Guest phoenix Posted December 2, 1999 Share Posted December 2, 1999 Am looking for interesting reading that revloves around the same time frame/setting as CM. I don't want dry strategy stuff. Something that's a good read. I currently have A Time for Trumpets (it's about the Bulge) and am giving it a go. It's ok so far. But nothing great. What else should I check out? Tiger Ace got dreadful reviews on Amazon.com. Is there anything else like it, but better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Bill Wilder Posted December 2, 1999 Share Posted December 2, 1999 The List goes on forever. Here are a few of my favorites: Band of Brothers, Ambrose View from the Turret, Folkstead Death Traps, Cooper Six Armies in Normandy, Keegan The Blood Soaked Soil, Williamson Invasion! They're Coming, Carell Against the Panzers, Karamales Operation Dragoon, Bruer Death of a Nazi Army, Bruer The Longest Day, Ryan Steel Inferno, Reynolds These will only get you as far as Market Garden. We'll do a part II later, if you wish. ------------------ Dirctor of Scenario Design, The Gamers Net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS_PanzerLeader Posted December 2, 1999 Share Posted December 2, 1999 Ambrose has written several another ( cant remember the title) deals with the push after D,Day into France - great reading. Michael Doubler's "Closing with the Enemy " is also an excellent insight into the US role. It has alot of Tactical stuff but the reading on the bocage and Sigfried Line is awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fionn Posted December 2, 1999 Share Posted December 2, 1999 I'd recommend Keegan (broad strokes work), Reynolds, the Carius bio "Tigers in the mud" (Eastern Front mainly but good) and Max Hasting's Overlord (I personally value Overlord very highly for the nice 1st person accounts and inter-mixing of styles.) Cornelius Ryan's " A Bridge too far" is another classic in the genre. His "The Longest Day is also a good read. I personally don't like Ambrose. I find him far too willing to feed the little myths and peddle popular history as opposed to true history plus I feel he's saddle-soaping the US public to ensure sales... In fact, I really don't like Ambrose. He has well-written books but the clear bias with which he deals with the subject just leaves me quite umm dissapointed in him as a historian. Oh, pretty much anything you can grab from the German perspective (especially if written by a trained staff officer (NOT someone who just held a staff rank but someone who had the specialised staff training) ) is highly illuminating. The German staff officers bring a certain style and attentiont to factors which are often missed which is refreshing. Lastly, I'd try to get unit histories, FMs and suchlike. They are all intensely interesting and provide a lot of extra colour but are hard to come by. ------------------ ___________ Fionn Kelly Manager of Historical Research, The Gamers Net - Gaming for Gamers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkEzra Posted December 2, 1999 Share Posted December 2, 1999 Won't give you a list or tain't you with my bias (Fionn...Shame on you. LOL). But here's how a got started building my library. I went to the public library and spent many hours just checking out what they had on WW2. When I wore them out I searched my local colleges and Universty library systems. This may sound strange but I really enjoy going and just digging around. When I got a handle on the authors I liked..I started buying...usually used book stores but the large chains will have something of interest or value. Finally I surfed the NET and the many sites that can be found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottK Posted December 2, 1999 Share Posted December 2, 1999 I just started reading a book the other day, "Seven Roads to Hell" by Donald Burgett. An excellent first person account of siege of Bastogne. Mr. Burgett was in the 101st Airborne when it arrived at Bastogne just before the Germans attacked there. It really gives you a good view of what combat was like for the soldier, both during the heat of battle and during the "down" time between engagements. And he's not afraid to tell of his own callousness and sometime cruelty that can overcome a person in the heat of war. I've read many unit or first person accounts of war, both WWII and American Civil War, and this one by far is the best I've read yet. Scott [This message has been edited by ScottK (edited 12-01-99).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullethead Posted December 2, 1999 Share Posted December 2, 1999 Phoenix- The other guys have given you a great list but I think I can add some to it . Phoenix said: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>I currently have A Time for Trumpets<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Excellent book by a great author. The same guy also wrote "Company Commander," about his own WW2 experiences (including when his company got overrun early in the Bulge as mentioned in passing in "Trumpets"), and "The Battle of the Heurtgen Forest," which are also very good. Another good, fairly recent book, is "Steel Inferno," by Michael Reynolds, about the 1st SS Panzer Corps in Normandy. Very well done, quite bloody. The US Army has also published some good books which are great scenario-design fodder besides being exciting reads. You can get them from government publication stores. One I know that is being used for CM is "Small Unit Actions." Another good one in the same series is "St. Lo" but there are many others. -Bullethead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAEZ Posted December 2, 1999 Share Posted December 2, 1999 Try: Beyond the beach head 29th infantry division by Joseph Balkoski isbn= 0-8117-0221-9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Captain Foobar Posted December 2, 1999 Share Posted December 2, 1999 I'm not terribly well read on the subject, and although this is from WW1, "All Quiet on the Western Front" is very powerful reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
