Can anyone recommend some outstanding WW2 books?
- Thread starter Nemesis
- Start date
Rick Atkinson's "Liberation Trilogy" is exceptional. 
I second that suggestion. Bought them as a pack for iBooks. Not that expensive IIRC.
I can also highly recommend Mark Zuehlke's "Juno Beach Trilogy" about the Canadian effort from D-day to Falaise.
I can also highly recommend Mark Zuehlke's "Juno Beach Trilogy" about the Canadian effort from D-day to Falaise.
J
Jaskier
Guest
I'd recommend It Never Snows in September By R. Kershaw. It's not a new one ( pubkished in 1996 i believe), and - I'm quoting fragment of the review:
It's a must for anyone interested in Market-Garden
It's a must for anyone interested in Market-Garden
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Rick Atkinson's "Liberation Trilogy" is exceptional.
The first book of which by far the best of the set.
Ernie Pyle, "Brave Men" and/or "Here Is Your War."
I've been meaning to read something by Pyle for a long time and this reminded me. He seemed to have a keen eye for what war does to the people who have to fight it. Do the books cover seperate theaters?
Here is Your War was written in N Africa, Brave Men is a longer book and covers Sicily, Italy and France.
As previously noted, Rick Atkinson's Liberation Trilogy is excellent. Well worth your time to read.
For a decent overall perspective of World War 2, Winston Churchill's 6-volume history on the Second War War is good.
A decent single-volume history is by B. H. Liddel Hart, "History of the Second World War".
For a good overall Eastern Front history, John Erickson's 2 volume history, "The Road to Stalingrad" and "The Road to Berlin" aren't bad, although derived from Red Army official sources(meaning the Red Army's "heroic" official sources), has been superseded by others as more archives were opened up in Russia after the Communists were disposed of.
Any Eastern Front book by David Glantz is worth reading. "When Titan's Clashed" is a good single volume on the Eastern Front. Would also recommend his books " The Battle of Kursk" and "Red Storm over the Balkans"
On Marshall Zhukov, would recommend "Stalin's General" by Geoffery Roberts.
On the Red Army Air Force would recommend "Red Phoenix Rising: The Soviet Air Force in World War 2" by Von Hardesty and Grinsberg
From the German perspective, I would recommend
"Lost Victories" by Eric von Manstein,
"Achtung Panzer" by Heinz Guderian,
"Panzer Battles" by von Mellenthin,
"Order in Chaos" by Hermann Balck
"Panzer Aces" by Franz Kurowski,
"Panzers on the Eastern Front" by Erhard Raus, edited by Peter Tsouras,
"Panzer Warfare on the Eastern Front" by Hans Schaufler
On intelligence/spies, I would recommend ...
"The Game of Foxes" by Ladislas Farago
"The Ultra Secret" by Winterbotham
Western Front Books worth your time...
Cornelius Ryan's "The Longest Day", "A Bridge too Far" and "The Last Battle".
Carlo D' Este's "Decision in Normandy". "Bitter Victory: The battle for Sicily 1943", "Fatal Decision: Anzio and the Battle for Rome" and "Patton: A Genius for War"
Lloyd Clark's "Crossing the Rhine" and "Anzio"
Stephen E. Ambrose's "Pegasus Bridge"
"Endgame 1945: The Missing Final Chapter of World War 2" by David Stafford
'Brothers: Rivals: Victors -Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley- and the Partnership that drove the Conquest of Europe" by Jonathan J. Jordan
"Monty's Men" by George Buckley
John Keegan's "Six Armies in Normandy"
US Naval History/ Pacific War...
Samuel Elliot Morrison's 14 (or is it 15 ?) volume history of USN in World War 2. If you don't have the time to read all 14 volumes read "The Two Ocean War"
James D. Hornfischers' "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors", "Neptune's Inferno", "The Fleet at Flood Tide" and "Ship of Ghosts"
Gordon Prange "At Dawn We Slept" and "Miracle at Midway"
Edward P Stafford's "The Big E", "Little Ship, Big War" and "Subchaser"
E. B. Sledge's "The Old Breed"
"The Devil's Anvil - The Assault on Peleliu" by James H. Hallas
"Utmost Savagery: The Three Days of Tarawa" by Joseph H. Alexander
Eric M. Bergerud's "Fire in the Sky: The Air War in the South Pacific" and "Touched by Fire: The Land War in the South Pacific"
Mediterranean Naval Warfare
"The Struggle for the Middle Sea" by Vincent O'Hara
Airwar
"Horrido!" by Col. Raymond F. Tolliver
"Fighter" by Len Deighton
"The Forgotten Few" by Adam Zamoyski
Miscellaneous
Geographia "Atlas of the Second World War"
Just a few I can think of off the top of my head. I see what other's I can remember and recommend.
