Recommendations?

Can anyone recommend some great WWII books full of real life stories and experiences? I love reading real life accounts yet when you go to a bookstore there are just so many to choose from, I'd like to have a list started before the next time I go. That way I know which ones to pick and which ones to pass on...

 

I don't know which books you already have, but here are some famous books wrote by American soldiers. An example are the books of the 101st Airborne soldier Donald Burgett:

The Road to Arnhem
Seven Roads To Hell
Currahee!

Or the famous Band of Brothers about the Easy Company, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division of Stephen E. Ambrose.

Sebastiaan

 

Band of Brothers looks like a great one to read. I just popped over to Amazon's website to see what the reviews look like and it's just incredible. There were 420 reviews and the book received 4.5 stars. Looks like a keeper for me. Now if I only had the time to read it. :sad: Guess it'll have to wait in line with the other books have already have but haven't read, yet.

 

The Filthy Thirteen--which is about Jake McNeese (SP?) who is still alive last I heard and he is a legend in the 101st Airborne Division.
Shooting the War by Otto Giese.
Tigers In the Mud by Otto Carius.
Dare Call It Treason by George Howe. This book is what the excellent movie: Decision before Dawn-was based from.
Devils Guard by: George Robert Elford. I met the gent whom this book was written about. Sadly, he passed away in 1999.

 

Is the The Filthy Thirteen about those who had Mohican hair cuts?

 

It is. I read the book a few years ago and read many since then--so I couldnt cite much from it. One of two things I remember from the book was when Sgt McNeese (McNiece) and his men were under a sort of "House Arrest" confined to their quarters and the Sarge in retaliation for the confinement--blew out one of the walls of his barracks. The authorities couldnt prove it beyond any doubt that he did it so no charges were pressed.

Another time, they were billoted at some British Lords home and that Lord happened to have a few hundred Deer living on his property. Well, Jake and his men were tired of eating British Army rations so every so often--they went and shot a Deer to eat but were sloppy with how they disposed of the remains. Well, one day--the Lord went to tour his property and nearly blew a gasket when he saw the remains of dozens of his deer scattered about his property. The thing that caught my funny bone was how the situation was described. I hadnt had a good laugh like that in ages.

Anyway, I do highly recommend that book. Even though im more into the German side of things in WWII--mainly Eastern Front--I will be buying a copy of that book.:thumb:

 

Some very good recommendations here Sir! :thumb:

 

Thank you and, I have loads more and will start posting those in time.

Here is another for the day:

Island of Fire by: Jason Mark. If you can find a copy? this will be one of the best if not THE best books you will have ever read. Its about 5 Specialist Pioneer Battalions that were sent to do special tasks in Stalingrad. It also and very briefly mentions the small Italian unit that was at Stalingrad--an Autoreparto Pisante 240. They numbered around 40 men. As far as I know--only one of them died at Stalingrad--and only one now--is still living.

 

I came across this article and can't wait to get my hands on the book:
How One Very Special U.S. Submarine Ravaged Japan During World War II

If you just read the article above, it sounds like a made-up blockbuster type movie, instead of a true story. The book has 602 reviews on Amazon and holds a 5 star rating:
https://www.amazon.com/Thunder-Belo...&qid=1523897843&sr=1-1&keywords=thunder+below

 

Any of Cornelius Ryan's trilogy would be a good choice.

 

For first person accounts, I'd start with "To Hell and Back" by Audie Murphy, America's most decorated WW2 soldier.

I was about eight years old when the movie came out. I ran up to my mother, all excited and asked, "Mom! Mom! Can I go "To Hell and Back"? My Mother looked at me a little strangely but replied, "Of course Dear, but be sure to be back in time for supper!"

 

Of course there's always, "The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer.

 

I have a collection of Naval history, this being one of the better ones,

 

Ty for the suggestion, Half, I just read what the story is about and I have never heard of it.

 

Ty for the suggestion, Harolds, I always want to know what soldiers on the other side thought and what they went through.

 

lol
If you lived in MI, it might not be as funny because it might have been true. There is a Hell, MI and they market it -- Hell, Michigan

I grew up in MI, but I have never been to Hell.

 

The OP asked for true stories.

Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors has a lot of personal accounts.
Shattered Sword has a lot of interesting details on how the IJN high command worked as well as being one of if not the best account of Midway.
For the other side there's a biography of Rudel that I found interesting (he was an unrepentant Nazi) (it's titled Stuka Pilot
A book I read more than once but decades ago was an autobiography on a Nisei who served in the Pacific. Maybe someone else remembers this one. I did find this page while looking for it:
MIS and the Nisei Soldiers in the Pacific Theater

There's always Helmet for my Pillow, and Thunderbolt[/U]
*** edit for ***
Seeing this post:
Four Lost Rovers
I'm kind of amazed I and others haven't suggested her "Wartime Wednesday" blogs before. The focus is on Canadians but lots of very interesting personal accounts of people from all walks of life and all sorts of wartime experiences.

 

Are you arguing the book is fiction?

I just read up on the book, The Forgotten Soldier, and saw no indication it is fictitious, other than the author using a pseudonym.

 

It's been discussed in a fair number of threads on all the ww2 related forums I've been on with the possible exception of j-aircraft. The argument that it is fiction is much better supported than the one it is historical. Here are some threads on this board that discuss it and have some links to discussions on other boards:
http://www.ww2f.com/threads/the-forgotten-soldier-by-guy-sajer.22299/
http://www.ww2f.com/threads/guy-sager.3580/


Just to get back to the OP you might want to look at this thread:
http://www.ww2f.com/threads/what-is-your-favourite-ww2-book.31843/#post-418000
or this one:
http://www.ww2f.com/threads/what-are-you-reading.3669/page-60#post-60396