# World War II Non-fiction **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [July 18, 2023, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220 "2023-07-18T16:05:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220/1 "2023-07-18T16:05:03Z")
Just finished reading Shirer’s _The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich_. A very satisfying and educational read. And, yes, I’m familiar with the criticisms of his “from Luther to Naziism” theory. But his recounting of the Reich using actual contemporaneous documentation was tremendously effective. I have the bug at the moment. Any recommendations for good WWII non-fiction? Europe or the Pacific, either is fine, as are sweeping epics like Shirer’s or a more-narrow focus on a specific battle. ---
**Author:** ![Rain\_Soaked](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@Rain\_Soaked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rain_Soaked)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220/2 "2023-07-18T16:12:47Z")
Books by Antony Beever: - The Second World War - The fall of Berlin 1945 - Stalingrad - D-Day Timothy Snyder: Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler & Stalin ---
**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:** [July 18, 2023, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220/3 "2023-07-18T16:47:21Z")
[Operation Mincemeat](https://www.amazon.com/Operation-Mincemeat-Bizarre-Fooled-Assured/dp/0307453286) by Ben Macintyre is a good one about the British mission of sending the nazis misinformation about D-Day in the form of materials accompanying the body of a dead naval officer. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220/4 "2023-07-18T16:52:52Z")
When I was in grad school I read the official Navy history of the battle of Midway by Samuel Eliot Morison, which was marvelously written and totally engrossing. I’ve also read the official Army history of the Battle of the Bulge which I got from my father, but which was nowhere nearly as good. There is also the five volume memoir/history by Churchill which is detailed and well written, though is not exactly unbiased. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220/5 "2023-07-18T16:54:14Z")
I read this one several years back: Unsung Eagles: True Stories of America’s Citizen Airmen in the Skies of World War II > The nearly half-million American aircrewmen who served during World War II have almost disappeared. And so have their stories. > > Award-winning writer and former fighter pilot Jay A. Stout uses Unsung Eagles to save an exciting collection of those accounts from oblivion. These are not rehashed tales from the hoary icons of the war. Rather, they are stories from the masses of largely unrecognized men who—in the aggregate—actually won it. They are the recollections of your Uncle Frank who shared them only after having enjoyed a beer or nine, and of your old girlfriend’s grandfather who passed away about the same time she dumped you. And of the craggy guy who ran the town’s salvage yard; a dusty, fly-specked B-24 model hung over the counter. These are “everyman” accounts that are important but fast disappearing. > > Ray Crandall describes how he was nearly knocked into the Pacific by a heavy cruiser’s main battery during the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea. Jesse Barker—a displaced dive-bomber pilot—tells of dodging naval bombardments in the stinking mud of Guadalcanal. Bob Popeney relates how his friend and fellow A-20 pilot was blown out of formation by German antiaircraft fire: “I could see the inside of the airplane—and I could see Nordstrom’s eyes. He looked confused…and then immediately he flipped up and went tumbling down.” > > The combat careers of 22 different pilots from all the services are captured in this crisply written book which captivates the reader not only as an engaging oral history, but also puts personal context into the great air battles of World War II. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220/6 "2023-07-18T16:58:41Z")
Paul Fussell is essential: Wartime The Boys Crusade ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220/7 "2023-07-18T16:59:47Z")
[Days of Steel Rain](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YSNDM2Q/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title) tells the story of the a ship in the Pacific. It was written by a fraternity brother of mine. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220/8 "2023-07-18T17:51:16Z")
So far, fantastic. Many thanks! ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220/9 "2023-07-18T18:04:19Z")
_Brothers in Arms: One Legendary Tank Regiment’s Bloody War from D-Day to V-E Day_ _Normandy '44: D-Day and the Epic 77-Day Battle for France_ _Dam Busters: The True Story of the Inventors and Airmen Who Led the Devastating Raid to Smash the German Dams in 1943_ All written by James Holland. Based on these three, I would recommend any other book by him as well. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Burden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/958977/32.png) [@Jack\_Burden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Burden)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220/10 "2023-07-18T18:17:05Z")
