Experts! Is this book worth reading?

For many of us that are not well versed yet as the older members, there are many books out there with skewed information, revisionist history, and downright false information that I for one wish to stay clear of. Let’s face it, not everyone has heard of David Irving, the Holocaust denier.
Furthermore, there are also members out there who get hammered in the forums for citing information from a book that is less than reputable.
I was given permission to create this thread specifically for people wishing to ask if certain books are worth the money/effort to read, and are not already reviewed or discussed in depth in the forums. This is for us that want to hear from the experts and bookworms on this site instead of reading reviews on Amazon only!
Please feel free to give your opinions on the books listed if you have read them, and your justification for them. Thanks for your help!

Added by Slipdigit

Thread is pinned.

Rogues, this is not a thread to argue the merits of the various books. Give your opinion, if you have one, and move on.

 

Anyone read: Marshall Hero for Our Times by Leonard Mosley (1982) ?

I bought this for a buck at a used book sale. Is this a well rounded biography?

 

Hey ULITHI,

I've read all of the major biographies of General Marshall, and found Mosley's to be derivative, less-well rounded, and containing more errors than Forrest Pogue's multi-volume biography. Mosely was a well-known journalist, and his "reporters" style of writing flows easily on the page. However, his biography displays a shallowness in the depth of his research which mars some of his observations and conclusions.

Despite its short-comings, Mosely's biography is required reading for anyone truly interested in General Marshall, and I would recommend it for that reason. Just keep in mind that Pogue's biography remains the benchmark for understanding General Marshall.

For anyone wishing to get past General Marshall's well-maintained, reserved demeanor, and get a feel for him as a person, I recommend General Marshall Remembered by his young friend and surrogate daughter, Rose Page Wilson.

Hope this helps.

Duckbill

 

Thanks Duckbill! I appreciate the response and will keep this in mind when I read this!

 

Hello Experts!

I wanted to ask about two books:

Becoming Eichmann by David Cesarani (2006)

Operation Sealion by Peter Fleming (1956)

I actually just finished Becomming Eichmann. A few reviewers on Amazon stated that this book is just a hit piece on Hannah Arendt. I have not read her famous Eichmann in Jerusalem, and indeed, Cesarani's book was the first I ever read dealing exclusively with Eichmann.

I really enjoyed it personally, but sinse this was my first book on him, I was wondering what the experts take on it was. Was Cesarani too hard on dealing with Arendt?

I have just started Operation Sealion . It looks like a nice book with short chapters and lots of cartoons and pics from the time period. However, the author does say in the intro that the archives in GB were still classified, and that further books will be more rounded.

Is this comment a warning to read a more current study, or is there still merit in Fleming's work?

Thanks for your time Experts!

 

I have the book by Leonard Mosley, enjoyed it. Some of the quotes run a little long but it is fast paced and well written. I think the research is pretty good, I haven't seen any other authors question Mosley's scholarship or his conslusions. Pretty good deal for a buck, you can go to those library sales where they almost give away old books and you can find some great bargins.

 

Fleming's book is still worth a read. Most of what was classified in 159 will have been released to the general public by now, so try and get as recent an edition of the book as you can.

 

Hello expert Rogues!

Have you ever read:

To Fly and Fight By Colonel Clarence "Bud" Anderson?

Flying Start By Huge Dundas

The Road to Trinity by Maj Gen K.D. Nichols

The Foreign Policy of the Third Reich by Klaus Hildebraud

The Goebbles Diaries 1942-1943

I picked up these very cheap at a used book sale. I was wondering if anyone had some feedback on them.

 

The books by 'Bud' Anderson and Hugh 'Cocky' Dundas are both highly-regarded memoirs by top WWII airmen ; both fighter pilots but one with the 8th AF and the other with the RAF. I have both books on my shelves.

Any of the various Goebbels Diaries are essential to any WWII book collection IMPO.....

 

Flemings work is a mastteriece of establishment writing of its time. Stil to befoundin thebibliograhies of many later and resent books. If you look hard enough you will find a reference to the Auxileries long before anyone ever mentions them.And yes the James Bond connection is there.Fleming brothers were involved with the birth of the AUXILERIES. See With Britain in mortal danger by John Warwicker.

 

has this book been read by any here..

If This Is a Man (Italian title: Se questo è un uomo; United States title Survival in Auschwitz) is a work by the Italian writer, Primo Levi, describing his 11 months—from February 21, 1944 until liberation on January 27, 1945—in the German concentration camp at Auschwitz in Poland, during the Second World War. The book is described as a memoir..

 

It's a very famous book, sniper ; indeed regarded as a classic. I have read it, but many years ago.....

 

Howdy Gents! I bought two cheap books last weekend that caught my interest.

The Killing of SS Obergruppenfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich by Callum Macdonald 1989

Gods of War by Hans Werner Wolterdorf 1989

Anyone know if these are any good? I am especially interested in the first one, since I have always wanted to read about Heydrich's assasination.

Thanks guys!

 

Hoodwinking Hitler: The Normandy Deception By William B. Breuer 1993

My Dad found this at my late Grandfather's house. Amazon does not have many reviews on it.

Anyone think it's any good?

 

Ed Cray's one-volume bio of Marshall is very good.

 

Well, I have read a few good WWII books however my favourite is called "Russias heroes" and I have known the author (Albert Axell) for quite some time and all his stories are not only true, but backed up. Also during the story he mentions some interviews with veterans and other historians, authors ETC. Check out this book and author.

 

I don't have "Air War Pacific Chronology" yet. But I really enjoyed his other works.

From what I have seen this is an excellent reference work for those of us who are into the Pacific War.