THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP discussion
BOOK DISCUSSIONS
>
New Release Books on WW2
Number of casualties feels so unbelievably low when only one offensive in June-August 1944 claimed around 500k Soviet lives (one of my current reads). 1.3 million died in German POW camp (another of my current reads). It would be interesting to see what new information on Sicily the book provides
Jerome wrote: "A September release:
by Peter FritzscheDescription:
By the end of the Second World War, more than seventy million p..."
Should be a good book, thanks for posting the details, Jerome!
A June release:
by Joseph T. Molyson Jr.Description:
D-Day, June 6, 1944, was one of the largest and most complicated undertakings in military history. During the first twenty-four hours of Operation Overlord, the Allies landed some 150,000 men by sea and air, secured a beachhead in France, and began the campaign that would liberate Western Europe and help defeat the Third Reich eleven months later. How did the Americans and British lay the groundwork for this massive and momentous invasion?
In Air Battles Before D-Day, Joseph Molyson charts the year-long effort that made D-Day possible. By May 1943, the tide of the Battle of the Atlantic had turned toward the Allies, opening up the flow of American men and materiel (including vital landing craft) to Britain and accelerating the buildup required for the invasion. It also enabled the ramping up of the ongoing bombing of Germany―the British at night, the Americans by day―to destroy its industrial base, weaken civilian morale, and damage the Luftwaffe’s ability to take to the skies and defend against the invasion. As D-Day approached, aerial attacks began to target roads and railways in France. Under the direction of commanders including Dwight Eisenhower, Bernard Montgomery, and Carl Spaatz―who didn’t always see eye to eye―planners pieced together the jigsaw puzzle of amphibious landings, airborne drops, naval support, air attacks, and intelligence, the last of which included a fictitious army group under George Patton.
In Molyson’s telling, the air campaign is the centerpiece of Allied efforts before D-Day, the essential foundation for success on June 6 and after, but his narrative connects all the events that preceded “the longest day” and covers the Germans’ Atlantic Wall, Erwin Rommel’s barrier of pillboxes, beach obstacles, and artillery that stood in the Allies’ path.
Air Battles Before D-Day is essential reading for understanding the greatest operation of World War II.
Jerome wrote: "A June release: by Joseph T. Molyson Jr.Description:
D-Day, Ju..."
Another interesting book to keep an eye-out for!
An August release:
by Peter R. MansoorDescription:
Redemption is a sweeping new history of the largest and costliest campaign waged by US armed forces during the Pacific War. Peter Mansoor surveys the course of the Philippines campaign, from the Japanese invasion and the Filipino guerrilla operations which contested occupation to the US Army's return to Leyte and the subsequent battles of liberation.
Central to the book is a re-evaluation of the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur, one of the most controversial military commanders in US history. At times brilliant, courageous, and politically astute, MacArthur was also egotistical, publicity hungry, often ignorant of conditions at the front, and self-certain to a fault. In their return to the Philippines, MacArthur and his forces liberated millions of Filipinos and severed a critical Japanese resource lifeline. But he also achieved something much rarer – redemption on the same ground and against the same enemy that defeated him earlier in the war.
Jerome wrote: "A July release: by Peter R. MansoorDescription:
Redemption is a sweeping new history of the larges..."
Sounds like an interesting book!
A September release:
by Justin LabordeDescription:
This work tells the story of the Naval Academy’s Class of 1938 and their eventful service during the Second World War. These young men were scattered across Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. They struggled for survival as part of the Navy’s Asiatic Fleet attempting to stem the Imperial Japanese Navy’s onslaught in the war’s early months; were captured and shipped to brutal prisoner of war camps; took to the air off aircraft carriers as members of torpedo, bomber, and fighter squadrons during the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway; and served on submarines in the conflict’s latter stages, enduring some of the most legendary war patrols in the history of the Silent Service. Of the 438 men who graduated with this class, 421 served in the war, and 42 were killed in combat.
This book, framed in three parts to cover the contributions of these Naval Academy graduates in the Pacific Theater from the Sea, in the Air, and below the Surface – shares the experiences of a group of men who fought the full scope of the war against Japan. Opening with their lives on the Yard, chapters quickly follow the graduates to their first postings as the United States enters the war in December of ‘41. Offering personal perspectives but on a monumental scale of events, readers are taken from Pearl Harbor to the Coral Sea and Midway, to the Japanese home islands.
Another interesting book to keep an eye-out for. Thanks for posting those details, Jerome!
A March release: 
Norway's War: A People’s Struggle Against Nazi Tyranny, 1940–45 by Robert Ferguson
Synopsis
In the early morning of 9 April 1940 a fleet of German ships entered the Oslofjord. The Norwegian artillery delayed the German advance long enough for King Haakon VII and his cabinet to escape to England, but there was no stopping the Nazi blitzkrieg. Norway stood on the cusp of a traumatic five-year occupation whose aftershocks would continue to trouble its national consciousness long after the defeated Germans departed in May 1945.
