Your "Must Have" List

[michael_wittman44]

The following is website that I enjoy!

http://members.tripod.com/~dietmagic/panther.html

[jacobs_ladder2]

I have a few that I think are must haves, but they are mostly the ones that I find the most valuable when designing scenarios.

Any list of mine will always start with David Glantz. "Stumbling Colossus" and "Colossus Reborn" will give anyone a pretty decent insight into the RKKA. After that would come any one of a dozen works by the same author.

"Panzer Leader" and "Lost Victories" are two of the better books I have read.

Georg Tessin's "Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS 1939-1945" is one hell of a piece of research. Leo Niehorster and George Nafziger are good sources for the same kind of information, but Tessin is the king.

I find Niklas Zetterling's "Normandy 1944, German Military Organization, Combat Power and Organizational Effectiveness" tremendously useful.

Max Hastings has some real winners including "Das Reich" and "Overlord". "Overlord" is the first book I ever read on WWII. I still love it.

Incidentally, Hastings wrote an excellent book on the Falklands War which is a must read.

Cheers

Paul

[von Churov]

Guderians Panzer Leader is a good read. But also, reading between the lines one can see how arogant piece of **** this man was.

Manstains Lost Victories is really a "must have".

Memoirs of (most probably) the best general of WWII should be read. But, there's quite a propaganda here too, and as Guderian he whitewashes himself too. But if you manage to filter the propaganda out you have very good read.

My favorites are:

"Istroia Vtoroi Morovoi Voini" v 12 tomov. (History of WWII, in 12 volumes, Russian). A lot of propaganda...but a lot of read too.

Also, WWII by Churchill is as good. Lot of Comonwealth propaganda, but also a lot of very good read.

With these babies you don't feel sory when the book is done...It takes a months to go through them.

A quantity is a quality by itself.

[Fußball]

I'm currently reading one very very interesting book! Infantry Aces by Franz Kurowski. This book emphasizes on eight German soldiers and their heroic acts. From saving wounded kameraden behind enemy lines to storming fortified positions and and living to tell about it! A good read for anyone interested in the common soldier's experiences in WWII.

Tschüß!

Erich

[Aco4bn187inf]

War Without Garlands by Robert Kershaw- densely packed with first-person accounts. Probably the most appropriately horrifying book I've read about Operation Barbarossa.

In Mortal Combat, mentioned earlier, is indeed good. It's by a German PAK crewman and, later, infantry officer, and, later, POW.

Letzte Briefe aus Stalingrad (Last Letters from Stalingrad) The title tells you exactly what you're getting. I doubt there could be a more intimate insight into the German states of mind in the Eastern front.

[Fußball]

Originally posted by von Churov:

Guderians Panzer Leader is a good read. But also, reading between the lines one can see how arogant piece of **** this man was.

I beg to differ and would like to know what in your opinion makes Guderian an arrogant piece of ****.

Tschüß!

Erich

[von Churov]

Originally posted by Fußball:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by von Churov:

Guderians Panzer Leader is a good read. But also, reading between the lines one can see how arogant piece of **** this man was.

I beg to differ and would like to know what in your opinion makes Guderian an arrogant piece of ****.

Tschüß!

Erich </font>

[von Churov]

One more thing,

He had all of the tanks under his command marked with large G (for Guderian) painted in white.

If that is not a sign of egocentrism and arrogancy, I don't know what is? :mad:

[Aragorn2002]

Perhaps interesting for scenario makers. Schneiders Panzertaktik will soon be released by Stackpole books for only 19.77 USD, instead of the normal 94 USD. It will be a softcover, but who cares. Check Amazon.com. I haven't seen this book myself, but from what I've heard it's worth the (new) price.

[Panzer Walrus]

Originally posted by bradenwalks:

I really enjoyed reading "Panzer Operations"

It's a collection of the memoires (spelling?) of Erhart Raus of his experiences on the Eastern Front from 41 to 45. He came across to me as a real tactical genius.

First-class choice,, first-class read. No real self-serving moments.

Gives the reader a real picture of the mixed-unit Kampfgruppe actions with the focus on small unit tactics as part of the overall picture.

The episode where his command ran into KV-I's (which were basically unkillable with what his command had at it's immediate disposal) illustrates just why we all love dirty great big tanks so much

[Fußball]

Originally posted by von Churov:

He had all of the tanks under his command marked with large G (for Guderian) painted in white.

This could be looked upon as arrogance but vonKleist had a K on many of his armored vehicles under his command. From perspective as you said he was a wonderful tactician, as of course I agree. I do disagree somewhat on his view of the infantry as useless.

-Guderian did not so much view the infantry as useless but more along the lines of insufficient compared to the average armored infantry and armored vehicles.

-I do realize he was overly arrogant when it came to his achievements. And to be truthful his units were spearheading, along with Rommel, the forces in France. I myself could justify some form of gloating but not so much as Guderian did.

-I do understand his reluctancy to detach his own units from his command. Since with his achievements he could have well thought that he was more needed for the job, blinded by his ego and achievements.

