lurrp Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 I've been looking to get into some good WWII nonfiction, as I haven't read much in a while. I enjoy books like Rick Atkinson's A Day of Battle and David Bennett's A Magnificent Disaster, if that helps anyone. While I'll read just about anything, I'm currently most interested in the Mediterranean Theater, Barbarossa, and '42-'43 East Front. Any suggestions? Thanks. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 If your looking for a riveting read Guy Sajer's The Forgotten Soldier in which the author, a young Alsatian, joins the Grossdeutschland Division in Russia, is unsurpassed, imo. Arguably the greatest book to emerge from the war that hasn't been turned into a film. Caution: due to a spate of historical inaccuracies, the accuracy and authenticity of Sajer's autobiographical work has been questioned, with proponents on both sides. http://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Soldier-CASSELL-MILITARY-PAPERBACKS-ebook/dp/B005M3U2CG/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385928780&sr=1-1&keywords=forgotten+soldier Sajer is still alive and working as a cartononist in Paris. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tashtego Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 I recently read these 2, both very good. The Germans in Normandy by Richard Hargeaves. The Guns at Last Light - The War in Western Europe 1944-1945 by Rick Atkinson. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
db_zero Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 Paul Carell: Foxes of the Desert Hitler Moves East Scorched Earth 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 The Guns at Last Light - The War in Western Europe 1944-1945 by Rick Atkinson. You can't go wrong with Atkinson, he's masterful writer. Not much groggy stuff in there, however. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus Sertorius Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 I re-read Greg Boyington's autobiography, Baa-Baa Blacksheep a few years ago, and liked it even better than I did when I was a kid. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSTK Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 Was there ever a better TV series than "Blacksheep Squadron" ("Monty Python's Flying Circus" notwithstanding)? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waycool Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 The Regiment by Farley Mowat The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment. England, Sicily, Italian Mainland and NW Europe IMHO one of the finest regimental histories written. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 lurrp, See if you can find The Battery Commander, His Batsman and a Cook, edited by Reiter. A must read small unit combat compilation covering from 1941-45 and put together by one of our own. Used to be in the BFC Bookstore, but they're all gone. Penalty Strike by Pyl'cyn. A platoon leader in a penal battalion (commanded defrocked officers as high as a Lt. Colonel) describes his intimate view of the latter stages of the GPW, to include Operation Bagration. Lack enough superlatives for this one. Time frame isn't quite right, I know, but I don't believe there's any other first person English language account to be had. Brazen Chariots, Crisp. Commanded Stuarts in North Africa. Rommel's War in Africa, Heckmann. A first rate book (translated from German) showing the German side of the war in North Africa. A few of the vignettes wound up in the Reiter book. Blood on the Shores, HSU (2x) Leonov. Commando ops with the Soviet Northern Fleet. Another great book. Need to return to Clark's well-regarded The Battle Of The Tanks: Kursk: 1943. The front end is an extensive discussion of how the Germans wound up making the Kursk attack, and the book's full of individual battle accounts from both sides. Anything by HSU Dmitry Loza! Even served in Lend-Lease Matildas. The Blond Knight of Germany, Toliver. Biography of the top fighter ace. 352 officially confirmed. Many of the official histories of the Mediterranean Campaign are available online, and some libraries may have the actual Army Green series books. Ultra and the Mediterranean Strategy, Bennett. What we knew and when we knew it! The Man Who Never Was, Montagu. A true classic deception op and book. There are newer books on Operation Mincemeat, but I haven't read them. One well-reviewed one is Operation Mincemeat, Macintyre. There's lots of other stuff, but I simply don't recall the titles of books I read long ago. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 To Hell and Back by Audie Murphy. It's mainly based in Italy as far as I remember—action packed book. You probably have already read it but if not check it out. It's one of my favorite first person WWII accounts. Mord. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odin Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 I was going to suggest 'The Forgotten Soldier' and I'm glad to see it's the first recommendation made. Another book well worth a read is Cross of Iron, which does differ somewhat to the film (also well worth a watch if you haven't seen it). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 Company Commander: The Classic Infantry Memoir of World War II by Charles B. Macdonald. Just what the subtitle says. Possibly the best first person narrative written from this level to come out of the US Army in WW II. Last six months of the war. