Second World War Books

[Jill]

Just picked this up yesterday at a library book sale. Has anyone read it?

by Ernle Dusgate Selby Bradford

[Betsy]

I did awhile ago. It is mainly about the trials of the people of Malta along with the bravery of the navy and airmen who fought to keep the island in the war on the Allied side. I enjoyed it.

[Jill]

I'm glad it is worthwhile. It has the smallest print I have ever seen so it it going to be slowwwww..

[happy]

Jill wrote: "I'm glad it is worthwhile. It has the smallest print I have ever seen so it it going to be slowwwww.."

LOL

[Dimitri]

Bradford's work is a bit older, but I always found him easy to read & easy to memorize. cfr.Hannibal

[Ed]

Are you allowed to present your own book on this site. It's a nonfiction love story taking place during World War II, and follows up with the story after the war.

[Jonny]

Made a start tonight on The Holocaust: A New History.

[Jill]

Ed wrote: "Are you allowed to present your own book on this site. It's a nonfiction love story taking place during World War II, and follows up with the story after the war."

Ed.....you will have to ask Aussie Rick that question since he is the moderator.

[Jill]

Jonny wrote: "Made a start tonight on The Holocaust: A New History."

I am not familiar with this book but when I looked it up, it has rave reviews, so I guess it will have to go on the tbr list (sigh, just when I was going to trim it down a bit)!!

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Ed wrote: "Are you allowed to present your own book on this site. It's a nonfiction love story taking place during World War II, and follows up with the story after the war."

It's really Ethan's group but in his absence I can't see why not as it may interest some of the group members.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Jonny wrote: "Made a start tonight on The Holocaust: A New History."

I found it to be a very well told and researched story and I'm sure you will both (Jonny and Jill) enjoy it.

[Jonny]

Well, I'm finding a certain degree of hypocrisy in the pre- power Nazi movement. Apparently it's ok to like individual Jews, so long as you hate the race as a whole. Huh?
There's also a nice section detailing Nazi dislike of an opening of Woolworths ( a department store) - The implication being it's a Jewish concern. Unfortunately they're Methodists. Oops!
Been a fascinating trip through Weimar and pre- Nazi German anti Semitism so far.

[Jill]

Wooworth's!!! According to the anti Semites any retail store would, of course, be owned by Jews.

I find the Weimar government rather interesting and haven't spent enough time reading about it except as the usual first chapter in a book dealing with the Nazis. I need to find a good book on that time period and probably have one on my tbr list that I have forgotten about.

[Jill]

I just finished the book cited below and did not want it to be over!! It is very short but deals with the first 27 days of Churchill's assumption of the PM position and the horrible decisions he had to make. France was falling and the BEF was trapped on the beaches at Dunkirk. He was not popular with his Cabinet and was under immense pressure to do the right thing. The author goes into detail about his thinking (as much as anyone can understand Churchill's thinking) and his use of the gift of rhetoric to pull his country together to face a possible Nazi invasion. He did the right thing.

The author also wrote the screenplay for the current film in which Gary Oldman gives the performance of a lifetime. I highly recommend this book, even to those who have made a study of Churchill as the war time PM.

by Anthony McCarten

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Have you seen the movie yet Jill?

[Jill]

No.......being in a rural area, it did not come to our theater but have talked to folks who saw it and I have seen the trailers on tv. Oldman is being praised for his performance and I have no doubt that the praise is well deserved. He is an actor's actor and one of my favorites. I will catch the film on Netflix.....and you can bet I will burst into tears when the "we shall never surrender" speech is delivered. Churchill was one of the greatest orators in history and as you can tell, one of my idols.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

I saw it at the movies and agree that Gary Oldman did a marvellous job, an Oscar winning performance indeed. I do hope you get to see it soon and you really enjoy it :)

[Jonny]

Finished on Tuesday; I've finally managed to put my thoughts into a (nearly) coherent stream
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
No startling new insights but I did find myself challenged by the new perspective.

[Dimitri]

Jill wrote: "and you can bet I will burst into tears when the "we shall never surrender" speech is delivered. "

Three of us went in WW2 uniform & solemnly quoted along with the speech in unison :p

[Jill]

I am currently reading the book cited below and let me tell you, it is a tough read. The author very graphically describes the horrors that happened in Nanking, the reasons why, and the aftermath. It really is amazing that this massacre of innocents gets little attention in history books. The Nazis made a half-hearted attempt to keep the Holocaust a secret.....that was not the case with the Japanese and the majority of the major players in the massacre were not brought to justice. It is a book that needs to be read no matter how distasteful.

by Iris Chang

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Jill wrote: "I am currently reading the book cited below and let me tell you, it is a tough read. The author very graphically describes the horrors that happened in Nanking, the reasons why, and the aftermath. ..."

