Placebo Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 I have just ordered a couple of books in preperation for the next module (not that I am bored with CW yet ) The Battle for the Rhine 1944 : Arnhem and the Ardennes - The Campaign in Europe It Never Snows in September: The German View of Market-Garden and the Battle of Arnhem September 1944 They seem to get good reviews on amazon, does anyone have any recommendations for good reading of the operation? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 "The Battle for the Rhine 1944" Is that Neillands' book? If so, I thought it was ok, but he tends to bag some Allied generals for a certain behaviour, and give others a pass for exactly the same thing. It's kind of weird, and glaring. "Never Snows" is good, although I found the narrative kind of disjointed. Depends what you're after, I suppose. Overall narratives. Personal memoirs. Particular battles. US. UK. German. Stone and Stone have a pretty good collection of titles here: http://books.stonebooks.com/subject/1000370/ A bit of time working through the info and reviews of these at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk (they have different reviews) should give you a pretty good idea what they're each about, and which suits your interests. The relevant US and UK Official Histories that cover the period are available on line in full at various locations. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilts Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 does anyone have any recommendations for good reading of the operation? You should read "a Bridge Too Far" by Cornelius Ryan. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindlewolf Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 You should read "a Bridge Too Far" by Cornelius Ryan. Without doubt,the Bible for the battles that took place.I believe he was there as a war correspondant,also wrote The Longest Day(D-Day),Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose would be another.Ambrose has a string of novels about the 1944-45 period. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Without doubt, the Bible for the battles that took place. Also wrote The Longest Day (D-Day). Yeah, pretty good on the tactical, but his take on the operational and strategic needs to be taken cum grano salis. I believe he was there as a war correspondent. Really? You're not thinking of Chester Wilmot? Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose would be another. Ambrose has a string of novels about the 1944-45 period. lol. Very elegantly phrased. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindlewolf Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Didn't Wilmot cover the middle East,Africa and then the Pacific operations.Being Australian.Ryan was a correspondant with the Daily Telegraph.His accounts are mainly taken from those who were engaged in the actual battles. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frogsfriend Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 A couple of interesting sites: http://sparkyasundevil.tripod.com/id24.html 101st Airborne Division after-action reports for Market Garden. http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/ttt07/arnhem.html U.S. Military Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 57, April 1945 - "The Arnhem Operation" 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 You've probably already read these but if you haven't, Donald Burgett's first person books are just down right awesome! He has one on Arnhem (The Road To Arnhem) but I recommend them all. They don't give you anymore info other than an "I was there" account, but for pure enjoyment and reading excitement, I can't recommend them enough. So far, they are my all time favorite WWII memoirs. Mord. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieseltaylor Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 As it is relevant to this thread aswell as the other thread I picked up a second-hand book on Saturday and not read it yet but this is interesting review though I am not sure of the reviewers real sentiments : ) Quote from Amazon UK: This review is from: A Magnificent Disaster: The Failure of the Market Garden, the Arnhem Operation, September 1944 (Hardcover) We have at last, an excellent exposition of the poorly planned/executed Operation Market-Garden. All the key players are examined, warts and all. Thankfully, this book is not a Monty ("it was 90% successful") whitewash. This poorly planned operation was poorly executed by bumbling idiots who passed the buck to Polish General Sosabowski, a handy scapegoat, who early on, questioned the wisdom of the planning. Although I'm usually a Monty devotee, in this case, I must say he was not up to this task that was so quickly and poorly planned. The author reveals the vanity and ineptness of many of the other key players in the Arnhem drama. British General "Boy" Browning, deserves special mention and condemnation, at his collaboration with others in a determined effort to ignore the Dutch intelligence, which revealed a formidable German presence in the area being planned for British operations. It was also Browning who did the dirty work of blaming Sosabowski for Monty's debacle, the only individual who should have taken responsibility. It is now clear that Sosabowski was blamed for not relieving the trapped British airborne division above the Rhine, details how the British botched the relief efforts, while stating afterward that they should have followed Sosabowski's plan, which at the time they very angrily rejected. Just how the 4,500 British paratroopers were evacuated? Well, hidden for a long time, and now revealed: by a single company of Canadian engineers, a fact never fully accepted by British historians. Browning, of course, was taking orders from the vain Monty, who should ultimately be held responsible. But Browning was a devious manipulator and a poor planner; and his attitude toward the Americans was so typical of other senior British commanders: treating them with a patronizing condescension. The author also more fully and correctly presents the U.S. airborne involvement in the operation. Instead of criticizing this author's book, reviewers should look beyond its title, at the expert evidence presented, and check out the sources presented. As is often the case, critics will take aim at a writer who reveals the truth, which has been encased and enshrined in previous histories as myth. