WW2 History Books

[veal]

Hi guys

Wondering if any of you history buffs can Point me in the right direction as to what would be a good WW2 history book to read. Particularly involving the personalities of Hitler and Stalin in this time.

I have seen one such book: "Hitler and Stalin" by Alan bullock.

Anyone read this, any good? Or any other ideas welcome.

 

[stalin006]

well if u want ot read about the personalities about both leaders, u can get a bibliography, also ther are plenty of books about these two persons, also u can read the book wrote by hitler mein kemp (or something) and one of stalins bokks.......dont know the title

 

[Rodgers]

I recently went to a great lecture given by Prof Ian Kershaw on Hitler. It was to promote his 3 volume biography of the dictator which has just been released and has been pretty well received by academics and laymen who rated it as being a great work on both Hitler's pre-war and wartime life. I dont think it has a single title - each volume is treated as a seperate book - but you shouldn't have any trouble finding it in the UK though.

As for WWII itself, try Churchills work on it - "The Second World War" - probably a bit biased but should be full of decent insights given his unique perspective.

 

[Vrylakas]

For English-speakers I would recommend John Keegan's 1992 book Re-Fighting the Second World War, which is a basic bibliography of World War II histories. More importantly, he does an excellent job of critiquing them as well.

 

[Ozz]

Originally posted by Rodgers
As for WWII itself, try Churchills work on it - "The Second World War" - probably a bit biased but should be full of decent insights given his unique perspective.

He won the nobel prize for literature for it, and rightly so.
It is biased, it leaves uncomfortable parts (for WSC) out.
Highly entertaining and was written in the 50's so gives
a good sense of the attiudes during the war, not like
current PC trash. I own the set and am never without
something good to read, and it bears reading many many
times.

Why the allies won is also worthy of mention.

 

[insurgent]

Obviously William L. Shirer's THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH should be mentioned. But also Allan Bullock's BARBAROSSA is recommendable.

 

[nixon]

Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor is a decent book as well, a long with William Craig's Enemy At The Gates.

Crikey, there are many good books, but John Keegan is a nice author too and of course Winston Churchill himself, with his six-volume The Second World War describes the war superbly.

 

[Leglaen]

Alexander Werth's Russia at War is also a good choice if you don't mind the bias towards the USSR and the old date of publication(1964).

 

[Case]

Here's a few books which I'd recomend:

*Corelli Barnet's Engage the Enemy More Closely is a brilliant history of the Royal Navy during WW2 and may well be my favorite book of all time.

*Chester Wilmot's The Struggle for Europe is a fantastic account of the Western Allies campaign in Europe.

*John Keegan's The Second World War and Six Armies in Normandy are also very good reads. Hell, anything by Keegan is well worth reading (I don't always agree with his conclusions, but he writes very well and his research is always top-knotch)

*On a lighter note, Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon is the funniest (fictonal) book on WW2.

 

[stalin006]

i dont know......dont read many books........i watch the history channel !

 

[Kafka2]

Reader's Digest "The Second World War". It's got loads and loads of helpful pictures and diagrams. This makes it far more accessible than many of those listed above, which tend to be as dry as old fox turds.

 

[marshal zhukov]

Renes - published a very good series on WW2, it is from their books that I get most of the information about it. But that is in Brazil, I don't know if they are sold abroad. They are also really cheap, they are the cheapest you can get for books in here.
They have books on everything. Biographies, books on equipment, whole campaings, and battles. European and Pacific theaters.
Right now, for example, I am rereading Zhukov's biography from Renes written by Earl Ziemke

EDIT: IT IS NOT Earl Ziemke it is Otto Chaney.
Earl Ziemke wrote Battle for Berlim - the end of the 3rd Reich

 

[Dr. Dr. Doktor]

If uou want something other than the typical morality tale try Alan S. Milward: War, Economy and Society, which explains why war is economically beneficious in modern society.

 

[Pangur Bán]

Most WW2 history books are the same...they tell you Germany caused the war and everyone else was innocent (there are exceptions).

 

[Supernaut]

Originally posted by Rodgers
I recently went to a great lecture given by Prof Ian Kershaw on Hitler. It was to promote his 3 volume biography of the dictator which has just been released and has been pretty well received by academics and laymen who rated it as being a great work on both Hitler's pre-war and wartime life. I dont think it has a single title - each volume is treated as a seperate book - but you shouldn't have any trouble finding it in the UK though.

As for WWII itself, try Churchills work on it - "The Second World War" - probably a bit biased but should be full of decent insights given his unique perspective.

Isn't that a 2 volume work - 'Hubris' and 'Nemesis'? I haven't read Hubris, but Nemesis is excellent - covers 1936-45. Probably the state of the art at the mo on Hitler, and the German war objectives, and will remain so for a long time. I am dead jealous of you hearing this man lecture.

Someone else mentioned 'Why the Allies won', which is a fab book.

 

[veal]

WOW

Thanks for the great ideas guys.

Looks like I have a lot of reading to do.