# Looking for a book about WW2 from the Axis POV **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 22, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-about-ww2-from-the-axis-pov/554683 "2010-09-22T19:04:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-about-ww2-from-the-axis-pov/554683/1 "2010-09-22T19:04:25Z")
I just saw _Schindler’s List_ recently and I think it’s really different to see things from the opposite perspective; what the war was about, why some people were looked upon differently, and things like that. Can anyone suggest a good book about WW2 from the German viewpoint? ---
**Author:** ![Thrash\_the\_Almighty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90ced4/32.png) [@Thrash\_the\_Almighty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thrash_the_Almighty)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-about-ww2-from-the-axis-pov/554683/2 "2010-09-22T20:05:42Z")
How many books do you want to read? I’ll suggest a few for starters. My personal favorite is The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer. > **[Amazon.com: The Forgotten Soldier: 9781574882865: Sajer, Guy: Books](https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Soldier-Guy-Sajer/dp/1574882864)** > > Amazon.com: The Forgotten Soldier: 9781574882865: Sajer, Guy: Books Another is In Deadly Combat. Its interesting, if a bit dry in places. My brother likes it better than Sajer’s > **[Amazon.com: In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front...](https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Combat-Soldiers-Eastern-Studies/dp/0700611223)** > > Amazon.com: In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front (Modern War Studies): 9780700611225: Bidermann, Gottlob Herbert, Zumbro, Derek S.: Books If you prefer naval action then there’s always Iron Coffins > **[Iron Coffins: A Personal Account Of The German U-boat Battles Of World War II:...](https://www.amazon.com/Iron-Coffins-Personal-Account-Battles/dp/030681160X)** > > Iron Coffins: A Personal Account Of The German U-boat Battles Of World War II \[Werner, Herbert A.\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Iron Coffins: A Personal Account Of The German U-boat Battles Of World War II Which became the film Das Boot > **[Amazon.com: Das Boot - The Director's Cut : Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Gronemeyer,...](https://www.amazon.com/Das-Boot-Directors-J%C3%BCrgen-Prochnow/dp/0767802470)** > > Product Description It is 1942 and the German submarine fleet is heavily engaged in the so called "Battle of the Atlantic" to harass and destroy English shipping. With better escorts of the Destroyer Class, however, German U-Boats have begun... ---
**Author:** ![boilercake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@boilercake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boilercake)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-about-ww2-from-the-axis-pov/554683/3 "2010-09-22T20:16:56Z")
How about some from a Japanese viewpoint? ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-about-ww2-from-the-axis-pov/554683/4 "2010-09-22T20:23:18Z")
> [@Thrash\_the\_Almighty](#): > > If you prefer naval action then there’s always Iron Coffins > [Iron Coffins: A Personal Account Of The German U-boat Battles Of World War II: Werner, Herbert A.: 9780306811609: Amazon.com: Books](http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Coffins-Personal-Account-Battles/dp/030681160X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1285185735&sr=1-1) > > Which became the film Das Boot > [Amazon.com: Das Boot (Director's Cut) : Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Gronemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Wolfgang Petersen, Gunter Rohrbach, Bavaria Atelier GmbH: Movies & TV](http://www.amazon.com/Das-Boot-Directors-J%C3%BCrgen-Prochnow/dp/0767802470/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1285185846&sr=1-1) No, it’s not the source of the movie. The source is [Das Boot](http://www.amazon.com/Das-Boot-Boat-Lothar-G%C3%BCnther-Buchheim/dp/0304352314) by Lothar-Gunther Buchheim. Another interesting author is H.H. Kirst whose many of his military novels are set during WWII, generally around a moral dilemna. Or you can try [Cross of Iron](http://www.amazon.com/Cross-Iron-Willi-Heinrich/dp/0553147870) by Willi Heinrich. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-about-ww2-from-the-axis-pov/554683/5 "2010-09-22T20:28:30Z")
If you want a book showing what the hard-core Nazis said about it, try [The Good Old Days](http://www.amazon.com/Good-Old-Days-Perpetrators-Bystanders/dp/1568521332/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1285187249&sr=1-1). ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-about-ww2-from-the-axis-pov/554683/6 "2010-09-22T20:39:42Z")
Some German authors in this list: [http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-World-War-Two-Books/lm/3MRM9XL0L3F8A](http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-World-War-Two-Books/lm/3MRM9XL0L3F8A) A couple books from the Pacific War: "Japanese Destroyer Captain: Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Midway - The Great Naval Battles As Seen Through Japanese Eyes ", by Tameichi Hara. “Battleship Musashi: The Making and Sinking of the World’s Biggest Battleship”, by Akira Yoshimura, Vincent Murphy. “Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan, the Japanese Navy’s Story”, by Mitsuo Fuchida. Edit: I WAG there might be fewer authors or reference material translated from Japanese into English, as apposed to German -\> English. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-about-ww2-from-the-axis-pov/554683/7 "2010-09-22T21:25:16Z")
