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New Release Books on WW2


Description:
As the Allies raced to defeat Hitler, four men, all in the same unit, earned medal after medal for battlefield heroism. Maurice "Footsie" Britt, a former professional football player, became the very first American to receive every award for valor in a single war. Michael Daly was a West Point dropout who risked his neck over and over to keep his men alive. Keith Ware would one day become the first and only draftee in history to attain the rank of general before serving in Vietnam. In WWII, Ware owed his life to the finest soldier he ever commanded, a baby-faced Texan named Audie Murphy. In the campaign to liberate Europe, each would gain the ultimate accolade, the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Tapping into personal interviews and a wealth of primary source material, Alex Kershaw has delivered his most gripping account yet of American courage, spanning more than six hundred days of increasingly merciless combat, from the deserts of North Africa to the dark heart of Nazi Germany. Once the guns fell silent, these four exceptional warriors would discover just how heavy the Medal of Honor could be--and how great the expectations associated with it. Having survived against all odds, who among them would finally find peace?


I have read this book. Really unputdownable..


Description:
As the Allies raced to defeat..."
Alex Kershaw's new book sounds very interesting. Thanks for posting the details Jerome.

There was a TV programme on Abba Kovner and the Nakam, how they tried to poison 6m Germans via the water suppy, how the British frustrated that, how they poisoned the bread for the SS prisoners instead, how US medics fought that. How Kovner gives up on revenge and fights for Israel instead, an inspiritional leader.
Simon


The book will be released on the 16th of November, 2021. But it's worth waiting. So far, the best history book this year for me, focusing on international politics on the five days between Pearl Harbor and Hitler's declaration of war on the United States.
My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Several years ago, I read "The Avengers: A Jewish War Story". There was also a movie version loosely based on the book that starred Daniel Craig, which I saw at the cinema years ago.



Description:
This book is the first comprehensive account in the English language that addresses the genesis, organization, and operations of Italian forces that fought alongside the Germans and other contingents allied with the Germans in Russia beginning with Operation Barbarossa in June 1941 until the defeat of the Italian forces there in early 1943.
In accordance with his anti-Bolshevik ideology, Mussolini felt obligated to join with Germany’s attack against the Soviet Union. Italy thus formed the CSIR (Corpo di Spedizione in Russia – Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia), consisting of some 62,000 men in three divisions (two infantry and one cavalry, plus a Black Shirt legion) which was sent to participate in the Axis attack against the Soviet Union in June 1941. In July 1942 the CSIR was upgraded to the ARMIR (Armata Italiana in Russia – Italian Army in Russia, also known as the Italian 8th Army), consisting of seven additional divisions (four infantry and three mountain or alpini). By late 1942 the size of the ARMIR had grown to some 235,000 men.
However, both the CSIR and the ARMIR suffered from organizational shortcomings as well as lack of proper equipment and clothing to cope with the operational environment in Russia. Throughout 1941, along with the Germans, the CSIR enjoyed a number of successful operations. With the advent of the ARMIR, initial actions were also favorable for the Italians, but by December 1942 the Italians, who were deployed along the Don River, were subjected to a massive Soviet operation, Little Uranus, which forced the Italians to withdraw under unimaginably harsh conditions. The Italians were unprepared for the brutal Russian weather as well as for the overwhelming Soviet superiority in men and equipment that they had to face. Nevertheless, the Italians fought well, especially the troops of the Italian alpine corps, but ultimately were defeated, the survivors returning to Italy.

I didn't get any ARC, I just found it looking up new releases.


The book will be released on the 16th of November, 2021. But it's worth waiting. So far, the best hist..."
Sounds like a pretty interesting book, thanks for posting the details Darya and sharing your review.


