russians
    You're stepping on my cloak and dagger by Roger Hall it's his account of being an army officer assisgned to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during WWII, quite a witty book.
     
    cruachan, Jan 27, 2008
    #893
  14. bigfun

    bigfun Ace

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    Hell's Highway by Georde Koskimaki. Liked his other books, and this so far is a good read as well!
     
    bigfun, Jan 29, 2008
    #894
  15. Weisenwolf

    Weisenwolf Member

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    Finished 'The Germans in Normandy' by Richard Hargreaves; nice to see how grim things were from that side of the fence. A good read IMHO.

    Otherwise been working my way through the (almost) compulsory Normandy stuff such as D'este, Hastings, Buckley etc.

    Having a wee break from Normandy now and reading 'The death of the Wermacht' by Robert Citino which so far is looking like a bit of light relief by comparison before I start on Terry Copp and his Cinderella Army.

    So many books so little time.................
     
    Weisenwolf, Feb 2, 2008
    #895
  16. Richard

    Richard Expert

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    Couple I finished and both were good.

    EICHMANN
    His Life and Crimes
    By David Cesarani



    BELORUSSIA 1944
    The Soviet General Staff Study
    Translated and edited by David M. Glantz & Harold S. Orenstein

    Love to get more of these books but the price of them is a disgrace, far to high.
     
    Richard, Feb 2, 2008
    #896
  17. cruachan

    cruachan Member

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    I am reading at the moment Brandenburg Division:Commandos of the Reich (Special Operations) by Eric Lefevre, I just finished The Last Lieutenant: A foxhole view of the Epic Battle for Iwo Jima by John C Shively and the postman brought two books from Amazon this morning With the Old Breed: Pelielu and Okinawa by E. B Sledge and Cutthroats: Adventures of a Sherman Tank Driver in the Pacific by Robert Dick & Battle of the Bulge by Charles B Macdonald.
     
    cruachan, Feb 2, 2008
    #897
  18. Weisenwolf

    Weisenwolf Member

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    How expecnsive are they?
     
    Weisenwolf, Feb 6, 2008
    #898
  19. Richard

    Richard Expert

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    Apart from the fact they are hard to get hold of, those you can are not cheap. The first two links I am keeping a eye on as for the other two got them.

    Amazon.co.uk: Battle for the Ukraine: The Korsun'-Shevchenkovskii Operation (Soviet (Russian) Study of War): Books: David M. Glantz,Harold S. Orenstein

    Amazon.co.uk: The Battle for L'vov July 1944: The Soviet General Staff Study (Soviet (Russian) Military Experience): Books: David M. Glantz,Harold S. Orenstein

    Amazon.co.uk: The Battle for Kursk, 1943: The Soviet General Staff Study (Soviet (Russian) Study of War): Books: David M. Glantz,Harold S. Orenstein

    Amazon.co.uk: Belorussia 1944: The Soviet General Staff Study (Cass Series on Soviet (Russian) Military Institutions): Books: David M. Glantz,Harold S. Orenstein
     
    Richard, Feb 6, 2008
    #899
  20. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

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    Bought Lucas Delattre " Betraying Hitler" on Fritz Kolbe story

    As well " Spirfire offensive" by Wing commander RWF Sampson OBE,DFC&Bar with Norman Franks on Spitfire ops over France ( only 9,90€ so I guess I got it cheap, right?)
     
    Kai-Petri, Feb 8, 2008
    #900
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