Malakovski Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Time to hit the books again, I think. Haven't read any WWII material in too long. Here's what I have sitting on the shelves: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich The Face of Battle Hitler (bio by Alan Bullock) My Commando Operations (by Skorzeny) Blood, Tears, and Folly (know nothing about this one, got for nothing off a discout rack) Suggestions? I'm also looking for good books on small unit tactics to apply to CMBB. The ones in the Battlefront store look good. I'm sure they've been discussed before here...I guess I could do a search... Also need a source of OOBs. Haven't found much on the net, and it's one of the things that has kept me from doing much scenario design. Yeah...I could search for that too. A forum full of knowledgable members breeds sloth... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 The face of battle. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowbart Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Guy Sajer's "The Forgotten soldier" Kurt Meyer's "Grenadier's" 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HolzemFrumFloppen Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Malakovski: I can vouch for the excellence of two of the books on your list: 1. Rise and Fall of the 3R (Shirer). Gripping. 2. Blood, Tears & Folly (Deighton). Deighton isn't a 'professional' historian, he's a mystery writer by trade. But he tells a great, objective tale on my opinion, sans all the cheerleading you sometimes get in pre-war analysis of failures. Additionally, I think Bullock's bio of Hitler is hackneyed at some point. I highly recommend Ian Kershaw's two-volume treatment of AH. If I may, I'd also like to highly recommend Rick Atkinson's An Army at Dawn, a fantastic analysis of the Allied war in North Africa. Even if this isn't your 'theater-of-choice', as it were, it just might be after you've read Atkinson. Very impressive and objective in scope. Regarding Battlefront's bibliography posted elsewhere on this site, I think it's a fairly good one. I would exclude one book, however: Hans Von Luck's Panzer Commander. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how anyone can recommend this book. It's chock full of more tales about the quality of tea and crumpets in various regions than anything else; but combat and tactics? Hmmmph... hardly. I've read the damn thing twice and I swear I feel like I'm listening to a Starbuck's barrista detailing his/her experiences behind the counter. Just my two pfennig. Above all, have fun with your reading. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GenSplatton Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 I would exclude one book, however: Hans Von Luck's Panzer Commander. Sounds like "Through Hell for Hitler." I saw that book recommended on many a site and went out and bought it. All it did was talk about the gentleman's romps through the countryside with an occasional mention of the battles around him. Bleh. Has anyone read Rommel's book? I just ordered it yesterday. Is it any good on tactics? May be something along the line of what this gentleman is looking for. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malakovski Posted May 14, 2003 Author Share Posted May 14, 2003 Hmmm...the two books I had the most reservations about (Face of Battle and Blood, Tears, and Folly) have both gotten one thumbs up each. The Hitler bio was another discout rack purchase. Sounds like there is a better one out there, I'll hold off for it. Any opinion on Skorzeny's book? Thanks for the other suggestions as well...I have some time to read now, so I might get to a few. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefly Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Barrie Pitt's Crucible of War (now avaialable as a trilogy) should get you in the mood for CM:AK. I'm a Goon rather than a Grog though. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyD Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Read about the true face of war. "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller, if memory serves. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John D Salt Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Originally posted by Andreas: The face of battle. ...is the right answer. All the best, John. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikster khan Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 A third vote for The Face Of Battle. It and Six Armies In Normandy are my favorite Keegan books. Cheers, Mike [ May 14, 2003, 03:23 PM: Message edited by: mikster khan ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anders Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Go to the library and look for " Liddlell Hart " He is extremly good. One of his best is " On the other side of the hill ". He talked with most of the german commaders when they where in prison-camps after the war, and then wrote this book. In the years between WWI and WWII he wrote books on the subject on how to use armour in combat, in his writing he called it " lightning war " well we know what the germans called it. BLITZKRIEG!!. The brittish army didnt listen but the germans did. Read him if you want to know more about armour warfare. Anders 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malakovski Posted May 14, 2003 Author Share Posted May 14, 2003 Originally posted by Anders: Go to the library and look for " Liddlell Hart " He is extremly good. One of his best is " On the other side of the hill ". He talked with most of the german commaders when they where in prison-camps after the war, and then wrote this book. I have read his book Strategy. I enjoyed it, although in the end I don't know if he said much more than that, the thing all good tactics have in common is that they're good tactics--oh, and they're sometimes unexpected and threaten multiple objectives from a single axis. At least that's what I remember. Still, I'll look for the book you mention. That sounds quite promising. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtMuhammed Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 "Panzer Battles" by von Mellenthin and "World War II in the Mediterranean 1942-1945" by Carlo D'Este. Another decent one is "There's a War to be Won," by Geoffrey Perret. It's kind of "rah rah" but has a lot of detail. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Originally posted by Malakovski: Any opinion on Skorzeny's book?I liked it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Originally posted by GenSplatton: Has anyone read Rommel's book? I just ordered it yesterday. Is it any good on tactics?LOL Is Rommel's book any good on tactics... edit: I assume you're referring to "Infantry Attacks". Make sure you get the illustrated edition. [ May 14, 2003, 04:42 PM: Message edited by: Lars ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbb Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Is now the time to resume the obligatory debate about Paul Carell and Franz Kurowski? CBB 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtMuhammed Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Originally posted by GenSplatton: Has anyone read Rommel's book? I just ordered it yesterday. Is it any good on tactics? May be something along the line of what this gentleman is looking for. Which one? "Infantry Attacks" won't do you much good for CMAK but it is a good read. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 Originally posted by GenSplatton: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr /> I would exclude one book, however: Hans Von Luck's Panzer Commander. Sounds like "Through Hell for Hitler." I saw that book recommended on many a site and went out and bought it. All it did was talk about the gentleman's romps through the countryside with an occasional mention of the battles around him. Bleh. </font> 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Screeny Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 A good read on Rommel is: The Rommel Papers, it are the notes of Rommel he made during the war with fragments of his diary and letters to his wife and son. He made notes intending to write a book on the war after the war. Unfortunately he never made it to see peace as we all know. All this 3 sources (notes, diary and letters) have been compiled and commented by Lidlell Hart, indeed the "pioneer" on mobile warfare. After the war he got hold of this sources and he made a good book about it. Also a part has been co written with General Bayerlein and a final chapter by son Manfred Rommel describing his memories of the last days he spent with his father incl the day that Erwin Rommel was "arrested". The book in its total describes the war in early France (1940), Noth Afrika, Italian defence and Normandy (D-Day). The books describes the tactics but also has some touching personal notes. Ofcourse it is not 100% objective as it is a kind of Semi auto biografy. Anyway one of my favorites, I got it as a gift of a uncle of mine from the US (an ex Marine) 16 years ago and it was the starting point in my WW2 interest. gr Screeny 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meach Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 I just read an English translation of Achtung Panzer! by a certain Heinz Guderian. It is a total insight into the harsh lessons learned from the first world war too the setting up of the panzer arm from wooden tank mock-ups and bewildered troops looking on as they trundled wooden tanks about on exercise. I am no grog but I enjoyed the read. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malakovski Posted May 15, 2003 Author Share Posted May 15, 2003 Well, the concensus of three and no objections means Face of Battle is first, probably Shirer next. Regarding all the other suggestions, what do you think I will find most useful as far as sitting down in from of CMBB and learning how a German/Russian officer would approach a given situation? I've played thirty-some PBEMs since I got the game, and I think I am about as good as I am going to get without studying real world tactics and learning to apply them. My win ratio is fine--roughly twenty wins, ten losses, and some draws--but very often I don't feel like I've earned the victory (or defeat for that matter). Luck, maybe a little better micromanagement, and of course the occasional "psyops" via email seem to swing the battle much more often than a good plan based on analysis of the situation. At the same time, the few cases where I felt that I did earn the victory and really out-thought the other guy have been very satisfying. I'd like to do more of it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowbart Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 Enemy at the Gates was a very good read about the epic of Stalingrad. It has hardly nothing to do with the terrible movie made under the same name, which is all about the sniper duel. There is literally two pages in the book that mention Zaitzev. If you are into U-boats, Iron Coffins by Herbert Werner is excellent. He was one of only a few captains that survived the war. Stuka Pilot by Hans Ulrich Rudel is a must read. Rudel destroyed over 500 Russian tanks, a Soviet battleship, and more in his Stuka. I think he may have shot a few soviet fighters down too, but I'm not sure. One of my favorite war books of all time is All Quiet on the Western Front . I would say this is a must read. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GenSplatton Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 The one I was referring to is actually titled Rommel and his Art of War. I can't find Infantry Tactics anywhere. Been looking for awhile. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 Originally posted by GenSplatton: ... I can't find Infantry Tactics anywhere. Been looking for awhile. Try Amazon. It is an apparently little know online bookseller, but it rocks. I found 14 copies of Infantry Attacks in about 2 minutes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenfedoroff Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 Or try Alibris: http://www.alibris.com/search/search.cfm Hope this helps/works, Ken 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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