I realized tonight that every time I’m flipping through the channels and I come across any WWII show on PBS or the History Channel, I simply MUST stop and watch the remainder of that show. I’m terribly intrigued by the tactics, strategy and politics that were involved in the war. So, toss some titles out there if you will. I’m open to anything. Thanks in advance.
Citizen Soldiers by Stephen E. Ambrose is my choice for the most accessible history of WWII from D-Day forward. Not what you may call a “serious” history but very engaging.
To clarify, I mean that it presents more of a personal documentary rather that a strategic/tactical study.
I recommend The Right Kind of War by John R. McCormick. It details a Marine Raider in the Pacific, and some of it’s quite funny.
Devils in Baggy Pant (82nd Airbourne)
Currahee (101st Airbourne)
Enemy at the Gates
Stuka Pilot
The Long Walk
Guadalcanal Diary
Helmet For My Pillow
Anything by SLA Marshall or Cornelius Ryan.
Also, the Australians wrote a lot of great stuff about the Pacific Theatre
Please make an effort to real anything that has a non-americocentric point of view… the war did not begin with the bombing of Pearl Harbout
Actually. that’s Harbour… with an “RRRRRR” like the pirates use.
Actually, it’s ‘Harbor’. It’s in America, remember, we suffer from a lack of 'U’s.
It’s a heavy book, but “Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich” is worth the trouble. Author IIRC is Shirer?
I suggest The Second World War by Winston Churchill. It is actually 6 books, but much of what history follows is based on these 6.
The Gathering Storm (Causes of the War, inasion of Poland)
Their Finest Hour (1940 France falls, and England is alone)
The Grand Allaince (Italy in Ethiopia, Nazis invade the USSR)
The Hinge of Fate (Rommel loses, War starts to Turn),
Closing the Ring (1943 & the Terhan conference)
Triumph and Tragedy (D-Day, FDR Dies, End of the War - he’s out)
There is nothing comparable from any of the allied or the axis leaders.
You can get all 6 for $77.00 from Amazon right now, the cost of 3 “The Greatest Generation”'s.
The Third Reich: A New History by Micheal Burleigh is a very good overview of Hitler’s government, racial policies, strategies and tactics and the Holocaust.
Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose
Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley
“Stillwell and the American Experience in China” by Joseph “vinegar Joe” Stillwell. Great book on China’s involvement or lack thereof in WW2
DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS OF WORLD WAR II. by James f Dunnigan and Albert A Nofi. Subtitle: Military Information No One Told you About the Greatest,Most Terrible War in History
John Keegan’s Second World War is pretty good. It isn’t a comprehensive history of the war but covers the main topics. Along with the narrative history it has some good chapters which step back and examine the background eg chapters on war production, strategic bombing etc. Also it takes each of the main leaders at a crucial period of the war and how they resolved the “strategic dilemma” facing them.
Before Citizen Soldiers, you should start with Ambrose’s D-Day.
And Stilwell and the American Experience in China may certainly be about Stilwell, but it is by the superb historian Barbara Tuchman.
I just picked up Secret Soldiers: The Story of World War II’s Heroic Army of Deception, by Philip Gerard. The book recounts the recently declassified activities of the U.S. Army 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, whose unique mission was to impersonate other divisions on the battlefield. The Special Troops, which consisted of actors, artists, engineers, sound technicians and camofleurs, would create the illusion of a significant military force in areas where actual troops could not be spared. This was accomplished through the use of false radio communications, sound effects and pyrotechnic displays to simulate artillery fire and vehicle movement, and full-scale props such as inflatable tanks and artillery pieces (which were “concealed” with intentionally inadequate camouflage for enemy planes to photograph). The Special Troops would also wear the insignia of whatever division they were impersonating in order to further confuse enemy intelligence. Fascinating stuff, along the lines of The Man Who Never Was by Ewan Montagu.
David Fisher’s The War Magician, about the magician Jasper Maskelyne and his camouflage efforts in Africa, is the British equivalent of these stories. Although someone on Amazon claims that the book is semi-fictional, it makes for a wonderful read.
I really like the book The War Of The Rats. It is about a personal war between two snipers at Stalingrad, but it also shows more than that. I especially like it because it shows the perspective from both Russian and German point of view.
Okay, now I have to go find this book. In Secret Soldiers, Philip Gerard makes a passing reference to Jasper Maskelyne (grandson of 19th century stage wizard extraordinaire J.N. Maskelyne, and how cool is that?), in which he happens to mention that the magician had devised a method of using special lighting effects to make the Suez Canal disappear, in order to protect it from enemy bombers. That’s the sort of feat that you only expect from comic book superheroes.