Description:
Acclaimed historian Stephen Robinson brings to life a legendary last stand.
Shanghai 1937. With invading Japanese troops poised to capture one of the world’s greatest cities after almost three months of brutal urban warfare, the Chinese Army begins to retreat – except for a single battalion that stays behind to fight. These soldiers led by Lieutenant Colonel Xie Jinyuan, known as the ‘Eight Hundred Heroes’, defended Sihang Warehouse – a six-storey concrete building and natural fortress. The men repulsed waves of Japanese attacks with intense bravery as thousands of spectators looked on from the relative safety of the British Concession inside Shanghai’s International Settlement. Western journalists with front row seats to the spectacle spread the story across the globe as the plight of the heroes captured the sympathy of the world. Their valour raised Chinese morale as did the actions of the heroine Yang Huimin, a Girl Guide who delivered a Chinese flag to the defenders that flew over Sihang Warehouse as a beacon of hope.
Eight Hundred Heroes is an in-depth account, resulting from extensive research that for the first time comprehensively utilises first-hand accounts of the Chinese participants and the observations of westerners who witnessed the battle at close range. It also explains how this incredible feat of heroism became an enduring myth that helped define modern China.


https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.p...


Another interesting book to keep an eye out for!


Description:
At the end of the Second World War, hundreds of thousands of German children were sent to the front lines in the largest mobilisation of underage combatants by any country before or since. Hans Dunker was just one of these children. Identified as extremely gifted aged 9, he left his home in South America in 1937 in pursuit of a ‘proper’ education in Nazi Germany. Instead, he and his schoolfriends, lacking adequate training, ammunition and rations, were sent to the Eastern Front when the war was already lost in the spring of 1945.
Using her father’s diary and other documents, Helene Munson traces Hans’ journey from a student at Feldafing School to a soldier fighting in Zawada, a village in present-day Czech Republic. What is revealed is an education system so inhumane that until recently, post-war Germany worked hard to keep it a secret.
This is Hans’ story, but also the story of a whole generation of German children who silently carried the shame of what they suffered into old age. It reveals the true cost and long-lasting impacts of such experiences – not just to them, but also to their families and future generations, a warning to a world where thousands of child soldiers are still sent to fight in armed conflicts.


Description:
The stunning and decisive battle of Midway was perhaps the most crucial naval battle in the Pacific theater during World War II. Walter Lord explained away the US victory at Midway against a numerically superior and apparently more skilled Japanese fleet due to ‘Lady Luck.' In The Silver Waterfall acclaimed historian Brendan Simms and historian and military veteran Steve McGregor show it was no such thing. Luck had little to do with it.
Instead the authors show how the forces of industrial dynamism and innovation were central to the US being able to win the war in the Pacific. Engineers, machinists, test pilots, and a willingness to experiment at scale were vital to the creation of the decisive element that would sink the hopes of Japan along with the pride of their aircraft carrier fleet: the Douglas Dauntless Dive Bomber dive bomber, whose vicious near vertical plummet from the sky to deliver a brutally accurate attack was the “silver waterfall” that the Japanese quickly came to dread. In a few deadly minutes they changed the course of the war in the Pacific.
Equally important, the Navy drew on the skills of a wide variety of immigrants or descendants of immigrants--especially those from Germany, the principal hostile power. The engineer who designed the plane which decided the Battle of Midway was Ed Heinemann, the strategist who decided America would defend Midway Island was Chester Nimitz; and the pilot who symbolized American performance on the day was Dusty Kleiss. Without these men, America could not have designed, planned, or done what was needed to win. The Silver Waterfall offers a revelatory new history of Midway, showing that if the Americans were lucky, they made their own luck.


