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New Release Books on WW2
message 2151:
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Colin
(new)
May 25, 2018 05:44AM
I knew many of the men who fought there, grueling battle.
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Dimitri wrote: "Marc wrote: "But if a brick is what you're looking for, pick up one of these big boys:
Kursk: The Battle of ProkhorovkaThis ..."
And a price tag like being hit by one... cheapest is £205 on Amazoon!
Marc wrote: "Just found out this one comes out in May:
[book:Island Of Fire: The Battle For The Barrikady Gun Factory I..."The original was awesome. The detail and photos are great. It is great that Stackpole is releasing a more affordable copy
Something Pullizer - interesting from April: 
On Grand Strategy by John Lewis GaddisSynopsis:
For over 20 years, a select group of Yale undergraduates has been admitted into the year-long "Grand Strategy" seminar team-taught by John Lewis Gaddis and Paul Kennedy. Its purpose: to provide a grounding in strategic decision-making in the face of crisis to prepare future American leaders for important work. Now, John Lewis Gaddis has transposed the experience of that course into a wonderfully succinct, lucid and inspirational book, a view from the commanding heights of statesmanship across the landscape of world history from the ancient Greeks to Lincoln, and beyond. A thrilling experience for history lovers and a necessary one for anyone serious about the art of leadership, On Grand Strategy is the very definition of a master class.
P.S. it concerns Herodotus, Thucydides, Sun Tzu, Octavianus, Augustus, St. Augustinus, Machiavelli, Elizabeth I, Philip II, the founding fathers, von Clausewitz, Tolstoy, Lincoln, Wilson, Roosevelt & Isaiah Berlin. So up to & including WWII.
Sounds pretty interesting Dimitri :)
The Churchill society advertises as part of its annual conference (in colonial Williamsburg!) the following: One of the central features of the conference will be the launch of Andrew Roberts’s major new Churchill biography Walking with Destiny. Based on original research in the Royal Archives, this is certain to be the new standard biography for our generation.
So mark November for:
Churchill: Walking with Destiny by Andrew RobertsAnother playmate for Roy Jenkins, Carlo d'Este, Gilbert's leviathan...etc...
Well he did a good job on Napoleon, be interesting what he has to say about Churchill!
I saw the author on BookTV this weekend - a new book on the Flying Tigers
https://www.c-span.org/video/?445846-...
Have to read that, I knew and interviewed a few of those guys, Tex Hill, Dick Rossi, Greg Boyington, et al. Great guys.
Just heard about this one yesterday:
Big Week: The Biggest Air Battle of World War TwoComes out earlier in the U.K. than it does here in the States, I think September v. November.
Can't wait for that one, I interviewed over 30 people who were involved on both sides of Big Week.
I have a copy sitting in my online shopping trolley waiting for the release date :)
Arnhem, the Battle of the Bridges by William F. BuckinghamThe new hardcover edition has been postponed to august 2019, g_d it!
Dimitri wrote: "Arnhem, the Battle of the Bridges by William F. BuckinghamThe new hardcover edition has been postponed to aug..."
Damn it, I've had a copy on order for over year!
Any info on this one...
comes out in July I think.
May I bring your attention to The Dragontail Buttonhole ( Nazi occupation of Prague) and Cafe Budapest,( France's defeat) ... two WW2 novels with a third ( Starts during the Blitz in London) to come out in November. These are autobiographical fiction based on my family's odyssey to the UK. Also concern the reforming of the Czech army in the South of France in 1940 and an emergency evacuation by the British Navy. These novels are not COMBAT or HOLOCAUST novels but address the issues and dangers faced by refugee families who also fought and how the family bonds were eroded. Good Amazon reviews. I researched these for 20 years. I'm 81 now!
Peter wrote: "May I bring your attention to The Dragontail Buttonhole ( Nazi occupation of Prague) and Cafe Budapest,( France's defeat) ... two WW2 novels with a third ( Starts during the Blitz in London) to com..."The Dragontail Buttonhole is on my TBR list and undoubtedly I shall read Cafe Budapest.
A March 2019 release:
by Robin CrossDescription:
Forgotten Victory is the story of “Operation Dragoon,” the Allied invasion of the South of France on August 15, 1944. It was, in effect, the second D-Day, launched two months after “Overlord,” the Allied invasion of Normandy. As such, it has often been overshadowed by its predecessor, but it significance cannot be underestimated.
“Dragoon” was a largely American-French operation in which the British, who had argued for action in northern Italy, played a smaller role. After nearly five years of conflict, British war stamina had been severely sapped. In contrast, the French, who had been excluded from the overall planning of D-Day, played an important role in Dragoon, supplying the majority of the ground troops in a campaign which began on the beaches of the Riviera and ended in the cool, clear air of the Alpes Maritimes, the sacred ground of France.
