I know opinions differ on Whiting, so I won't get into it here. Rather, my question centers on if anyone knows what titles constitute his "West Wall" series. I have been able to ascertain the following: There were/are 8 titles to the series. In order, they are: 1: West Wall: Battle for Hitler's Siegfried Line 2: '44 In combat from Normandy to the Ardennes 3: Bloody Aachen 4: Battle for the Huertgen Forest 5: ???? 6: ???? 7: The Other Battle of the Bulge-Op. Nordwind 8: Decision at St. Vith I have also heard that "Ardennes: The Secret War" was the 8th Installment. Anyone know what titles 5 and 6 are? Many thanks.
Whiting is a pretty good author. It was some of his books that I first read many years ago, that REALLY got me started on my (now lifelong interest)on ww2. My mother was my other main source. Now its an addiction
In the UK he is considered one of the foremost WW2 historians. I have a lot of his books, but he has written so many that I have found he appears to use the same material over and over, and for the nitty-gritty details of units and actions they are not so good.
Sorry to say that Whiting's not one of my favourite authors, but... I think the two 'odd ones out' for you are 'Ardennes : The Secret War' and 'Bounce The Rhine'. In the USA the series has been published as the 'West Wall Series', in the UK the books came out under the Spellmount imprint as the 'Siegfried Line Series'. Hope this helps.
Thanks Martin, I appreciate it. I know Whiting seems to be controversial-Folks either love him or hate him. I "enjoy" him-Much like Ambrose, I read his works mindful that I am reading more of a narrative then hard core historical fact. He paints a good picture of what transpired, but I believe he has some problems in his conclusions and methodology. But that's the reason you should always try to have as many sources as possible, right?
Quite right, 9th WaffenSS. Whiting's books are a 'good read' but personally I find them a little like Chinese food - tasty, but not too substantial when you've finished ! But Whiting is very popular, and will forever be known as the last person to interview Jochen Peiper....
Wonderfully put Martin! I read his book on the fighting in kasserine Pass that was translated in Dutch..never again...I dislike translated books (especially into Dutch) anyway, but this certainly left some Fu Yong Hai tase in my mouth...I just couldn't be sure if this was fact or fiction by the way it was written....or just very badly translated.
Anyone read the "Hitler´s secret war"? I mean most is rather "known" info but one part is rather upsetting ( at least to me...): ex-journalist David Whittaker Chambers gave a list of communist contacts inside Roosevelt´s adminstrationin in mid-1939 to US Assistant Secretary of the State Adolf Berle but the memo was shelved because that would have meant Roosevelt would not have been selected.. (??) Anyone have more on this? ---------------- http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hiss/8-3testimony.html Mr. CHAMBERS. Almost exactly 9 years ago-that is, 2 days after Hitler and Stalin signed their pact-I went to Washington and reported to the authorities what I knew about the infiltration of the United States Government by Communists. For a number of years I had myself served in the under-ground, chiefly in .Washington, D. C. The heart of my report to the United States Government consisted of a description of the apparatus to which I was attached. It was an underground organization of the United States Communist Party developed, to the best of my knowledge, by Harold Ware, one of the sons of the Communist leader known as "Mother Bloor." I knew it at its top level, a group of seven or so men, from among whom in later years certain members of Miss Bentley's organization were apparently recruited. The head of the underground group at the time I knew it was Nathan Witt, an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board. Later, .Tohn Abt became the leader. Lee Pressman was also a member of this group, as was Alger Hiss, who, as a member of the State Department, later organized the conferences at Dumbarton Oaks, San Francisco, and the United States side of the Yalta Conference. The purpose of this group at that time was not primarily espionage. Its original purpose was the Communist infiltration of the American Government. But espionage was certainly one of its eventual objectives. ----------- Chambers had accused Hiss of being a Communist before his 1948 HUAC appearance. Following the signing of the non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the USSR in August of 1939--a disillusioning event for American Communists, who believed the Soviet Union would remain a sworn enemy of Hitler's regime--Chambers approached Assistant Secretary of State Adolf Berle and told him about "fellow travelers" in the government, including Hiss. Chambers recounted his Communist activities to the FBI in several interviews during the early 1940s, but little happened. http://www.thehistorynet.com/ah/blalgerhiss/