In a magnificent feat of storytelling, Robert Ferguson tells the extraordinary – and relatively little-known – story of the occupation and its judicial aftermath. He focuses in particular on the Germans' attempt to use a Norwegian Nazi administration under Vidkun Quisling to impose a National Socialist revolution on Norwegians, and on the many brave and ingenious ways in which the Norwegians resisted the attempt.
Ferguson describes the occupation in all its aspects – from Nazi terror to non-violent resistance, from censorship to sabotage – ending with a riveting and heart-rending account of the trial and ensuing execution of a member of the Norwegian resistance. Norway's War presents a series of heterogeneous but interlinked narratives which are richly involving in themselves but which always allow the wider politico-military story to keep moving forward. The key players in the occupation, whether occupiers, collaborators or resisters, both non-violent and otherwise, are memorably characterised. One of them, the remarkable double agent Gunnar Waaler, occupies an especially prominent place in the narrative.
Above all, Norway's War evokes the bravery of ordinary Norwegians in a manner that is deeply engaging, moving and fascinating.
Darya Silman wrote: "A March release: Norway's War: A People’s Struggle Against Nazi Tyranny, 1940–45 by [author..."
Another interesting new release, thanks for posting those details, Darya!
A November release:
by Douglas CenturyDescription:
The Yishuv ― the Jewish community in British Palestine ― needed to act. Striking a deal with British Intelligence in 1943, they trained a cadre of volunteer Jewish émigrés to parachute behind enemy lines on a dual mission: assisting thousands of downed Allied airmen to escape and to rescue as many Jewish citizens as possible from the death camps.
At the centre of this story is the extraordinary Hannah Senesh, a legendary poet-soldier, and her courageous female colleagues, who, armed with only their intelligence and humanity, underwent training as commandos, radio operators, and parachutists ― then, in early 1944, courageously jumped behind enemy lines. Captured in her native Hungary, Senesh refused to give up any information even while suffering months of gruesome torture.
Thrilling and inspiring, Crash of the Heavens is one of the great untold stories of World War II.
Jerome , I want to read ALL of your new releases!
Darya Silman wrote: "Jerome , I want to read ALL of your new releases!"I'm sure! You're welcome, haha.
A September release:
by Prit ButtarDescription:
In January 1945, the Red Army launched a powerful offensive across the Vistula River to drive the Wehrmacht out of Poland, with the intention of securing a start line for an operation that would ultimately result in the capture of Berlin and the end of the war. But, as Prit Buttar expertly reveals, there were other issues at play. Stalin was determined to push the boundaries of the Soviet Union further west, restoring land lost by the tsars and securing vast industrial and mineral wealth. While negotiations took place between the Allied powers regarding the fate of Poland, the Red Army burst through the German lines liberating Auschwitz even as the SS drove concentration camp inmates onto frozen roads in a series of death marches.
The Wehrmacht staged a desperate fight back with their last major armoured offensive on the Eastern Front. Launched in February 1945 from the German-Polish border, it forced a halt to the Soviet forces on the banks of the Oder before the rush to Berlin. Written by an acknowledged expert on the Eastern Front and packed with first-hand accounts, this is the definitive account of the strategic goals, both military and political, of Stalin, his generals, and their armies as they raced into the Reich and of the German forces who stood in the way.
Prit Buttar never seems to stop! Another interesting book to keep an eye-out for :)
An October release:
by Roger MoorhouseDescription:
Winston Churchill once remarked that the only threat to truly frighten him was the peril of Nazi U-boats. Over the course of World War II, Germany's submariners sank over three thousand Allied ships, nearly three-quarters of Allied shipping losses in all theaters of the war. In the process the submariners endured horrific conditions and suffered a 75 percent death rate, the highest of any arm of service in the conflict. Yet their story has never been told in full.
In Wolfpack, historian Roger Moorhouse tells the story of the Battle of the Atlantic from the point of view of the German submariners. He tracks these men from the enthusiasm of the war's early days, buoyed with optimism about their cause, through the challenges of the Allied counterthreat, to the final horrors of enemy capture and death in the depths. It is a story of courage, certainly, but also of fear, privation, and--ultimately--failure.
Drawing extensively on war diaries, archival records, and the voices of the German submariners themselves, Wolfpack is a story of technological brilliance, dramatic naval engagements, and extraordinary human endurance.
Jerome wrote: "An October release: by Roger MoorhouseDescription:
Winston Churchill once remarked that the only threat to truly frighte..."
That looks good, Jerome – thanks for sharing.
Jerome wrote: "An October release: by Roger MoorhouseDescription:
Winston Churchill once remarked that the only threat to truly frighte..."
Should be a good account!
