Any books?

NONE | 8/29/2002 | Me

[erikm88]

Hey Freepers,

I figured this would be the best place to post this inquiry. I've always been interested in WWII history, and military history in general, and I've been scouring the web for good books to read, however, I don't want to run into "revisionist" books, and basically search-engine inquiries have led me to those kinds of books. So.....

The criteria for book recommendations are:

• Unbiased
• True, historical accounts
• Interesting, and not dry!!!
• easily accessible, online, or offline..

The subjects I'm interested in are...

• Attack on Pearl Harbor
• Dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima, and Nagasaki
• Most if not anything pertaining to WWII
• Any Military History you would recommend for a self-proclaimed military history nut, whether you think i'd be interested or not :)

thanks in advance, and keep up the good work freepers!

--erik

[CatoRenasci]

No, but he did suggest a wider interest in military history generally.

[Poohbah]

CAPT Beach also wrote the novel Run Silent, Run Deep, and if my flaky memory serves correctly, at least one other novel. Not all of his books are currently in print.

He wrote two sequels: Dust on the Sea, set in WW2, and Cold is the Sea, set during the early 1960s and the early days of the Polaris force.

No, your memory is not flaky.

[onedoug]

...And I think Beach commanded USS Triton in the first submerged global circumnavigation, circa 1960?

[jackbill]

There is a book banned in Japan.......The Rape of Nanking.....not easy to find but well worth the read.

It's probably in every public library.

[Poohbah]

...And I think Beach commanded USS Triton in the first submerged global circumnavigation, circa 1960?

Correct again! He also wrote a book about THAT (Around the World Submerged).

[jackbill]

One that I haven't read yet but has been highly recommended to me is Twenty-Five Yards of War: The Extraordinary Courage of Ordinary Men in World War II, by Ronald J. Drez. It has a forward by Stephen Ambrose.

The 25 yards refers to the fact that when you are on the battlefield you are generally aware of what's going on within only a 25 yard radius.

From Publishers' Weekly:

There are a few well-known stories here Ensign George Gay's recollections of watching the Japanese aircraft carriers get bombed at Midway; the sad tale of one of the Indianapolis's survivors but Drez has crafted several chapters that work popularly to overturn some of the "conventional wisdom" of WWII history. The tale of the Rangers who stormed Pointe du Hoc on D-Day is vastly different from that portrayed in the early '60s movie, The Longest Day. Marines who fought in the bloody battles of Tarawa and Iwo Jima bring the savage warfare of the Pacific theater into focus for readers who may not know many details about what it was like to fight an unseen enemy. An 18-man platoon of the 99th Division held up an entire German panzer column on the first day of the Ardennes Offensive, a feat not recognized until recently.

[LouD]

Slightly off-topic, but I highly suggest Jean Larteguy's highly accurate novels of life in the French Foreign Legion in the post WWII period. The Centurions and The Praetorians are a good place to start.

[aculeus]

I have NOT yet read it but John Keegan and others highly praised With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
by Eugene B. Sledge, Paul Fussell (Introduction).

Sledge was a teenager enlisted man in the Marines. Keegan calls it the best WWII pacific combat descriptions he has read.

[Vic3O3]

WWII: anything by Cornelius Ryan (The Longest Day, A Bridge Too Far, The Last Battle)
Cockleshell Heroes (origins of the SBS),
The War Journal of Maj. Damon "Rocky" Gause


Vietnam: Keith William Nolan's works are quite good. (or is that william keith nolan...? can;t recall correctly).
Pisor--The End of the Line, siege at Khe Sahn.
Christopher Robbins--Air America, and The Ravens.

It'll take me some time to think of some more.
Oh, there's always the 6-8volume set of Churchill's writings on WWII.

[Vic3O3]

If you're wanting Boer war history, try "A Tale of a Field Hospital" if you can find it! Author Sir Frederick Treves (Of Elephant Man fame).

[Vic3O3]

Eugen Kogon--The Theory and Practice of Hell,
Kurzman--Left to Die:The Tragedy of the USS Juneau

[Jhensy]

I loved Len Deighton's 2-volume WWII history.... great analysis of materiel, hardware and strategy from the famed novelist. Full of amazing facts I never knew.

[Jhensy]

The Len Deighton books I referred to are "Blood, Tears and Folly: An Objective Look at World War II", now available as a one volume paperback at Amazon. Highly recommended.

[SamAdams76]

Best WW2 book I have ever read (and I've read lots) is William Shirer's "Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich." It thoroughly explains how Adolph Hitler came about and how he and his Nazis were ultimately destroyed.

My only beef with it is that there is a large swastika on the spine of the book. Still, I display it in my library, though I feel uncomfortable about it when guests arrive, should they not understand what the book is about.

[Oztrich Boy]

Thomas, Gordon and Morgan-Witts, Max
Ruin From the Air
The account of the atomic mission to Hiroshima.

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

In harms way

its about the sinking of the uss indianapolis great book

[Ford Fairlane]

I remember now I read run silent run deep in high school the movie is good but the book is much better.

[Ford Fairlane]

There was a book called the devil's guard or the devil's brigade or something like that about some german ss troops that witnessed a massacre of regulararmy troops by the russians, they went across europe & joined the foriegn legion & fought in french indochina until uncle ho had their story published in paris newspapers & they were discharged & retired to nepal (i think - its been 20-25 years since i've read it)

Take it with a grain of salt i've been told it was true & that it was bs both by different army intel officers that served in the 50's- 60's but it was a good read

[Ford Fairlane]

I'm staying at my parent's house tonite, looking thru my old closet, 2 books I got while in ROTC

United states army in WW 11

The European theatre of operations

The Supreme Command

by Forrest C. pogue

Office of the chief of military history

Department of the army

washington dc 1954

second book:

Army historical Series

American Military History

Maurice Matloff General Editor

Office of the chief of military history

Department of the army

washington dc 1969

[Ford Fairlane]

More Old Books:

Achtung-Panzer by Major General Heinz Guderian 1937 (the one patton said "i read your book")

Panzer Leader General Heinz Guderian

Angels of Death: Goering's Luftwaffe by Edwin P. Hoyt 1994

The Militarist The rise of Japnese Militarism Since WWII Edwin P Hoyt 1985

American Wars & Heros From The Revolutionary War to Vietnam (Adapted from American Military History Marice matloff general Editor 1989)

Hitler's SS by Richard Grunberger 1970

Andif you want to read about vietnam, find a book called Chickenhawk, i dont remember the author but a chopper pilot wrote it