You've got your marching orders, get going!
HOA-KSOP aka ksbearski aka Barry
For a decent overall perspective of World War 2, Winston Churchill's 6-volume history on the Second War War is good.
A decent single-volume history is by B. H. Liddel Hart, "History of the Second World War".
For a good overall Eastern Front history, John Erickson's 2 volume history, "The Road to Stalingrad" and "The Road to Berlin" aren't bad, although derived from Red Army official sources(meaning the Red Army's "heroic" official sources), has been superseded by others as more archives were opened up in Russia after the Communists were disposed of.
Any Eastern Front book by David Glantz is worth reading. "When Titan's Clashed" is a good single volume on the Eastern Front. Would also recommend his books " The Battle of Kursk" and "Red Storm over the Balkans"
On Marshall Zhukov, would recommend "Stalin's General" by Geoffery Roberts.
On the Red Army Air Force would recommend "Red Phoenix Rising: The Soviet Air Force in World War 2" by Von Hardesty and Grinsberg
From the German perspective, I would recommend
"Lost Victories" by Eric von Manstein,
"Achtung Panzer" by Heinz Guderian,
"Panzer Battles" by von Mellenthin,
"Order in Chaos" by Hermann Balck
"Panzer Aces" by Franz Kurowski,
"Panzers on the Eastern Front" by Erhard Raus, edited by Peter Tsouras,
"Panzer Warfare on the Eastern Front" by Hans Schaufler
On intelligence/spies, I would recommend ...
"The Game of Foxes" by Ladislas Farago
"The Ultra Secret" by Winterbotham
Western Front Books worth your time...
Cornelius Ryan's "The Longest Day", "A Bridge too Far" and "The Last Battle".
Carlo D' Este's "Decision in Normandy". "Bitter Victory: The battle for Sicily 1943", "Fatal Decision: Anzio and the Battle for Rome" and "Patton: A Genius for War"
Lloyd Clark's "Crossing the Rhine" and "Anzio"
Stephen E. Ambrose's "Pegasus Bridge"
"Endgame 1945: The Missing Final Chapter of World War 2" by David Stafford
'Brothers: Rivals: Victors -Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley- and the Partnership that drove the Conquest of Europe" by Jonathan J. Jordan
"Monty's Men" by George Buckley
John Keegan's "Six Armies in Normandy"
US Naval History/ Pacific War...
Samuel Elliot Morrison's 14 (or is it 15 ?) volume history of USN in World War 2. If you don't have the time to read all 14 volumes read "The Two Ocean War"
James D. Hornfischers' "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors", "Neptune's Inferno", "The Fleet at Flood Tide" and "Ship of Ghosts"
Gordon Prange "At Dawn We Slept" and "Miracle at Midway"
Edward P Stafford's "The Big E", "Little Ship, Big War" and "Subchaser"
E. B. Sledge's "The Old Breed"
"The Devil's Anvil - The Assault on Peleliu" by James H. Hallas
"Utmost Savagery: The Three Days of Tarawa" by Joseph H. Alexander
Eric M. Bergerud's "Fire in the Sky: The Air War in the South Pacific" and "Touched by Fire: The Land War in the South Pacific"
Mediterranean Naval Warfare
"The Struggle for the Middle Sea" by Vincent O'Hara
Airwar
"Horrido!" by Col. Raymond F. Tolliver
"Fighter" by Len Deighton
"The Forgotten Few" by Adam Zamoyski
Miscellaneous
Geographia "Atlas of the Second World War"
Just a few I can think of off the top of my head. I see what other's I can remember and recommend.
You've got your marching orders, get going!
HOA-KSOP aka ksbearski aka Barry
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Some excellent recommendations above. For a slightly different take it could be worth trying Spike Milligan’s “Adolf Hitler. My Part in His Downfallâ€. Milligan had 7 volumes published of his war memoirs. If you like the style and wit of this first, then it’s a good a start as any for the rest.
