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

[erikm88]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I've put some of these books on my Amazon wishlist, and others that are out of print, I'll be heading to the library ASAP. We just got a new one built, so this should be interesting :)

Once again, thanks for all the great responses, I knew this would be THE place to inquire..

--erik

[sirena]

I second In Harm's Way and add Brave Men by Ernie Pyle.

It's a collection of his newspaper articles during WWII to the folks back home--casual prose, profiles of average soldiers--will make you laugh one minute and cry the next. No deep politics or strategy, just a great insight on the way it was for the guy in the foxhole.

[Mr. Mojo]

Red Storm Rising, Tom Clancy (before Jack Ryan).

Yep, my favorite Clancy book by far. The ultimate in Cold War turned Hot War fiction from a conventional arms standpoint. Definitely a dated read (since the fall of the Evil Empire), but still packs a punch.

I still remember my favorite chapter, "The Frisbees of Dreamland" .....about the night raid on the Warsaw Pact forces with our (then new) F-117 stealth fighters, from the perspective of the fighter pilot. Felt like you were right there with him.

The squadron of Soviet Backfire bombers attacking our carrier fleet and being met with F-14 Tomcats was also a highlight (for me). And Clancy was a master at describing subarmine warfare, as he proved in his first book.

[Mr. Mojo]

Best WW2 book I have ever read (and I've read lots) is William Shirer's "Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich."

I'm with you. Couldn't put it down, in fact. Read it in about 3 days. And I still use it as a reference -- sometimes reading whole chapters.

My only beef with it is that there is a large swastika on the spine of the book.

Mine's an early edition hardback with the cover long gone, so I have no idea what was on there originally. But the new edition softbacks I've seen in bookstores have the cover/spine design you described.

[Mr. Mojo]

Just looked at your profile. Are standing in front of Shirer's book (to block the swastika from the camera)? :)

[SamAdams76]

Just looked at your profile. Are standing in front of Shirer's book (to block the swastika from the camera)? :)

You are very perceptive. Indeed I had that very thought in mind as I stood in front of my library. When I have company over, I'll even turn the book backwards, lest they get the wrong idea. Yeah, I don't know why the publishers had to put that big swastika on the book cover. It's even on the spine of the book itself (under the dust jacket).

By the way, that Shirer book is excellent. Tells the entire story of the Nazi regime and even how it was financed in the beginning.

[killjoy]

You could do worse than the following:

Black Edelweiss: A Memoir of Combat and Conscience by a Soldier of the Waffen-SS by Johann Voss

Memoirs by Karl Donitz

Iron Coffins: A Personal Account of the German U-Boat Battles of World War II by Herbert A Werner

It is not about WWII, but definately read None Braver: U.S. Air Force Pararescuemen in the War on Terrorism by Michael Hirsh. Incredible read.