What Are You Reading?

Currently Neighbors by Jan Gross. Interesting read about the Jedwabne pogrom and killings. Not finished yet but enjoying it so far. It seems that alot of peices are missing but that's understandable just due to the lack of surviving eyewitnesses and documents.

 

Almost finished the "To win the winter sky" by Danny S Parker.

It tells about the air battles during the Battle of the Bulge. Actually I´m amazed that the battle in the air was as fierce as it was on the ground. They sure could make a film of the air battles as well!

 

Got Joel Hayward : Stopped at Stalingrad
( Luftwaffe in the east 1942-1943 )

Hopefully as interesting as its title sounds like!

 

Kai:

if I may, please be careful of the German accts in Danny Parkers book. He took nearly word for word off the old title 6 Months to Oblivion by W. Girbig. there are errors throughout this old book when I purchased it in the original German. Much better resources are the wealth of Dr. J. Prien volumes coming into English via Schiffer pubs, they will give a true pic of the winter onslaughts slugging it out with US P-51's, P-47's and RAF a/c and Manhro/Pütz of course have done a true tribute to Bodenplatte in their work via Hikoki pubs.

Personally I am going over one of my own works at the moment, last 6 months covering Ju 88G-6 craft and crews in late 44 till wars end. this thing is taking forever but not surprising

 

Ok, Thanx for the hint, Erich!

Must say the book is full of pilot fate details so I keep away from describing them...

Anyway, like I said, got a totally new view of what happened over the clouds and if even half is true the battle was as rough there as it was on the ground!

 

I got 2 new books recently, probably not new to others, but new to me.

Panzer Tactics, Wolfgang Schneider

Images of Kursk, Nik Cornish

I'll hit them as soon as the weekend arrives!

 

I actually am reading Sun Tzu's Art of War which still rings out today as one of the most incredible books on war. The guy was so far ahead of his time and knew every step of war and it's processes. Very, very good.

 

I have Sun Tsu myself. I hear tell it's required reading for the Marine Corps newbies.
You are correct in saying its doctrines are followed and recognized many times throughout the past and today as well.

 

THE BATTLE FOR KURSK 1943

The Soviet General Staff Study

Translated and edited by
David M. GLANTZ and HAROLD S. ORENSTEIN

Very interesting read I was fearing it was going to be a little boring but it was not there was one little draw back the maps were a bit small apart from that very good read.


Dose anyone know if there is a similar book on the Germans side of the battle?

 

"Tiger I&II-Combat Tactics"/Thomas Jentz

Hope it´s as good as it sounds like!

 

Sun Tzu, Clausewicz, only formalising good miltary thoughts.

I'm going back through Oman's History of the Peninsula War, only 4 & a half volumes to go.....

Then its TOBRUK by Peter Fitzsimons.

 

Richard Bessell - Nazism and War

An excellent read so far!

 

Just bought the book Nina Lugovskaja " I want to live 1932-1937" a diary of a young girl living in Moscow. The police found her diary and sent her to a gulag for five years for treason. She was suspected of planning killing Stalin. We´ll see if there is something interesting there, just wonder why the diary was not destroyed in the first place. Maybe it was kept as evidence for the future...

Unfortunately it is so far translated to Finnish and Swedish only, I think.

 

Struggling with the last 50 pages of " A hell of a bomb" but after that:



And

 

Last weekend I had to buy Johannes Steinhoff´s just released (in Finnish) book originally named " Die Strasse von Messina" on Bf 109 fighting the Allied Air Force over Sicily.

 

Classic book, Kai. Very ( and perhaps understandably ) disillusioned in tone, but you do get a real sense of both Steinhoff's character and of the hopelessness of fighting against increasingly overwhelming odds.

 

Kai :

I think you will find the Dora book by EE one of the all time classics until Jerry releases his two volumes on the Dora variants.

reading through Hess's German jets vs US army AF. wow he sure did not reseach this thing very well, the pics of German jets do not even co-incide with the US pilot accts. nor are they captioned correctly. this is truely a sad book but glad I have in in the data files so I can make numerous corrections and proceed with my own work on the subject. The pics in this small volume are too few in number ...... ~ just called up another 350th fg chap, super guy, and then later today one Jug pilot from the 365th fg "Hellhawks"

 

I'm currently reading "Bloody Tarawa" by Eric Hammel. I just finished Band of Brothers.

 

Thanx Martin,Erich for your views.

Indeed Steinhoff has gone through alot back then. The most unbelievable moment however must have been as Göring sent his message in July 1943 that " Him, and the pilots from Norway, Ostfront,France and defenders of the Reich look ashamed how badly the pilots in the south perform and look forward to their spirits getting stronger after such shameful efforts!"

Like Steinhoff mentions they die like flies already so why bother sending such a message...

 

Just finished Peter Caygill´s "Spitfire Mk V in action".

Maybe a bit too much detailed info on kills and losses but otherwise excellent reading. If you´re interested in places and names and exact dates then this is the book for you.