Description:
George S. Patton Jr. lived an exciting life in war and peace, but he is best remembered for his World War II battlefield exploits. Patton's War: An American General’s Combat Leadership: November 1942–July 1944, the first of three volumes, follows the general from the beaches of Morocco to the fields of France, right before the birth of Third Army on the continent.
In highly engaging fashion, Hymel uncovers new facts and challenges long-held beliefs about the mercurial Patton, not only examining his relationships with his superiors and fellow generals and colonels, but also with the soldiers of all ranks whom he led. Using new sources unavailable to previous historians and through extensive research of soldiers' memoirs and interviews, Hymel adds a new dimension to the telling of Patton's WWII story.
Reviews:
“This book will be a worthy addition to the biographies of Patton. It should find a place on the bookshelf of every Pattonophile—and I’m certain that it will.”—Flint Whitlock, military historian, former U.S. Army officer, and editor of WWII Quarterly
“Hymel’s new work is compelling. His accounts of Patton reveal a wartime genius who was far from perfect in many other aspects of his personality. Hymel’s best contribution to the story of Patton is his use of oral histories from the Library of Congress’ Veterans Oral History Project and the WWII Veterans Survey Collection.”—Leo Barron, author of Patton's First Victory: How General George Patton Turned the Tide in North Africa and Defeated the Afrika Korps at El Guettar
"With Patton’s War, Kevin Hymel has established himself as our leading expert on America’s favorite general. Deeply researched and well crafted, a must for readers of military history."—Mitchell Yockelson, author of The Paratrooper Generals: Matthew Ridgway, Maxwell Taylor and the American Airborne from D-Day through Normandy
"A fascinating and highly informative work that sheds new light on the wartime career of the legendary General George S. Patton. Hymel's book should appeal not only to students of Patton's life, but to anyone with an interest in the Mediterranean and European theaters in World War II. Highly recommended."—Joseph Balkoski, author of Omaha Beach: D-Day, June 6, 1944
"I thoroughly enjoyed Kevin Hymel's well written book. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I learned about the strategic vision and human dimensions of my grandfather. For anyone seeking an unfiltered look at General Patton, this balanced, highly detailed biography is an important addition to any library."—Benjamin Patton, author of Growing Up Patton
“With Patton’s War, Kevin Hymel has established himself as one of the finest historians in the United States. His depth of research and keen observations about General George S. Patton, Jr., in this fascinating, well-paced book, breaks new ground in the study of the famous World War II battlefield commander.”—Brian M. Sobel, author of The Fighting Pattons
“Volume 1 of Kevin Hymel's Patton's War gives us something we badly needed: a contemporary view of George Patton's career as a World War II combat commander. This first volume follows the General from the beach at Fedala, Morocco on the first day of Operation TORCH, to his triumph at El Guettar in Tunisia 146 days later. The book then follows Patton during the Sicily Campaign: from Gela to Palermo and onward to the slapping incidents that brought on his intermission as a battlefield commander. Volume 1 concludes with D-Day and the Dawn of the U.S. Third Army. The pacing of George Patton's career during the Second World War coincidentally follows the ups and downs of perfect screenplay form, so the subject is already readable. Kevin Hymel's thorough command of the literature and historiography of Patton's life and career is an exceptional compliment to that natural structure. But this is no hagiography: Hymel gives us the arrogant Patton who was frequently guilty of racial condescension and had a penchant for berating soldiers as much as he gives us the redemptive Patton who survived his errors and misjudgments to become an American legend. This is precisely the kind of brutal honesty that the subject deserves and Kevin Hymel is clearly the right historian to introduce Patton to the 21st Century."—Marty Morgan, Author/Historian


The new edition of the 1966 book. 4 stars! My review is below!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[bookcover:Patton's War: A..."
I have know Kevin Hymel since the mid 1990's when he was an editor at Cowles (later renamed Primedia Publications) and he is a solid historian.


The new edition of the 1966 book. 4 stars! My review is below!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show......"
Great review Darya!


Eyewitness to Wehrmacht Atrocities on the Eastern Front
The book will be released in January 2022. But I can't recommend it to people, knowledgeable in the subject. The viewpoint is highly personal, with no big picture as a frame. My review is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


Description:
For 40 years from 1961, the late Eric Hammel interviewed more than 150 American participants in the air campaign at Guadalcanal, none of whom are still alive. These interviews are the most comprehensive first-person accounts of the battle assembled by any historian. More importantly, they involved the junior officers and enlisted men whose stories and memories were not part of the official history, thus providing a unique insight.
The battle of Guadalcanal was the first offensive operation undertaken by the US and its allies in the Pacific War. "Cactus," the code name for the island, became a sinkhole for Japanese air and naval power, experienced forces whose losses could never be made good. The three months of air battles between August 20, 1942, when the first Marine air unit arrived on the island, and November 15, when the last enemy attempt to retake the island was defeated, were perhaps the most important of the Pacific War. After November 15, 1942, the US never looked back as its forces moved across the Pacific to the war's inevitable conclusion.
The Cactus Air Force is a joint project between the late Eric Hammel and Pacific War expert Thomas McKelvey Cleaver, and is unlike any other of the many histories of this event that have been published over the years.