I can agree with the recommendations for both Keegan and Beevor’s works; and also add an interesting one from Mark Mazower, “Hitler’s Empire: NAZI Rule In Occupied Europeâ€.
Happy reading.
I can agree with the recommendations for both Keegan and Beevor’s works; and also add an interesting one from Mark Mazower, “Hitler’s Empire: NAZI Rule In Occupied Europeâ€.
Happy reading.
Pen and Sword have a vast range of WW2, epub and Kindle books, the older one are about $5 Aussie dollars. If you troll through Amazon Kindle, particularly on the phone app, you can pick up cheap WW2 kindle books, usually around ~ $3 dollars, not sure if AUD or US dollars.
Eastern Front, Glantz (as mentioned a couple of times above). One warning with Glantz is that his maps usually do not transition well to either his paper or electronic books. You need to go to the online copies of the original WW2 situation maps he often uses. If you are interested I can give you a link to the German ones if you need it and maybe the Soviet ones.
Not electronic and Eastern front again, Jason D Mark books are expensive but excellent quality, both the content and the physical book. Island of Fire has just been re-released by a cheaper publisher, psychical quality not as good as his originals just average.
Another expensive but great book is Autumn Gale. Weights about 2.5kg, lots of maps and photos, deals with German forces (Kamphgruppe Chill, PzJaeger 559 and JFR 6) before, during and after Market Garden, mainly on the Allied left flank. You can actually follow 95+% of the text on the maps. I have the second one but haven't read it yet.
Eastern Front, Glantz (as mentioned a couple of times above). One warning with Glantz is that his maps usually do not transition well to either his paper or electronic books. You need to go to the online copies of the original WW2 situation maps he often uses. If you are interested I can give you a link to the German ones if you need it and maybe the Soviet ones.
Not electronic and Eastern front again, Jason D Mark books are expensive but excellent quality, both the content and the physical book. Island of Fire has just been re-released by a cheaper publisher, psychical quality not as good as his originals just average.
Another expensive but great book is Autumn Gale. Weights about 2.5kg, lots of maps and photos, deals with German forces (Kamphgruppe Chill, PzJaeger 559 and JFR 6) before, during and after Market Garden, mainly on the Allied left flank. You can actually follow 95+% of the text on the maps. I have the second one but haven't read it yet.
Submarine warfare - Pacific
"The Bravest Man; Richard O'Kane and the Amazing Submarine Adventures of the USS Tang" by Tuohy
O'Kane was fearless and relentless.
Real good read this one.
"The Bravest Man; Richard O'Kane and the Amazing Submarine Adventures of the USS Tang" by Tuohy
O'Kane was fearless and relentless.
Real good read this one.
Silent Victory, Clay Blair Jr.
This is a must read if you have any interest in the US sub war against Japan.
Wahoo, Richard O'Kane.
O'Kane when he was an XO.
Iron Coffins, Herbert Werner
One of the best accounts of day to day Uboat operation I've ever read. You find yourself cheering him on even though he is the "Bad guy".
Steel Boat, Iron Hearts by Hans Goebeler.
Goebeler served aboard U-505 until its capture by the Americans. U-505 is now a museum in Chicago which Goebeler gave tours on his old boat until he died.
War is a Racket, Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler
This is more of an essay and is written pre-WW2 but its a quick read that is highly recommended.
This is a must read if you have any interest in the US sub war against Japan.
Wahoo, Richard O'Kane.
O'Kane when he was an XO.
Iron Coffins, Herbert Werner
One of the best accounts of day to day Uboat operation I've ever read. You find yourself cheering him on even though he is the "Bad guy".
Steel Boat, Iron Hearts by Hans Goebeler.
Goebeler served aboard U-505 until its capture by the Americans. U-505 is now a museum in Chicago which Goebeler gave tours on his old boat until he died.
War is a Racket, Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler
This is more of an essay and is written pre-WW2 but its a quick read that is highly recommended.
+1 for Mark Zuehlke's Canadian Army WW2 series.
With the soon-ish release of Rome to Victory, can anyone recommend book(s) about that part of the campaign - other than the official US Army book "Cassino to the Alps"?
This one is free on Kindle, but not sure if it is so world wide or only Europe:
