So, What Are You Reading? > Likes and Comments

I'm starting on Stalinism at War: The Soviet Union in World War II.

Jonny wrote: "I'm starting on Stalinism at War: The Soviet Union in World War II.

"

I hope that's an interesting account, Jonny, keep us all posted.

Just starting 'A wing and a prayer' by Harry H Crosby. The story of his time as a Navigator with 100th Bombardment Group USAAF, known as The Bloody 100th and featured in the Masters of the Air. Should be good!

Marc wrote: "Richard Tregaskis also wrote a book about his experience in Vietnam:

Vietnam Diary"

Well, I guess I'll have to add this to my list, too!

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Excellent review Justin!

Have you read "Goodbye Darkness" by William Manchester at all? Its another great first-hand account of the Pacific War."

I've had this one on my wish list. Now, I will prioritize it.

Justin wrote: "Marc wrote: "Richard Tregaskis also wrote a book about his experience in Vietnam:

Vietnam Diary"

Well, I guess I'll have to add this to my list,..."

I found it completely by accident and picked it up for my Kindle awhile back. I read "Guadalcanal Diary" back in the late 70's in elementary school, although the version I read might have been abridged.

Mark wrote: "Just starting 'A wing and a prayer' by Harry H Crosby. The story of his time as a Navigator with 100th Bombardment Group USAAF, known as The Bloody 100th and featured in the Masters of the Air. Sho..."

Nice one Mark. Will be interested in your thoughts on the book, on my shelf unread.

A Wing and a Prayer: The "Bloody 100th" Bomb Group of the US Eighth Air Force in Action Over Europe in World War II by Harry H. Crosby

I just finished Night by Elie Wiesel. A review is forthcoming, but it is taking a little time. Given the book’s gravity and haunting significance, it is important to me to get this one right.

I am also finishing up my read of Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission by Hampton Sides. A review will, of course, follow shortly thereafter.

On a lighter note, I recently finished and reviewed Guadalcanal Diary , which is available on my blog linked in my profile and available here. My birthday was yesterday, and I had forgotten that I included the book on my gift list. My wife thoughtfully passed the suggestion along to my sister-in-law.

At a family gathering last night to celebrate, I was surprised to be gifted a second copy of the book which I had purchased and finished only a few days earlier.

Exercise a bit of patience and give your family and friends the opportunity to gift the books on your wish list, if you can manage it.

I think my brother would love a copy of Guadalcanal Diary for Christmas.

I've just made a start on this new book; "The Maginot Line: A New History of the Fall of France" by Kevin Passmore.

The Maginot Line: A New History of the Fall of France by Kevin Passmore

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "I've just made a start on this new book; "The Maginot Line: A New History of the Fall of France" by Kevin Passmore.

[book..."

I ordered a copy. It's due on Saturday.

That's good news, MR9! I've just started and so far, it's been pretty interesting.

Tonight I've started --

So Full a Glory: A Biography of Marshal de Lattre de Tassigny by Guy Salisbury-Jones with a foreword by Duff Cooper (as Viscount Norwich).

Salisbury-Jones was a British Major General who served with the Coldstream Guards in both World Wars and later worked in the Royal Household for 11 years.

Manray9 wrote: "Tonight I've started --

So Full a Glory: A Biography of Marshal de Lattre de Tassigny by Guy Sa..."

That's a very nice find MR9! Let us know if it's a book worthwhile seeking out.

Mike wrote: "Mark wrote: "Just starting 'A wing and a prayer' by Harry H Crosby. The story of his time as a Navigator with 100th Bombardment Group USAAF, known as The Bloody 100th and featured in the Masters of..."

Just finished this book. Its really worth a read! Harry Crosby has a very easy style of writing that makes you want to keep turning the pages! There's some acronyms and slang terms that could have done with explaining but what comes over is just how bloody brutal it was and how young these boys were.

Mark wrote: "Just finished this book. Its really worth a read! Harry Crosby has a very easy style of writing that makes you want to keep turning the pages!..."

Great to hear Mark! I'm sure 2026 will offer an opportunity to pick this one up.

From Guy Salisbury-Jones' So Full A Glory: A Life Of Marshal De Lattre De Tassigny.

From childhood de Lattre de Tassigny was a devoted equestrian. After St. Cyr, he attended the renowned cavalry school at Saumur, then joined the 12th Dragoon Regiment. He was with the 12th Dragoons when World War I broke out. On 14 Sept. 1914, De Lattre’s troop, while on reconnaissance near Auberge St. Pierre, encountered a detachment of Bavarian uhlans. As expected of a young French officer, de Lattre drew his saber and charged the enemy. Quickly he found himself isolated and confronting four Bavarians. He killed two with his blade, but then was pierced by a lance through the chest. The wound was serious. The lance broke off after perforating his lung and embedding in his shoulder blade. De Lattre fell from his mount. On his orders the troop returned to report the results of their patrol. His troop sergeant remained behind, got him remounted, and took de Lattre to a nearby farm where he was hidden until night. The troop sergeant removed the broken lance from de Lattre’s chest by placing his foot on his throat and wrenching it out. His men returned later and used a farm wagon to carry him back to French lines.

De Lattre was named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor for the action at Auberge St. Pierre. He was hospitalized for a month, but the wound continued to trouble him in the future. Salisbury-Jones claims: “De Lattre must have been one of the last officers in Europe to be wounded by a lance.”

That was a great post MR9! Thanks for sharing that post, pretty amazing to survive that injury!

This is starting to sound like a book that I may need to find a copy of :)

I just wrapped up my review of Night by Elie Wiesel.

I see why it is required reading in so many classroom settings around the world.

Elie Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 for his work as a writer, witness, and voice of morality. He bore witness to the indifference, injustice, and hatred that was the Holocaust.

A few hours of reading, yet a master class in humanity.

'Manray9' wrote: "I ordered a copy. It's due on Saturday.

I am considering doing the same.

From So Full A Glory: A Life Of Marshal De Lattre De Tassigny by Guy Salisbury-Jones.

During the Battle of France de Lattre de Tassigny commanded the 14th Infantry division. The 14th fought steadfastly at Rethel, along the Marne, and on the Aisne. Despite the disintegration of much of the French army, de Lattre’s division retained its cohesion and retreated in good order all the way to Clermont-Ferrand in central France. After the armistice, he was promoted to Major General and made a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor.

De Lattre retained his rank and position under the Vichy regime – a situation that caused him some difficulties in the future. He concentrated on training his troops while understanding his orders to include resistance to German advances across the armistice line. When the Germans invaded unoccupied France in November 1942, de Lattre moved to oppose them. Several of his key subordinates betrayed him to pro-fascist elements in the government and the Secretary of State for War countermanded the orders for resistance. Subsequently, de Lattre was arrested and charged with treason and abandoning his post. The case was political rather than military. During interrogation, his ardent, articulate, and patriotic defense of his actions shamed the authorities into dropping the treason charge. He was convicted of abandoning his post and sentenced to 15 years in solitary confinement in the prison at Riom.

He served eight months. During this time he crafted an escape plan with the help of his wife, son, a sympathetic gendarme, a few soldiers, and local resistance operatives. He worked loose a bar from his cell window, slipped through, used a smuggled rope to descend thirty feet to the ground, and had an accomplice throw a rope ladder over the prison’s outer wall. He made his way to a hideout. An RAF aircraft spirited him to England. De Lattre joined de Gaulle and the Free French upon arrival.

Very information post MR9, it sounds like de Lattre had some guts and a decent sense of what was right!

This year's plan is to read at least two books from each of my shelves, so I've started with this one:

The Hitler Years: Disaster, 1940-1945

Marc wrote: "This year's plan is to read at least two books from each of my shelves, so I've started with this one:

[book:The Hitler Years: Disaster, ..."

Good plan, Marc. Mine is to read six books on Things French -- three non-fiction and three novels.

I'm afraid I don't have a plan yet :)

"The Hitler Years: Disaster 1940-1945" is also on my shelves waiting to be read.

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "I'm afraid I don't have a plan yet :)

"The Hitler Years: Disaster 1940-1945" is also on my shelves waiting to be read."