Although its a hard book to read its one that needs to be read.

[happy]

Jill wrote: "I am currently reading the book cited below and let me tell you, it is a tough read. The author very graphically describes the horrors that happened in Nanking, the reasons why, and the aftermath. ..."

I agree with AR - it's a very hard read, but at the same time, well worth it. What happened to the author makes it even more difficult to read.

(view spoiler)[
She committed suicide a few yrs after it was published. From what I've read the issues were unrelated to the book
(hide spoiler)]

[Jill]

I had already started the book when I read about the author's life and it did, indeed, make it harder to read. Very tragic.

[Jill]

Just finished this book and really enjoyed it. I had started it early in the month, got the dreaded flu and had to put it aside as I just couldn't concentrate. But picked it back up when I finally had my wits about me and it was well worth the read. I knew some about the Malta siege but the author filled in lots of details. I chuckled a couple of times when he attempted to be nice about the Italian navy but you could still get the idea that, although they "won" a couple of sorties, they were badly led and hurried back to Italy if threatened by the small RAF contingent posted to Malta.

He also gave an introductory chapter to the history of the island which helped the reader understand the attitudes and bravery of the people of this 17 mile long piece of land which sits below the boot of Italy. Amazing people.

by Ernle Bradford

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Its an amazing place as well, now you have read about Malta you will have to go for a visit Jill :)

[happy]

I recently read Colossus Reborn: The Red Army at War, 1941-1943 by David M. Glantz

It's a look at how and why the Red Army went from the disaster of the summer of 1941 to the triumph of Kursk in the Summer of 1943. It's textbookish and a bit dry, but what information. It's a good reference book if nothing else.

My thoughts if anyone is interested

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Betsy]

Good review. Are there any figures on the percentage of survivors of a penal battalion?

[happy]

Glantz says the sources on casualties is not very well documented, He estimated that the casualty rate was between 3 and 6 times the rate of a regular battalion. He also says the average stay was between 1 and 3 mths

[Jill]

I think that any statistics coming from the USSR are questionable. And they seem to be the only source So Glantz is working with those numbers........his figures are probably as close as anyone will ever get to a determination of survivors. Other historians have, of course, also attempted to pin down any numbers/percentages but the source material just isn't dependable.

[Jill]

OK, WWII experts. I just finished this book and found it simply fascinating. I was aware that Hitler had his personal physician, Theodor Morell, who kept him hopped up on a cocktail of drugs and that Goering was a user of morphine but in this book, the author takes it a step further and expands the usage of meth and other "energy" pharmaceuticals to the military and the general population. Since I am not familiar with the author, I am curious if he exaggerated the overall use of drugs. Some of his source material was sketchy and I am curious if any of you all have read this book,

by Norman Ohler

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

You might find this of interest Jill:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/t...

[Jill]

Thanks, AR. I knew the author wrote for Der Spiegel and that letter from Boell was quoted in the book. I have no doubt that Pervitan was used by the military (the Luftwaffe steered away from it as it affected their sense of perception) but I was really more curious about its use by the general population. It seemed exaggerated but maybe not. I figured one of you all had read the book and had an opinion as to its veracity. (I didn't make myself very clear in post #130.)

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

I haven't read that book itself but have come across references to the use of drugs to keep German soldiers awake and functioning during some campaigns. I'm not too sure how widespread it actually was but that's an interesting subject to explore further.

[Jill]

I felt the book was well written but was curious that drugs might have been more wide spread than I realized. The big drug companies were making money hand over fist, so remember that when you take a Bayer aspirin!!!!!!

I figure if you haven't heard anything to contradict this author, then I am going to take the book at face value and give it a good review!!

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

You might find this interesting Jill, this just popped up in my book; "The Blitzkrieg Legend":

" ... Graf von Kielmansegg reports that this was not an empty figure of speech. At that time in his capacity as a general staff officer in charge of the 1st panzer Division's supplies, his job was to bring along twenty thousand tablets of Pervitin. This doping preparation - to put it in modern language - was to be administered to the drivers during their grinding nighttime march movements through the Ardennes to keep them awake longer."

