Could you recommend me some good World War II books? Anything really - from entertaining books based on true stories, to weoponry and vehicles. Thanks.

Depends on what exactly you are looking for
some of my fav are
- A bridge too far by Cornelius Ryan about Operation Marketgarden
-Infantrerie Aces by Franz Kurowski about German winners of the iron cross and German infantry tactics during WWII
-The D-Day Dodgers by Daniel G. Dancocks about the first Canadian infantry division in the Italy campaign

Check out this thread for answers:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=185489

A Pillow for My Helmet and Delivered from Evil by Robert Leckey are both very good. The first is an autobiographical account of his days in the marines in the Pacific Theater, the second a big picture look at the war.

I love his sardonic humor.

The one I'm reading right now is "How Hitler Could Have Won World War II: The Fatal Errors That Lead to Nazi Defeat" by Bevin Alexander.

A really good read so far.

Two things: There are just so many nonfiction books w/ great merit that I couldn't begin to list them. A suggestion: I would make is to be sure to check out the Eastern Front War of 1941-45 between the Nazis and the Russians. It gets ignored too much.

For fiction, you should definitely read both Joseph Heller's Catch 22 and The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer. Excellent novels about people caught up in the war, one madcap comic and the other intense and gut-wrenching.

30 Seconds Over Tokyo
about the Doolittle Raid (Alec Baldwin in the recent Pearl Harbor movie)

I liked Band of Brothers and Stalingrad.

Hey Goblincat!

I just finished "How Hitler Could Have Won World War II" and I thought it was great also. I was sad to have it end so quickly.

Are you saying that you wish Hitler could have gone on longer? J/K

As far as WWII fiction goes, Len Deighton has written some good stuff. I Just finished reading "Goodbye Mickey Mouse" which I really enjoyed.

"Inside The Third Reich" by Albert Speer is one of the most fascinating books I've ever read. Speer was, of course, a member of Hitler's inner circle as he was first the chief architect and then minister of industry and arms production. Aside from the always interesting "behind the scenes" stuff, it was amazing to read the complete disassociation from reality that Hitler maintained. He had plans for these incredible buildings that had no chance of ever being built, such as a stadium that would have held hundreds of thousands of people. I highly recommend the book.

Other books I would recommend are "Enemy At The Gates" (about Stalingrad) and "Dirty Little Secrets of WWII," which is a chocked full of easy-to-read information, many of which dispel popular myths. I could think of many other titles, but these three are among my favorites.

-Brian

I have been reading Delivered from Evil and using it for reference for years. What an excellent book! I have recommended it to people several times.

There's a series of paperbacks called the "World War II Library" which is a good less-expensive alternate (around $7 each) to the usual hardcover books.

I only read a few, but they were quite good:

- *"Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans Von Luck" by Hans von luck
- *"The Mighty Eighth: The Air War in Europe As Told by the Men Who Fought It" by Gerald Astor
- "Soldat: Reflections of a German Soldier, 1936-1949" by Ted Brusaw (Contributor), Siegfried Knappe
- *"A Blood-Dimmed Tide: The Battle of the Bulge by the Men Who Fought It" by Gerald Astor
- *"Currahee!: a Screaming Eagle at Normandy" by Donald R. Burgett
- *"Raid: The Untold Story of Patton's Secret Mission" by Richard Baron
- *"Seven Roads to Hell" by Donald R. Burgett

*Sample pages for view are available on amazon.com

I especially recommend Panzer Commander & Raid

wow..where to begin??

Pacific Theater books:
Ghost SOldiers
Flags Of Our Fathers

European Theater:
all the ambrose books: D-Day, Band of Brothers, Citizen Soldiers
all the Ryan Books: The Longest Day, A Bridge Too Far, The Last Battle

Thanks for the help guys, sorry for the long time for a reply. I made a big list from what I've read here and Amazon reviews. Here's my list thus far, what should I read first? I suppose I ought to read a general overview book first?

An Army at Dawn
by Rick Atkinson

Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
by Stephen E. Ambrose

The Long Gray Line
by Rick Atkinson

A Bridge Too Far
by Cornelius Ryan

Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany, June 7, 1944-May 7, 1945
by Stephen E. Ambrose

Flags of Our Fathers
by James Bradley

Ghost Soldiers: The Forgotten Epic Story of World War II's Most Dramatic Mission
by Hampton Sides

Catch-22
by Joseph L. Heller

Inside the Third Reich: Memoirs
by Albert Speer

Dirty Little Secrets of World War II: Military Information No One Told You About the Greatest, Most Terrible War in History
by James F. Dunnigan, Albert A. Nofi, James F. Dunningan

The Forgotten Soldier
by Guy Sajer

How Hitler Could Have Won World War II: The Fatal Errors That Lead to Nazi Defeat
by Bevin Alexander

Delivered from Evil: The Saga of World War II
by Robert Leckie

Helmet for My Pillow
by Robert Leckie

The Greatest Generation
by Tom Brokaw

The Origins of the Second World War in Europe (2nd Edition)
by Philip Michael Hett Bell

Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s over Germany 1944-45
by Stephen E. Ambrose

We Die Alone
by David Howarth

Beyond Valor: World War II's Ranger and Airborne Veterans Reveal the Heart of Combat
by Patrick K. O'Donnell

DEFINETLY read an overview first. books like band of brothers are great, but if u have no clue how or why they got to where they were it wouldnt make much sense. u need to be able to put it in context.

once u get the general idea of "they invaded them" "they did this", etc....then u can focus on topics or campaigns that u find really interesting.

So what is a good overview to read? Somebody mentioned "Delivered from Evil" by Leckie?

The Origins of the Second World War in Europe
by Philip Michael Hett Bell

the rise and fall of the 3rd reich


two of my favs

The recently-released Berlin 1945 has been getting good reviews. It sounds interesting.

Can somebody point me towards some good WWII sites w/active message boards? Thanks.

Catch-22
Slaughterhouse Five (has some WWII in it IIRC)
Elie Wiesel's Night
Spiegelman's Maus

Rise and Fall of The Third Reich is great if you are willing to not read anything else for a few months. It's heavy, dense information, and it takes some mental processing. But it will give you a solid background to carry to any other reading.

The Ambrose books (D-Day, Citizen Soldiers, Band of Brothers) are good reading, but keep in mind that his perspective is on the individuals, not on the grand strategy or campaigns.

I've been reading the Churchill memoirs of the war years, and they are absolutely fascinating. Six volumes, each volume over 500 pages each.

Martin Gilberts Book on WWII is thick but very readablee and gives a great overview of both the Pacific as well as the European Theater..much better than stuffy Keegan (zzzzzzz)

Which book is this? "The Fall of Berlin 1945" by Antony Beevor?