Forgotten Victory provides for the first time a complete overview of the liberation of the South of France—from strategic decisions made from the Allied and German high commands to the intelligence war waged by Allied code-breakers; from the German defeat of French resistance forces on the Vergers to the exploits of individual OSS agents on the ground as they strove to keep pace with a fast-moving battlefield. This is the story of the Allies inflicting on the Germany Army a Blitzkrieg-style defeat, expunging the lingering memories of the catastrophe of 1940.
Jerome wrote: "A March 2019 release: by Robin Cross..."Outstanding, always wanted to read about this campaign. Added.
Mike wrote: "Jerome wrote: "A March 2019 release: by Robin Cross..."Outstanding, always wanted ..."
Hope it covers the Nisei 442nd appropriately:
Lost Battalions: Going for Broke in the Vosges, Autumn 1944
Yep, added to the list :)
Yaarrr !! a happy 75th to our libraries !!
This book is due out in November 2018 and may be of interest to some members:
Smashing Hitler's Panzers: The Defeat of the Hitler Youth Panzer Division in the Battle of the Bulge by Steven ZalogaDescription:
In his riveting new book, Steven Zaloga describes how American foot soldiers faced down Hitler’s elite armored spearhead—the Hitler Youth Panzer Division—in the snowy Ardennes forest during one of World War II’s biggest battles, the Battle of the Bulge. The Hitler Youth division was assigned the mission of the Führer’s Ardennes offensive: capture the main highway to the primary objective, Antwerp, whose seizure Hitler believed would end the war. Had the Germans taken the Belgian port, it would have cut off the Americans from the British and perhaps led to a second, more devastating Dunkirk. In Zaloga’s careful reconstruction, a succession of American infantry units—the 99th Division, the 2nd Division, and the 1st Division (the famous Big Red One)—fought a series of battles that denied Hitler the best roads to Antwerp and doomed his offensive. American G.I.s—some of them seeing combat for the very first time—had stymied Hitler’s panzers and grand plans.
Well, calling the 12th SS H-J Division "elite" is a stretch. The senior leadership of the division down to the company level was staffed with battle seasoned veterans, with several hard corps types at the helm. However, the rank file enlisted volunteers of the H_J (and the rest of the new Waffen SS) in 1944 were as green as their Allied counterparts, and they had less training before deployment.
I wouldn't disagree with you Colin, they were certainly highly indoctrinated and motivated but not the elite of the Waffen-SS, but nevertheless ferocious fighters. I suppose the publishers need an angle to make their books sell.
A June 2019 release:
by Robert C. SternDescription:
By the beginning of May 1942, five months after the Pearl Harbor attack, the US Navy was ready to challenge the Japanese moves in the South Pacific. When the Japanese sent troops to New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, the Americans sent the carriers Lexington and Yorktown to counter the move, setting the stage for the Battle of the Coral Sea.
In Scratch One Flattop: The First Carrier Air Campaign and the Battle of the Coral Sea, historian Robert C. Stern analyzes the Battle of the Coral Sea, the first major fleet engagement where the warships were never in sight of each other. Unlike the Battle of Midway, the Battle of the Coral Sea has received remarkably little study. Stern covers not only the action of the ships and their air groups but also describes the impact of this pivotal engagement. His analysis looks at the short-term impact as well as the long-term implications, including the installation of inert gas fuel-system purging on all American aircraft carriers and the push to integrate sensor systems with fighter direction to better protect against enemy aircraft.
This essential text on the first carrier air campaign, Scratch One Flattop is a landmark study on an overlooked battle in the first months of the United States’ engagement in World War II.
This book is due out in October 2018 (UK) and may interest those members who enjoy books on the Eastern Front and German armoured operations:
Panzers on the Vistula: Retreat and Rout in East Prussia 1945 by Schaufler HansDescription:
Hans Schaufler fought as the commander of a Jagdpanther tank destroyer in rearguard actions against the Red Army in East Prussia in 1945. Then, as an infantryman, he took part in the doomed defence of Danzig and made a daring escape across the Baltic in a small boat. This is his story, and it is the story of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians who were caught up in the chaos and tragedy of the German retreat. His eyewitness account is one of the most revealing records we have of the experience of the collapse of the Third Reich in the east. As well as giving a vivid insight into the German army's tactics as they fell back before the Soviet advance, he describes the appalling conditions and the fear and panic that gripped the city. Acute shortages of men, equipment, ammunition and fuel crippled the defence, but extraordinary resilience, heroism and ingenuity still motivated the soldiers who were fighting for a lost cause and facing certain defeat.
