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What Are You Reading?

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

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  1. Gromit801

    Gromit801 Member

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    We Band of Angels - Elizabeth Norman
    A neglected niche of WWII, the American Army and Navy Nurses captured in the Philippines. A nicely told story. The author had access to diaries, and the few veterans left. Their battle with wounds and disease never stopped. And then in Santo Tomas internment camp. Quite a good read so far. The author made one error in the beginning concerning US preparedness, which she admitted to in a correspondence with me. Beyond that, I recommend the book.
     
  2. macrusk

    macrusk Proud Daughter of a Canadian WWII Veteran

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    The generals: the Canadian Army's Senior Commanders in the Second World War

    by JL Granatstein

    The generals: the Canadian army's ... - Google Books

    I've had it for some time, but found myself reading it initially to read up on General Simmonds after negative commentary in the Verriere's Ridge thread, as the commentary was different to much I'd read otherwise. I expected the book to be dry, but it very readable, and completely holding my attention as I've learned much about what happened to the men in the Canadian Army was a result of why these particular generals were the way they were.
     
  3. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    I just picked picked up Atlas of World War II by David Jordan and Andrew Weist from a discount rack at the bookstore. It has over 160 battle and campaign maps and commentary. For someone like me, with little real knowledge of the battles of the war, this is a handy reference.
     
  4. Fgrun83

    Fgrun83 Member

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    ^^ i ordered the same one lou from borders.com.

    I recently had put down one book i was reading and i decided to read buck compton's Call of duty. One of the finest bio's i've ever read and a true insight to his years in the battlefield and also he touches on the comparisons and dramatizations of hbo's band of brothers.
     
  5. I-16 Rata

    I-16 Rata Member

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    Hello gentlemen,

    Just in:
    -Combat over Spain, Memoirs of a nationalist fighter pilot, Captain Jose Larios,1966
    -Air War Over Spain, Rafael A. Permuy Lopez, Ian Allan Publishing, 2010

    Both very good!

    Regards,
    I-16 Rata
     
  6. wurm529

    wurm529 recruit

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    Just picked up The Longest Winter today. Still have to finish The Theory and Practice of Hell and The Gestapo: A History for a school research paper
     
  7. luketdrifter

    luketdrifter Ace

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    The Darkest Summer:pusan and Inchon 1950-The battles that saved South Korea -and the Marines-from extinction
    by Bill Sloan.

    Only about half way through it but it's a very good book so far.
     
  8. hucks216

    hucks216 Member

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    Finished War Without Garlands - fantastic book - and I'm now steaming through Countdown To Valkyrie, a very good book on the background, and run-up to the 20th July attempt on Hitler's life interwoven with the other attempts on his life. I recommend it.
    Should finish that within next couple of days and then it is onto The Retreat.
     
  9. WorldWarBill

    WorldWarBill Member

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    I'm currently reading Panzer Gunner: From My Native Canada To The German Ostfront and Back, In Action With the 25th Panzer Regiment, 7th Panzer Division 1944-1945 by Bruno Friesen.Has anybody else read this? I'm more than halfway finished and it's quite worthwhile. The writing is nothing to rave about, it's fairly amateurish, but the content is terrifc. The book actually begins with his service in 1943 and gives an excellent view inside the Wehrmacht and behind the lines. Lots of minutia about tanks and their crews.
     
  10. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

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    Götz Aly, Peter Chroust, and Christian Pross:
    Cleansing the Fatherland - Nazi Medicine and Racial Hygiene
    The John Hopkins University Press, USA, 1994

    Alfred M. de Zayas:
    The Wehrmacht War Crimes Bureau, 1939-1945
    University of Nebraska Press, USA, 3rd paperpack press

    Henri Roques:
    'Confessions' of Kurt Gerstein
    Institute for Historical Review, 1989, USA
     
  11. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    I'm just finishing Edward Drea's Japan's Imperial Army. It traces the development of the Japanese Army from the late 19th century through 1945. Not an easy read, but it touches on such elements as how the army side-stepped civilian control, it's inability and disinterest in cooperating with the IJN, its incorporation of a twisted version of Bushido, and the growth of the no-surrender mentality of the troops. An important read for anyone interested in the growth of the Japanese Army.

    (PS, thanks for the heads up on this Clint).
     
  12. Sentinel

    Sentinel Member

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    Currently reading Panzer Leader by General Heinz Guderian (English translation). Well written, better than I expected.
     
  13. cd13

    cd13 Member

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    Currently on my first read of Helmet for my Pillow by Robert Leckie. An enlightening read to be sure so far...

    Then I'm going to read With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge once more. That's truly a modern classic of war literature.
     
  14. mikebatzel

    mikebatzel Dreadnaught

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    Received in the mail today and began reading a couple of books from the Johnston/Hoel Association
    The Fighting and Sinking of USS Johnston DD557 As Told by her Crew
    Hoel and Kongo Off Samar

    Both are a compilation of memories by the survivors of both those great ships, as well as what they did after the war.
     
  15. hucks216

    hucks216 Member

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    I've now finished The Retreat by Michael Jones and have moved on to An Infantryman In Stalingrad by Adelbert Holl and from the Leaping Horseman stable.
     
  16. brndirt1

    brndirt1 Saddle Tramp

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    I just finished A History of Warfare by John Keegan, and I was taken with his excellent analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of different styles of warfare. His breakdown of "horse based" war was quite revealing, and as a horseman myself I more fully appreciated the limitations of the "style" and lack of staying power of empires based on horse mobility.

    I’m a bit divided on his interpretation of von Clausewitz, but can see where he is going with the argument. That aside, other areas of the book like "Iron", "Conscription", and "Fire" were also great reading and (to myself) well thought out.
     
  17. Karma

    Karma Member

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    I am currently reading Tales by Japanese Soldiers by Kazuo Tamayama and John Nunneley
     
  18. WorldWarBill

    WorldWarBill Member

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    Fabulous book! I read it a number of years ago and found it fascinating, it puts a human face to the Imperial Army.
     
  19. Karma

    Karma Member

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    One of my friend's relatives served in Burma at the time and was at Imphal so it helps to give me more connections.
     
  20. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

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    Finished Richard Hargreaves´ " Germans in Normandy" and Sayer/Botting " Hitler´s last general".

    At first I wondered what I was doing with another Normandy book but the author manages to make the book quite alive with views from both sides during the battles of Normandy. For a beginner a great book, for me a nice book but did not learn much new.

    Sayer/Botting book was pretty heavy to read with all the awful things that happened during the war time, and especially "Mohnke this,Mohnke that..." but in the end a worth while experience.
     

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