Have been reading on this subject lately - Citizen Soldiers, Soldat and The Forgotten Soldier recently.

What have you read that you would recommend?

Looking at The Sergeant in the Snow next.

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That is a huge category. Is there any topic or genre you are more interested in?

I just finished "The Great Raid" by Breuer. I enjoyed it.

I am still haunted by some of the passages in "The Forgotten Soldier".

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
That is a huge category. Is there any topic or genre you are more interested in?

The last 2 have been on the Eastern Front more or less. Also read The Jungle is Neutral (Malaysia insurgency...).

Ground war ... so maybe I should read some on aviation or naval warfare.

Like you said - broad topics but any of it is fascinating.

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Currently reading about Gallipoli, but that is WW1.

US Navy salvage during and before WW2, a really good author is Edward Ellsberg. Some of his stuff is in reprint. More of his stuff is on audio CD's, very good listening if you are traveling. A number of his books are autobiographies. On this list are : Under the Red Sea Sun. No Banners, No Bugles, and The Far Shore (unique view of Normandy invasion).

Hard hat diving by someone that spent serious time in the suit.

30 Seconds Over Tokyo. It is about the Doolittle raid and is written by one of the pilots.

For something a bit different Col. Ernest Dupuy St. Vith: Lion in the Way is something I really need to revisit. Not the most well written book but another I found interesting was Joesph Harrington Yankee Samurai.

Currently reading James Hornfischer book The Fleet at Flood Tide.

I like the way he tells the stories. Also, his book, The last stand of the tin can sailors is awesome.

Lemme see here... I've read a ton of WW2 books, and these are the ones that come to mind.


Memoirs:

Soldat and The Forgotten Solider, which you've already read, were excellent choices.

With The Old Breed - Eugene Sledge (USMC mortarman in the Pacific)

Sniper on the Eastern Front - Sepp Allerberger/Albrecht Wacker (German sniper in Russia)

Panzer Commander - Hans Von Luck (German tank officer in France, North Africa, and Russia)

Company Commander - Charles MacDonald (US Army infantry officer in Europe)

Few Returned - Eugenio Corti (Italian Army officer in Russia; unfortunately the sequel - The Last Soldiers of the King - wasn't nearly as good...)

Death Traps - Belton Cooper (US Army armored division maintenance officer in Europe)

And No Birds Sang - Farley Mowat (Canadian infantry officer in Italy)

Bugles and a Tiger/The Road Past Mandalay - John Masters (British officer with the Ghurkas in Southeast Asia)

Defeat Into Victory - William Slim (British general rebuilding British forces in Southeast Asia)


WW2 nonfiction:

Anything by Anthony Beevor

Anything by Max Hastings

Anything by Stephen Ambrose (You've already read Citizen Soldiers)

The Liberation Trilogy - Rick Atkinson (excellent 3-volume overview of the US military in North Africa, Italy, and Europe from 1942-1945)


WW2 Fiction:

War of the Rats - Daniel Robbins (fictional take on the fighting in Stalingrad, especially a German/Soviet sniper duel; served as the basis for the film "Enemy at the Gates")

Killing Rommel - Steven Pressfield (fictional take on the British Long Range Desert Group/SAS in North Africa)

Brothers in Arms - Peter Duffy
My War - Andy Rooney
Tenozan - George Feifer
Fly For Your Life - Larry Forrester
The Cactus Air Force - Thomas Miller
Duel of Eagles - Peter Townsend
Messengers of the Lost Battalion - Gregory Orfalea

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

WW2 Fiction:

War of the Rats - Daniel Robbins (fictional take on the fighting in Stalingrad, especially a German/Soviet sniper duel; served as the basis for the film "Enemy at the Gates")

Killing Rommel - Steven Pressfield (fictional take on the British Long Range Desert Group/SAS in North Africa)

Both of those are really good, Killing Rommel was my first Steven Pressfield book, got me hooked.

A Writer at War by Vasily Grossman is a pretty good read of the author's experiences as a reporter for the Red Army as they pushed ze Germans back to Berlin.

The Thousand-Mile War by Brian Garfield is a tasty telling of the Aleutian Campaign, where Japan invaded several Alaskan islands. Got that one in a karma like 11 years ago.

Before starting with anything, start with Chester Wilmot's The Struggle for Europe

John Keegan said about him, "Wilmot effectively invented the modern method of writing contemporary military history". Wilmot was an Aussie journalist who covered the war 1st hand. Really great narratie style, tho a tad dry. Thick, heavy book.

Another vote for the Rick Atkinson trio: An Army at Dawn, Day of Battle, and Guns at Last Light

It is primarily a history of the US Army in the North African and European theaters of war. It discusses the serious organizational challenges of the US Army in North Africa, then the hard learning curve in Sicily and Italy, and on to France with the Germans collapsing.

I can also recommend Anthony Beevor, great stories, etc.

Another recommendation is for John Keegan's various books on the subject and his work in general.

David Glantz is another really good historian. His work on the Red Army and the Eastern Front is exceptional.

If you like nuclear history, check out critical assembly. My dad wrote it.

Here are a few of my favorite Eastern Front books:

Fiction:
- "Cross of Iron" - Willi Heinrich
- The Sven Hassel series - though most are Ostfront, others are located elsewhere.

Non fiction, Eastern Front specific:
- German viewpoint:
Paul Carell's "Hitler Moves East" and "Scorched Earth"

- Generalist:
Earl Zeimke's "Moscow to Stalingrad" and "Stalingrad to Berlin"
David Stahel "Kiev 1941"
Harrison Salisbury "The 900 Days - The Siege of Leningrad"

W E B Grifith, (or Griffin) has a great non fiction series, "The Corps". Marines in WWII.

Herbert Werner's memoir "Iron Coffins" is about his war as a German submarine officer.

Scholars believe he included incidents that didn't happen to him, or the boat he was on, but which did happen to others. So, it isn't a scrupulously accurate historical account, but I also think that the consensus is that it is generally accurate and a good description of the war for German submariners.

Soldat was a really insightful book.

I can't believe I forgot to include Cornelius Ryan's A Bridge Too Far. (Ryan's The Longest Day and The Last Battle are also good, but I think Beevor's and/or Hasting's books on Normandy and the fall of Berlin are better choices.)


And I've heard that Ian Toll's Pacific War Trilogy is worth a read. Basically an overview of US involvement in the Pacific War. Seems like a good companion to the ETO's Liberation Trilogy.

However, only the first two books have been released so far, so I'm waiting on the final book before starting the trilogy.

With the Old Breed
Helmet for my Pillow
Guadalcanal Diary
The Winter War

Another classic: "Eisenhower's Lieutenants-The Campaigns of France and Germany, 1944-1945"
by Russell F. Weigley.