Guest scurlock Posted January 1, 2000 Share Posted January 1, 2000 ANyone read any good World War TWO books lately? Also, I'm looking for British 1944 TO&E for Armoured and Infantry divisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Beman Posted January 1, 2000 Share Posted January 1, 2000 Just started _What If?_ by Deutsch and Showalter. Discussion of the possible outcomes of many of the crucial points in WW2 (what if the Allies had stood up to Hitler in 1938, what if the Japanese had finished the job at Pearl, Stalingrad, Midway, the contents list is quite long) I'm only on page 9, so I don't have much of an opinion on the validity of the analysis. Anybody out there have this one? DjB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Madmatt Posted January 2, 2000 Share Posted January 2, 2000 Got a ton of new books from merry St. Nick. The three (ok really about six!) I am into now are: A Blood Dimmed Tide-Gerald Astor: eyewitness acounts during the Bulge. So far very good! Steel Inferno-Michael Reynolds: 1st SS Panzer Corps in Normandy Tiger Ace -Gary Simpson: all about Michael Wittmann, need I say more? I love the pic of him and Bobby counting the Kill Rings! And these are just the ones I am currently IN TO... Madmatt out ------------------ If it's in Combat Mission, it's on Combat Mission HQ! combathq.thegamers.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarmo Posted January 2, 2000 Share Posted January 2, 2000 Sven Hassel has many IMO good books. He was on german army during WW2, and his books mix true stories with made up ones. Not heroism stuff, and very much anti-war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Posted January 2, 2000 Share Posted January 2, 2000 What Theater of Operations are you interested in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scurlock Posted January 2, 2000 Share Posted January 2, 2000 My main interest is European Theater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Posted January 4, 2000 Share Posted January 4, 2000 Sorry I'm late Sarge, I had to look through some books to get ideas. Right now I'm reading "Drop Zone" Sicily by William Breuer it's short but excellent detail on the planning and execution. Before that I read another book by Breuer called "Operation Dragoon" which is the invasion of Southern France, which as it turns out was mostly an airborne operation. By the time the three landing divisions got into the fight Hitler already gave the order to evacuate France. "Night Drop" by S.L.A. Marshall, in my opinion, is about the best account of the Airborne Operation on D-Day. Is there any other aspect of the European Theater you like to read about? On the West Front there's the breakout, the drive to the Rhine, the closing battles. I was in the Air Force too. I was stationed in the Azores back in '76 and then Norton AFB in Southern California. Now that was good duty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Private Ryan Posted January 4, 2000 Share Posted January 4, 2000 I don't mean to intrude but, I have read many books about the European theatre, and wanted to read some things about the British in Africa. I don't know much about this theatre, until the Americans came into the picture. Thanx for any responses, Pvt. Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scurlock Posted January 4, 2000 Share Posted January 4, 2000 Just about anything dealing with the land war. The fighter war such as the Battle of Britain interest me also. My personal WWII library disapeared when I went to basic training a long time ago. I only resently started reading about WWII again. I watch a lot of documentories, but hadn't been in the books for a while. I just ordered Ambrose's book on the Sherman and their crews. Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War Two is in reprint so I'm replacing my copy of that, and also I've finaly invested in my own copy of "Panzer Leader" by Heinz Guderian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobVarak Posted January 4, 2000 Share Posted January 4, 2000 St. Nick has done good this year. Just finished MacDonald's "Company Commander", which was terrific. I'm in the middle of Doubler's "Closing With The Enemy", and my GOD am I into it. If you want the one book that will DIRECTLY impact your skill at CM, I think that this may be the one (unless Fionn goes and writes one Also picked up "Blood, Tears and Folly" by Deighton and "Soldat!" by Siegfried Knappe. Haven't gotten to those yet. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berlichtingen Posted January 4, 2000 Share Posted January 4, 2000 Madmatt, <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Tiger Ace -Gary Simpson: all about Michael Wittmann, need I say more? I love the pic of him and Bobby counting the Kill Rings!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> What did you think of the writing style? I ask, because I just finished it and thought the style was amatuerish (amatuerish? Is that a real word?) ------------------ --- Dan Brown dbrown@owc.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von shrad Posted January 4, 2000 Share Posted January 4, 2000 Enemy at the Gates...by William Craig... One of the most gripping works I've read on Stalingrad, my ..er.. favorite battle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howardb Posted January 4, 2000 Share Posted January 4, 2000 Jarmo: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Sven Hassel has many IMO good books. He was on german army during WW2, and his books mix true stories with made up ones. Not heroism stuff, and very much anti-war<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Sorry to ruin anything but the guy Sven Hassel is the biggest liar that ever lived. He spent most of the war in Danish jails. Yeah and how is it that he was in all the theatres of WW2, except the pacific? Don't get me wrong I've read all the books myself TWICE but the books has nothing at all to do with Sven Hassel's own expiriences (except those from the jail perhaps). Check out this URL for some amusing reading. http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/7210/Hasse005.