Kylie Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I've now read quite a few fiction and non-fiction books set during World War II, and yet it occurs to me that I am still too ignorant of a lot of what happened, how it happened and why it happened. We never studied WWII at school and I think I'm missing too much information. A couple of weeks ago in a bookshop I saw three books by Richard J Evans: The Coming of the Third Reich, The Third Reich in Power and The Third Reich at War. These would seem to include all the history and whatnot that I'm after. Has anyone read these? Or can anyone recommend other non-fiction works that delve more into the history and politics of the Third Reich and WWII? I would also appreciate similar recommendations concerning WWI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Hi Kylie, how are you? I am sorry to say I have not read many non fiction book on World War 1 but some non fiction books on World War 2 by Laurence Rees, which are well written and informative in a straight forward way ~ Click here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 If you're interested in soldier accounts, my boyfriend has a ton of memoirs he could recommend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 Some interesting books there, thanks Weave. Echo, yes please. I'd love some recommendations from your BF. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Adolf Hitler by John Toland and Hitler, A Study in Tyranny by Alan Bullock are a couple on my shelf that I found informative. Also The Arms of Krupp by William Manchester was an interesting study of the Krupp family, munitions makers to Hitler. A book I've wanted to get a hold of is Onward Christian Nurses, Edith Cavell by Diana Souhami. It is the story of an English nurse [Matron] that was executed by the Germans during WWI in Belgium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 'The Second World War' by Winston Churchill. Churchill's history of the Second World War is, and will remain, the definitive work. Lucid, dramatic, remarkable both for its breadth and sweep and for its sense of personal involvement, it is universally acknowledged as a magnificent historical reconstruction and an enduring work of literature.'He is not writing history so much as reliving it - with its animosities still remembered, its wounds still smarting. This is a story told while the sweat and shock of mortal combat are still upon the teller.' Evening Standard'That the acclamation has been even greater than might have been anticipated is the measure of his unique achievement - to have given the authority and the majesty of history to the stuff of his own times.' Daily Telegraph Lidell Hart is a military historian who wrote ' The History Of The First World War' and 'The History Of The Second World War'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 A couple of weeks ago in a bookshop I saw three books by Richard J Evans: The Coming of the Third Reich, The Third Reich in Power and The Third Reich at War. These would seem to include all the history and whatnot that I'm after. Has anyone read these? Or can anyone recommend other non-fiction works that delve more into the history and politics of the Third Reich and WWII? I'm not sure if it is a general overview you are after or specific detail [about WWII], but the above will give you more of the latter rather that the former. Rather than a book, if you are looking for a good outline of what happened I would recommend that you look out a copy of the TV series The World at War, which broadcast in the UK in the 70s. It gives a very good overview of the whole war, from it's origins to it's conclusions and it goes into quite a bit of detail. Be warned, though, it's pretty grim in places (and if you must have a book, I believe a book of the series was published!). Other than that, I can recommend Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose (which tells the story of a US airborne company from D-Day to the end of the European war) and The Hardest Day, by Alfred Price, which details all of the air raids that took place on one August day in 1940, at the height of the Battle of Britain (it's a bit technical, but it's interesting to see how air raids actually worked, and just how quick they were). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Kylie, here are the recommendations from my boyfriend: With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge (WWII) Helmet for my Pillow by Robert Leckie (WWII) Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest by Stephen Ambrose ^Those are three that he has. The rest are from his wish list: Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters by Dick Winters (WWII) Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific by R.V. Burgin (WWII) Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War by William Manchester (WWII) A Soldier's Story by Omar Bradley (WWII) The Rommel Papers by Erwin Rommel (WWII) War As I Knew It by George S. Patton (WWII) The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman (WWI) The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916 by Sir Alistair Horne (WWI) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 Thanks Echo (and Echo's BF). That's two votes for Band of Brothers. Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. This lot would keep me going for quite a while, but I think I might start with just one or two. But feel free to keep the suggestions coming for others who might be interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueK Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 (edited) I'd have to agree with Chrissy that Churchill's books on the Second World War are absolutely excellent. I bought the set for my Dad years ago and have since "borrowed" them off him to read. They are exceptionally well written. You might also like Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain (she is the mother of Shirley Williams - a (ex)Lib Dem MP over here). I have read this book several times and I never fail to be shocked by her accounts of the horrors of war, here is some blurb from Amazon: In 1914 Vera Brittain was 21 years old, and an undergraduate student at Somerville College, Oxford. When war broke out in August of that year, Brittain "temporarily" disrupted her studies to enrol as a volunteer nurse, nursing casualties both in England and on the Western Front. The next four years were to cause a deep rupture in Brittain's life, as she witnessed not only the horrors of war first hand, but also experienced the quadruple loss of her fiancé, her brother, and two close friends. Testament of Youth is a powerfully written, unsentimental memoir which has continued to move and enthral readers since its first publication in 