Jerome wrote: "A June 2019 release: by Robert C. SternDescription:
By the beginning of Ma..."
Thx Jerome, this'll go nicely with all those Midway books.
An April 2019 release:
by James M. FenelonDescription:
On the morning of March 24, 1945, more than two thousand Allied aircraft droned through a cloudless sky toward Germany. Escorted by swarms of darting fighters, the armada of transport planes carried 17,000 troops to be dropped, via parachute and glider, on the far banks of the Rhine River. Four hours later, after what was the war’s largest airdrop, all major objectives had been seized. The invasion smashed Germany’s last line of defense and gutted Hitler’s war machine; the war in Europe ended less than two months later.
Four Hours of Fury follows the 17th Airborne Division as they prepare for Operation Varsity, a campaign that would rival Normandy in scale and become one of the most successful and important of the war. Even as the Third Reich began to implode, it was vital for Allied troops to have direct access into Germany to guarantee victory—the 17th Airborne secured that bridgehead over the River Rhine. And yet their story has until now been relegated to history’s footnotes.
Reminiscent of A Bridge Too Far and Masters of the Air, Four Hours of Fury does for the 17th Airborne what Band of Brothers did for the 101st. It is a captivating, action-packed tale of heroism and triumph spotlighting one of World War II’s most under-chronicled and dangerous operations.
Looks like a good one, thanks for posting the details Jerome.
Jerome wrote: "A June 2019 release: by Robert C. SternDescription:
By the beginning of Ma..."
Thanks for notice Jerome this has been added to the shopping list!!
A January 2019 release:
by Jonathan FennellDescription:
Fighting the People's War is an unprecedented, panoramic history of the 'citizen armies' of the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa, who together made up the British and Commonwealth armies in the Second World War.
Drawing on new sources to reveal the true wartime experience of the ordinary rank and file, Jonathan Fennell fundamentally challenges our understanding of the War and of the relationship between conflict and socio-political change. He uncovers how fractures on the home front had profound implications for the performance of the British and Commonwealth armies and he traces how soldiers' political beliefs, many of which emerged as a consequence of their combat experience, proved instrumental to the socio-political changes of the postwar era.
Fighting the People's War transforms our understanding of how the great battles were won and lost as well as how the postwar societies were forged.
Should be an interesting book Jerome, thanks for posting the details.
A May 2019 release:
by Jeffrey PlowmanDescription:
Blitzkrieg. Lightning war. We are all familiar with the rapid thrusts the Germans made in the early days of the Second World War that saw the demise first of Poland and then the Low Countries and France. But were the German tactics, which appeared at the time to smash through all resistance, really as devastating as they seemed? That is the major question Jeffrey Plowman asks in this absorbing new study of the campaign in Greece in 1941.
Within three weeks they overran the country but, by looking into the campaign in detail, the author claims that at no time did the Germans gain ascendancy over the token British and Anzac force sent to bolster the Greek defenders. They came close to doing so, but the Anzac troops and their Greek allies put up a spirited defense that sometimes turned the Germans’ own methods against them.
This perceptive new account should prompt a reassessment of the Greek campaign. It also offers a fascinating insight into the weaknesses of the Germans’ all-conquering method of warfare which became increasing apparent during the later stages of the war.
The greatest problem for the Germans was that their military tactics, equipment and training for armored forces was neutralized in the mountainous terrain. The Balkans became primary area of operations for German mountain warfare units both Heer and Waffen SS Gebirgsajaeger as a result. During this campaign Hitler had a meeting with Gen. Eduard Dietl, who informed Hitler that "our forces are not properly equipped or prepared for this, just like the Italians in Albania."
Jerome wrote: "A May 2019 release: by Jeffrey Plowman"A fine job as usual, plugging the lesser-known holes in our WWII knowledge, Jerome.
An April 2019 release:
by Kevin A. MahoneyDescription:
By the summer of 1945, Adm. Bull Halsey's U.S. Third Fleet had fought its way far enough in the Pacific that its carrier-based fighters could launch attacks on Japan itself in preparation for the invasion of the home islands, planned for the fall of 1945. This mission U.S. Navy fighters, fighter-bombers, dive-bombers, and torpedo-bombers--Hellcats, Avengers, Helldivers, and more--carried out with a vengeance, striking airfields, industrial targets, and coastal facilities while flying into the teeth of Japanese air defenses. Meanwhile, the fleet's aircraft continued to attack the Japanese navy (sinking a submarine from the air, attacking--but not sinking--the famous battleship Nagato, and attacking other ships), interdict enemy merchant shipping, and defend against kamikaze attacks on Third Fleet. As late as the morning of August 15--the day the ceasefire took effect (before the formal signing on September 2)--the fighters saw hard fighting, downing Japanese fighters making last-ditch, almost literally last-minute attacks on the U.S. fleet.