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davek555 Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 Atkinson's first book "An Army at Dawn" is also very good if you haven't read it yet. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 Odin, COI is a novel. A terrific one, but still a novel. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellmann Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 Not the droids you were looking for but I'm currently reading this: http://www.amazon.com/It-Never-Snows-September-German/dp/1885119313 by Robert Kershaw. I think anyone who is currently playing the Market Garden module would be interested though. Also, again perhaps not the theatres you wanted but I've always liked the works of David G. Chandler. He taught at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and wrote a few books you might like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_G._Chandler His talks on The Great Commanders documentaries were brilliant. Sadly, no longer with us, RIP sir. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DasMorbo Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 'The Forgotten Soldier' - again. Ultra tough stuff at times but very good account of what war in the east meant to the soldier. The historical inaccuracies have been - as far as I know - explained with the fact that the author wrote down everything from his own memory after the war. A magnificent feat, considering that he was in a state of massive trauma. Just read and you know what I mean. And this: Stalin Organ Never knew it was translated into English. Just as stunning as 'The Forgotten Soldier' is. http://www.amazon.com/Stalin-Organ-Gert-Ledig/dp/1862076529/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386016412&sr=1-2&keywords=stalin+organ Best regards Olf 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pak40 Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 Atkinson's first book "An Army at Dawn" is also very good if you haven't read it yet. Yes, I second this. Also, since you like East Front, "Stalingrad: the fateful siege" by Beevor. Well put together with jaw dropping statistics. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurrp Posted December 2, 2013 Author Share Posted December 2, 2013 Wow. Thanks all for the contributions, sounds like I found exactly what I'm looking for! I'll look to get hold of some, if not all, of these works in the coming weeks. Thanks again, it means a lot. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonC Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 Forgotten Soldier is fiction and bad fiction at that, despite the recommendations. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 lurrp, Am now some 30 pages in on the Kursk book, and I have to say it's brilliant. Taking as his point of departure a visit to that battlefield with a Russian infantry veteran of Kursk and his son, Clark cuts to Wittmann's Tigers in combat (scared, highly motivated to survive crews), then backs way off, picking up the story of the post WW I German situation, then Hitler's rise to power, the emasculation of German high command, the politicization of the military and the attainment of regional dominance, before segueing into the rise of first Communism, then Stalin's story. Clark writes with mastery, ease and fluidity, and from what I've seen, if you read the book you'll get quite the context from which Kursk emerged. For to get there, you need to know the history of the Russo-German War, and the events preceding it. Prepare for real education on the matter! The maps are quite useful, though I have to say that the Barbarossa map on the facing page when he starts off with his Kursk walk is a bit odd. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A co Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Other Clay, by Charles Cawthon. He was a US infantry officer at Normandy. Humble narrator, lots of interesting events. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Los Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Clay Pigeons of St Lo by LTC Glover S. Johns battalion commander of 1/115th Inf in Normandy. Good for the CMBN level. Just a great read... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Los Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Clay Pigeons of St Lo by LTC Glover S. Johns battalion commander of 1/115th Inf in Normandy. Good for the CMBN level. Just a great read... http://www.amazon.com/The-Clay-Pigeons-St-L%C3%B4/dp/0811726045/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1386044737&sr=1-1 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Clay Pigeons of St Lo by LTC Glover S. Johns battalion commander of 1/115th Inf in Normandy. Good for the CMBN level. Just a great read... Yeah, pretty good. For the Eastern Front, Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad by William Craig was, I thought, a pretty good read. I am not so heavy into the GPW that I can vouch for its accuracy, but it surely gives the flavor of the battle in all its detail. [bTW, SFAIK the only thing the movie took from the book was its title.] Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Combatintman Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Surprised nobody has mentioned Sydney Jary's 18 Platoon - regarded as a classic and is on the Sandhurst reading list. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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