Description:
For 40 years from 1961, the late Eric Hammel interviewed ..."
One to keep an eye-out for!

No image to post yet but it is on Amazon, Barnes&Noble etc.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.c...


Description:
March 1945. Allied troops are poised to cross the Rhine and sweep on into Germany. Victory is finally within their grasp. But if they believe this victory can be easily won, they face swift disillusionment. The final 100 days of the Second World War will prove to be bitterly and bloodily fought, village by village, town by town.
In Victory in the West acclaimed military historian Peter Caddick-Adams brings this closing stage of the Allies' fight against Nazi Germany brilliantly to life. He explores the immense challenges they faced in crossing the Rhine on a 300-mile front that stretched from Rees in the north. He tells stories of individual acts of resolve and heroism, of often exhausted troops pressing forward attacks in the face of ferocious resistance, and of their shocked first encounters with the barbarities of Hitler's regime as they reached the gates of Buchenwald, Belsen and Dachau. And he goes behind the front line to analyse the strategic decisions made at Allied headquarters and to offer pin-sharp portraits of the military leaders.
Throughout he draws on a vast range of memoirs and personal interviews with survivors to give a vivid sense of what it was like to fight one's way across hostile and devastated territory and encounter enemy combatants and civilians face to face. Compulsively readable, this will be the standard work on the closing days of the Second World War for a generation.


Description:
March 1945. Allied troops are poised to cross the Rhine and sweep on into Ge..."
he's used the pandemic period productively. My priority "is it out yet?" purchase for '22 !


Description:
March 1945. Allied troops are poised to cross the Rhine and sweep on into Ge..."
I think this is the UK version of this one:



Description:
March 1945. Allied troops are poised to cross the Rhine and s..."
Oh, thanks, Marc! I forget coming across that one last year.

This new book may be of some interest to members. (Full disclosure here. Yes, I am the author).
Based on real events in WWII. Three men fought for their country in the Arctic convoys, then for their sanity and dignity, subjected to experimental psychiatry at a specialist facility set up by the British Admiralty. To the navy, they were faulty parts, not constitutionally suited to war at sea. To the public, they were cowards, poltroons and malingerers.
This is a story about courage and survival.
Available on Amazon.co.uk

This new book may be of some interest to members. (Full disclosure here. Yes, I am the author).
Based on real events in WWII. Three men fought for their country in t..."
Sounds very interesting, Martin. I too am a fan of finding the "men behind the men," the forgotten and disregarded.



Description:
The US Eighth Air Force-known as the “Mighty Eighth”-was a combat air force activated in Georgia, USA on January 28, 1942. Its bomber command soon moved to Northern Europe to conduct strategic bombing missions, seeking to destroy Germany's ability to wage war. Among the major operations it participated in were “Big Week” in February 1944; the D-Day landings in June 1944; and the defeat of the Luftwaffe and destruction of German industry. Eighth Air Force was the largest of the deployed combat Army Air Forces in numbers of personnel, aircraft, and equipment. At peak strength, Eighth Air Force had 40 heavy bomber groups, 15 fighter groups, and four specialized support groups.
This work provides a superbly illustrated and fully comprehensive exploration of the Mighty Eighth's bomber and fighter planes, its incredibly brave pilots and crew, and its daring and dramatic operations. It also explores the careers of key personalities associated with the Mighty Eighth, such as Earle Partridge, James Doolittle, and William Kepner. Packed with hundreds of color aircraft profiles, battlescene artworks, and period photographs, The Mighty Eighth provides a truly comprehensive look at the illustrious history of the US Eighth Air Force.


