Ok gents got a question for you, I need to expand my ww2 library. I would like to know what book(mostly acutal history books) You would recommend on buying to include memoirs and biographies/autobiographies.
I would like to get about 30 more books for a total of 50 books before I buy civil war stuff.
Thanks guy
Shootin and Scootin
PL
any by stephen e ambrose , such an amazing writer i have most of his books but looking to complete the collection in the near future.
i recently read a biography about Dick Winters which i found to be excellent also i heard his autobiography is pretty good too
Thanks for the suggestion guys
Shootin and Scootin
PL
no problem , i have a link to most of the ambrose books if you are interested?
I recomend A book called COLDITZ The Untold Story of WWII great escapes, By Henry Chancellor published in 2001
I talks about many of the great escapes including the colditz glider. It has many Photos and even some maps. I greatly enjoyed this book.
Beyond Bnad Of Brothers -This is also a great book, it re-tells the story of E-company of the 506 PIR except this time it is in the words of Major Dick Winters himself. I loved this book becasue it gave me another chance, to read about all the boys we all know so well.
Most def winters send it
Brothers in arms by a very surprising Kareem Abdul Jabbar is a excellent read. It a very good for a “inside the tank” view of WWII.
Twilight of the Gods:
A Swedish Waffen-SS Volunteer’s Experiences with the 11th SS-Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, Eastern Front 1944-45
Great book non stop action all the way till the final battle of Berlin.
“blitzkrieg Legend”, the campaign in the west 1940. written by a german bundeswher colonel. excellent VERY in depth book of the battle of france, though at times it reads like a pHd thesis.
there are 4 books written by Donald Burgess who was in 1st battalion of the 506PIR
I would recommend David Webster’s Parachute Infantry for another book by a member of Easy Company. This was actually one of the sources Ambrose used for Band of Brothers.
My recommendation: Books by Paul Carell - German side of the warfare.
Or “Operation Barbarossa” by Heinrich Haape (Wehrmacht doctor in eastern front during 1941-1942, describes the coldness of winter and how russians massed soviet civilians in front of soviet soldiers in attack).
Why read american WWII-books? While fierce battles happened between 193X-1943, when americans just slept at home - and when americans finally started to actually fight (in major battles) germany had lost their best generation of warriors - and everybody was tired of war by 1944 ;-D
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Strange thing, in the book beyond band of brothers (dick winters autobiography) there is a photograph of the town of Noville after 2nd battalion 506th PIR recaptured it at the end of the battle of the bulge. In the photograph you can clearly see a church steeple/tower whatever you want to call it, in the background. However in Ronald Burgett’s book "seven roads to hell he mentions the church tower being taken down (for obvious reasons) earlier in the battle by the 1st battalion 506th PIR before their retreat away from the town.
???
update- i looked into it al little more, and winters book was mislabeled, although he did personally supply the photograph
I say any fan of the Pacific War must own a copy of William Manchester’s Goodbye, Darkness.
I have a review of it here:
http://ww2db.com/read.php?read_id=39
It is beautifully written and holds nothing back. It explores a lot of philosophical things not all books dive into, too. For example, Manchester goes into depth the idea of survivor’s guilt and comparison of Japanese “fanaticism” vs. American “bravery” – there really isn’t much of a difference on a personal level, is there?
Great read, very highly recommended.
Geogre Wilson’s “If you survive” is also excellent, its about an infantry platoon leader with the 4th division, later he was promoted to S-2
I am a Stephen E Ambrose fan to if you look on the back of his books you see list of his library .I ordered citizen soldier i plan to order more.
Some good ones that I’ve recently read are:
Six Armies in Normandy - John Keegan
Armageddon - Max Hastings (Western and Eastern Fronts, 1944-5)
An Army at Dawn, The Day of Battle - Rick Atkinson
I love the Ambose books. Flags of Our Fathers is also very good. Bradley did another book. Flyboys was the name. I also read a book about the Japanese hell ships. Belly of the Beast: A POW’s Inspiring True Story of Faith, Courage, and Survival Aboard the Infamous WWII Japanese Hellship, the Oryoku Maru That was very interesting .
Later,
Dave