A November release:
by Alan AllportDescription:
By 1942, Churchill faced a vastly different war than the one he'd inherited from Neville Chamberlain. Britain was no longer alone; the Soviets were now an unlikely ally in the East, and Pearl Harbor had finally pushed America into action. Yet the scale of violence remained unchanged. On average, seven British men, women and children were killed every hour of the Second World War. The country would never be the same again.
In Advance Britannia, historian Alan Allport reveals the war as it was lived - from the battlefields to the ration books, in the War Ministry and in the air raid shelters. Mixing social history with dramatic storytelling, this is a definitive account of the war that reshaped the world.
Another:
by Mark E. StilleDescription:
In this the first comprehensive treatment of Pearl Harbor since the early 1990s. respected Pacific War naval historian Mark Stille traces the road to war and the Japanese attack itself. He examines the role of the man behind the operation, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the plan. The American preparations for an attack are also carefully reviewed. The heart of the book is a comprehensive narrative of Pearl Harbor along with an appreciation of its results placed in proper perspective.
In common with many of the major campaigns of the Pacific War, many myths surround the Battle of Pearl Harbor, and, amongst others, Mark explores and dismantle the myth of Yamamoto as a military genius, as well as the myth that the attack was brilliantly planned. Long regarded as brilliant strike, Mark argues in Pearl Harbor that the attack was instead a tactical disappointment, an operational failure and a strategic disaster.
Another:
by Robert ForsythDescription:
The Reichsverteidigung (Defence of the Reich) was a do or die campaign that saw the very best fighter pilots in the Luftwaffe attempt to defend German skies from increasingly large formations of RAF and USAAF medium and heavy bombers. Flying both piston-engined and, eventually, the first jet-engined fighters to see operational service, the Jagdflieger employed a wide range of weapons and tactics in an effort to blunt the Allied air offensive across Nazi Germany and Occupied Europe.
Defenders of the Reich focusses on the story of the pilot, his aircraft, his weaponry, his draining, dangerous missions and Luftwaffe tactics against the USAAF and the RAF bombers from the summer of 1942 through to VE Day. They fought until they were all but obliterated as USAAF and RAF fighters decimated their ranks in the air and targeted their airfields in devastating strafing attacks.
Leading Luftwaffe historian Robert Forsyth uses German and Allied archival documents coupled with interviews with former Jagdwaffe pilots, to tell the history of this last-ditch aerial campaign from the perspective of the Luftwaffe.
Jerome wrote: "A November release: by Alan AllportDescription:
By 1942, Churchill faced a vastly ..."
This one will be on my to-buy list!
Another November release:
by Michal A. PiegzikDescription:
The opening salvos of the Battle of the Coral Sea, the first large-scale carrier clash in history, were fired one month before Midway. Gamble in the Coral Sea recounts, for the first time in English, the story of this battle from the Japanese point of view. Based on extensive Japanese-language sources, author Michał A. Piegzik forcefully challenges established Western narratives surrounding this critical engagement in the Pacific War.
Operation MO, the Japanese plan to seize Port Moresby, kicked off in early May 1942. By committing three carriers, including the famous Shōkaku and Zuikaku, the Nippon Kaigun’s command risked a critical part of their fleet just before the envisaged decisive battle at Midway in the Central Pacific, scheduled for early July. The operation was considered a vital part of Japanese strategy. Victory would isolate Australia and New Zealand and extend access to vital resources crucial to Japan’s war effort. Victory, however, would prove elusive after American codebreakers deciphered Japanese radio traffic that revealed their plans in the weeks leading up to the launch of Operation MO.
Using this intelligence to their advantage, U.S forces located elements of the Japanese navy as they steamed through the Coral Sea. Soon after, history’s first carrier battle began. Piegzik combines expertise in military history with mastery of the Japanese language to provide a rare perspective on the Imperial Japanese Navy’s operational choices during the battle. His use of Japanese archival documents and personal testimonies from surviving Japanese crew members uncovers new dimensions to the battle. The clash proved to be a Pyrrhic victory for the Japanese, who sunk the Lexington and crippled the Yorktown but were forced to call off Operation MO due to the severe damage inflicted on Shōkaku and the heavy losses among their aircrews.
Revealed here are the circumstances and actual reasons for the Japanese failure and the revised impact of the Battle of the Coral Sea on the Battle of Midway. Beyond tactical details, Piegzik offers insight into the broader consequences of the battle. He engages with sources previously underexplored and integrates them with Allied perspectives to ensure a well-rounded understanding of the events. A vital addition to any World War II collection, Gamble in the Coral Sea offers a nuanced and thorough exploration of a battle that significantly shaped the trajectory of the war in the Pacific.
Jerome wrote: "Another November release: by Michal A. PiegzikDescription:
The openi..."
Another interesting book to keep an eye-out for!
Here is a mew book just released covering the Battle for Manila; "The Battle of Manila: Poisoned Victory in the Pacific War" by Nicholas Evan Sarantakes.