Rick Atkinson’s Liberation Trilogy is excellent: - _An Army at Dawn_ (North Africa) - _The Day of Battle_ (Sicily & Italy) - _The Guns at Last Light_ (Western Europe) Also recommend _The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors_ by James Hornfischer, detailing the Battle off Samar. ---
**Author:** ![sb1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@sb1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sb1953)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220/11 "2023-07-18T18:17:24Z")
Read **Army At Dawn**. Great detail about the freshly-minted US Army in it’s very first battles in Europe, in the North African campaign ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220/12 "2023-07-18T18:19:17Z")
Amy Shira Teitel’s books both include WWII, and extend after it: [Amazon.com](https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Chains-Gravity-Spaceflight-before-ebook/dp/B00Z0G6WC4?ref_=ast_author_dp) And [https://www.amazon.com/Fighting-Space-Pilots-Historic-Spaceflight-ebook/dp/B07NVK7J2G?ref\_=ast\_author\_dp](https://www.amazon.com/Fighting-Space-Pilots-Historic-Spaceflight-ebook/dp/B07NVK7J2G?ref_=ast_author_dp) Also: Code Girls by Liza Mundy [Amazon.com](https://www.amazon.com/Code-Girls-Untold-American-Breakers-ebook/dp/B01N193KET/ref=sr_1_1?crid=RBOTPVOR4GKP&keywords=code+girls&qid=1689704329&s=digital-text&sprefix=code+girls%2Cdigital-text%2C103&sr=1-1) ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220/13 "2023-07-18T18:19:56Z")
I should have mentioned this in the OP. One of the things I most enjoyed in Shirer’s book was how much he made you feel right there—direct quotations, describing Hitler’s rage in a given meeting, miserable depictions of the German soldiers in winter on the eastern front, etc. IOW, not just a scholarly recitation of historical facts, pulled together into a cohesive but dry narrative. Damn, it was a page-turner. So, excellent suggestions so far, but if this helps to narrow recommendations… ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220/14 "2023-07-18T18:23:15Z")
> [@Jack\_Burden](#): > > Also recommend _The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors_ by James Hornfischer, detailing the Battle off Samar. Definitely! And _Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal_, also by Hornfischer… > [@Stratocaster](#): > > I should have mentioned this in the OP. One of the things I most enjoyed in Shirer’s book was how much he made you feel right there—direct quotations, describing Hitler’s rage in a given meeting, miserable depictions of the German soldiers in winter on the eastern front, etc. IOW, not just a scholarly recitation of historical facts, pulled together into a cohesive but dry narrative. Damn, it was a page-turner. All five of the books I’ve specifically recommended fit that description. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220/15 "2023-07-18T18:30:28Z")
_Operation Sea Lion: The Failed Nazi Invasion That Turned the Tide of War_, by Leo McKinstry _12 Seconds Of Silence: How a Team of Inventors, Tinkerers, and Spies Took Down a Nazi Superweapon_, by Jamie Holmes ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220/16 "2023-07-18T19:35:45Z")
Try _Green Beach_ by James Leasor. It’s about a suicide mission as part of the Dieppe Raid, where a British radar expert was guarded by a group of soldiers from the South Saskatchewan Regiment. Because he knew so much about radar, his bodyguard was to bring him back. Or kill him. True? Exagérâted? Worth reading. > **[Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/15837318)** > > Discover and share books you love on Goodreads. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220/17 "2023-07-18T19:37:59Z")
The WW2 books that I have to re-read every few years are Richard Frank’s _Guadalcanal_ and _Shattered Sword_ by Parshall and Tully. ---
**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:** [July 18, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220/18 "2023-07-18T19:39:52Z")
I totally forgot to mention [“Shattered Sword.”](https://www.amazon.com/Shattered-Sword-Untold-Battle-Midway/dp/1574889249) It’s Midway from the Japanese view. What makes it cool is how it debunks the self-serving myth the Japanese created about being only minutes from launching their own attack when the American attack arrived. ETA: And a very appropriate cry of “ninjaed!” ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220/19 "2023-07-18T19:43:29Z")
May I ask for a specific recommendation within the OP’s request? I’m interested in reading about what it was like to serve in the Merchant Marine aboard a Liberty ship (or similar ship). That’s where my father spent his war, and he was never interested in talking about it. First hand accounts would be great. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220/20 "2023-07-18T19:50:53Z")
Ian W. Toll’s trilogy on the Pacific War was an enthralling 2000 page read. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-ii-non-fiction/987220.md?page=2)