THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP discussion
Introduction to the WW2 Site - Please Say Hi
Graeme wrote: Russia is my 'weak area'. Any help would be great. "Alexander Hill's for the Red Army (structure, strategy, leadership, equipment etc.)The Red Army and the Second World War
Catherine Merridale's Ivan's War: Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939-1945 for the average Ivan's experience(just reading it)
For overall view of the whole Eastern front four modern books seem to come up quite often:
David Glantz' When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler, a classic, not my favorite though
Stephen Fritz' Ostkrieg: Hitler's War of Extermination in the East, more from the German point of view.
Richard Overy's Russia's War: A History of the Soviet Effort: 1941-1945 (unread)
Evan Mawdsley's Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941-1945 (unread)
And some older classics with their problems(mainly not having access to Russian sources and having problems with objectivity)
Alan Clarke's Barbarossa (unread)
William Craig's Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad (unread)
Alexander Werth's Russia at War: 1941-1945 (unread)
Also plenty of books about battle's, see:
Antony Beevor
David Stahel
David Glantz
Britt Buttar
Anna Reid
Robert Citino
Vesa Nenye& Munter & Virtanen for Continuation War in English.
Graeme - Perato has offered some excellent suggestions for books covering the Russian Front, also check out this thread for further ideas:https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Just finished reading First One In, Last One Out: Auschwitz Survivor 31321 by Marilyn Shimon. Everytime I read one of the books about holocaust I am amazed at two things.1. How can people be so cruel on fellow human beings to be able to mete out such torture on so many people without any humanity.
2. How so many people found out such inner strength to bear such cruelty and adverse conditions and still survive. Truly amazing.
Gary wrote: "Welcome, Tom! I can recommend the following to keep you busy, should you need more:Panzer Battles (General-Major FW von Mellenthin), Pen & Sword Books;
A Writer at War (Vasily Grossman), Folio So..."
Me too. I am moving through it like walking through a snowdrift.
Theresa wrote: "Thanks for the warm welcome. My only regret is not having joined the group sooner! Now I just need to enhance my speed reading skills or figure out how to retire early so I can read more!"Watch your TBR shelf expand like a mushroom cloud. (In Scotland we have the best metaphors).
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Kanishka wrote: "Just finished reading First One In, Last One Out: Auschwitz Survivor 31321 by Marilyn Shimon. Everytime I read one of the books about holocaust I am amazed at two ..."So well put Kanishka.
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Perato wrote: "Graeme wrote: Russia is my 'weak area'. Any help would be great. "Alexander Hill's for the Red Army (structure, strategy, leadership, equipment etc.)[book:The Red Army and the Second World War|290..."
Thanks for taking the time and providing this Perato.
Hello everyone!My name is Emma. I've long been interested in WWII, especially in what the war did for civil rights and women's rights in the Allied nations. Although I've been interested in WWII for a while, I'm just starting out with really deliberately reading about it.
I look forward to participating in reciprocal learning with you all.
Thanks for having me!
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Hi Emma, welcome to the group. A fascinating area to be interested in. Feel free to chip in and enjoy. Cheers.
Hi Emma and welcome to the group. We have a thread on women in WW2 which may interest you:https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Emma wrote: "Hello everyone!My name is Emma. I've long been interested in WWII, especially in what the war did for civil rights and women's rights in the Allied nations. Although I've been interested in WWII ..."
Welcome to the group, Emma. I'm sure you will find plenty of recommendations await you!
Emma wrote: "Hello everyone!My name is Emma. I've long been interested in WWII, especially in what the war did for civil rights and women's rights in the Allied nations. Although I've been interested in WWII ..."
Welcome Emma, very nice to have you join us. There are some great stories in your interest areas. Better prepare your budget and your shelves for all the recs you'll get!
Emma wrote: "Hello everyone!My name is Emma. I've long been interested in WWII, especially in what the war did for civil rights and women's rights in the Allied nations. Although I've been interested in WWII ..."
Hi Emma
Welcome to the group. I'm sure you will never have enough time for things other than reading once we all begin recommending books to you. :-D
Kind regards
Gary
Greetings all, I’m Tim in southeastern Florida. I’ve been reading WW2 books for nearly a decade. But the underlying interest started back in grammar school in the 70s watching the bigger than life(at least to me it was) ‘The World at War’ on PBS.
Tim wrote: "Greetings all, I’m Tim in southeastern Florida. I’ve been reading WW2 books for nearly a decade. But the underlying interest started back in grammar school in the 70s watching the bigger than life(..."Hi Tim, and welcome to the group. Prepare to be deluged with reading suggestions. I have only been in the group for a short while and I have been surprised by just how many good books there are on WWII – it's great (but expensive, lol). Enjoy.
Tim wrote: "Greetings all, I’m Tim in southeastern Florida. I’ve been reading WW2 books for nearly a decade. But the underlying interest started back in grammar school in the 70s watching the bigger than life(..."Welcome, Tim.
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You guys are costing me, lol. I have wanted The World at War series for years but never got around to buying it. Have just ordered it as a Buy it Now on e-bay for £39.99 and free postage, which seems a good deal to me.I have ordered the 2016 Remastered Network Original blue-ray version because apparently the earlier Ultimate Restored version by Freemantle Media is badly cropped as it's targeted at widescreen TVs but cuts people's heads off in some of the interviews! So if you buy it, the Network version is the way to go.
