Vark Posted April 27, 2011 Author Share Posted April 27, 2011 Martin Middlebrook's "Arnhem 1944" is a good account of the British airborne operation at the fateful bridge. It actually compliments It Never Snow in September, especially the rapid German reaction to the initial drops and the ambushing of the recce unit. Reynold's "Devils Adjutant" is a different book altogether than his later ones, but that is because his interest in the Peiper operation was not just a historical hobby but of professional interest. At one time he commanded the BOAR Brigade that was tasked with relieving the Berlin garrison, if GFSG decided to go West. He studied the operation because he would have a similar role to Peiper, operating an armour heavy force, deep behind enemy lines. He details the SS weaknesses and is especially critical at the lack of supply provided for the mechanised infantry (no hot food, sleeping in freezing SPW's etc). He also details Peiper's lies to his interegators, to cover up his failings. By cross referencing after action reports of units he shows how these unit histories can sometimes be dubious sources of reference, especially when claiming armour kills (Eastern front Uber-cat lovers take note, not all claimed kills actually are often what they seem). Shock, horror even the Germans made mistakes, or actually made it up! For a tankers view point Ken Tout's Tank, 40 Hours in battle cannot be beaten, his superb prose captures the moments of terror, and a gives a glimpse of what life must have been like. Barkhorn, agree Tank v's Tank was pretty woeful, especially the invented SPG gun he invented, duking it out with T-80's. Ah, Ballantine books, now that name brings back many a happy memory, P-38 Fork tailed Devil was a fine book (great photos of the guns firing at night) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 My favourite book for the Normandy landings is "Omaha Beach" by Joseph Balkoski. I also recommend "Beyond the Beachhead: The 29th Infantry Division in Normandy" by Joseph Balkoski. His Utah Beach is also excellent. I enjoyed "War without Garlands "by R Kershaw but found "It never Snows in September" didn't keep my concentration... I had exactly the same experience. I've been thinking bout having another go at ...Snows... but haven't been able to bring myself to the task yet. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barkhorn1x Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Vark summed it up well regards Arnhem. Don't leave out "A Bridge Too Far" for "the big picture" and pretty accurate reporting. RE: Ballantine Books - man I loved the pictures and I guess I can't fault those books too much as they sparked my interest in the history of WWII. RE: Peiper. Yes, turns out the old boy was not above burnishing his rep. One could literally write a book on KG Peiper in the Ardennes. Oh wait, Reynolds already did and "The Devil's Adjutant" is a tasty piece of micro history. * * Want to know whose Tiger II was KO'd on Stavelot's main street in that famous picture? Reynolds has your answer - and then some. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 RE: Ballantine Books - man I loved the pictures and I guess I can't fault those books too much as they sparked my interest in the history of WWII. Yes, the editors made good selections for the time. They were just about all good reads, even if some of them have been superseded by more recent works. I think I may still have over a dozen of them. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vark Posted April 27, 2011 Author Share Posted April 27, 2011 * Want to know whose Tiger II was KO'd on Stavelot's main street in that famous picture? Reynolds has your answer - and then some. Don't forget the Tiger II crew who were 'attacked' by a bazooka crew that immobilised their tank and they had to bail out. Trouble was their was no bazooka team anywhere near them in Stavelot and it is more likely driver error/panic caused a crash. Gosh these Germans make up twaddle to cover up their mistakes, but most still take their word (especially on the Eastern front) as gospel. Interestingly, as a boy I read "A Bridge too Far" and skipped all the 'boring' civilan bits, re-reading it now these are some of the most poignant extracts. same with the Middlebrook book, the accounts of the fighting were ok, but truly fascinating was the previous civilian lives of the soldiers and the planning for the op. Talking of 60's-70's books what about Alexander McKee's Caen:Anvil of Victory? Hell I even remember some of the chapter titles (Smudgers gone to heaven for example). Thanks for all the suggestions, once I've finished various books on the fighting in Ramadi, the First Crusade and bio-cyber fusion I will have to purchase some of these books listed here. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Whoops one more superb read "The Guns of War " by George Blackburn http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guns-War-George-Blackburn/dp/1841192104/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303916554&sr=1-1 Just noticed the price... I don't know whether to be more distraught about the price, or the atrociously ignorant editorial decision that came up with the cover. The originals with their period paintings are lovely. Amazon.com has them at far more reasonable prices. As does The Book Depository. And both have editions with immensely better covers. All three books of Blackburn's trilogy is highly recommended. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 All three books of Blackburn's trilogy is highly recommended. Indeed. The Guns of Normandy is particularly good, and the first to be written I believe. But all three are worthwhile. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vark Posted April 30, 2011 Author Share Posted April 30, 2011 Just been into town and saw this, Tooze writes a recommendation but have any CMers read it? Britain's War Machine: Weapons, Resources and Experts in the Second World War by David Edgerton Looked interesting as it challenges the traditional plucky little Britain outmatched by the Nazis, I flicked through it and it did seem quite juicy. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Looks interesting but apparently won't be available in the US until September. A bit pricy too. I may wait for the paperback. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vark Posted April 30, 2011 Author Share Posted April 30, 2011 £12 pounds on Amazon UK so bought it, will see what it's like. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wodin Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 I find Military History books can be very expensive...but alot of the time they are more than worht it...going off track alittle I paid £40 for alimited editon of 750 WW1 book about a German Corps from the start of the War to the morning of July the first and I have to say it was one amazing read...the second volume is due out in May and I have preordered...the amount of photgraphs and the detailed research into the soldiers is mind boggling... So in my eye some militray history books are works of art that can keep the memory of the soldiers and their scarfifce living on...the above being one of those...another one is Island of Fire by Jason Marks..a superb Stalinrad book that centres on the pionneer attack on Barikady...again such research into individual actions and soldiers is amazing. These are the sort of Militray History books I will pay for and pay quite big...upto £100 if needed...as I will read and re read them for the rest of my life and some do go up in price as they stop being published... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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