There's also a third volume which just came out in November, but I haven't grabbed it yet:

The Hitler Years: Holocaust 1933-1945

I have a copy on order! I've read his volume on the Weimer years and also the first volume in the Hitler years.

From So Full A Glory: A Life Of Marshal De Lattre De Tassigny by Sir Guy Salisbury-Jones.

In early January 1945 the diversion of Allied resources toward the Bulge, coupled with German counterattacks in Alsace, threatened to reverse the recent liberation of Strasbourg. Ike pressed Jacob Devers, the Sixth Army Group commander, to consider a pull back on the Allied right to support relief in the Ardennes and Belgium. Devers’ group included De Lattre’s French Army B (later redesignated the First French Army). De Lattre would have none of it. With political support from de Gaulle and Churchill, he was freed to defend Strasbourg. The situation was deteriorating quickly. Valluy, de Lattre’s Chief of Staff, described the general’s arrival in the threatened city:

He rushed to the office of the Commissioner of the Republic, who was packing up to go, cursed everyone with whom he came in contact, from the humblest employee to the Commissioner himself, collected the few officials who remained. . . cancelled all orders for evacuation, ordered back to their posts a group of gendarmes who were just leaving, harangued the odd Maquis patrols and everyone else he met in the streets, and himself organized a line of resistance that was to be held by the next morning.

Most importantly, he ordered up General Guillaume’s veteran 3rd Algerian division. Strasbourg was held.

There is an interesting point in Salisbury-Jones’ book concerning French forces within metropolitan France after D-Day and Dragoon. A rift developed between the Free French national forces and the majority of French combatants – colonials and Algerians. The North Africans and colonials felt they were doing most of the hard fighting to reclaim France. The expectation had been that after D-Day and the landings in Provence volunteers would flock to the tricolore to expel the occupiers and carry the war across the Rhine. The numbers proved disappointing. Most Frenchmen associated with the FFI or the maquis remained with their groups. For example, in the fierce fighting in Alsace, de Lattre’s forces included: the 3rd Algerian division, 2nd Moroccan, 4th Moroccan Mountain division, 9th Colonial division, a brigade of Moroccan Goums, as well as the 1st Free French division, Leclerc’s 2nd Armored, two armored demi-brigades, and the 10th and 14th Infantry divisions which were created from FFI groups. De Lattre also commanded two U.S. divisions. Of the 320,000 men of the First Army across the Rhine, only about 115,000 were from Metropolitan France, the majority were North Africans, Black Africans, or Europeans from North Africa (pieds-noirs).

That was a very interesting post MR9. I have also read of the disappointing recruiting response amongst the FFI. Again, it seems like the colonial forces did the heavy lifting for France!

From So Full A Glory: A Life Of Marshal De Lattre De Tassigny by Sir Guy Salisbury-Jones.

The last months of de Lattre de Tassigny’s life were darkened by the death of his only child, Bernard, in Indochina. Bernard enlisted in the French Army during WW II at the age of 16 with the special permission of General de Gaulle. He fought with his father’s French 1st Army through France until seriously wounded at Autun, becoming the youngest soldier of WW II to earn the Médaille Militaire as well as his first Croix de Guerre. Serving as a junior officer of the 1st Chasseurs in Indochina, Bernard was KIA at the Battle of the Day River on 30 May 1951, only 19 days after receiving his 2nd Croix de Guerre from his father for valor at the Battle of Dien Mai.

General de Lattre was diagnosed with cancer in October 1951 and died in Paris on 11 January 1952. His coffin was placed on a gun carriage beneath the Arc de Triomphe. That night the President of the Republic placed a baton upon the carriage and conferred upon de Lattre the rank of Marshal of France. The next day along the Esplanade des Invalides, and in the presence of his widow, the President, and accompanied by distinguished pallbearers including Eisenhower and Montgomery, the cream of France’s armed forces marched by in a last salute that lasted for an hour.

That was another excellent post, MR9! I found it very interesting! He had an amazing career but a very sad ending.

All great posts MR9. I will have to find a copy next time I travel OCONUS as the cost of acquiring one is pretty steep due to postage.

