Best WW2 book you read

beauf

I liked Max Hastings Armageddon and Nemesis. But there is a bit of speculation in those books with not everyone will agree with.

I read a different book about Ardennes. I can't remember which one though. Might have been Citizen Soldiers.

Jawgap

Arrived today......



....to be read once I finish his brother's book on the Caesars

lurker2000

I'm reading 'Hell's Gate- the battle of the Cherkassy pocket, Jan-Feb 44' by Douglas E Nash at the moment. Its intense as its packed with detail of all the different Soviet and German units and movements at that time and location. Basically, a large number of German forces were surrounded near Korsun by an overwhelming number of Soviet divisions who were under the command of Zhukov and Vatutin. By all accounts the Germans were in danger to suffering the same fate as the 6th Army at Stalingrad the year before.

von Manstein wanted to rescue them but was hampered by Hitler's insistence that the rescue be coupled with the retaking of Kiev which was a bridge too far for the decimated Germans at that stage. I'm halfway through it but its a must for anyone interested in the Eastern Front ... As far as I know, no one had written about this action before Doug Nash did it so capability. Nash is a retired Col. in the American military and has therefore has a greater understanding of the battle strategy than a civilian author may have IMO.

My Darling Clementine

Nazi Hunter

Thomas998

Anything by Beevor, really.

Count Down

Jonathan Dimbleby's Destiny In The Desert is an excellent description of the events leading up to the battles of El Alamein, and deals with the behind the scenes politics which led to the sacking of Montgomery's predecessors.
For fiction Alistair Maclean's HMS Ulysses is brilliant.

Poulgorm

The Rise and fall of the Third Reich, by William Shirer.

A few decades old, at this stage. Still available on Amazon. The best account I have ever read.

NIMAN

Haven't read that many tbh, so can't do comparisons, but Stalingrad by Beevor is an excellent book.

Count Down

Another excellent work of fiction is Brian Callison's A Flock Of Ships. Set in the 1970s originally, it tells the story of a Royal Navy survey ship in the remote island of Tristan de Cunha in the South Atlantic. They discover a pair of WW2 merchant ships and a wrecked U-boat in the natural harbour, but only discover the secret of the mystery when they find the diary of the merchant ship's first officer.
The story is very effectively told in flashback, and starts off slowly, but builds up to an exciting climax.
Out of print, but available from Amazon for about €5 including postage.

greenspurs

No one mentioned " Band of Brothers" by Stephen Ambrose.

And also Citizen Soldiers.

Both excellent reads..

Tippman24

Martin Middlebrook wrote a few excellent books on WW2. A great read is "Convoy" which tells the story of 2 Conveys of ships leaving New York in March 1943 destined for England. Both Conveys were intercepted by U-Boats and suffered huge losses. He also wrote "The Regensburg-Schweinfurt Raids" which tells the story of the USAF attack on these 2 towns in Germany in August 1943. It was not a success and the Americans suffered huge losses. Final book I will mention is "the Nuremberg Raid" which tells of the RAF bombing mission in April 1944 when they suffered the loss of some 90 aircraft. The thing about the three books and his other work is that there are interviews with the men and women on both sides.

Prefab Sprouter

Bomber Command by Max Hastings is well worth a read. Gives a really good history of the Strategic Bombing Campaign and explains how the service evolved during the war. His description of the initial raids over Wilhelmshaven is brilliant and terrifying.

Manach

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120811875#Comment_120811875

I second Bomber Command as a recommendation.

From the Axis side, there is "Panzer Commander" by Hans Von Luck.

Prefab Sprouter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120811884#Comment_120811884

And I would also agree with Manach's recommendation about Von Luck's memoirs. A good read!