I’ll second Hans Helmut Kirst (mentioned by **detop** above. I’m a pretty big fan of his style. I’ve read _Officer Factory_ and _The Fox of Maulen_ and seen the 1960s movie adaptation of _Night of the Generals_ (Peter O’Toole and Omar Sharif star in very different roles from _Lawrence of Arabia_ worth seeking out). Kirst’s main theme is how a moral man copes with a completely immoral situation/nation. As such the combat itself is not the focus, although the _Night of the Generals_ movie does have some scenes set during the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and the liberation of Paris. Personally the _Fox of Maulen_ works best for me a great tale of one East Prussian village’s experience from the rise of the Nazis to the end of the War with some very memorable characters. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Jon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bb73d2/32.png) [@Evil\_Jon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Jon)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-about-ww2-from-the-axis-pov/554683/8 "2010-09-22T21:31:51Z")
Not a book, but the movie _Stalingrad_ is about the battle of Stalingrad from a common German soldier’s perspective. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-about-ww2-from-the-axis-pov/554683/9 "2010-09-22T21:34:11Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > If you want a book showing what the hard-core Nazis said about it, try [The Good Old Days](http://www.amazon.com/Good-Old-Days-Perpetrators-Bystanders/dp/1568521332/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1285187249&sr=1-1). I just read some of the reviews on your link. Yeah, definitely a book that should be read, but I have a bad enough opinion of human nature already, so I probably shouldn’t. This bit from the Publisher’s weekly review really got me (spoilered for those who would prefer to be able to sleep without nightmares tonight): A member of a unit that killed 33,771 Jews in the Ukranian Babi Yar ravine boasts: “It’s almost impossible to imagine what nerves of steel it took to carry out that dirty work down there.” Of the annihilation of thousands of Jews in White Russia, a commander says, “The action rid me of unneccessary mouths to feed.” And wagging its tail for the camera is Franz’s dog, which on numerous occasions was set upon Jews to bite off their genitals. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-about-ww2-from-the-axis-pov/554683/10 "2010-09-23T04:34:29Z")
Another nomination for the Japanese POV is _Samurai!_ by [Saburo Sakai](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saburo_sakai) (with Martin Caidin and Fred Saito), considered by some the highest-scoring Japanese fighter pilot to survive the war. (Whether he merits that title or not, anyone who can fly almost five hours back to base while half blind and paralyzed on one side has my vote for the balls o’ steel award.) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-about-ww2-from-the-axis-pov/554683/11 "2010-09-23T04:40:00Z")
[Inside the Third Reich](http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Third-Reich-Albert-Speer/dp/0923891730/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1285216697&sr=1-1)? ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-about-ww2-from-the-axis-pov/554683/12 "2010-09-23T13:24:47Z")
Wow, thanks for all the responses. (I love Dopers!) Looks like I have a bit of reading to do. ---
**Author:** ![williambaskerville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@williambaskerville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williambaskerville)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-about-ww2-from-the-axis-pov/554683/13 "2010-09-23T13:34:24Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > I’ll second Hans Helmut Kirst (mentioned by **detop** above. I’m a pretty big fan of his style. I’ve read _Officer Factory_ and _The Fox of Maulen_ and seen the 1960s movie adaptation of _Night of the Generals_ (Peter O’Toole and Omar Sharif star in very different roles from _Lawrence of Arabia_ worth seeking out). The novel of Night of the Generals is very good :- it has a lot of very dark humour that I don’t think really made it into the film version (although to be fair to the film version, I reread the novel recently, and in every scene with General Tanz I saw and heard Peter O’Toole in my head). I’ll third the HH Kirst recommendation generally. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-about-ww2-from-the-axis-pov/554683/14 "2010-09-23T15:37:59Z")
If it’s non fiction you want, there are always the various memoirs from the combattants (I don’t have time to provide links, but I hope the information provided will be sufficient) : Hans-Ulrich Rudel : _Stuka Pilot_ by the Stuka tank-killer aces of aces (and unreconstructed Nazi) Heinz Guderian : _Panzer Leader_, by the father of blitzkrieg Erich von Manstein : [i|Lost Victories\*, by its most able practitioner F.W. von Mellenthin’s : [i|Panzer Battles\*, if you want to read from someone who was involved everywhere (from France '40 to Germany '45, with side trips to Africa and Russia) And an interesting one on the Pacific War : John Toland’s _The Rising Sun_, as told from the Japanese point of view. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-book-about-ww2-from-the-axis-pov/554683/15 "2010-09-27T18:35:13Z")
While technically not about Axis soldiers, I’d recommend [_The Unknown Soldier_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unknown_Soldier_%28novel%29) by _Väinö Linna_. It’s about a Finnish heavy machine gun company during the [Continuation war](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuation_War).