Welcome to the WWII Forums! Log in or Sign up to interact with the community.

What Are You Reading?

Discussion in 'WWII Books & Publications' started by Mahross, Feb 1, 2004.

Tags:
  1. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2002
    Messages:
    26,461
    Likes Received:
    2,207
    Read Chuikov´s 2-part memoirs From Stalingrad to Berlin years ago. What year is From Leningrad to Hungary, btw? Chuikov book was definitely USSR period.Sorry.
     
  2. Sheldrake

    Sheldrake Member

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2013
    Messages:
    1,773
    Likes Received:
    568
    Location:
    London UK
    Eighth Army versus Rommel; Tactics, Training and Operations in North Africa 1940-1942 by James Colvin
    9[​IMG]781913336646.jpg
    " style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(56, 59, 61); text-decoration-line: underline; cursor: pointer;">
    This is James Colvin's first book and is based on research undertaken for his MA. It is an academic work in that it is sourced and draws on primary sources. His academic tutor was Matthais Strohn, and this work displays rigour and insights informed by someone close to the British Army. The book does what is says on the tin, and covers tactics training and operations. However, its real strength is the clinical examination of the culture of the British and Indian Army and how this hampered the commanders and staff of the Eighth Army in developing effective tactics.

    The author pieces together the thinking that led to the ineffective tactics and the influence of the Indian army approach to armoured warfare. It is worth reading alone for the exposition of the thinking of Tom Corbett, Eric Dorman Smith and Francis Tuker and how this led to a battlefield of boxes. Much of this is new analysis and adds a new dimension to any thinking about the desert war battles. The only limitation is that the Gunners escape lightly. He says nothing about the frequently raised
    question about not being quick to follow the Germans in using Heavy AA guns as long range anti tank guns. Nor has he much to say about the Gunner involvement in the decentralisation of artillery to brigade groups and battlegroups.

    It should be on the reading list of anyone interested in the war in North Africa 1940-1942 or in the wider British Army of that period.
     
    ColHessler likes this.
  3. ULITHI

    ULITHI Ace

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2010
    Messages:
    1,904
    Likes Received:
    424
    Location:
    Albuquerque, New Mexico
    372203CC-CE84-41DC-B8B8-2D630F9106D3.jpeg I am about 80 pages into “Iron Coffins” by Herbert Werner. I am really enjoying it so far. Reading Werner’s narrative really makes me appreciate how good the original Das Boot film really was.
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2021
    Slipdigit likes this.
  4. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2009
    Messages:
    14,288
    Likes Received:
    2,605
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    [​IMG]

    Read this a long time ago. Now that I own it, I'm reading it again. Tregaskis was a good writer who experienced what he wrote about.
     
    Slipdigit likes this.
  5. Riter

    Riter Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2020
    Messages:
    949
    Likes Received:
    255
    Trying to get the Berlin part of Chuikov's book now.

    From Leningard to Hungary is 1941 when author was a 16 year old to being drafted (1943). So you're going to get some insights into the Siege. Sent to Art. Officer Academy, sent to Guards Regiment, injured, not fully recovered at hospital and sent back to front (Czechslovakia and then Hungary in 1945. Stil in Hungary in 1946. It has interesting insights into uniforms (those discharged got the better uniforms so they don't return home in rags), the victory parade (had to be a certain height and appearance so ugly looking soldiers or minotiries stay at the unit), firearms training (very little with handgun until post-war).
     
    Last edited: Jun 17, 2021
    ColHessler and Kai-Petri like this.
  6. Riter

    Riter Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2020
    Messages:
    949
    Likes Received:
    255
    A Dangerous Assignment: An Artillery Observer in World War II.
     
  7. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2002
    Messages:
    26,461
    Likes Received:
    2,207
    Whatever the means I always find it amazing how fast the observer could be pinpointed and send artillery fire etc to his position.
     
