THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP discussion
BOOK DISCUSSIONS
>
I'm Looking for a Book on........

Since the Divorce I have rebuilt my WWII library and now have more books on my shelf on the topic than some small libraries. It is kind of nice. But you can never have to many books. LOL.

Since the Divorce I have rebuilt my WWII library and now have more books on my shelf on the topic than some small libraries. It is kind of nice. But you can..."
AMEN...so true. Never enough. LOL

I hear that there are in face a few marriages that end in that fashion. Mine settled for a divorce an..."
Marry a WAC re-enactor ? Or not, she'd take half the library...

But you can never have to many books. "
AMEN...so true. Never enough. LOL."
Mmmm, seem to have heard that somewhere before, AR, GV, can you all remind me ?

At least one side of the family. In my family it is only my motto, the rest of the family not to big on reading. But hey, that just means more for me. When it comes to books, I am kind of like a Dragon. The Horde most be bigger so I can nap more easily. LOL

I like that image Dj! I am Smaug, in my lair, I know where every tome is and will know if one goes missing....

I like that image Dj! I am Smaug, in my lair, I know where every tome is and w..."
I love that image. I just have to change the Dragon name. After all the Dragon in the image I use is from the Online Comic I write. His name is...Vercingetorix. I think they gave me extra points for using a historical reference for the name. LOL

"Could anybody please suggest few good books on Military Strategies in ww2?"






Rejeev, I am not sure exactly what you want in the way of strategy reading but I believe this book actually outlines many of the tactics that were used by the German Panzer Units in WW2.



I am currently reading Engineers of Victory which is on military strategy. However that is too high level. I was thinking of other books on similar lines but may be more low level strategies.


(there is a number of books in this series - armour, artillery, assault pioneers, etc.)

Or maybe this book:


I am currently reading Engineers of Victory which is on military strategy. However that is too high level. I was thinking of other books on similar lines but may be more low level strateg..."
I just picked up a used copy of Engineers of Victory not too long ago. I am looking forward to reading it.


On similar themes as "Engineers of Victory," I recommend "Blackett's War", by Stephen Budiansky. Not 100 percent overlap but better written.

This book is dedicated to the US Strategy in the Pacific in 42 and 43. If this is what you like it is a good book but I prefer Lundstrom's the 1st Team much better. I just find books dedicated to strategy a little boring.
message 771:
by
Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces
(new)


Have you read Lundstrum's "First South Pacific Campaign"? I believe it was his M/A thesis originally before the Naval Institute published it. Lundstrum's level of detail is amazing. I'm anxious to read his book on Fletcher, and I think he's written a Civil War unit history recently as well.
John B

Doreen wrote: "I am looking for a book or books on the Rhineland campaign that my dad was involved in. Also any on the USS Block Island that my grandfather served on in the Atlantic before it was torpedoed or in ..."

I has some problems on this issue also with highly praised Max Hastings, on the first pages I had the impression he was taking sides rather than telling history. Same (a little less tho) with Ian Kershaw.
Mind you, I dont want to have this random book by an obscure historian who says Hitler loved peace and the worldwide jewry forced him to war. But after years reading other subjects (mostly politics and law), when I resumed my interest on WWII I just found that authors that I idolized as a teenager showed a lot of emotions on their work that could affect their judgement about the facts they needed to tell. That is the point: I want a solid and balanced (cold? pragmatic?)) book about world war (general, eastern front, the reich itself) with more facts than judgements, more History than hollywood, more sources than opinions. Can you recommend me one? Thanks in advance


I enjoyed this as a one volume history of the war.

"Weinberg believes in a form of historical writing that downplays the role of individuals. Roosevelt, Hitler, Stalin, Rommel, Churchill, Mussolini, Chang Kai Shek, Hirohito are all in attendance, but their personalities, their quirks, and their habits , hardly enter into the story. Instead, these men represent movements, states, ideologies, etc. Weinberg never uses direct, pithy quotes. That takes something out, compared to other popular history."
I couldnt agree more. I think it will be exactly my cup of tea. Going to order it now. Thanks again.