-To a point his disobeying of other officers usually worked. And the troops under his command always followed him into battle, they appreciated the man greatly.

-And to a degree, some negativity attributed to Guderian is no more than other general's distaste for his actions. Such as the frequent disobeying of higher command. Which almost always worked when he disobeyed orders and went under his own directive. In fact until he disobeyed Hitler's utterly power hungered orders was he finally relieved of his command... Only to be reinstated by the crazy fool when Rommel was being pushed out of Africa. ( no offense to Rommel at all, a great and heroic commander )

-And I think that by Guderian saying,"After I fired my gun they ran away." is purely metaphorical. Guderian being egotistical I think has nothing to do with this comment. More or less saying when his division is on the front line the enemy is always prone to fleeing.

I understand he was egotistical but not so horrendously arrogant as he is viewed in my opinion. Guderian's story is a very controversial one and like anyone there are always at least two sides to it. Egotistical ja, but arrogant as ****, no.

Tschüß!

Erich

[Canada Guy]

Have any of you read "Devel's Guard" by George Elford? I have heard much aboout these books (3 in the series) all based upon the true story of an SS battalion conscripted by the French after WWII into the French Foreign Legion (i.e. join us and shoot vietcong or we will shoot you). From what I heard from my Profs, they were the most sucessful unit to serve in Vietnam including even the Americans.

Hard book to find though as it is out of print and the asking price on eBay os astronomical when I checked a few months ago.

[Canada Guy]

That should be "Devil's Guard".

[Aco4bn187inf]

Wow, ex-fascists in the service of colonialists with US-supplied weapons versus Soviet- armed indigenous Communist insurgents who learned their skills against the Japanese! Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose, nicht wahr?

...um, I don't know why I wrote that, but it was fun to write. The books sound morally incomprehinsible, but certainly militarily very interesting.

Anyway, does anyone have an opinion of the recent book Tank Rider? It's by a Tankodesantnik, Soviet tank-mounted infantryman, and it looks pretty interesting, but still kind of expensive last time I looked.

[von Churov]

Fussbal,

We agree pretty much.

I don't go into the reasons for his arogancy...but he was arogant and no doubt about that. Maybe it's because of the success...but the fact remains.

Yes, Kleist had K, and Hoth had H painted on their tanks but it was Guderian who introduced the fashion. They just followed what was "in" at the moment...like:"If Haintz can, why can we do that too?"

What comes to my mind is a book by Brian Fugate, Operation Barbarossa. It broke my illusions of Guderian as a noble soldier. You should read it.

Gruss meine freund

[Tiredboots]

To Aco & Canada: to confuse matters further, at dien bien phu the Legion's ex SS were fighting alongside spanish civil war anarchists("hell in a small place"by Bernard Fall,a book very much read at khe san.)

[Tiredboots]

To Aco:$13.57,**** reviews,I'm buying it. A pity such personals memoires are coming in so late.Memories distortions, a lifetime of of propaganda, still the Russians' words should be read. After all they are the ones who did the heavy lifting.

[Aco4bn187inf]

Thanks, Tiredboots. At that price I'll get it now too. Hell in a Small Place sounds good. (As a book.)

I'll recommend a few other books which mostly don't touch so much on CM-type information, but might be interesting to anyone fascinated by WWII-

A Soldier's Legacy by Heinrich Boll- Hunger and despair on the Atlantic wall, then on to the Eastern Front. (A novel)

Is Paris Burning? -Well known, all about the liberation of that city. Says panthers have 88mm gun, but otherwise good.

By-Line: Ernest Hemingway

edited by William White-

Includes a couple of Papa Hemingway's articles for Collier's magazine about the drive to Paris, and a good one about an attack at the Siegfried Line which reads a lot like a CM after action report.

OK Joe

A novel. French guy translates for US Army during liberation of France. Translates at trials of black GI's, who, not surprisingly, always get hanged.

Kaputt by Curzio Malaparte

(I just started reading it) A novel. Italian captain/ journalist wallows in mind-bending moral horror everywhere from Rumania to Finland. He meets Sepp Dietrich, etc etc. Interesting random stuff like German boxing champion Max Schmeling's description of his brief experience as Fallschrimjager on Crete. Stinky dead horses a big theme so far.

Liberators by Potter, Miles, Rosenblum.

Black tankers of 761st Tank Bn kick ass in Europe.

[Wisbech_lad]

Another recommendation for John D Salt's list - those are all top drawer. '18 Platoon' is still required reading for LI officers, apparantly. I would only add Spike Milligan's memoirs, and "By Tank to Normandy" by Stuart Hills for completion

For fiction, as well as Catch 22

- "Sword of Honour" trilogy (Waugh)

- "In the Valley of Bones" (Powell)

- "Empire of the Sun" (Ballard) (though really a memoir)

- "The Cruel Sea" (Monserrat)

- "Slaughter House 5" (Vonnegut)

As a kid - I loved "Silver Sword" (Serrailler)- a novel about a Polish family trying to find each other at the end of the war. Suitable for 10 year olds.