Best WW2 book you read

tc20 · 20-08-2015 11:50am

as the thread title is "best WW2 book..." I'd have to say Beevor/Kershaw books are thoroughly good reads. I got through Stalingrad last year and have loaned Berlin to a friend so will read that in time. I've read quite a few of Stephen Ambrose after BoB first came out on tv and found them enjoyable and well researched but a little, I don't know... Hollywood-ish??

I recently picked up "I fought you from the skies" in a charity shop and read it on holidays. Its written by Willi Heilmann, a Luftwaffe fighter pilot concentrating on the latter stages of the western front. I thought it eloquently written, not at all clunky, as some translated books can be. Certainly the descriptions of aerial combat, and the feelings of despair towards the end came across well. Also, it was good to read something from the other perspective.
Recommended - If anyone wants it, just drop me a PM

TerrorFirmer · 27-08-2015 3:34am

Will have to read Ardennes. Stalingrad and Berlin are incredibly reads, head and shoulders above others in my opinion. I quite like Max Hastings Armageddon and Nemesis, but don't think they hold a candle to Beevor. He has a very unique and enthralling way of unfolding the stories surrounding events that trump the competition. Berlin is possibly my favourite bit of WW2 literature, my copy is falling apart from sheer use.

Horse84 · 27-08-2015 6:01pm

I would just like to add my recommendation for beevor's books. Really top reads. On Ardennes, I preordered it and read it while on hols last month. I'd have to say it's probably not his finest work. While it is enjoyable I wasn't blown away with any groundbreaking new information or nothing I didn't really know before.

On a different topic would anyone be able to tell me if any bookseller stocks the full range of osprey books? I came across a very comprehensive stand full of them while in a bookshop in Iceland but as with most things there they were hideously expensive.

beauf · 27-08-2015 6:22pm

The one Beevor book I couldn't read was the Spanish one. I found that unintelligible. The politics were too much for my mindset when I was trying to read it.

Jawgap · 27-08-2015 6:25pm

beauf wrote: »

The one Beevor book I couldn't read was the Spanish one. I found that unintelligible. The politics were too much for my mindset when I was trying to read it.

The only history book I ever gave up on.

Although, he himself says it's not his best by any measure. He did it very much on a budget.

Snickers Man · 01-09-2015 12:30pm

A Bridge Too Far by Cornelius Ryan is a brilliant description of a single battle/campaign, the Operation Market Garden attempt to cross the Rhine by going through Holland and using paratroopers to capture the bridges on the way.

It's a long book which describes much of the fighting and logistical problems in some detail but also touches on (there's scope for a much more in-depth study on this topic) the intrigues within the Dutch population, most of whom were sympathetic to the Allies but many of whom had collaborated with the Germans, leading the Allies and the British in particular to be highly mistrustful of them. Had they been a bit more willing to use the Dutch experience they might have avoided/overcome many of the problems they had.

Jawgap · 01-09-2015 1:30pm

Wibbs wrote: »

Over the years I've gathered a fair number of books on the War and here are a few from the nearly all first person German perspective;

......

Just finished this one......

51yAPag-CbL._SX317_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

.....an interesting read as the author is fairly open about his pro-Nazi, pro-Hitler beliefs and motivations.

Wibbs · 01-09-2015 2:55pm

He became a politician for a right wing German party after the war IIRC. As you say he's pretty open about it. Most of these early ones are.

beauf · 01-09-2015 7:56pm

I think A Bridge Too Far is one of the best ones.

corner of hells · 05-09-2015 12:45pm

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Will have to read Ardennes. Stalingrad and Berlin are incredibly reads, head and shoulders above others in my opinion. I quite like Max Hastings Armageddon and Nemesis, but don't think they hold a candle to Beevor. He has a very unique and enthralling way of unfolding the stories surrounding events that trump the competition. Berlin is possibly my favourite bit of WW2 literature, my copy is falling apart from sheer use.

Ardennes is not great , nothing like some of his other books.

beauf · 05-09-2015 2:20pm

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 · 10-09-2015 9:01am

Arrived today......

51hgi6ofEjL._SX311_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

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

lurker2000 · 20-09-2015 8:05am

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 · 20-09-2015 8:08am

Nazi Hunter

Thomas998 · 09-10-2015 12:14am

Anything by Beevor, really.

Count Down · 28-03-2017 1:46pm

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 · 03-04-2017 8:11pm

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 · 03-04-2017 8:12pm

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

Count Down · 04-04-2017 9:16am

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 · 29-12-2022 10:38am

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

And also Citizen Soldiers.

Both excellent reads..

Tippman24 · 15-01-2023 10:59am

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 · 06-07-2023 8:45am

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 · 06-07-2023 8:48am

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 · 06-07-2023 9:43am

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!

Best WW2 book you read

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