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howardb Posted January 4, 2000 Share Posted January 4, 2000 Double post. Had some troubles yesterday [This message has been edited by howardb (edited 01-04-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von shrad Posted January 4, 2000 Share Posted January 4, 2000 wow, what a scammer. They should have put his ass in a East Front penal unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von shrad Posted January 4, 2000 Share Posted January 4, 2000 oops, double post. They should put MY ass in a EF penal unit. [This message has been edited by von shrad (edited 01-04-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fionn Posted January 4, 2000 Share Posted January 4, 2000 Personally, given that CM is based in the ETO in 1944-45 I'd recommend reading up on that geographical area and time period first. I just bought new copies of Overlord by Max Hastings and A Bridge Too Far by Cornelius Ryan and IMO they are both form a good basis for this theatre at this time.... A little "higher level" of course but MacDonald's Company Commander and Soldat by KNappe round them out nicely. ------------------ ___________ Fionn Kelly Manager of Historical Research, The Gamers Net - Gaming for Gamers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tom punkrawk Posted January 4, 2000 Share Posted January 4, 2000 I ordered some books about a month ago and they still haven't came yet..makes me mad. I can't even remember what I ordered Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Posted January 4, 2000 Share Posted January 4, 2000 One of my favorites: "It Never Snows in September" The the German View of Market-Garden and the Battle of Arnhem, September 1944 by Robert J. Kershaw. Finding books from the German point of view are hard to find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesy Posted January 4, 2000 Share Posted January 4, 2000 Requiem for Battleship Yamato by Yoshida Mitsuru...Great book about the final sortie of the Yamato (the world's largest battleship ever built). Heck - it's the ultimate AFV . Shows the thoughts of a survivor and it's final days aboard the Hotel Yamato as it was once called. Gives a glimpse on what people felt to go on a kamikaze mission - it's not the one dimensional stereotype...Gallant folks who died for their country and families. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOS was 71331 Posted January 4, 2000 Share Posted January 4, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Berlichtingen: Madmatt, What did you think of the writing style? I ask, because I just finished it and thought the style was amatuerish (amatuerish? Is that a real word?) <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> While I found the book interesting, I must admit that I quickly tired of the author's repeated use of phrases like "any and all" -- as in "Wittmann used any and all chances he had to fire on the ..." Better editing would have improved the book a lot. BTW, while my dictionary does show "amateurish" as an adjective, I'd just use "amateur." I'd prefer "It was an amateur performance" to "It was an am...ish performance." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrapGame Posted January 5, 2000 Share Posted January 5, 2000 Just read Ambrose's Citizen Soldiers. I thought it had some interesting points, but it also had many parts where his facts may be questionable. I don't know, it just reads in parts like he hurried the book out the door before his fact checkers had completed their jobs. There were some typos and the such. I still recommend it if you have the time to kill. I think what I'm currently reading is called Stalin's War on Germany. I believe the author is Irish, or a Scot. Although I am not very far into it, it has a very authoritative feel, and appears to be well documented. Just my 2 cents CrapGame out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scurlock Posted January 5, 2000 Share Posted January 5, 2000 I thoroughly enjoyed Citizen Soldier. His work may not make good research material, but it captures the events through the stories of the people that were their, and reflects the impact war had on real people's lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GriffinCheng Posted January 5, 2000 Share Posted January 5, 2000 Sorry I have posted this in another thread. I came across a book called "German Panzer Tactics in WW2" in a catalog. Is it good? Thx. Griffin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howardb Posted January 5, 2000 Share Posted January 5, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by von shrad: wow, what a scammer. They should have put his ass in a East Front penal unit. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hehe.. Actually they did but he "supposedly" (according to himself anyway) survived several years in one. Yeah I know you're only being sarcastic but I couldn't resist saying this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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