The Battle of Manila: Poisoned Victory in the Pacific War by Nicholas Evan SarantakesDescription:
A thrilling and in-depth look at the battle for Manila, the third-bloodiest battle of World War II and the culmination point of the war in the Pacific theater.In 1945 the United States and Japan fought the largest and most devastating land battle of their war in the Pacific, a month-long struggle for the city of Manila. The only urban fighting in the Pacific theater, the Battle of Manila was the third-bloodiest battle of World War II, behind Leningrad and Berlin. It was a key piece of the campaign to retake control of the Philippine Islands, which itself signified the culmination of the war, breaking the back of Japanese strategic power and sealing its outcome.In The Battle of Manila, Nicholas Sarantakes offers the first in-depth account of this crucial campaign from the American, Japanese, and, significantly, Filipino perspective. Fighting was building by building, with both sides forced to adapt to the new combat environment. None of the U.S. units that entered Manila had any previous training in urban warfare--yet, Sarantakes shows, they learned on the fly how to use tanks, flamethrowers, air, and artillery assets in support of infantry assaults. Their effective use of these weapons was an important factor in limiting U.S. casualties, even as it may also have contributed to a catastrophic loss of civilian lives.The battle was a strategic U.S. victory, but Sarantakes reveals how closely it hinged upon the interplay between a series of key decisions in both U.S. and Japanese headquarters, and a professional culture in the U.S. military that allowed the Americans to adapt faster and in more ways than their opponents. Among other aspects of the conflict, The Battle of Manila explores the importance of the Filipino guerillas on the ground, the use of irregular warfare, the effective use of intelligence, the impact of military education, and the limits of Japanese resistance. Ultimately, Sarantakes shows Manila to be a major turning in both World War II and American history. Once the United States regained control of the city, Japan was in a checkmate situation. Their defeat was certain, and it was clear that the United States would be the dominate political power in post-war Asia and the Pacific. This fascinating account shines a light on one of the war's most under-represented and highly significant moments.
A December release:
by Flint WhitlockDescription:
Operation Husky, the combined American and British air and sea invasion of Sicily in July 1943, was one of World War II’s most critical campaigns. The largest amphibious assault to date came at a crucial moment, and both the planning and execution presented many conflicts for the Allies. Despite the success of Operation Torch in North Africa, the U.S. was still considered not fully tested or trusted by their British partners, and Stalin was clamoring for the Allies to open a second front to take the pressure off his Soviet Union.
At the center of Husky was George S. Patton Jr.,inarguably America’s most dynamic, courageous, and controversial commander of World War II. His dreams of martial glory and his all-consuming desire to best his chief Allied rival, General Bernard Montgomery, head of the British Eighth Army, to the ultimate prize—the port of Messina—often clouded his judgment. His primary motivation, however, was to prove to “Monty” and other dismissive British generals that the American soldier was as good, if not better, than his British counterpart.
In this new work, author Flint Whitlock covers the history of Operation Husky as it unfolded, with much of the Allied leadership facing internal conflict. Using Patton’s personal letters and diaries, Whitlock reveals the scathing opinions he held of Montgomery and almost everyone else in the Allied hierarchy (Eisenhower, Marshall, Clark, Bradley, and Alexander, among others)—even Adm. H. Kent Hewitt, USN, whose Eighth Fleet carried Patton’s troops to the beaches and supported them once on shore. In fact, it was the guns from Hewitt’s warships that halted the fierce German and Italian attacks that nearly threwthe Americans back into the sea.
From Tunisia to the landing beaches on the south coast of Sicily to the final fight for Messina, this book chronicles how Husky would prove pivotal for both sides. The operation was criticized by some historians as a wasteful effort by the Allies that squandered valuable troops and resources while allowing many of the Italian and German troops to escape in the battle’s final days—an “Axis Dunkirk.” Here, Whitlock makes the case that Husky caused the downfall of Benito Mussolini and the neutralization of fascist Italy, and opened the second front to help Stalin. Moreover, the fight for Sicily proved the worth of American soldiers and seamen—as well as combined Army-Navy planning and logistics capabilities. Ultimately, lessons learned from Husky would be integrated into the Operation Overlord plan launched against France’s Normandy coast the following year.
Thanks for those details on Flint Whitlock's new book, much appreciated!
A June 2026 release:
by Guy WaltersDescription:
Adolf Hitler's plan to break British morale during the months after the D-Day landings in June 1944 involved the invention and implementation of the world's first rocket delivered warhead – the V1, or 'Doodle Bug' as it was christened by Londoners. Thousands were launched from their sites in the Low Countries against the British capital, killing 6,184 people and injuring 17,981.
