Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

The Desert Fox · #1 (**permalink**) May 4th, 2003, 09:04 PM

Hey ya'll, my first WWII book was Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, and I was hearing about it being outdated. I haven't read much about WWII yet so I'm just curious what's outdated exactly. I have read other books on WWII since then (D-Day by Stephen Ambrose and Hitler's Army by Omer Bartov) but I'm still curious. Thanks!

P.S. -- Can any of you recommend a good book for me to read next?

C.Evans · #2 (**permalink**) May 4th, 2003, 10:06 PM

Hi Desert Fox and welcome to these forums.

Depending on your budget and area of interest--here's my opinion on books to read:

1) "Shooting the War" by: Otto Giese. This book was written by a German Uboat (Submarine) veteran, about his service at sea. I highly recommend this book.

2) "The Last Knight of Flanders" by: Allen W. Brandt. This book is mainly about SS Sturmbrigade Langemarck's only Knights Cross Recipient and a personal friend of mine--Herrn Remy Schrijnen. I highly recommend this book. This is about Remy's service on the Eastern Front (Russia) in ww2.

3) "Berlin: Dance of Death" which was written by a person who was a VERY young German soldier and forced into service as a person who was 16 yrs old. He wrote this as a day-by-day of what happened. Highly recommend this book.

4) "SOLDAT" by: Siegfried Knappe. This follows a mans service in the German Artillery and then as a Staff Officer on all fronts in ww2. This I highly recommend. This is about his career in the German Army through his imprisonment in a Russian POW camp.

5) "The Blonde Knight of Germany" by" Raymond Tolliver. This book is a biography about Germany's greatest fighter pilot in ww2; Erich Alfred Hartmann. He shot down 352 air craft. This book takes you through his entire career in the Luftwaffe and as a POW of the Russians. Highly recommend this book.

6) "Panzer Battles" by: Hans von Luck. This is a German Officers experiances through ww2 and captivity. I highly recommend this book.

7) "Through Hell For Hitler" by: Henry Metelman. This is a German enlistedmans version of the war as seen through his eyes. Highly recommend.

8) "Kommando" by: James Lucas. This is about Germany's elite commandos in ww2. I highly recommend this book.

9) "Hitler's Gladiator" by: Charles Messenger. This book is about the life of one of the Waffen SS's most famous personalities. This goes from his birth to his death. I'm not finished reading this book but, I do highly recommend this one too.

10) "A Bridge Too Far" by: Cornelious (SP?) Ryan. This is about the great operation called: "Operation Market Garden" which is about the attempted allid invasion of Holland in 1944. Highly recommend this book.

Hope this helps give you some Ideas. Also--I suggest reading other threads in this forum for many many many more recommended titles. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Martin Bull · #3 (**permalink**) May 4th, 2003, 10:31 PM

Welcome aboard, Desert Fox !

'Rise & Fall' was a good book for its' time, but much new research and information has come to light since.

One of the very best recent histories is Michael Burleigh's ' The Third Reich - A New History ' published in 2000 and still easily available.

Friedrich · #4 (**permalink**) May 5th, 2003, 12:25 AM

Welcome aboard, Fox!

Hope you enjoy yourself in here!

I agree with many of my friend Carl's suggestions; "Soldat" by Siegrfried Knappe is an excellent book, light and full of interesting experiences, very well written.

I also recommend:

1)"Divine Wind" by Inoguchi and Nakajima. Kamikaze officers who describe the history of this weapon.

2)"Afrika Korps" by Erwn Bergott. Excellent reading. Detialed and entertaining.

3)"The Swastika at Sea" by C.D. Bekker where you'll find that the bravest men of Germany were in the Kriegsmarine.

4)"Stalingrad" by Stephen Waslh. Most detailed book about this huge battle.

5)"The battle of France" by Alistair Horne. MOst wonderful war book ever.

[img]smile.gif[/img]

PzJgr · #5 (**permalink**) May 5th, 2003, 12:55 AM

Welcome to the Forum Desert Fox! All good books and I would add:
"The Last Battle" by Cornelius Ryan
"In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front" by Gottlieb Herbert Bidermann.

Heartland · #6 (**permalink**) May 5th, 2003, 09:55 AM

Hi Desert Fox,

What Shirer clearly missed is some information from, for example, recently released Soviet information, as well as Ultra. Heck, it was written some 15 years after the war. However, I'd say this is completely outweighed by the perspective given by someone who was there! Especially the parts on the rise of the Reich would seem to be almost flawless, and much more readable than most other histories. The late-war stuff is perhaps less relevant.

Current historians seem to focus a lot on theory, delving deep into analysis of National Socialism and such to explain the origins of the war. Meanwhile Shirer focuses more on the influence of Hitler (and cohorts) personally rather than political theories. Overall this more practical approach probably comes from Shirer being present when things happened, rather than analysing them afterwards like present historians, which in itself is quite valuable to me at least...

Mahross · #7 (**permalink**) May 6th, 2003, 04:10 PM

Desert fox - there is really no such thing as a bad book. its just that things change and as new info comes to light on the subject. It doesn't make it bad. Also historians change opinion. so you can read several books by one author and there arguements have changed, usually due to new reasearch, but their earlier workd are still valid as an example of interpretation of the facts. The best example is the noted Cold War historian John Gaddis, he has gone from being a orthodox historian to being a post revisionist just because new information has come to light.