Thiago wrote: "Thank you DJ. After I saw your tip I went further to look for its reviews. In the very first at Amazon.com one I found this:
"Weinberg believes in a form of historical writing that downplays the r..."


'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Hmmm, I better go dig out my unread copy and move it a bit closer to the top of the to read pile by the sounds of it :)"

As the author of a pretty well received book on a WWII figure, I can tell you that it is extremely difficult to be entirely unbiased. I think it is even more difficult when the writer tries such a broad sweep. I haven't read Beevor's book yet, but you might be interested in a response to the NY TIMES review of it, which I just posted on the Theme Read thread.

Check out Rick Atkinson's trilogy on WWII. This work does not lionize anyone. I highly recommend this Trilogy. All the icons of WWII are reduced to the humans that they were. Men that I idolized from childhood had their moments - both good and bad. Churchill, Eisenhower, Patton, Clark, Monty, de Gaulle and so many others. The first book is Army at Dawn about the invasion of North Africa, followed by the Day of Battle about the Italian campaign, and ending with the Guns of Last Light which covers D-Day through VE day.

Have you read Lundstrum's "First South Pacific Campaign"? I believe it was his M/A thesis originally before the Naval Institute published it. Lundstrum's level of detail is amazing. I'm a..."
John wrote: "William,
Have you read Lundstrum's "First South Pacific Campaign"? I believe it was his M/A thesis originally before the Naval Institute published it. Lundstrum's level of detail is amazing. I'm a..."
Yes. I ordered it by mistake and so I read it. I reviewed it right here. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2.... Thanks for the anecdote. I did not realize this was his thesis. I am glad Ir ead it but I was looking forward to the First Team part II - the Guadalcanal Campaign.

I have heard good things about Weinberg and he is known for being good at covering "the big picture ". I've just received Hitler's Foreign Policy: The Road to World War II 1933-1939 which I'm looking forward to - considered one of the definitive works.
I'm almost finished Beevor's book and will be giving it a very good review. It has great prose, and is really well researched and organised. I think the book would be too dry without opinion, and Beevor does base them on facts rather than blind prejudice. You'll find he has plenty of criticism of British leadership and certain military commanders later in the book. There are a few other options though, although for English readers like myself most of the general histories seem to be written by Brits who inevitability have a different perspective to, for example, an Indian historian.


Michal: I thought this was thorough and complete for the Polish perspective on the entire war:


Colin wrote: "Gerhard Weinberg and I had a few chats when I was picking his brain during my grad school days, amazing intellect, like Russel Weigley my late mentor."

Michal wrote: "Looking for some book about invasion of Poland. Any suggestions?"
http://www.amazon.com/Polish-Campaign...
You might try the book attached to the link. It is one of the best and most balanced I have ever read.



Poland 1939: The Birth Of Blitzkrieg
what really bugged me was his acknowledged scarsity of English-language works on the Polish campaigns. Even a bad Osprey can point in the right direction. Zaloga's one of their best stock writers atm tough.

I will echo the Eagle Unbowed recommendation. I haven't read the Osprey books, but Zaloga & Madej have solid reputations.

Blitzkrieg Unleashed by Michael Hargreaves.
message 795:
by
Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces
(new)







This is the middle volume of a three volume set. I also have a unread copy of this book:

Books mentioned in this topic
Soldier Dead: How We Recover, Identify, Bury, and Honor Our Military Fallen (other topics)War on the Eastern Front: The German Soldier in Russia, 1941–1945 (other topics)
Blood Red Snow: The Memoirs of a German Soldier on the Eastern Front (other topics)
Eastern Front Combat: The German Soldier in Battle from Stalingrad to Berlin (other topics)
The Virtuous Wehrmacht: Crafting the Myth of the German Soldier on the Eastern Front, 1941-1944 (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Mike (Michael) Sledge (other topics)James Sidney Lucas (other topics)
Günter K. Koschorrek (other topics)
Hans Wijers (other topics)
David A. Harrisville (other topics)
More...
Taint nothin, it was almost thirty years ago now and she is on husband number three so I figure I got off pretty lucky.