As the launch sites for the V1 were captured by Allied forces advancing through Belgium and into the Netherlands, a new, more terrifying rocket now hit London in mid-September, seemingly out of thin air – the V2. A streamlined rocket which stood as tall as a four-storey building, the V2 was highly advanced technology. Powered by a rocket engine burning a mix of alcohol-water and liquid oxygen, it blasted its way to the edge of space, before falling back to Earth at supersonic speed. Unlike the successes allied pilots and anti-aircraft crews had enjoyed shooting down the slower and more cumbersome V1, the V2 struck London almost undetected. It truly was Hitler's terror weapon made devastatingly real, causing over 30,000 casualties and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless, with the randomness of the strikes unnerving the British public even though their destructive capacity was less than the Blitz in 1940-41.
But Winston Churchill's intelligence chiefs of SOE had known of the weapon weeks before it first struck the mainland as the Nazi boffins (led by Werner Von Braun who would go onto fame with the US Apollo Missions in the 1960s) tested the V2 in Eastern Europe. Away from prying eyes. Or, so they thought. In Stealing Hitler's Rocket, historian Guy Walters will reveal the true extent to how much we knew of this modern-day weapon and the operation by the Polish resistance to enable Britain and her allies to prepare for the day of reckoning.
Jerome wrote: "A June 2026 release: by Guy WaltersDescription:
Adolf..."
Another interesting book to keep an eye out for!
An Australian release; "Give the Bastards Hell: The Battle for Milne Bay, New Guinea 1942" by David W. Cameron.
Give the Bastards Hell: The Battle for Milne Bay, New Guinea 1942 by David W. CameronDescription:
In New Guinea’s jungles, a fierce battle turned the tide of the Pacific War—the first major land defeat for the unstoppable Japanese forces.
By mid-August 1942, Imperial Japanese forces dominated the Southeast Asian and Pacific theatres, seemingly unstoppable in their advance. While the Japanese South Seas Force pushed north toward Port Moresby along the Kokoda Track, they launched an operation against Milne Bay at the eastern tip of New Guinea. Their to seize the crucial Allied airfields under construction, which would pave the way for capturing Port Moresby and consolidating their hold on the region.
For two intense weeks, Japanese marines, supported by tanks and naval bombardments, battled through the jungle-covered strip of land between the beaches and mountains. Facing them was a determined and diverse Allied force—Australian militia, 2nd AIF troops, American engineers, and, critically, Australian fighter pilots—who fought the Japanese to a standstill near the partially completed Air Strip No. 3. Despite desperate human wave attacks by the Japanese, the Allies held their ground.
When the smoke cleared, the Japanese had suffered their first significant land defeat since Pearl Harbor. The Battle of Milne Bay marked a turning point in the Pacific War, signalling the beginning of the end for the Imperial Japanese Empire.
Richard Overy has a new release out at the moment; "Rain of Ruin: Tokyo, Hiroshima, and the Surrender of Japan".
Rain of Ruin: Tokyo, Hiroshima, and the Surrender of Japan by Richard OveryDescription:
In 1945, US air attacks in Japan killed 300,000 civilians in three hours of night bombing and two nuclear strikes. The firebombing of Tokyo in March burned almost the entire city, killed some 85,000 residents, and left more than 1 million homeless. The atomic blast in Hiroshima in August killed some 119,000 civilians and 20,000 soldiers. After a second nuclear attack days later in Nagasaki and a declaration of war by the Soviet Union, Japan accepted defeat.
Drawing on his expertise in the war and its bombing campaigns, Richard Overy delivers a precise recounting of these aerial attacks, especially their impact on civilians, and a balanced assessment of how and why they occurred. Astute on Allied decision-making, Overy notably explores the factional infighting within the Japanese leadership and the decisive role played by the emperor, Hirohito. The war’s endgame required both sides to bridge a cultural divide on surrender.
An October release:
by Vincent P. O'HaraDescription:
The greatest naval conflict in history occurred during World War II from 1939 to 1945. Most people are familiar with the famous Battle of the Atlantic (1939–1945) and epic naval engagements in the Pacific like Midway (June 4–7, 1942) and Leyte Gulf (October 23–26, 1944), all of which receive ample coverage in this panoramic work. However, author Vince O’Hara offers a truly global perspective of World War II at sea that captures every aspect of a vast naval conflict that involved dozens of nations, more than 15,000 ships, and 43.7 million tons of shipping. Approximately 570,000 lives were lost at sea in those six years.
Here, the naval action begins in the Baltic Sea before dawn on September 1, 1939, when a German battleship opened fire on Polish troops barricaded in a fortress in the port city of Danzig, Poland. Over the ensuing nine months, the conflict spread into Great Britain’s home waters of the North Sea, the English Channel, and the eastern Atlantic. One of the most remarkable naval achievements of the war occurred in 1940 during the German invasion of Norway. The Kriegsmarine’s successful attack in the face of immensely superior Allied naval forces was the war’s first large-scale amphibious operation. As naval activities in Europe expanded into the Mediterranean, the war in the Pacific exploded with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. That assault led to a series of critical naval battles between Japan and the United States, including Wake Island (December 8–23, 1941), Coral Sea (May 4–8, 1942), Midway, and Guadalcanal (November 12–15, 1942).
