Anyone know a good World War II book? (2 Viewers)

[tenordas]

I highly recommend "The Young Lions" by Irwin Shaw, one of my favorite books about WWII, which tells the story of "regular soldiers" on both sides of the war. The story of Christian, self-described as "not political at all", how he becomes a part of the Nazi party, and his eventual repugnance over the war, Germany, and himself is the best part of the book.
In addition to those already mentioned: both books by Winston Churchill: "The Gathering Storm" and "Their Finest Hour" are terrific insight into the British front; "A Bridge Too Far" by Cornelius Ryan; "Eyewitness Auschwitz: Three Years in the Gas Chambers" by Filip Mueller (a chilling book, need I tell you); "A History of the Holocaust" by Yehuda Bauer and Nili Keren; and Patton's book "War As I Knew It".

 

[thewyrm]

Mein Kampf isn't about World War II and is a terrible book. Important, but not very good at all.

It is an important document and most assuredly is about WWII. The Nazi buildup and usurption of the German pysche was the most important aspect of the war. No Mein Kampf, no WWII.

 

[kewee]

I mainly want the book to be detailed, and would like for it to include pieces of all the important battles, such as: D-day, Pearl Harbor, Iwo-Jima, Battle of Britain, Battle of the Bulge, and, of course, I would like it to have some detail on Hitler, Mussolini, FDR, and Churchill.

Is there any book that matches all of that?

 

[thewyrm]

WWII was so widespread and had so many things going on you may have trouble finding a good book with that much of a spread of topics. Heck, if information is all you want just type all those topics into wikipedia and read the multitudes of info on each one.

 

[LSSpam]

It is an important document and most assuredly is about WWII. The Nazi buildup and usurption of the German pysche was the most important aspect of the war. No Mein Kampf, no WWII.

No it's really not. It's about Nazism to an extent, about Hitler's personal psyche mostly, and not at all what Kewee is looking for.

I mainly want the book to be detailed, and would like for it to include pieces of all the important battles, such as: D-day, Pearl Harbor, Iwo-Jima, Battle of Britain, Battle of the Bulge, and, of course, I would like it to have some detail on Hitler, Mussolini, FDR, and Churchill.

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl/9780345459077.html

Is the best book i've found on Normandy thus far

For an overview
http://www.amazon.com/Second-World-War-John-Keegan/dp/0143035738

From one of my favorite historians, John Keegan.

 

[kewee]

No it's really not. It's about Nazism to an extent, about Hitler's personal psyche mostly, and not at all what Kewee is looking for.



http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl/9780345459077.html

Is the best book i've found on Normandy thus far

For an overview
http://www.amazon.com/Second-World-War-John-Keegan/dp/0143035738

From one of my favorite historians, John Keegan.

Yeah, I think I might go with Keegan's book. Sounds like it would be what I'm looking for.


Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it.

 

[RebSaint]

Yeah, I think I might go with Keegan's book. Sounds like it would be what I'm looking for.


Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it.

Keegan's book is a comprehensive survey of mostly the major military events; it was the textbook I was assigned when I took a WWII class in college.

 

[LSSpam]

Yeah, I think I might go with Keegan's book. Sounds like it would be what I'm looking for.


Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it.

Keegan is outstanding. Read everything of his you can get your hands on without exception.

 

[tenordas]

I mainly want the book to be detailed, and would like for it to include pieces of all the important battles, such as: D-day, Pearl Harbor, Iwo-Jima, Battle of Britain, Battle of the Bulge, and, of course, I would like it to have some detail on Hitler, Mussolini, FDR, and Churchill.

Is there any book that matches all of that?

Hate to tell you, but you're just going to have to read several books.
Someone already mentioned "Flags of Our Fathers". For the Japanese side of Iwo-Jima, try "So Sad to Fall in Battle: An Account of War Based on General Tadamichi Kuribayashi's Letters from Iwo Jima" by Kumiko Kakehashi

"Day of Infamy" by Walter L-rd is the "classic textbook" on Pearl Harbor.

"Il Duce: The Rise and Fall of Benito Mussolini" by Richard B. Lyttle. I've never read it, but it is considered the authoritative work.

For the foursome, you might try ""Three Against One: Churchill, Roosevelt,Stalin vs. Adolph Hitler" by Vance Stewart. There is also a new book I've seen but not read called "Warlords: An Extraodinary Recreation of World War II" by Simon Berthon.

Good luck, good hunting, and good reading...

 

[Dragon]

Second band of brothers

Another interesting one is Jeff Shaara's [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The Rising Tide[/FONT]

 

[Devildog]

Flyboys and Flags of Our Fathers by John Bradley.

 

[DCSaints_Fan]

I'd echo tenodras sentiment that is going to be difficult to find a well researched book that covers all theatres. It is a huge topic, and being objective about all the different nations involved is tall order for any historian (it would probably mean knowing the language and history of each major player - so in addition to English you would need German, Russian, Japanese, Mandarin, etc.). Though I haven't read Keegan.

I'd recommend Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. It is almost exclusively about Germany (Shirer was a correspondent there up until '41). It is 1000+ pages. But it is a very good book.

If you want almost the pure military side, The Second World War by JFC Fuller is decent, though I do not agree with some his conclusions he proposes "alternative strategies" for Germany and Japan which is a good perspective.

Panzer Commander is a very good book by a German colonel who fought in all major theatres that Germany was involved in, during the entire war, if you are looking for first-hand, German perspective.

I haven't read Ambrose Burnside, but have been warned away from him as he appears to be "writing to sell books", not real history.

 

[boutte]

For a one volume history of WW2 I recomend "Delivered from Evil". I forget the authors name at the moment but I'll get back to you with that. Very good coverage of the major campaigns and personalities. It might be just what you're looking for.

Eisenhowers "Crusade in Europe" is also very good but doesn't cover the Pacific war. And as has been mentioned you can't go wrong with Keegan. Churchills multi volume history is very detailed but very long and of course tends to be one sided.

John Payne wrote one of the Hitler biographies to date but again it is centered around the European conflict and not really meant to be a history of the war.

 

[gumbeau]

Keegan is a good choice for a survey but you won't feel like you got much detail. It is a huge topic, one that can't be surveyed in a single book.

Morison's History of United States Naval Operations is 15 volumes and sticks to just the US Navy.

I'd recommend studying some titles on the pre-war period to get a feel for what lead up to US involvement. WWII really begins in 1933. One can make an argument that WWI and II are the same conflict with a pause. History may eventually view it that way, much the way the Pelopponesian War is viewed from ancient Greece. That conflict lasted 27 years but there was a period of (relative) peace (Peace of Nicias).

Your goal should determine your selection of titles. If you want just major events and chronology you might be better served with a extensive timeline.

 

[boutte]

Here you go

http://www.amazon.com/Delivered-Evil-Complete-One-History/dp/0060915358

Great book.