Description:
The British evacuation from the beaches of the small French port town of Dunkirk is one of the iconic moments of military history, The battle has captured the popular imagination through LIFE magazine photo spreads, the fiction of Ian McEwan and of course, Christopher Nolan's hugely successful Hollywood blockbuster. But what is the German view of this stunning Allied escape? Drawing on German interviews, diaries and unit post-action reports, Robert Kershaw creates a page-turning history of a battle that we thought we knew.
Dünkirchen 1940 is the first major history on what went wrong for the Germans at Dunkirk. As supreme military commander Hitler had seemingly achieved a miracle after the swift capitulation of Holland and Belgium, but with just seven kilometres before the panzers captured Dunkirk – the only port through which the trapped British Expeditionary force might escape – they came to a shuddering stop. Hitler had lost control of his stunning advance. Only a detailed interpretation of the German perspective – historically lacking to date – can provide answers as to why.
Drawing on his own military experience, his German language skills and his historian's eye for detail, Robert Kershaw creates a page-turning and ground-breaking history of a battle we thought we all already knew. With a fresh angle on this famous conflict, Dünkirchen 1940 delves into the under-evaluated, major German miscalculation both strategically and tactically that arguably cost Hitler the war.


Description:
The fighting between the German and Russian armies in the Rzhev Salient during World War II was so grisly, so murderous, and saw such vast losses that the troops called the campaign 'The Meat Grinder'. Though millions of men would fight and die there, the Rzhev Salient does not have the name recognition of Leningrad or Moscow. It was simply a vast tract of forests and swamps in the heart of Mother Russia that has been largely ignored by Western historians…until now.
Prit Buttar, a world expert on the Eastern Front during World War II, reveals the depth and depravity of the bitter fighting for the Rzhev Salient in this astonishing new history. He details how the long-ignored region held the promise of a renewed drive on the Soviet capital for the German Army – a chance to turn the tide of war. Using both German and Russian first-hand accounts, Buttar examines the four major offensives launched by the Red Army against the salient, all of which were defeated with heavy losses, exceeding two million killed, wounded or missing, until eventually, the Germans were forced to evacuate the salient in March 1943.
Drawing on the latest research, Meat Grinder provides a new study of these horrific battles but also examines how the Red Army did ultimately learn from its colossal failures and how its analysis of these failures at the time helped pave the way for the eventual Soviet victory against Army Group Centre in the summer of 1944, leaving the road to Berlin clear.


Description:
The US Eighth Air Force-known as the “Mighty Eigh..."
Jerome ... I don't know if you've read Masters of the Air by Donald Miller and if so how they compare? This year look like we're going to see a number of new books come out on the topic (including my own little title, A Gathering of Men).


Description:
The US Eighth Air Force-known as t..."
Haven't read either of these, I'm not sure.


Since Njiboer's book is published by Osprey, my guess is it follows similar books they've published and utilizes information from their various aviation series, such as Aircraft of the Aces, Combat Aircraft, Aviation Elite and Air Campaign.
But Miller's book is excellent and I definitely recommend it.


Description:
In this first volume of a planned two-volume set, Zamulin takes a close look at the condition of the German and Soviet forces following the winter campaign. Analysing first the German side, the author demonstrates that the Germans were in a woeful condition, especially with respect to the number of serviceable armored vehicles and the lack of infantry. However, Hitler was determined to regain the initiative in the East, though some German commanders expressed concerns. Zamulin then looks at the German plans for the summer of 1943 and the process of rebuilding its forces. As he shows through data, the Germans struggled to replenish Army Group South and Model's Ninth Army in the north, and the latter was hampered almost right up to the launching of Operation Citadel by the need to conduct a major anti-partisan operation in the woods and thickets in the German rear, using panzer and infantry divisions that had been earmarked for Citadel. Zamulin next examines the Soviet side, and discusses the planning for the summer campaign, including the decision to adopt a pre-meditated defense of the Kursk salient and to create a multi-echeloned system of defense (though incomplete in depth). The author demonstrates that the Red Army was able quickly to replenish its forces and also create a large mobile reserve, the Steppe Front. Thus, the delay in launching Citadel was not the fatal German error, and it would have failed even if launched earlier. 114 photographs, 39 tables