O’Hara not only deftly examines all the major naval contests in the European and Pacific theaters but also offers detailed analysis of secondary navies such as France, Italy, and the Soviet Union. He explores little-known, smaller engagements such as the campaigns between Thailand and France or Perú and Ecuador. O’Hara connects this broad range of naval action by focusing on recurring themes of technological innovation, command and control, logistics, and intelligence. He demonstrates that there was more than one path to winning sea power and that the most important naval platforms to emerge from the war were the oiler, the Landing Ship Tank (LST), and the Liberty ship—not the aircraft carrier, the submarine, or the battleship. O’Hara makes clear to readers that the impact of the naval battles won by the Allies still reverberates today.
Jerome wrote: "An October release: by Vincent P. O'HaraDescription:
The greatest naval conflict in history occurred during World War II f..."
Vincent O'Hara was great with on seas contested but how many -500 page naval overviews of WWII does a man need after Evan Mawdsley & Craig L. Symonds in less than the past decade ?
A December release:
by Stephen MooreDescription:
From May 1941 to the end of night raids in 1943, Luftwaffe bombers attacked provincial cities across England, Scotland, and Wales. However, these air raids are not considered part of the Blitz—at least, not according to the British Official History. The official historiography maintains that the Blitz on the United Kingdom ended when aircraft were redeployed to support the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, after the final major raid against London that May.
In After the Blitz: The Luftwaffe Bombing of Britain,1941–1943, author Stephen Moore argues that official histories minimize the impact of bombing on cities like Newcastle, Hull, Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham because they use attacks on London to define the Blitz's chronological boundaries. By excavating British and German archives and cross-referencing government documentation with memoirs and secondary sources, Moore demonstrates that Britain suffered from Luftwaffe assaults well after the official end date of the Blitz and rescues the history of post-Blitz bombings from obscurity.
After the Blitz cements itself in the historical record by confronting the official scholarship that has been foundational to the field and affirms the traumatic experiences of people who lived outside of London during this period.
A June release:
by Geert Rottier RottiersDescription:
The Tokyo Sixteen tells the gripping story of the sixteen pilots who took part in the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in April 1942. The book follows their personal journeys, from their diverse backgrounds and motivations for joining the military to their daring participation in one of WWII’s most audacious missions. It begins with a deep dive into each pilot’s life before the war, highlighting their unique aspirations and shared sense of duty. The narrative then shifts to the intense and secretive training required to launch B-25 bombers from an aircraft carrier, a technical feat that had never been attempted before.
The heart of the book focuses on the raid itself, capturing the pilots' courage as they flew into enemy territory, bombed Tokyo, and then faced perilous escapes. Personal stories of bravery, survival, and the physical and mental toll of the mission form a powerful narrative throughout. The aftermath of the raid is no less compelling, with pilots crashing in enemy territory or narrowly escaping capture. The book concludes by reflecting on the lasting legacy of the Doolittle Raiders, celebrating their heroism and the enduring impact of their bravery. The Tokyo Sixteen is a tribute to the strength of the human spirit in extreme circumstances.
This new Australian publication is due out for release in April 2025; "Gull Force: Australian POWs on Ambon and Hainan, 1941–45" by Joan Beaumont.
Gull Force: Australian POWs on Ambon and Hainan, 1941–45 by Joan BeaumontDescription:
The members of the Australian battalion of Gull Force endured some of the harshest prisoner-of-war conditions of any Australian during the Second World War.
In February 1942, on the remote island of Ambon in Indonesia, 1131 Australian soldiers were preparing for invasion by Japanese forces. Outnumbered and ill-equipped, theirs was an impossible mission. After their defeat, over 200 Australians were massacred. The survivors faced three-and-a-half years of harsh work, beatings, disease and starvation on Ambon and the Chinese island of Hainan. Along with the brutal conditions came a crisis of leadership, with Australian officers accused of devising their own systems of punishment and handing men over to the Japanese. The prisoners on Ambon were tormented by two catastrophic raids by 'friendly' Allied air forces. Over 800 survived to endure years of captivity; only 302 returned home.
Acclaimed historian Joan Beaumont tells the full story of this tragedy and its aftermath. A powerful account of suffering, death, endurance and memory, the story of Gull Force is one that must not be forgotten.
'A compelling account of the tragedy and complexity of captivity by Australia's pre-eminent historian of war.' Christina Twomey
'Revealing afresh an episode in Australia's POW history that deserves to be better known and understood.' Peter Stanley
A January 2026 release:
by Edmund GoldrickDescription:
When the Germans took thousands of Allied prisoners during the catastrophic Greek campaign of 1941, a handful of Australian soldiers escaped from prison trains in occupied Yugoslavia. What awaited them was not passage home, but a brutal underground war where the fate of a nation was at stake.
Told through the eyes of two of the Australian escapees - mineworker Ross Sayers and storeman Ronald Jones - Anzac Guerrillas is the incredible true story of how these men became resistance fighters, double agents and spies, evading the Nazis and exposing a group of genocidal collaborators.
