Best WW2 book you read

Iron Coffins by Herbert Werner. If you like U-boats
Roll me over An Infantryman's World War 2 by Raymond Gantter
The Mighty Eighth: The Air War in Europe as Told by the Men Who Fought It by Gerald Astor.

I have more but don't have time to list them maybe later

I read the Forgotten Soldier myself , though in recent years there's been doubts to its authenticity , though the challenges to it seem very vague eg positions of units in Russia and his descriptions of unit markings on uniforms.Great read all the same , Sajer was alive until recently too , I think.

Have a look for the Long Walk by Slaovmir Rawicz , anything by Beevor and Cornelius Ryan's Longest Day is good too.

Ivan's War by Catherine Merridale. Gave me a new insight on the war from the Russian/Soviet side (and the tensions between "Russian" and "Soviet" troops - Russian soldiers were puzzled and disappointed by the less than enthusiastic welcome they received in parts of Ukraine for example). Up until then a lot of my understanding of the war in the east was based on the German narrative of seemingly infinite hordes of "Ivans" streaming west in human wave attacks. Ivan's War did a lot to highlight how the Red Army was essentially defeated in 1941 and 1942 but each time regenerated, turning men who often came from villages without electricity (and who in some cases who had never heard of Stalin) into engineers, tank drivers, artillery gunners, mechanics. An army that became a force that ultimately fought the much admired Wehrmacht to a standstill and eventually routed it all the way back to Berlin.

It put a human face on the "Ivans" as well - what motivated them to fight. Their concerns and worries about their families who were often under Nazi occupation or far behind the lines. How those fears (of betrayal by their wives who they were absent from) and sentimentality (for family life) affected their seemingly arbitrary treatment of women and children later in the war and their reintegration into families who they hadn't seen for years and who often couldn't live up to the Soviet propaganda of perfection - often they had starved or made terrible sacrifices, whilst the soldiers at the front believed their families were being taken care of. It created tension when soldiers returned to families and found things weren't as rosy as they had been told. How soldiers at the front felt betrayed or tormented by reports from their homes that their families were in difficulties, whilst they themselves were in hellish conditions.

Merridale recounts speaking to the widow of a Soviet soldier, and the woman breaking down in tears. Merridale thought she had upset her, but it turned out she was furious with her dead husband - in post war Germany he had taken a German "wife", had a child with her, and then returned home. His Russian wife had felt betrayed but accepted it as in Soviet society veterans gained access to better apartments and standards of living. But she was still angry.

And indeed the hopes and dreams of Soviet soldiers for a better future at the end of the war, a future without famines, repression and Red terrors. And its cynical betrayal by Stalin who viewed the "Great Patriotic War" as a mere gimmick to get men to fight for him, as well at the equally cynical co-opting of Soviet veterans into a "safe" narrative by the later Communist party.

Does Catch-22 count? As someone mentioned above anything from Anthony Beevor.

p38 wrote: »

Have you read Berlin: The Downfall 1945 by Beevor excellent overview of the last days of the reich.

Reading it right now! About 70% through it. Not enjoying it as much as Stalingrad but still a great book.

youcancallmeal wrote: »

Read The Kindly Ones on your recommendation. Took me about 3 months, finished it about a week ago and still can't stop thinking about it. One of the most remarkable books I've ever read. It is tough going and about half through I was considering giving it up but glad I stuck with it. Would highly recommend it to anyone who is willing to invest the time and effort. Definitely in my top 10 books of all time.

Glad you enjoyed it. It really is a phenomenal read and one I will definitely go back to in the future.

Read "The Caine Mutiny" recently. Set on a rundown US minesweeper during ww2. Not bad and kept me interested throughout

Panzer Leader by Heinz Guderian is high on my list.

p38 wrote: »

Have you read Berlin: The Downfall 1945 by Beevor excellent overview of the last days of the reich.

Reading this at the moment.

Its not a bad read but find that there is a laxk of explanations in relation to terms that he mentions.

I suppose he expects the reader the know these already.

Just finished Ostland by David Thomas. Not saying it's the best WW2 book I've read but it is certainly one of the most thought provoking.

It's fiction but based on a real SS officer Georg Heuser who started off as a young detective in Berlin. His first case was a serial killer who murdered women on the railway network early in the war. After getting the killer Heuser was posted to the SS in Minsk and was put in charge of "processing" Jews and partizans.

The story examines how Heuser changed from someone who was shocked at the serial killers crimes to a cold mass murderer himself within a few short years. Heuser was tried for his crimes in the early sixties and the book also gives an insight how post war West Germany dealt with these cases.


It's graphic and unsettling in places but it was hard to put down and I'm still thinking about it.