Recommended WWII Readings

**Wirbelwind** · 12 Dec 09,, 01:50

1. Decision in the East. (Ziemke) Very close to John Erikson's Road to Stalingrad.

2. The Road to Berlin. (Ziemke) Part 2- This models Stalingrad to Berlin, again very close to Erikson's Road to Berlin but both volumes from German standpoint. Excellent reads.

3. Lost Victories (Von Manstein)

4. When Titans Clashed (Glaantz) -This guy is pretty good on most of his titles.

**Countezero** · 03 Jan 10,, 21:38

Just put down a rather good book on paramilitary operations and espionage in the Balkans and Turkey. It's not very commonly read, but I think there are cheap copies available on Amazon. It's called Istanbul Intrigues by Barry Rubin.

Does a good job conveying the convoluted diplomacy in the area at the time as well as some of the major OSS and SOE operations in the theater, including one of the worst German penetrations of the allies -- the DOGWOOD spy-ring. I recommend it for anyone interested in this rarely written about theater.

**DragoonGuard** · 04 Jan 10,, 07:39

Sounds interesting - I just ordered a second-hand copy off Amazon.......

**Countezero** · 04 Jan 10,, 14:16

I enjoyed it. It delved a little more into the diplomatic wrangling than I would have liked, but that's what a lot of the people there were doing: Trying to turn countries and trying to leverage them. The actual paramilitary stuff and espionage is quite good, too. Essentially, the OSS got played by German fabricators. But then, the valet of the British ambassador was also a spy, so I guess it's all a part...

**behblc** · 03 Feb 10,, 16:15

Having glanced over the thread some good items mention , some of which I have , some I will think about.

I would agree that it depends what you are reading about - I have some which I would recommend for different areas I read bout.

Clay Blairs "Hitler's U-Boat War - "The Hunters" and "The Hunted"
Axel Niestles "German U-Boat Losses During WW2"
Kenneth Wynn's "U-Boat Operational careers Volumes 1 and 2"
Norman Franks "Search Find and Kill" ( Second edition).
Jurgen Rohwer / G Hummelchen -"The Chronology of the War at Sea 1939 - 1945."
and Rohwer's "Axis Submarine Sucesses"

L.Patterson's "U-Boat War Patrol"

M Gannon's "Operation Drumbeat".

The above are all excellent.

Ludovick Kennedy's "Pursuit"

Anything from "After The Battle" , the quarterly magazine and their books are a benchmark for quality.

All of Martin Middlebrook's books on RAF Bomber Command and the 8th Air Force.
His "The Nuremberg Raid" , "The Peenemunde raid , "The Battle for Hamburg" , and his reference work "The Bomber Command War Diaries".

Theo Boiten's " Luftwaffe Nightfighter War Diaries Volume 1 and 2" are very hard to beat . ( These may now be sold out).

Mark Yerger's books on German Cross in Gold Holders , presently up to Volume 4 and his various books on the Waffen SS are quite good , thinking of his two books on Das Reich and the Dk in Gold Holders series.

Anything by Ian Kershaw - his Hitler biography "Hubris" and Nemesis" are really the very best , also see "The Hitler Myth".
Kershaw writes excellent history.

In respect of the 8th Air Force - Rodger Freeman has produced some excellent works , sadly he passed away several years ago.

"Tapping Hilter's Generals" - an insight into how captured high ranking officers viewed the war and Hitler - worth reading.

This is what springs to mind - many more could be added.

**DragoonGuard** · 15 Mar 10,, 16:40

The Forgotten Highlander - by Alistair Urquhart, see the news link below...

BBC News - Today - The man who refused to die

**pennsy** · 16 Mar 10,, 20:16

Originally Posted by DragoonGuard

'The first and the last' by Adolf Galland.

Top Luftwaffe officer & Ace, who survived WW2.

Fascinating incite of the German air force, his own dog-fights, the German hierarchy......

Yeah a good book for it's time.

Have you read JV 44-The Galland Circus by Robert Forsyth? It certainly fills in a lot of the gaps in Gallands story.

**DragoonGuard** · 16 Mar 10,, 20:55

Originally Posted by pennsy

Yeah a good book for it's time.

Have you read JV 44-The Galland Circus by Robert Forsyth? It certainly fills in a lot of the gaps in Gallands story.

Mine is an old first edition too....

I've just bought JV 44 on Amazon, - Christ on a bike! 150 quid!!!!!

S2 · 17 Mar 10,, 06:48

Thomas Jentz has written what I think are the definitive accounts of the creation and employment of German armor formations in W.W.II. He's done so in two books entitled Panzertruppen: The Complete Guide To The Creation And Combat Employment Of Germany's Tank Force 1939-1942 and, Vol. II 1943-1945. These are expensive ($49.95 per book), lavishly endowed tomes that are encyclopedic in their information. Unit chronologies from Abteilung through Division, battle accounts, divisional organizations for combat by Dr. Leo Niehorster and more.

The research is all original document, relying heavily upon German staff orders for the creation of units and also unit after-action reports running from abteilung through special staff officer reports provided to Guderian as Chief of Panzertruppen and then republished for dissemination back down for unit use.

An invaluable series provided by Jentz.

**pennsy** · 18 Mar 10,, 21:04

Originally Posted by DragoonGuard

Mine is an old first edition too....

I've just bought JV 44 on Amazon, - Christ on a bike! 150 quid!!!!!

I hope your enjoyment factor isn't eroded because I originally bought it for $49!

**~~AdityaMookerjee~~** · 22 Nov 10,, 15:58

I am a World War Two buff. I love reading books like "German Weapons of World War Two", by Chris Bishop. I have a long list of books which I want to read. Some of them are:
1 . German Campaigns of World War Two, by Chris Bishop and Adam Warner.
2 . The Great Admirals: Command at Sea 1587-1945.
3 . Admirals by Andrew D Lambert.
4 . The Soviet Union at War 1941-1945 by David R Stone.
5 . Hitler's Navy: A Reference Guide to the Kriegsmarine 1935-1945 by Jak P Mallman Showell, and Gordon Williamson.
6 . Hitler's Army: The Men, Machines, and Organisation 1939-1945 by David Stone.
7 . The Military Atlas of World War Two by Chris Bishop.
8 . Order of Battle: German Kriegsmarine in World War Two, by Dr Chris Mcnab.
9 . German Panzers in World War Two, by Chris Bishop.
10 . German Infantry in World War Two by Chris Bishop.
11 . German Luftwaffe in World War Two, by Dr Chris Mcnab.

I believe, if one wants to gain self insight into a subject, then one has to be interested, generally, in a subject, and not be interested in anything particular. One must be even minded when one is using the power of discrimination. When thinking about a subject, honesty not towards the subject, but towards your powers of perception, is required.

**mako88sb** · 13 Feb 12,, 16:10

I've always been fascinated with the specialized engineering vehicles used on D-day known as 'Hobarts Funnies'. Came across this a few weeks ago:

Cracking Hitler's Wall: The 1st Assault Brigade Engineers on D-Day: Amazon.co.uk: Richard C. Anderson: Books

A great book that goes into quite a lot of detail about how successful they where on the different beaches and goes a long way to explaining why there simply wasn't enough of them or the training req'd to be used by the Americans. Of course except for the duplex drive Sherman's.