Thanks all who have contributed. I have enjoyed the discussion.

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
Thanks all who have contributed. I have enjoyed the discussion.

flashguy

its an absolutely fascinating subject

could spend your life reading about it -- the scale and proportions of that region of conflict nearly bars comprehension

literally millions of men fighting to the death over months and months. i wonder if that could ever happen again...

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quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Read William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

One of the best relating to what happened leading up to the war although it isn't a war story really, more about the politics and maneuvering into political power.
I grew up near Shirer in Connecticut in the 60's and my parents knew him.
Quite a story, he had. I didn't read the book until about ten years ago or realize the life he lived until I read the book.
He had an amazing opportunity to be the fly on the wall in Europe leading up to the war, and through access to documents after to fill in the gaps. He was also lucky to escape just in time to tell his story.

I read a book by an ex Russian soldier who made the case that Stalin had planned an invasion of Germany and was waiting for the right time but Hitler did it first.

"Scorched Earth" Russian-German War 1943-44.

Paul Carell.

Good reading about the German Armies retreat on the Eastern Front.

Probably found used in paperback.

quote:

Originally posted by GWbiker:
"Scorched Earth" Russian-German War 1943-44.

Paul Carell.

Good reading about the German Armies retreat on the Eastern Front.

Probably found used in paperback.

There are tons of paperback copies floating around used bookstores for pennies. I see them all the time, along with his first book in the series "Hitler Moves East: 1941-1943".

I've read them, and they're interesting, but they have some problems.

Importantly, understand that Carrell's books have a decidedly pro-German/German apologist slant, omitting the bad deeds of the German forces on the Eastern Front, and painting them in a rather rose-colored light. Not surprising, considering Carrell himself was a Nazi and a member of the SS, serving as a high-ranking propagandist for the Reich during the war. (Imagine that... an influential Nazi propagandist's books about the German military paint the Germans in a positive light. )

Aside from the propaganda issue, from a purely historical standpoint, they're also fairly dated now, since he didn't have access to all the information and data that modern historians do. He would have been writing based almost totally on West German resources, since he didn't have access to East German or Soviet resources back when he was writing these books at the height of the Cold War in the 1960s.

But for the few cents a used paperback will cost you, they're potentially worth picking up to have something else to read. Multiple books with differing viewpoints on a subject can be helpful and interesting... Just don't let Carrell's be the only Eastern Front books you read.

(And don't worry... He's dead now, and buying a used copy won't put any money in his or his estate's coffers anyway. So don't feel like you're supporting a Nazi by buying used copies of his books. They're still decent military operation histories, provided you understand their problems/drawbacks and go into it with both eyes open.)