Yugoslav resistance against the Nazis was divided - royalist Cetniks battled communist Partisans while the Germans retaliated with terror. The escaped Anzacs faced grave threats from all sides, and even as they came face-to-face with two of World War II's most divisive figures - Josip Broz Tito and Draza Mihailovic - their sense of what was right never wavered.
Finding allies and sympathisers among Jewish refugees, British agents and suffragette resistance fighters, those who made it home alive had to fight to have their work with British Intelligence recognised. Once recognition was granted, they seldom spoke of their experiences again. Instead they quietly raised families, shunning Anzac Day and their own traumatic memories of the war.
None of these men began World War II as an officer or had been to school past the age of thirteen, but each proved himself with selfless courage and remarkable wisdom, working to save millions of lives. The war would continue to haunt them, and their stories would remain untold, even to those closest to them - until now.
Jerome wrote: "A January 2026 release: by Edmund GoldrickDescription:
When the ..."
Thanks for posting those details, Jerome!
Here is a new book due out pretty soon; "Second Front: Anglo-American Rivalry and the Hidden Story of the Normandy Campaign" by Marc Milner
Second Front: Anglo-American Rivalry and the Hidden Story of the Normandy Campaign by Marc MilnerDescription:
A revelatory new account of the Second World War―and how bitter competition between the Allies would shape the postwar world
In June 1944, an Allied army of British, American, and Canadian troops sought to open up a Second Front in Normandy. But they were not only fighting to bring the Second World War to an end. After decades of Anglo-American struggle for dominance, they were also contending with one another―to determine who would ascend to global hegemony once Hitler's armies fell.
Marc Milner traces this bitter rivalry as it emerged after the First World War and evolved during the fragile peace which led to the Second. American media and domestic politics dominated the Allied powers' military strategy, overshadowing the contributions of Britain and the remarkably critical role played by Canada in establishing this Second Front.
Culminating in the decisive Normandy campaign, Milner shows how the struggle for supremacy between Churchill and Roosevelt changed the course of the Second World War―and how their rivalry shaped our understanding of the Normandy campaign, and the war itself.
An October release:
by Tom ClavinDescription:
There was one submarine that sailed above all other boats in the Silent Service in World War II: the USS Tang. Captain Richard Hetherington O’Kane commanded the attack submarine that sunk more tonnage, rescued more downed aviators, and successfully completed more surface attacks than any other American submarine. These undersea predators were the first to lead the offensive rebound against the Japanese, but at great cost: Submariners would have six times the mortality rate as the sailors who manned surface ships.
The Tang achieved its greatest success on October 24, 1944, when it took on an entire Japanese convoy and destroyed it. But its 24th and last torpedo boomeranged, returning to strike the Tang . Mortally wounded, the boat sunk, coming to rest on the bottom of the ocean, 180 feet down. After hours of struggle, nine of the 87 crew, including O’Kane, made it to the surface.
Captured by the Japanese, the Tang sailors joined other submariners and flyers – including Louis Zamperini and “Pappy” Boyington – at a “torture camp” whose purpose was to gain vital information from inmates and otherwise let them die from malnutrition, disease, and abuse. A special target was Captain O’Kane after the Japanese learned of the headlines about the Tang . Against all odds, when the camp was liberated in August 1945, O’Kane, at only 90 pounds, still lived. The following January, Richard O’Kane limped into the White House where President Truman bestowed him with the Medal of Honor.
This is the true story of death and survival in the high seas--and of the submarine and her brave captain who would become legends.
Jerome wrote: "An October release: by Tom ClavinDescription:
There was one sub..."
Another interesting book to add to the list!
A February 2026 release:
by Thomas McKelvey CleaverDescription:
This book details the operations of the USAAF's overlooked Fifteenth Fighter Command that protected the bombers during the campaign against the Romanian oil fields in World War II.
Formed in the fall of 1943, the Fifteenth Air Force was popularly known as the "The Forgotten Fifteenth," as its achievements were overshadowed by more glamorous exploits of the Eighth Air Force in the air war over Germany. Nevertheless, the Fifteenth's contribution to Allied victory was crucial, and a vital part of that was the role played by the escorting fighter groups from the Fifteenth Fighter Command who protected the B-17s and B-24s from the Luftwaffe in the skies over Romania.
In this new history of the campaign, renowned aviation historian Tom Cleaver tells the story of the Fifteenth's air war through first-person accounts of the fighter pilots of the Fifteenth Fighter Command, including such famous units as the Red Tails - the Tuskegee Airmen - the 82nd Fighter Group and the 325th's "Checkertail Clan," and with his ability to place wartime events in their greater context.
Jerome wrote: "A February 2026 release: by Thomas McKelvey CleaverDescription:
This book details the operations o..."
Should be worth a read!
