# Recommend some WWII books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 21, 2003, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-wwii-books/183375 "2003-06-21T05:25:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shakey\_Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@Shakey\_Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakey_Jake)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-wwii-books/183375/1 "2003-06-21T05:25:43Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Grit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@Grit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grit)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-wwii-books/183375/2 "2003-06-21T05:50:32Z")
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. [CITIZEN SOLDIERS : The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany – June 7, 1944-May 7, 1945](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684815257/qid=1056174924/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_2/002-9575018-0806411?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) ---
**Author:** ![Grit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@Grit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grit)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-wwii-books/183375/3 "2003-06-21T05:53:07Z")
To clarify, I mean that it presents more of a personal documentary rather that a strategic/tactical study. ---
**Author:** ![BraheSilver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@BraheSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BraheSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-wwii-books/183375/4 "2003-06-21T07:23:30Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-wwii-books/183375/5 "2003-06-21T10:15:39Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-wwii-books/183375/6 "2003-06-21T10:19:43Z")
Actually. that’s Harbour… with an “RRRRRR” like the pirates use. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-wwii-books/183375/7 "2003-06-21T10:22:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vl\_mungo \* > \*\*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. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-wwii-books/183375/8 "2003-06-21T10:35:55Z")
It’s a heavy book, but “Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich” is worth the trouble. Author IIRC is Shirer? ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-wwii-books/183375/9 "2003-06-21T12:15:41Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-wwii-books/183375/10 "2003-06-21T12:32:22Z")
_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. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-wwii-books/183375/11 "2003-06-21T13:01:40Z")
Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-wwii-books/183375/12 "2003-06-21T13:59:33Z")
“Stillwell and the American Experience in China” by Joseph “vinegar Joe” Stillwell. Great book on China’s involvement or lack thereof in WW2 ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-wwii-books/183375/13 "2003-06-21T14:39:39Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![CyberPundit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@CyberPundit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyberPundit)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-wwii-books/183375/14 "2003-06-21T15:02:57Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-wwii-books/183375/15 "2003-06-21T16:41:50Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-wwii-books/183375/16 "2003-06-21T22:10:39Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-wwii-books/183375/17 "2003-06-22T03:12:43Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Phelan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Phelan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phelan)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2003, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-wwii-books/183375/18 "2003-06-22T03:39:35Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2003, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-wwii-books/183375/19 "2003-06-22T14:35:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Exapno Mapcase \* > \*\*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. \*\* 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.