civdiv Posted December 2, 1999 Share Posted December 2, 1999 Here's my list: Company Commander: The single (IMO), best book ever done on the individual soldier level for WWII. Seven Roads to Hell: I'm reading it now and another poster mentioned it. Excellent. Panzer Commander: From the German perspective. Only limited coverage of post-D-Day western front. Anything by Paul Carrell: German persepctive. Mostly east front stuff but 'Invasion, They are Coming' is Normandy. If You Survive: Good read. U.S. perspective. Anything by John Toland and Cornelius Ryan: Great first person perspectives; 'Longest Day', 'The Last Battle', 'Battle: Story of the Bulge', 'A Bridge Too Far'. Iron Coffins: Can't remember the author and I lost the book in a move. The author was an ordnance officer in a tank bn. Great insight into the equipment, especially the Sherman vs. German stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoop88 Posted December 2, 1999 Share Posted December 2, 1999 In addition to all the books mentioned in the previous posts, I would add "Panzer Battles" by F.W. Von Mellenthin. He was a German commander and talks about his experiences in Africa, the Eastern Front, and the post-D-Day Western Front.And if you want a great first-person account you must read "To Hell And Back" by Audie Murphy, America's most-decorated soldier and, later, a movie star. In fact, he played himself in the movie version of "To Hell And Back," and the movie is also excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Christensen Posted December 2, 1999 Share Posted December 2, 1999 Tank Destroyer Forces by Lonnie Gill from Turner Publications. A long overdue look at US TD combat experience. It includes more combat accounts of US TDs than I'd seen before. Since the US TD organization was disbanded after the war, and General McNair, their chief advocate was killed, and their "attached" status to US divisions, and the dispersal of the guns in support of US Infantry and Armour, the TD contributions have been largely undocumented and unappreciated in most WWII war histories. A number of battalion histories appeared in the wake of this volume. The book includes kill tallies for all US battalions. The Self Propelled units did far better tan the towed, to the extent that towed units were phased out. I presented copy to my Dad, a veteran of the 813th TD. The cover is the striking black panther with a tank in its jaws patch, unquestionbly the coolest bit of regalia ever produced by the US Military. Faint Praise: US Tanks and Tank Destroyers in WWII by Paul Baily An excellent history of US policy and experience. He absolves the McNair of the blame for the under-gunned Shermans, and observes that the Pershing probably could not have appeared much earlier than it did. The Deathmakers by Glen Sire A novel about the last months of the war in a recon unit. Disturbing, artfully written, and true to life, coming from the man who wrote the battalion history of the 705th TD. It includes a chapter with a duel between a King Tiger and an M18 in a town. Out of print, but rewarding reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Los Posted December 2, 1999 Share Posted December 2, 1999 I have to echo most of the great suggestions already mentioned. I am reading "Seven Roads to Hell" right now and can't put it down. I also have to echo Fionn's opinion about Ambrose. I really liked "Band of Brothers" but I think he's gone downhill from there. They are great reads of personal experiences but his suppositions just get a but too much. Overlord the most pivital battle of all times? (I've heard him say this on several documentaries) Sorry D-Day was important but the fate of the western world did not hang in the balance. (It's not like they were on Littel Round top) He does feed into little WW2 myths like The Germans were pretty much automatons with little display of initiative (Actually it was the other way around) Particularly in his earlier books he mentined crap like this all the time though as he does more writing and actually does more professional research you see him starting to tone down these statements. If someone didn't read any other WW2 stuff they'd come away with, stuff like The US did everything that was of significance in WW2, the Brits were slackers and had ****ed up generals and the Russian contribution, well, not as important as our boys on Omaha beach, and by The US had the best troops in WW2, and the germans well just watch any war movie made in the 1940s and you can get a good idea of what htey were like. Blech.. It's too much to go into. Good reads for the popular American audience but I woudn't form any real historical opinionis based soley on his work. And the worst part is.... Not a Christmas goes by that I don't get one of his damn books from some well meaning friend who thinks since I'm into WW2 history hey I will really enjoy this one! Los Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fionn Posted December 2, 1999 Share Posted December 2, 1999 Said friend not being a history buff and only knowing of Ambrose through TV appearances and the various books of his which have/are being filmed. I'm glad to say my place is an "Ambrose-free zone" . Thankfully my wife knows so little about WW2 that I just get the book money