Description:
To the Soviet Union, the sacrifices that enabled the country to defeat Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941-45 are quite rightly sacrosanct. The battle for the city of Stalingrad between September 1942 to the beginning of February 1943 is a pivotal landmark of this sacrifice. It was the most decisive of the Second World War with over two million combatants killed, wounded or captured. It was also the bloodiest in history. July 2022 will mark the eightieth anniversary of the start of the campaign in Southern Russia ('Case Blue') that Adolf Hitler predicted would knock the Soviets out of the war. The culmination of this campaign would end in the showpiece city's ruins that stretched along the mighty Volga river as German and Soviet armies battled for its occupancy in brutal house-to-house fighting which lasted five months.
Within this deadly struggle Soviet war correspondents such as Vasily Grossman lauded the fight for a key strategic building in the heart of the city, 'Pavlov's House', situated right on the frontline, codenamed: 'The Lighthouse'. Standing a few hundred metres from the river the legend grew of a small garrison of Russia guardsmen holding out against overwhelming odds right up until the battle had been won.
In this riveting narrative, unearthing new German and Russian testimonies from those who fought there, The Lighthouse of Stalingrad sheds new light on this iconic conflict that established Soviet dominance in the East and thus guaranteed the Third Reich's defeat in the ruins of Berlin two years later.

"1942. The war at sea is being lost. One per cent of all naval personnel are being referred as psychiatric casualties. The British Admiralty introduces the Stone Frigate approach.
Three men fight for their country in the Arctic convoys of World War II, then for their sanity and dignity, labelled as cowards and subjected to experimental psychiatry at an isolated facility set up to by the British Admiralty to recycle men back into battle.
To the Navy they are faulty parts, not constitutionally suited to operate at sea. To the public they are poltroons, malingerers and psychiatric cases.
The places in this story are real, but everyone who played a part in what happened is now dead. It is safe to tell what really happened. What was important then, nobody cares about now.
True courage is facing danger when you are afraid, surviving in the circus of war."
Available on Amazon.co.uk (Sailor's Heart by Martin Campbell)
Just get in touch if you have ny questions. Thank you.

Thanks for the additional detail. Looking forward to reading this!


Description:
The US Eighth Air Force-known as the “Mighty Eigh..."
My last book, Above the Reich had interviews with 8th AF pilots, and Doolittle and LeMay had great insights.

Spielberg and Hanks are really wanting to get this series historically correct. They hired Dale Dye and myself as the technical advisers, so the last 9 months were busy. Hopefully we will get the same crew on our film, The Star of Africa.

When Spielberg's SDTA hired me as the Luftwaffe historical adviser, I was surprised at the detail they wanted. 9 months of working on that for them, it should be pretty good.

Books mentioned in this topic
Empire of Ashes: Truman, Hirohito, and the Descent into Total War (other topics)Empire of Ashes: Truman, Hirohito, and the Descent into Total War (other topics)
1942: Hitler's Gamble for Victory (other topics)
1942: Hitler's Gamble for Victory (other topics)
Greyhounds of the Pacific: U.S. Destroyers in the War Against Japan (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
James M. Scott (other topics)James M. Scott (other topics)
Richard Hargreaves (other topics)
Richard Hargreaves (other topics)
Andrew Faltum (other topics)
More...
Description:
In 1942 there was a domestic crisis in Britain. Public morale collapsed with a widespread feeling that Winston Churchill was no longer the right man to lead the nation. In the course of the crisis, motions of No-Confidence were debated in Parliament. A credible rival for Prime Minister emerged. This panic followed a series of major military fiascos. If its war effort folded, Britain would have had to negotiate a truce with Hitler. Had Britain been forced out of the war by this in 1942, it would have been almost impossible for the US to fight back in Europe. The survival of fascism, the outcome of the titanic battles on the Eastern Front and the ultimate result of the war could all have been very different.
1942 tells the story of this precarious moment when the British people nearly lost it.