Mike wrote: "All great posts MR9. I will have to find a copy next time I travel OCONUS as the cost of acquiring one is pretty steep due to postage."

I received an inter-library loan from Lamar Tech in Texas.

Getting into the first book of Ian Toll’s three book series on the war in the Pacific; Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941 to 1942.

A little ways in. Nimitz has just got on a plane to Pearl to relieve Kimmel as commander in the Pacific.

Tommy wrote: "Getting into the first book of Ian Toll’s three book series on the war in the Pacific; Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941 to 1942.

A little ways in. Nimitz has just got on a plane ..."

Toll's trilogy is really good.

Tommy wrote: "Getting into the first book of Ian Toll’s three book series on the war in the Pacific; Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941 to 1942.

A little ways in. Nimitz has just got on a plane ..."

I have the trilogy yet to read, one day soon I hope :)

Marc wrote: "Tommy wrote: "Getting into the first book of Ian Toll’s three book series on the war in the Pacific; Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941 to 1942.

A little ways in. Nimitz has just g..."

Incredibly detailed.

At present I am reading the following two books...

Stalin's Revenge: Operation Bagration and the Annihilation of Army Group Centre

The Forgotten Indian Prisoners of World War II

Dipanjan wrote: "At present I am reading the following two books...

Stalin's Revenge: Operation Bagration and the Annihilation of Army Group Centre
[bookcover:Stalin's Revenge: Operation Bagration a..."

Two very interesting books, Dipanjan!

I am reading two books currently. “Guadalcanal Diary” by Richard Tregaskis, and “Guadalcanal, the definitive account of the landmark battle” by Richard B. Frank.

I am currently reading Eclipse, Alan Moorehead's excellent book detailing his experiences as a journalist covering the Italian Campaign and then moving to northern Europe. Moorehead landed five hours after H-Hour on D-Day and covered the rest of the war. This book covers the campaign in detail, and he treats us to an enormous amount of detail about not only the fighting but the attitude of the French and the state of the Wehrmacht.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

Gary wrote: "I am currently reading Eclipse, Alan Moorehead's excellent book detailing his experiences as a journalist covering the Italian Campaign and then moving to northern Europe. Moorehead landed five hou..."

Alan Moorehead is an excellent author. I've read a few of his book and have enjoyed than all. I have to get around to reading his trilogy on the Desert War one day soon.

Billy wrote: "I am reading two books currently. “Guadalcanal Diary” by Richard Tregaskis, and “Guadalcanal, the definitive account of the landmark battle” by Richard B. Frank."

Two excellent books on the subject!

Justin wrote: "I just wrapped up my review of Guadalcanal Diary by Richard Tregaskis.

I really enjoyed it and found it a wonderful compliment to [book:With the Old Breed: At Peleliu a..."

Currently reading this book as well as Richard B. Frank’s account of the battle.

I have copies of both “With the Old Breed” and “Helmet for My Pillow” and have them on my list to be read shortly.

Billy wrote: "I have copies of both “With the Old Breed” and “Helmet for My Pillow” and have them on my list to be read shortly."

"With the Old Breed" is a great book, one of my favourites. Check out William Manchester's book; "Goodbye Darkness".

Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War by William Manchester

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Billy wrote: "I have copies of both “With the Old Breed” and “Helmet for My Pillow” and have them on my list to be read shortly."

"With the Old Breed" is a great book, one of my favourites. Check ..."
I will definitely be on the lookout for that title.

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Billy wrote: "I have copies of both “With the Old Breed” and “Helmet for My Pillow” and have them on my list to be read shortly."

"With the Old Breed" is a great book, one of my favourites. Check ..."
Very much agree. The writers have very different POVs about being front line, war fighting Marines. Both are dealing with the demonds that we make others experience when we decide to send in the Marines.

I have just started reading Aftermath: Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich, 1945–1955. here's a link:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

It seeks to correct and explain a period of neglected history – what was life like in early post-war Germany and what were the people there thinking? It's fascinating.

I imagine it would be quite interesting. Plenty of space has been used to describe the actions of Patton and his contempt for the Soviets, and even Stalin and his designs on post-war Germany. But I do not recall much being written about post-war Germany and the German people.