[agrace]

Hey, basically what I said below your post. And since you are working on such a book, I have a question - can you recommend a good book account of WW2, events leading up to it and the war itself? Anyone else feel free to suggest resources also, thanks.

[nina0113]

The best I've ever seen is "Delivered From Evil" by Robert Leckie. It begins with the Treaty of Versailles after WWI, has mini-biographies of all the major players, lots of maps, great bibliography for further reading. The author served in the Pacific, and includes himself as "Lucky". One of my favorite stories is about the water-cooled machine guns running out of water, & the American in charge (I believe Manila John Basilone) said "P!ss on 'em!" - meaning it literally.

[Petronski]

I think the starting point for any study of WWII must begin with William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

Watch out, though, as he can be a little political at times (in his sympathy for socialism). It is not severe and cannot diminish the almost indispensible detail of this book.

I would also recommend the six part memoir of WWII by Winston Churchill (if you don't mind his justifiable ego); "Nazi Germany" by Klaus Fischer (obscure but VERY authoritative); "Russia at War 1941-1945" by Alexander Werth. Oddly enough, the old TIME-LIFE series on World War II is an excellent entry-level series, though it spans something like 30 volumes of 200 pages each. But it is laid out like a magazine and is excellent for introduction. (Ebay or libraries only).

Hmmm, what else? For about $75 you can find the Thames Television series "World at War" on DVD: 31 hours of fine documentary films, many of which include interviews with the principals. These films (53 minutes each) are heavy meals and can be viewed over and over before all the information is digested. Narration by Sir Lawrence Olivier is classic.

Martin Gilbert's "The Holocaust" is a typical starting point for that topic. As far as the point of view of the GI, get anything by Cornelius Ryan or Stephen Ambrose.

Finally, if you need a book on a specific aspect of the war, let me know. I can probably recommend a title.

[Temple Owl]

Try reading "Berlin Diary" and also "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" both by William Shirer. They are both very good.