GOOD OL' BOOKS

Hi, I have been looking around and according to all of the "users" messages it seems books are the best way to learn. I personally own 7 which are: "WWII in color" "BIG BOOK OF WWII" RUSSIA'S HEROES" "TEN GREATEST BATTLES" "AIR PAST MAGAZINE" "DIEPPE" (i know i spelled it wrong im too lazy to go grab them of my book shelf) "Weapons of WWII." So i was wondering if anyone can reccomend some good books and possibly tell me a little bit about them and possibly the author.

THANKS!

 

The number of books out there is overwhelming and figuring out which ones are worthwhile is somehting of an acquired skill. I would offer a few general guide lines, one of which is to avoid big books, picture books, and large topic books. An author will be better able to write an accurate account of his/her topic if it is not overly large. Evaluate, whenever possible, the authors sources. If you can pick up a book at the local library or bookstore and simply check these aspects you will be ahead in the choosing game if you would like to buy it. There are websites for buying books like Amazon where readers offer their evaluations of the books; but remember that Amazon is not always the cheapest. There are also sites which offer just evaluations of the books like Stone & Stone: News and Information .

An important thing to remember is that you should not believe everything you read. Authors have agendas, they may be biased or they may have chosen sources for their research that simply back the opinion they like. An example are the books written by German generals after the war; often they are doing their best to overstate their importance/innocence/compitence. This aside I strongly recommend reading these books. Heinz Guderian, the man many consider one of the best German panzer leaders and a driving force in the development of the panzer force, wrote a few books. Actung Panzer was his pre-war book and Panzer Leader one of his post war works. I would also recommend any of the works by Glantz on the war in the east.

I could go on but I will let others join in.

 

THANKS! THIS IS GREAT INFO! I REALLY APPRECIATE IT! I WILL KEEP IN MIND ABOUT BIAS AND OPINIONATED SUBJECTS.

 

For those of us on the north side of 40, ok the north side of 45 there is nothing like the feel of a book in your hands, especialy if it is your book. We grew up in a time when a book was the only way to learn about that era. No Internet, no History Channel, just books. I was very fortunate in that my parents enrolled me into the Military Book Club when I was 12. They would allow me to order a new book about every three months. That and the odd book for my birthday and christmas meant that by the time I was 18 I had an impressive collection (for my age) of about 30 t0 40 books. Over the years since I have been able to add, on average, 7 or 9 books per year. Some I will never part with, and some have found their way to Goodwill. Not all are WWII, some Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Politics, and thrillers, but WWII is the biggest portion.

There are some real experten on this forum, I am not one of them. Just a generalist with a passion for history, as I suspect most of our members are. I too felt a little intimidated when I first joined, but have found that there is a place for all of us here. First I would say choose the path most comfortable to you. You have options we never had to explore the subject, and books are no longer the only way.

JBark advises against 'Big Books' and he is right that they often suffer in the detail, but they can have a value if you are new and want to get a general overview to see if a particular area interests you like say the Battle for the Atlantic or the Italian campaign. It can suck if you drop $30 dollars or more on a book only to find the subject puts you to sleep.

If you haven't already you will someday buy a book you wished you had not, but it is like going to the movies, there some you leave the theater wondering how you could have blow 10 bucks on, but you still go because you know you will find one you cherish.

Good Hunting and Good Reading!