  8. GunSlinger86

    GunSlinger86 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2013
    Messages:
    1,152
    Likes Received:
    45
    Hitler: the Fall
     
  9. Riter

    Riter Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2020
    Messages:
    949
    Likes Received:
    255
    Thomas Taylor's The Simple Sounds of Freedom about 506th PIR (101 Airborne)'s Joe Beryle.
     
  10. Riter

    Riter Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2020
    Messages:
    949
    Likes Received:
    255
    The author complained frequently of his commanding officer who would select a position that could also be observed by the enemy and subjected to artillery fire. Their first casualty was because of it. They finally got another officer who was more cautious with their lives w/out compromising their ability to spot.
     
  11. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    May 21, 2007
    Messages:
    18,045
    Likes Received:
    2,364
    Location:
    Alabama
    I read this one a couple of months ago. I found it to be rather interesting with good insight into the mindset of the Kriegsmarine submariner.

    Excellent book, especially considering the timeframe in which it was written.
     
    ULITHI likes this.
  12. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    May 21, 2007
    Messages:
    18,045
    Likes Received:
    2,364
    Location:
    Alabama
    I took a break from books of the period, but this week have picked up a few that I am now working my way through.

    I am about halfway into:
    [​IMG]

    Clear the Bridge!, The Patrols of the USS Tang, RAdm Richard H. O'Kane,1977, Presidio Press, 478 pages, excellent maps and photos..

    So far it is outstanding.
     
    ColHessler likes this.
  13. Riter

    Riter Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2020
    Messages:
    949
    Likes Received:
    255
    Airborne
     
  14. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    May 21, 2007
    Messages:
    18,045
    Likes Received:
    2,364
    Location:
    Alabama
    Last night I finished:

    Clear the Bridge!
    , The Patrols of the USS Tang, RAdm Richard H. O'Kane,1977, Presidio Press, 478 pages, excellent maps and photos..

    [​IMG]

    10/10 Will Read Again.
     
  15. Riter

    Riter Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2020
    Messages:
    949
    Likes Received:
    255
    Limey GI by Guard.
     
  16. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2009
    Messages:
    14,288
    Likes Received:
    2,605
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    51aJi3EF84L._AC_SY780_.jpg

    About halfway through this. It's a fictional account of Midway and the run-up to it. I think much of the history is accurate, but the dialog obviously is made up. Seems ok so far.
     
  17. OpanaPointer

    OpanaPointer I Point at Opana Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2008
    Messages:
    18,245
    Likes Received:
    5,669
    The Most Controversial Decision: Truman, the Atomic Bombs, and the Defeat of Japan (Cambridge Essential Histories)

    If you're going to study the end of the war in the Pacific, start with this short (150) book. He lays out the events and the issues with them and provides his sources for each.

    Amazon blurb:
    "This book explores the American use of atomic bombs, and the role these weapons played in the defeat of the Japanese Empire in World War II. It focuses on President Harry S. Truman's decision making regarding this most controversial of all his decisions. The book relies on notable archival research, and the best and most recent scholarship on the subject to fashion an incisive overview that is fair and forceful in its judgments. This study addresses a subject that has been much debated among historians, and it confronts head-on the highly disputed claim that the Truman administration practiced “atomic diplomacy.” The book goes beyond its central historical analysis to ask whether it was morally right for the United States to use these terrible weapons against Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It also provides a balanced evaluation of the relationship between atomic weapons and the origins of the Cold War."

     
  18. Takao

    Takao Ace

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2010
    Messages:
    10,103
    Likes Received:
    2,574
    Location:
    Reading, PA
    Given the plethora of books on the Atomic Bombing...Does this bring anything new to the table? Or is it just another rehashing of events?
     
  19. OpanaPointer

    OpanaPointer I Point at Opana Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2008
    Messages:
    18,245
    Likes Received:
    5,669
    It's more of "if you want to know more about XYZ consult Authors 123." Think of it as 150ish pages of breadcrumbs. It was required reading for the WWII class at Purdue when it came out.
     
    Takao likes this.
  20. Takao

    Takao Ace

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2010
    Messages:
    10,103
    Likes Received:
    2,574
    Location:
    Reading, PA
    Thanks OP.
     

Share This Page