A December release:
by John HenshawDescrription:
In early June 1941, few optimists would have forecast that beleaguered Britain would see victory or even be joined by new military allies. Yet on June 22, Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, its surprise attack on the Soviet Union, which in six months reached the very gates of Moscow. Then, on December 7, Japan launched an even more astonishing surprise attack on the US Navy's Pacific Fleet, off-watch in its home base of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Without these two surprise attacks--and possibly without either one of them--the end result of World War II would have been vastly different.
Britain's Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, was quick to realise an uncomfortable truth--the enemy of my enemy is my friend--and keeping the Soviet Union in the war, albeit at the expense of sending vital war materiel to a totalitarian regime was anathema, took pressure off Britain and her allies. Accordingly, the first of 78 convoys to the Russian Kola Peninsula left in August 1941, almost two months to the day after Operation Barbarossa began. The following year saw momentous events that gave impetus to the basic direction in which World War II now headed: in the Allies' favor. However, these successes were marred by many reversals of fortune--on land, in the air and at sea. One of the Allied reversals of 1942 involved the almost complete destruction of a convoy supplying vital war matériel from Britain and the United States to Soviet Russia: PQ 17.
What made this sad event worse was that it didn't need to have happened. But for the decision of one man, Chief of the Naval Staff and First Sea Lord of the Admiralty Sir Dudley Pound, the massacre could have been avoided. Pound contradicted his staff advice and issued the fateful order, "Convoy is to scatter" on the mistaken belief that the German battleship Tirpitz and attending warships had put to sea to intercept PQ 17.
That should be a pretty interesting account! Thanks for posting the details, Jerome.
Jerome wrote: "A February 2026 release: by Thomas McKelvey CleaverDescription:
This book details the operations o..."
Thanks Jerome. I am currently reading Bombing Hitler's Hometown which also features the Forgotten 15th. Good to know there is another book highlighting their experiences for my TBR list.
Gary wrote: "Jerome wrote: "A February 2026 release: by Thomas McKelvey CleaverDescription:
This book details t..."
You might like this one as well:
Forgotten Fifteenth: The Daring Airmen Who Crippled Hitler's War Machine
A March 2026 release:
by Peter MauchDescription:
The military general who became Emperor Hirohito’s prime minister, Hideki Tojo is most often remembered as an iron-fisted leader who dragged Japan into World War II and―after spectacular losses―was eventually executed as a war criminal. Yet Tojo was far more than his ignominious end. In fact, as Peter Mauch argues, he was one of the twentieth century’s most accomplished military statesmen.
Over a career of some forty years, Tojo successfully launched himself into the highest echelons of political power. He was not only a tactical genius, Mauch shows, but also a savvy administrator, a fierce imperialist, and a deeply loyal advisor to the emperor. Tojo’s career took off with the notorious Kwantung Army in Manchuria, where he played a key role in escalating the Sino-Japanese War during the 1930s. As he rose through the ranks, becoming minister of war and then army chief of staff, he honed the efficiency of the Imperial Army and enhanced its influence within the emperor’s court. All the while, he deftly negotiated the fractious military rivalries that arose wherever he went. Brilliant, ambitious, and often ruthless, Tojo reached political heights that were perhaps matched only by his precipitous fall in the final months of World War II.
Layered and evocative, Tojo is at once a riveting military history of Shōwa-era Japan and a nuanced portrait of the relentless personality at its center.
Jerome does it again :-) the year isn't half out and hello 2026 shelf
THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP
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:
The Allied effort to secure the Italian island of Sicily followed hard on the heels of the North African Campaign, when an Anglo-American force had finally hemmed the Axis forces into Tunisia, where they were obliged to surrender on 13 May 1943, with over a quarter of a million German and Italian troops going into captivity. Now, intending to open the sea lanes across the Mediterranean for the first time since 1940, to dilute German strength in the theatre and knock Italy out of the war, the Allies invaded Sicily on the night of 9-10 July 1943. After just eight weeks planning and preparation, sea and airborne landings were made on the southern and south-eastern faces of the island. The campaign that followed included a further British airborne landing in mid-July before Axis forces were obliged to withdraw across the Straits of Messina to the Italian mainland, leaving Sicily in Allied hands.
The six weeks of fighting cost the Allied forces almost 20,000 men killed, wounded and missing, while their opponents lost around 100,000 men killed, wounded and missing, with a further 123,000 prisoners, mostly Italian. The Sicily campaign was the first occasion that Allied forces successfully took the fight onto the home territory of an Axis power, and it provided the springboard for the Allied return to continental Europe for the first time since Dunkirk via the invasion of Italy proper at the beginning of September 1943. And it marked the beginning of formal Anglo-US co-operation that was to be a key feature in the success of the subsequent campaign in North-West Europe: British land forces in Sicily served under US General Dwight D. Eisenhower, with senior commanders including Montgomery and Patton, who subsequently occupied the same role in North-West Europe and Germany's final defeat.