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Recommend a Good WWII Book

Posted on 12/26/17 at 11:33 am
Posted by RouxDog91
Denham Springs
Member since Mar 2014
170 posts
Posted on 12/26/17 at 11:33 am
I'll be the first to admit that I am not a big reader, but I want to try it out as a New Year's resolution. I have never read any military history books, but I am fascinated with World Wars I and II...

Have any of you read a WWII book that you would recommend? I'm looking for an easy read that contains information an everyday person wouldn't know.

TIA!
Posted by rebelrouser
Columbia, SC
Member since Feb 2013
12189 posts
Posted on 12/26/17 at 12:31 pm to
Helmet For My Pillow non-fiction. The Naked And The Damned fiction.
Posted by Rouge
Floston Paradise
Member since Oct 2004
137828 posts
Posted on 12/26/17 at 1:18 pm to
Beneath a Scarlet Sky

About the northern Italian front at war's end
Posted by Sody Cracker
Distemper Ward
Member since May 2016
3409 posts
Posted on 12/26/17 at 2:03 pm to
E B Sledge - With the Old Breed.
Posted by Drank
Member since Jun 1864
Member since Dec 2012
11587 posts
Posted on 12/26/17 at 2:38 pm to
The Bedford Boys will break your heart but it's a wonderful book
Posted by offshoreangler
713, Texas
Member since Jun 2008
22486 posts
Posted on 12/26/17 at 3:07 pm to
Find Rick Atkinson’s Liberation Trilogy.
Posted by White Roach
Member since Apr 2009
9666 posts
Posted on 12/26/17 at 5:06 pm to
quote:

Find Rick Atkinson’s Liberation Trilogy.


I thought "An Army at Dawn" was great and "The Day of Battle" was very good. I didn't think "The Guns at Last Light" was as good as the other two, but that's just my opinion.

For the OP, I'd recommend Stephen Ambrose's "Pegasus Bridge". It's an easy read that largely focuses on one small operation and many people are unfamiliar with the story. The Liberation Trilogy books focus on multiple campaigns in the ETO and they're about 700 pages each. It's quite a chunk to bite off for a first time reader on the subject.
Posted by TheCorelton
Member since Oct 2013
638 posts
Posted on 12/26/17 at 6:14 pm to
Currently reading A Higher Call by Adam Makos.

Highly recommend it.
Posted by Sody Cracker
Distemper Ward
Member since May 2016
3409 posts
Posted on 12/26/17 at 6:38 pm to
quote:

The Bedford Boys will break your heart but it's a wonderful book


I second that.
Posted by geauxpurple
New Orleans
Member since Jul 2014
14969 posts
Posted on 12/26/17 at 8:18 pm to
The Winds of War and War and Remembrance.
Posted by chity
Chicago, Il
Member since Dec 2008
6481 posts
Posted on 12/26/17 at 8:49 pm to
Rise and fall of the third reich by William Shirer

Was a reporter who followed Hitler through WII
Posted by White Roach
Member since Apr 2009
9666 posts
Posted on 12/27/17 at 12:36 am to
Just noticed you mentioned WWI in your post.

The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman is terrific. It explains all of the different events that lead up to WWI and covers the first month or so of the war (long enough to establish that it's going to be a long bloody grind).
Posted by Palo Gaucho
Benton
Member since Jul 2013
3374 posts
Posted on 12/27/17 at 1:43 pm to
Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Unbroken
Posted by LoveThatMoney
Who knows where?
Member since Jan 2008
12281 posts
Posted on 12/27/17 at 1:46 pm to
Band of Brothers

A Higher Call

Bloodlands

Fighter Pilot: the Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds

Wine and War
Posted by MaroonWhite
48 61 69 6c 20 53 74 61 74 65 21
Member since Oct 2012
3732 posts
Posted on 12/27/17 at 8:27 pm to
quote:

Rise and fall of the third reich by William Shirer


I finished the audio version of this book a few months ago (57 hours...longest audio book I've ever completed).

I highly recommend this as well.
Posted by beerJeep
Louisiana
Member since Nov 2016
36792 posts
Posted on 12/27/17 at 8:36 pm to
Ordinary men. About police battalion 101 and gives insight to how normal men can be transformed into absolute animals.

Night. Elie wiesel story about his time in the Jewish ghetto then the concentration camps.

The Tigers are burning. All about the world's largest armored battle. Kursk. Told from the Russian side.
Posted by stat19
Member since Feb 2011
29350 posts
Posted on 12/27/17 at 9:45 pm to
William Craig - Enemy At The Gates

Its about Stalingrad - lead in, the fight, the aftermath.

The Hollywood movie was a sidebar in the book.
This post was edited on 12/27/17 at 9:47 pm
Posted by TaTa Toothy
Everything in its right place
Member since Sep 2017
944 posts
Posted on 12/29/17 at 1:33 am to
Nemesis by Ian Kershaw. The definitive Hitler biography.
Posted by geauxtigers87
Louisiana
Member since Mar 2011
26126 posts
Posted on 12/29/17 at 10:21 am to
a war to be won by allen millett gives you a good overview of all theaters and the homefront in wwii in one volume
Posted by LoveThatMoney
Who knows where?
Member since Jan 2008
12281 posts
Posted on 12/29/17 at 2:40 pm to
If we're including fiction, War of the Rats and City of Thieves.
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