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Placebo Posted May 3, 2012 Author Share Posted May 3, 2012 A couple of interesting sites: http://sparkyasundevil.tripod.com/id24.html 101st Airborne Division after-action reports for Market Garden. http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/ttt07/arnhem.html U.S. Military Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 57, April 1945 - "The Arnhem Operation" They look interesting - thanks 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pak40 Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Another book from a soldier's perspective, (BTW, I recommend all of Donald Burgett's books. He wrote 1 book for each operation that he participated in): http://www.amazon.com/The-Road-Arnhem-Screaming-Holland/dp/0440236339/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1336053198&sr=8-3 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aragorn2002 Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 This sounds like a good book too. Good reviews. I'm waiting for the paperback version, which is very reasonably priced. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0141048352/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d1_g14_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0AJVANSRG1MXTN4SAG99&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 I'm finally taking advantage of my kindle to keep a military history library I can carry around (and is relatively inexpensive). I've started looking at MG focused books and decided to get all 3 of George Koskimaki's books. The following is the 2nd in the series. I haven't gotten to it yet, but the first book has been pretty good at understanding from first person accounts just how chaotic the D Day drops were and how the individual soldiers coped while also giving an overview from each battalion as to how it was or wasn't able to accomplish it's objectives. Lots of detail. For example I hadn't read before that Col Sink got his ass chewed out on D Day for behaving like an idiot and nearly getting himself killed doing something he should have delegated to a patrol. Looking forward to getting to book 2. HELL'S HIGHWAY: Chronicle of the 101st Airborne Division in the Holland Campaign, September - November 1944 Koskimaki, George 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultradave Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 There is a book "All American, All the Way" (author's name is Nordyke). Covers all of the 82d during WW2 but has a section on Market Garden. Good book (note however that I'm biased - I was in the 82d Abn Division Artillery in my younger days :-) ) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vetacon Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 In terms purely of the action at Arnhem, Middlebrook takes some beating (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arnhem-1944-Airborne-17th-26th-September/dp/0670835463/ref=sr_1_29?ie=UTF8&qid=1336068581&sr=8-29). Comprehensive research and an elegant, compelling narrative. Seriously good IMHO. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 This sounds like a good book too. Good reviews. I'm waiting for the paperback version, which is very reasonably priced. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0141048352/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d1_g14_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0AJVANSRG1MXTN4SAG99&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294 The sole review of it in Amazon US makes it sound rather bland. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 As it is relevant to this thread aswell as the other thread I picked up a second-hand book on Saturday and not read it yet but this is interesting review though I am not sure of the reviewers real sentiments Reading that guys other reviews, he sounds like a complete nutbar. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Keogh Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 For just covering the battle for Arnhem, I agree with another poster that Middlebrook's book is terrific. Pen and Sword Publishing's "Battleground Europe" series has some terrific volumes on Market-Garden especially Tim Saunder's three volumes on the fighting on Hell's Highway: "Hell's Highway," "Nijmegen" and "The Island." These books are short, straight narratives of the events with lots of photos, but still excellently detailed in ways the more general studies like Ryan's masterful "A Bridge Too Far" are not. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copper Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 It Never Snows in September: The German View of Market-Garden is a very good book with lots of pictures many never published before. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mies Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 Maybe leaning a bit too much on the "Eisenhower didn't provide enough logistics to Montgomery for the single push strategy", but I thought this to be a good book. Is mostly about the 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem. Arnhem, by Christopher Hibbert 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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