Numerous books have covered the American bomber war against Japan in World War II, from the Doolittle Raid to Curtis Lemay's strategic bombing campaign, the firebombing of Tokyo, and the dropping of the atomic bombs. But other than memoirs and bit parts in air war histories, fighter and fighter-bomber operations have received short shrift. Setting the Rising Sun corrects that oversight, zooming in on fighters during the war's final two months. In this carefully researched narrative history, Kevin Mahoney recounts this vital period of the Pacific War with drama and attention to detail. He draws on both American and Japanese perspectives to reconstruct intense combat missions and place them in the context of a war that was hurtling toward its conclusion in two mushroom clouds in Japan.
It seems that Robert Kershaw has two new books being released later this year covering D-Day and Normandy. I think they are two different books:
The Fury of Battle: D-Day as It Happened, Hour by Hour by Robert KershawDescription:
Eyewitness accounts have created a maze of contradictory information about the Normandy landings. Films and TV documentaries tend to glorify the D-Day tale, told through iconic heroes, almost akin to a Homeric Iliad account. Objective truth is so much more difficult to achieve. There were heroes yes, who were brave, generous and resolute in sacrificing thousands of lives to free people they had never met. But there was also human frailty in abundance.
The assault on the Normandy beaches was exactly what German propaganda foresaw should be the consequence of trying to breach Hitler's invincible Atlantic Wall. The first hours appeared to realize the Allies worst fears. If this resistance and intensity of firepower had been replicated on the other four beaches, the story of D-Day might have had a different outcome.
This book follows the assault on Omaha Beach hour by hour, and draws on the experiences of the German enemy and French allies and civilians, to provide a new and unique insight into perhaps the most important turning point in modern history.
Landing on the Edge of Eternity: Twenty-Four Hours at Omaha Beach by Robert KershawDescription:
Before World War II, Normandy's Plage d'Or coast was best known for its sleepy villages and holiday destinations. Early in 1944, German commander Field Marshal Erwin Rommel took one look at the gentle, sloping sands and announced "They will come here!" He was referring to "Omaha Beach"--the prime American D-Day landing site. The beach was subsequently transformed into three miles of lethal, bunker-protected arcs of fire, with seaside chalets converted into concrete strongpoints, fringed by layers of barbed wire and mines. The Germans called it "the Devil's Garden."
When Company A of the US 116th Regiment landed on Omaha Beach in D-Day's first wave on 6th June 1944, it lost 96% of its effective strength. Sixteen teams of US engineers arriving in the second wave were unable to blow the beach obstacles, as first wave survivors were still sheltering behind them. This was the beginning of the historic day that Landing on the Edge of Eternity narrates hour by hour--rom midnight to midnight--tracking German and American soldiers fighting across the beachhead.
Mustered on their troop transport decks at 2am, the American infantry departed in landing craft at 5am. Skimming across high waves, deafened by immense broadsides from supporting battleships and weak from seasickness, they caught sight of land at 6.15. Eleven minutes later, the assault was floundering under intense German fire. Two and a half hours in, General Bradley, commanding the landings aboard USS Augusta, had to decide if to proceed or evacuate. On June 6th there were well over 2,400 casualties on Omaha Beach - easily D-Day's highest death toll.
The Wehrmacht thought they had bludgeoned the Americans into bloody submission, yet by mid-afternoon, the American troops were ashore. Why were the casualties so grim, and how could the Germans have failed? Juxtaposing the American experience--pinned down, swamped by a rising tide, facing young Wehrmacht soldiers fighting desperately for their lives, Kershaw draws on eyewitness accounts, memories, letters, and post-combat reports to expose the true horrors of Omaha Beach.
These are stories of humanity, resilience, and dark humor; of comradeship and a gritty patriotism holding beleaguered men together. Landing on the Edge of Eternity is a dramatic historical ride through an amphibious landing that looked as though it might never succeed.
'Aussie Rick' wrote: "It seems that Robert Kershaw has two new books being released later this year covering D-Day and Normandy. I think they are two different books: Dunno, AR. Page count's almost identical, maybe he's using different titles for the U.S. and British/European market, like Richard Overy's book on the bombing war a few years back.