from her and buy them myself instead of having to return them after x-mas ------------------ ___________ Fionn Kelly Manager of Historical Research, The Gamers Net - Gaming for Gamers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted December 2, 1999 Share Posted December 2, 1999 "Nothing Less Than Victory" by Russell Miller. A moving and educational oral history of D-Day from all perspectives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knaust Posted December 2, 1999 Share Posted December 2, 1999 What about: Liddel Hart The Other Side of the Hill (WWII from the perspective of German generals) The Second World War (The West Point Military History Series) Thomas Griess Editor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIX Posted December 3, 1999 Share Posted December 3, 1999 A great paperback; Soldat Reflections of a German Soldier 1936-1949, by Siegfried Knappe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tom punkrawk Posted December 3, 1999 Share Posted December 3, 1999 umm, my monitor fried out on me about 2 weeks ago so I had about 2 weeks of some free time.in that time I read a couple books,umm Death Of A Division-Charles Whiting, which is the story of the 16,000 green troops of the 106th Infrantry Division that were destroyed in the Battle Of The Bulge,kinda short but I thought it was pretty good The Afrika Korps by Erwan Bergot The Gothic Line by Douglas Orgill and at the moment I'm reading A Special Piece Of Hell by Bill D. Ross,so far it's really good,the storys about Pavuvu are great. Umm,I hear good things about Band of Brothers so I'm planning on going to the library soon and seeing if they have it.Also now,thanks to you all I have a large list of books to go check out.Thank you. Josh McNair (Wow, heh,that tid bit about General McNair that someone mentioned was interesting to me ) ------------------ We ain't got no place to go,let's go to a punk rawk show Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berlichtingen Posted December 3, 1999 Share Posted December 3, 1999 Lost Victories, by the greatest panzer general of them all... Manstein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonFox Posted December 3, 1999 Share Posted December 3, 1999 Personally I was always put off Ambrose by what I read him say in the media was which was basically a load of crap. But when I actually read Citizen Soldiers I found it to be a lot better balanced than I expected though a little biased. That point of view is entirely necessary to balance the excessive leaning of some the other way. Hastings Overlord is one of my favourites but you have to read it with a pinch of salt as he perpetuates the David vs Goliath view of the battle with the Wehrmacht in the role of David. Hastings appears to have attended the Liddell-Hart school for Wehrmacht adulation to the detriment of even-handedness. Liddell-Hart was a fine author and editor of military studies but he produced a large body of work of varying consistency and some of it suffers from his personal bias. Basically he swallows Rommels sooking about airpower and numerical superiority hook line and sinker. Keegans' "Six armies in Normandy" is far more even handed IMO. Balkoskis' "Beyond the beachhead" is also pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fionn Posted December 3, 1999 Share Posted December 3, 1999 Well Liddel Hart was in love with the Germans for applying many of his ideas and, in a sense, proving him right. He got a bit carried away in some of his non-critical assesments of them I grant you . ------------------ ___________ Fionn Kelly Manager of Historical Research, The Gamers Net - Gaming for Gamers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herr Oberst Posted December 3, 1999 Share Posted December 3, 1999 I really need to resurrect my machine at home. I have finished two books recently, both written from the German point of view. What they achieved on the eastern front is simply amazing in the face of, shall we say, stupid decisions from higher up. From memory, "German Battle Tactics on the Eastern Front" and "The Retreat of Army Group North", or something close to those two titles from Schiffer Publishing. Largely published from some roughly translated German documents produced by staff officers, the text is difficult at times, and the proofers could have done a better job, but it is very enlightening reading. Mobile, flexible defense in the utmost. Once I get running back at home, I'll post the actual titles and authors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobS Posted December 3, 1999 Share Posted December 3, 1999 Long time lurker decloaking... Another book I liked was Featherston's "Saving the Breakout" about the 30th div stand at Mortain. I'm in the middle of Ambrose's "D-Day". Currently working through the chapters on the Omaha landings. Painful stuff - should be required reading for today's kids. All historical documentantion is biased to some degree. The degree of bias is in the eye of the beholder. Read multiple sources and sort it out for yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kip anderson Posted December 3, 1999 Share Posted December 3, 1999 Hi, a fine book, every bit as good as Charles Macdonald's Company Commander but from the tank soldiers point of view, is Tank! by Ken Tout. Life inside a Sherman at war. all the best, Kip. ------------------ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary T Posted December 3, 1999 Share Posted December 3, 1999 For a British platoon commanders view of North West Europe get 18 Platoon by Sydney Jary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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