[Jill]

The Ardenne campaign is mentioned in this book as well. I finished my review and gave the book a 5 star rating. Spellbinding.

[Tony]

Good review Jill. I know the book focuses on the Nazis, but any mention of similar practices by the Allies?

[Jill]

That wasn't mentioned Tony. Are there any books which suggest it?

[Tony]

Not that I know of Jill, I was just wondering.

[Jill]

I don't think I've ever heard rumors about the use of drugs with Allied soldiers but I guess you never know. I'm surprised the Nazis didn't drop over dead by the thousands since the mixture of drugs was dangerous and the troops were eating them like candy. Just another ugly sidelight of war.

[Jill]

Just got the book cited below and am anxious to start it, although I have a couple in line before it. I have seen the older British film starring Sir Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd and thoroughly enjoyed it. I am hoping that the book is equally as interesting.

by James Holland

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

I quite enjoyed it Jill, so I hope you find it as interesting as I did. I usually like all James Holland's books and I'm keen to see his latest book published soon:

Big Week: The Biggest Air Battle of World War Two by James Holland

I also have the movie "Dambusters" on DVD and watch every so often :)

[Tony]

Hope you enjoy it Jill. I only thought it was ok, but I’m keen to try some of his others. And I must dig out that DVD...

[Tony]

Jill wrote: "Just got the book cited below and am anxious to start it, although I have a couple in line before it. I have seen the older British film starring Sir Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd and thoroughl..."

Jill, how are you enjoying the book? Coincidentally I was looking for some more info about Geoffrey Wellum, the author of First Light which I’m reading, and found this on good old Wikipedia.

”Approached in 2000 by author James Holland who was researching a fictional novel based during the Battle of Britain, Wellum lent him his unpublished memoir. Holland showed it to friends in publishing at Penguin Books and, in 2002, Eleo Gordon, Penguin’s editorial director, approached Wellum with a publishing deal – two decades after he had originally written the memoir.”

And I’m really enjoying the results - thank you, James Holland!

[Jill]

I call that synchronicity.......authors' paths cross in unusual ways. Interesting.

[happy]

Jill wrote: "Just got the book cited below and am anxious to start it, although I have a couple in line before it. I have seen the older British film starring Sir Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd and thoroughl..."

Jill, I also really liked it, but then I enjoy just about anything about the air war over Europe, so take my rec with a whole handful of salt:)

I recently finished a couple of David Glantz's books on the Great Patriotic War (Germany vs USSR), The Battle of Kursk and the abridgement of his series on Stalingrad, Stalingrad. Both were surprisingly readable for a Glantz book, 4 stars for each. I post my thoughts when I get them typed up.

[Jill]

I have read about 170 pages of Dam Busters: The True Story of the Legendary Raid on the Ruhr and so far am truly enjoying it. Probably the only weakness (if you could call it a weakness) is the use of so many acronyms (DMWD, ACAS, ACAS/TB. etc)....some of which I am familiar, some I am not. But it is not enough of a problem to affect my eventual rating.

I can understand why the concept of the "bouncing bomb" caused the Air Ministry higher-ups to dismiss it but Barnes Wallis was determined to show that this was the weapon to attack the heart of the Nazi infrastructure of manufacturing and production by targeting the dams. Luckily he had influential friends.

[Tony]

Jill wrote: "I have read about 170 pages of Dam Busters: The True Story of the Legendary Raid on the Ruhr and so far am truly enjoying it. Probably the only weakness (if you could call it a weak..."

Really glad you're enjoying it Jill.

I've finished by Geoffrey Wellum and can really recommend it. It tells of the author's experiences after leaving school at 17 to join the RAF, before being launched into the Battle of Britain as a Spitfire pilot at the age of 19. Being a first hand account you don't get a strategic overview, but instead you get a beautifully written account of life on the front line, of what it feels like to fly a Spitfire, and of the fear/confusion/excitement of flying and fighting, which eventually begins to affect the author's physical and emotional health.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Two excellent books Jill and Tony!

[happy]

.For those interested, I've typed up my thoughts on Stalingrad and The Battle of Kursk

Stalingrad
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Kursk
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I think I'll take a break from Col Glantz' books for awhile:)

I'm currently reading a look at the post war occupation of both Germany and Japan