Welcome to group Tim.I'm watching the World at War right now(well I've been watching it on&off for few months now). Let's just say it's in progress. I've watched once before with less knowledge. Even if it's a bit old, it has a plenty of interesting video material AND a lot of interviews from people that were central characters or are famous today such as; Jimmy Doolittle, Koichi Kido, Albert Speer, Karl Donitz. Francis de Guingand, Adolf Galland, Vera Lynn, Kay Summersby, Louis Mountbatten, Brian Horrocks, Lawton Collins, Traudl Junge, Primo Levi, Curtis LeMay and others.
Ps. Let's go Bolts.
Perato wrote: "Welcome to group Tim.I'm watching the World at War right now(well I've been watching it on&off for few months now). Let's just say it's in progress. I've watched once before with less knowledge. ..."
When I was in college and took a class on World War II, part of each class session was a viewing of one of the episodes from World at War. I have never watched all of it, but I do have it on DVD.
On a related note, anyone else have The Unknown War on DVD?
Arthur wrote: "is that the Burt Lancaster narrated one? I think its available for free on Tubi tv."Yes, narrated by Burt Lancaster. I bought the set several years ago--it's pretty good, although fairly loaded with propaganda images.
Marc wrote: "Arthur wrote: "is that the Burt Lancaster narrated one? I think its available for free on Tubi tv."Yes, narrated by Burt Lancaster. I bought the set several years ago--it's pretty good, although ..."
Agreed. If I recall correctly it went to far as to hold the Nazis responsible for the Katyn murders, long after the rest of the world essentially agreed that the Soviets were responsible. So there is some serious propoganda in an otherwise entertaining, and long series, of a documentary.
I've been a little hit or miss in the group lately, but I want to wish all the new comers a very warm welcome. We are for the most part a very friendly group. Please enjoy your time here
Hi, I am John, a travel writer who specializes in the battlefields of Europe. I'm always looking for interesting books about WW2 and look forward to learning from the group.
JD wrote: "Hi, I am John, a travel writer who specializes in the battlefields of Europe. I'm always looking for interesting books about WW2 and look forward to learning from the group."Welcome, John.
JD wrote: "Hi, I am John, a travel writer who specializes in the battlefields of Europe. I'm always looking for interesting books about WW2 and look forward to learning from the group."Welcome, John.
Welcome aboard, John. We can definitely recommend plenty of "interesting" books about World War II!!
Welcome John (JD)While wandering through the threads, there should be something to catch your eye
Enjoy
Perato wrote: "Welcome to group Tim.I'm watching the World at War right now(well I've been watching it on&off for few months now). Let's just say it's in progress. I've watched once before with less knowledge. ..."
That’s an apt description Perato. World at War is old and will lack what today’s extensive worldwide comms/database access can informationally provide to a modern documentary. But World At War’s age allowing for interviews with the, long since passed, major players of WW2 is utterly priceless. It makes it IMHO the gold standard of documentaries.
JD wrote: "Hi, I am John, a travel writer who specializes in the battlefields of Europe. I'm always looking for interesting books about WW2 and look forward to learning from the group."Welcome to the group John, battlefield travel writing is a great way to bring the past to life. Many here have done or want to do battlefield tours. We have an author's page if you want to post any references to your published works.
Thanks for mentioning the author's page Mike. If your interested John you can post details of your books in this thread:https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Hey - nice to meet everyone! I'm also new to this group. I'm Darin Pepple, an Army veteran, historian, and author. I'm originally from Lancaster, PA and now live outside DC in Falls Church VA. I just published an Iraq War novel called "Dodgebomb: Outside the Wire in the Second Iraq War." I first became interested in WW2 as a kid paging through my Dad's American Heritage Picture History of WW2 and I majored in Military History in college doing my thesis on Operation Sealion. The last WW2 book I finished was Stephen Ambrose's Eisenhower vol1 relating to Ike's entire military career. I'm really looking forward to this group and its discussions. Thanks for having me. -Darin
Darin wrote: "Hey - nice to meet everyone! I'm also new to this group. I'm Darin Pepple, an Army veteran, historian, and author. I'm originally from Lancaster, PA and now live outside DC in Falls Church VA. I ju..."Hi Darin. Welcome to the group. You're gonna love it but it will get expensive if you buy all the books we recommend, lol.
Yes, welcome to the group, Darin! I'll second Gary's comment above about expense, but I suspect that after majoring in military history you are no doubt already just as hopelessly addicted to books as the rest of us... 'Operation Sealion' must have made a fascinating thesis topic; I've often wondered what might have happened if the Wehrmacht had possessed officers of the calibre of the late Colonel Victor J. Croizat to plan & lead that operation. Of course, conditions were obviously somewhat different in the South Pacific than in Northern Europe, but I would imagine that amphibious warfare is amphibious warfare to a large extent.
I have been instructed to say 'Hi' to everyone.Hi.
Funny thing with me and WW2 books. I spend all day translating Russian-language books on it. When I'm done, I have no brain cells remaining to read more on the topic. Which is not to say I'm not interested
Books mentioned in this topic
The Battle of Britain: Five Months That Changed History, May-October 1940 (other topics)Afterbursts: Reliving World War II (other topics)
MacArthur's WWII Seaborne Communications: CP Fleet reports, brochures, memos from the scrapbooks of a Signal Corps Commanding Officer (other topics)
Last Citadel: A Novel of the Battle of Kursk (other topics)
The Ghost Tattoo (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Stephen Harding (other topics)Alex Kershaw (other topics)
James M. Fenelon (other topics)
Günter K. Koschorrek (other topics)
Rick Atkinson (other topics)
More...




Welcome to this group. Russia is my 'weak area'. Any help would be great.