Yeah that's what I thought as well Dimitri but the description seems different (slightly) for both.
I am asking around on this as his website has no clues up. The Fury of Battle has a Uk publisher (Amberley) and Landing on the Edge of Eternity a US publisher (Pegasus) so he could be doing an Overy (spelling is important!). On that dad joke happy Fathers Day from Oz!I just saw the next english translation of a volume of Senshi Sōsho is due out next month.
The Operations of the Navy in the Dutch East Indies and the Bay of Bengal
Good to have more of the view from the other side made accessible to non-Japanese speakers. Just like the last one translated it is available in hardback via Uni of Chicago press or a free pdf is supposed to be coming out as well. At the bottom of this webpage is the link to the free pdf of the first volume to see if this is up your alley. https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/hand...
This new release may be of some interest to a few group members:
The Allies: Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, and the Unlikely Alliance That Won World War II by Winston GroomDescription:
Best-selling author Winston Groom tells the complex story of how Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin--the three iconic and vastly different Allied leaders--aligned to win World War II and created a new world order.
By the end of World War II, 59 nations were arrayed against the axis powers, but three great Allied leaders--Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin--had emerged to control the war in Europe and the Pacific. Vastly different in upbringing and political beliefs, they were not always in agreement--or even on good terms. But in the end, these three men presided over a new world order. Best-selling historian Winston Groom returns to tell one of the biggest stories of the 20th century: The interwoven and remarkable tale, and a fascinating study of leadership styles, of three world leaders who fought the largest war in history.
Travelers in the Third Reich: The Rise of Fascism: 1919–1945 by Julia Boyd.Here is a review from The Washington Post by Michael Dirda of Julia Boyd's book:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...
Pretty good review, the book should make for interesting reading. Thanks for posting the details MR9.
'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Here is a book due for release in Australia in June 2011 that may interest readers who enjoy accounts of fighter planes and air battles; "Darwin Spitfires: the Real Battle for Australia" by Anthony..."Never heard of this book. Would be interested to read this. Thankyou for posting.
This American edition expected for January 2019. Even tough Waterstone's is UK-based, it doesn't stock the 2016 original. 
Britain's War: II: A New World, 1942-1947byDaniel TodmanSynopsis:
This book opens with one of the greatest disasters in British military history - the fall of Singapore in February 1942. Unlike in the aftermath of Dunkirk there was here simply no redeeming narrative available - Britain had been totally defeated by a far smaller Japanese force in her grandly proclaimed invincible Asian 'fortress'. The unique skill of Daniel Todman's epic history of the War lies in its never losing sight of the inter-connectedness of the British experience. The agony of Singapore, for example, is seen through the eyes of its inhabitants, of its defenders, of Churchill's Cabinet and of ordinary people at home. Each stage of the War, from the nadir of early 1942 to the great series of victories in 1944-5 and on to Indian independence, is described both as it was understood at the time and in the light of the very latest historical research. Todman dramatizes the dreadful uncertainties of Britain's position and the plight of families doomed to spend year after year struggling with bombing, rationing, exhausting work and, above all, the absence of millions of family members scattered around the country and the world. Britain's War is a triumph of narrative, empathy and research, as gripping in its handling of individual witnesses to the war as of the gigantic military, social, technological and economic forces that swept the conflict along. It is the definitive account of a drama which reshaped our country.
Sounds like an interesting book Dimitri!
Here is a book due out in early 2019 that is sure to interest a few group members:
Spearhead: An American Tank Gunner, a German Tank Gunner, and the World War II Encounter That Linked Them Forever by Adam MakosDescription:
From the bestselling author of A Higher Call comes the untold story of a World War II tank company fighting from Normandy to the heart of the Third Reich, where a humble gunner would meet destiny in an iconic duel. Clarence Smoyer began the war as a gentle giant, a factory worker from Pennsylvania coal country reluctant to unleash the power of the Sherman tank he crewed. But as his tank platoon fought its way across Europe, into Germany, and he watched his friends cut down one by one, he learned to kill with deadly accuracy and efficiency, in a new state-of-the-art Pershing tank that spearheaded the way forward. His fight would climax in Cologne, in the shadow of the great cathedral, where he took a shot immortalized in a chance film clip--and where he would later forge a friendship with the German tanker he faced in a dramatic duel.
For those interested here is some footage and a decent summary of this particular action at Cologne:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gkyF...
I was in discussion with Adam as he was writing the book, we have worked together for years.
Colin wrote: "I was in discussion with Adam as he was writing the book, we have worked together for years."It will be interesting to see if he can work the same magic on this story as he did with his book "A Higher Call".
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