Last month input and advice was so valuable and forthcoming (and spot on), that i just had to abuse this forum's good will and ask the same question again.... There are some titles that I know i will buy this month, such as George M. Nipe's "Last Victory in Russia", Ralf Tiemann's "The Liebstandate IV/II", Christer Bergstrom's "Black Cross Red Star vol.3", Karl-Heinz Frieser's "The Blitzkrieg Legend", Richard Hargreaves's "Blitzkrieg Unleashed" and Otto Weidinger's "Das Reich III". But then there are others that although seems to be very interesting, i don't know much about, or probably there is another book about the same subject that is a lot better. So if you guys could take a couple of minutes and leave your opinions, it would be fantastic. The "others" are: David M. Glantz's "To the Gates of Stalingrad" (this one was released less than a week ago, so probably no one read it yet); Rick Atkinson's "An Army at Dawn" and "The Day of Battle"; Heinz Gunther Guderian's "From Normandy to the Ruhr with the 116th Panzer Division"; Franz Steidl's "Lost Batallions: Going for Broke in the Vosges"; Georg Gunter's "The Last Laurels"; Peter Strassner's "European Volunteers"; John B. Lundstrom's " The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign; Naval Fighter Combat from August to November 1942"; Eric M. Hammel's "Carrier strike; The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands"; James D. Hornfischer's "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors"; Georg Maier's "Drama Between Budapest and Vienna"; Paul Carell's "Stalingrad: The Defeat of the German 6th Army" And if anyone could direct me to good books about the Battle of the Atlantic and the U-Boat debacle, i would appreciate also. Cheers to everyone, and a great week.
Clay Blair's two-volume Hitler's U-boat War is the best overall account. Werner's Iron Coffins is the classic memoir. And Padfield's biography of Doenitz is outstanding. Last Laurels is very good... but shockingly laid out. It's a large format book with single column text which makes it hard to read. Guderian's and Strassner's histories are first rate, Maier's extremely detailed and indispensable but dull, and Carell's Stalingrad book, from memory, is a mix of photographs and text culled from his original Hitler's War on Russia, so I'd go for that instead. It's worth adding Doug Nash's Victory Was Beyond Their Grasp to the list if you're interested in the fighting in the autumn of 1944.
Blair's volumes are the only thing i have about the Battle of the Atlantic, but i will look into Iron Coffins and Doenitz bio with interest. Guderian's history is a book that i am really thinking of buying, although its price is ridiculously high. As for Carell i was under the impression that Schiffer circa 1996 had released a photo history of Stalingrad or Barbarossa (not sure which) and a book about Stalingrad which was basically the Stalingrad bits of Hitler Moves East. Hitler Moves East is another book i would like to get, if i can find a good edition. That was one of my april acquisitions. Thank's a lot halder.
For the U-Boats try Business In Great Waters by John Terraine (ISBN: 0-7493-0387-5). It runs to around 700 pages but does cover the U-Boat wars for WW1 & 2. But it is only a few pence shy of £2 on Amazon so is value for money. The Fighting Captain: Story Of Federic Walker RN, CB, DSO & The Battle Of The Atlantic by Alan Burn (ISBN: 0850525551 // 978-0850525557) tells the story of the legendary 'Johnny' Walker. And not forgetting.. Black May: Epic Story Of The Allies Defeat Of The German U-Boats in May 1943 by Michael Gannon (ISBN: 1854105884 // 978-1854105882) is a good book about the turning point in the U-Boat war.
