Best WWII Books

Thanks a lot Friedrich, Ill add it to the list and see if Waterstones can order a copy (boy their gonna love me!) Cheers.

 

Or try=
UKBookworld

 

Excellent, cheers Historian.

 

Welcome to the Forums Ezri.

Richard Rashke's Escape from Sobibor is the definitive account of the Sobibor Uprising and a very good book. The film version, Rutger Hauer's Escape from Sobibor, is also worth seeing.

Revolt in Sobibor, written by Alexander Pechersky, the commander of the Sobibor Uprising, is also a must read for anyone with an interest in the Uprising.

[ 11. December 2004, 02:18 PM: Message edited by: Deep Web Diver ]

 

Cheers Deep Web Diver.
As were on the Sobibor subject, though I think Richard Rashke's book is the most definitive, it would also be worth reading;
Sobibor, Martyrdom and Revolt; Documents and Testimonies, by Leon Poliakov, and also Sobibor: The forgotten Revolt: A survivors Report, by Thomas Toivi Blatt. Also by Blatt, From the Ashes of Sobibor. Check out www.sobibor.info for more on Blatt.

Yes the film is also well worth seeing (got it on dvd) and they were all set up to make a sequal detailing the survivors lifes after Sobibor, but it was permanently shelved alas. Details of that can be found in Richard Rashkes afore mentioned book.

 

A few of my favourites.

Stalingrad by Antony Beever.
Inside the Third Reich by Albert Speer.
Panzer Leader by Heinz Gruderian.
A Bridge Too Far by Cornelius Ryan.(still an absolute classic)
Panzer Commander by Hans Von Luck.

 

Here are my picks.
"The Rising Sun" by John Toland.
"Why the Allies won" by Richard Overy.

 

Atony Beever's Fall of Berlin was an insightful read as well, not to mention, readable.

 

Some of my favourite reads, some already mentioned.

Brian Guy - Cameos of war

Martin Middlebrooks Arnhem (I was lucky enough to get it signed last year by 3 vets mentioned inside)

With the Jocks by Peter white

The Big drop by John Golley and Colonel Otway
Merville / Chateau St Come

The Day the Devils dropped in by Neil Barber
Merville / Chateau St Come

Tank 40 hours of Battle by Ken Tout. I think one of the best books ive ever read about life for a tankie in Normandy

Tanks advance by Ken Tout

The Devils birthday by Geoffrey Powell. Arnhem

Assualt Divison by Norman Scarfe British 3rd div from Normandy to the surrender of Germany

Montgomery by Ronald Lewin

Fighter Boys by Patrick Bishop

First light by Geoff Wellum

Hill 112 cornerstone of Normandy JJ Major

I also really like Devils own luck, but ive heard from some of the vets its a bit far fetched, sorry Denis.

Andy

[ 30. July 2005, 03:33 AM: Message edited by: ham and jam ]

 

My favorite is Under the Red Sea Sun by Edward Ellsburg.
I also like When the Gods Were Neutral by Robert Crisp.

 

Check out World War Two back John Keegan, check out any of his books they are all good.

 

In the process of reading The Struggle for Europe by Chester Wilmot-an absolute classic.

 

Highly respected gentlemen,

Charles B. MacDonald rules !

 

Since most of the books listed have mainly covered the European Theater let me throw in a few of my favorites covering the Pacific.

Already mentioned but have to agree Toland's "The Rising Sun"

Gordon Prange's Trilogy of "At Dawn We Slept", "Miracle At Midway" and "Pearl Harbor:Verdict Of History"

Richard B Franks "Guadacananl" and "Downfall:The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire"

RADM Edwin Layton "And I Was There"

Masanori Ito "The End of the Imperial Japanese Navy"

Capt Tameichi Hara "Japanese Destroyer Captain" (a fantastic perspective of the war through the eyes of a Japanese commander who participated in some of the biggest battles in the theater, Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal, Leyte Gulf, and Okinawa)

And even though there has been newer information learned since it came out, Samuel Morison's 15 Volume "History of the United States Naval Operations in World War II", still provides a great context for the entire war.

 

Hello gentlemen,

These are my most cherished books:
-Alert in the West, A Luftwaffe pilot on the Western Front, by Willie Heilmann. ( Alarm im Westen in german )
-Auf verlorenem Posten, Die Geschichte eines jungen Jagdfliegers, by Robert Jung
-Start im Morgengrauen; Eine Chronik vom Untergang der deutschen Jagdwaffe im Westen 1944/1945, by Werner Girbig ( Six Months to Oblivion in english )

 

Robert Jungs book covers quite a bit of fantasy JR including Heilmann's book,which unfortunate for him he basically deserted his post and flew home

 

Hello Erich,

I was impressed with the Robert Jung book when I read it ( still am, fiction or not ), but I'll take your word on it because when I tried to research some events and names I came up with nothing but I thought my files were sh..
Willie Heilmann on the other hand is credited as a source in Axel Urbanke's book 'Mit Fw 190 D-9 im Einsatz' and got a P-51 credited on 21/02/1945 and he was Staffelfuhrer 9 Staffel, III/JG 54, later 15 Staffel JG 26.Hardly a man that simply walks aaway it seems.

 

Willi was tired of the war in 45 and flew home.........his Kameraden were and still are very upset that he did not do his duty till the end, although being an ace it really didn't matter Willi was not alone in attempting to just rid themselves of the hell they had been apart of for too many years, several NJG pilots and crews did the same.

 

Hello Erich,

Thanks, appreciate it !!( Heilmann )
Is in your opinion the mixture of fiction/non-fiction ( Robert Jung )inexcusable ?
I know I bother you a lot but would you care to give your opinion about Start im Morgengrauen, I know it's dated but I still like it very much.

 

Jung may very well have thought he experienced what went through in the war. It is not unusual for vets of any country to embellish their personal accounts. I can think of the ace and RK winner Dixfeld who wrote one of the worst air accounts/his personal story that I have ever read.

Start in the Morgen is still one of the few accounts of late aerial warfare and is still a classic although not per see stuck in dealing with JG individual histories which would of been nice. Mombeek, Prien and others are covering these adequately enough and should be used.

the old Podzun pallas verlag titles are still sold for basically nothing and reveal some good but small photos not seen elsewhere but the Jg histories are just too brief to be looked at seriously in this day and age........