1933. Brittain, a pacifist since her First World War experiences, prefaces the book with a fairy tale, in which Catherine, the heroine, encounters a fairy godmother and is given the choice of having either a happy youth or a happy old age. She selects the latter and so her fate is determined: "Now this woman," warns the tale, "was the destiny of poor Catherine." And we find as we delve deeper into the book that she was the destiny of poor Vera too. Edited March 8, 2011 by SueK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 (edited) I've only read bits of the Richard Evans trilogy, but what I've read has been excellent - it has a very good reputation. I like the Churchill - superbly written. However, what always niggles a bit in the background is that he knew all about Enigma (and the other code-breaking projects), but doesn't include them (they were still top secret) - so am never sure quite whether why he says happened is actually why it did happen. His history of WW1 (The World Crisis) is another I've dipped into and found equally well written. Other WW1/2 histories I've enjoyed and personally rate highly: Ian Kershaw's Hitler, John Keegan's First World War, Second World War and Six Armies in Normandy, Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August (her The Proud Tower is a thoroughly readable portrait of the years leading up to WW1), Anthony Beevor's Stalingrad and D-Day, Andrew Williams's The Battle of the Atlantic, Das Boot- Lothar Bucheim, War Beneath The Sea - Peter Padfield, A Brief History of the Royal Flying Corps in WW1 - Ralph Barker. I'm also a bit of a fan of AJP Taylor, controversial as he is. His Origins of the Second World War was a landmark in WW2 History writing, and is eminently readable. However, if you're looking for a brief but clear discussion of the backgrounds to either or both wars, I found The Origins of the First and Second World Wars by Frank McDonough absolutely invaluable. Edited March 9, 2011 by willoyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtz Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 I just finished great WWll book called Far Eastern Files, by peter Elphick, which is about intelligence operations in pacific theater during and in years prior to the war. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 (edited) Kylie, I second (third?) Band of Brothers Another very haunting book you will remember forever if you read it is The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer. It is a first person memoir of a half French/German boy of 16 who volunteers to join the German army and is sent to the Russian Front. I keep meaning to write a review of this. Edited March 16, 2011 by vodkafan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Found in 'trash' - now restored. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 You mention WWI as well, so let me recommend The Vertigo Years, Europe, 1900 - 1914 by Philipp Blom. Also, Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy, while fiction, certainly accurately depicts WWI, the psychological and physical effects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dorin Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Hi Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany - William L. Shirer Masters And Commanders - Adrew Roberts The Rape Of Nanking - Iris Chang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 (edited) I don't know how 'live' this topic still is, but I recently finished Max Hastings's single volume history of WW2, All Hell Let Loose. Absolutely outstanding - one of the best narrative history books I've read, and certainly the best on WW2 that I can recall. Huge tome, but very readable. Enjoyed every second of it, and found something new on pretty much every page. My non-fiction book of the year, against some pretty good competition. Edited December 28, 2011 by willoyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyGirl Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 I've been wondering about that one Willoyd so thanks for that little review - another one to go on my wishlist. And this topic will always be "live" as long as I am here as its my favourite subject to read about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 I have All Hell Let Loose on my wishlist too, I'm looking forward to reading it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Butter Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 I think I've mentioned it before here, but Diane Atkinson's Elsie and Mairi Go To War is the story of two nurses who worked right up in the front line on the Western Front. It's an excellent read for anyone interested in an unusual human story. On a similar theme, Sisters in Arms by Nicola Tyrer is the story of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps, and well worth a read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 I'm currently waiting for All Hell Let Loose to become available at the local library. I don't read many history books but have been told that that one is magnificent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyGirl Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 What is the basic theme of All hell let loose? I mean, does it focus primarily on one subject of the war or does it cover a wide range? Also, does it go into military operations a lot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 What is the basic theme of All hell let loose? I mean, does it focus primarily on one subject of the war or does it cover a wide range? Also, does it go into military operations a lot? It's a single volume history of the war - no specific focus. In terms of the military side of things it takes a primarily strategic viewpoint. Hastings uses witness material (letters, diaries etc) to illustrate, but he very much uses these specifics to illustrate the broader sweep. I found it well balanced, in particular giving the Eastern front the sort of exposure that one would expect of such a critical campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyGirl Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Thank you for that informative reply Willoyd, it sounds like its just my sort of book. I am going to add it to my wishlist as there are a few others which I would rather get before that one but I'm definitely interested in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyGirl Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 I have just recently got "Brothers in War" from the charity shop and it looks to be such an interesting and emotional read. Maybe some others on here would like it too, I will let you know the verdict when I've finished reading it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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