Best book on Eastern front?

[NoxNoctum]

I really want to learn more about the Eastern front, I'm a huge WWII buff but I'm ashamed to say most my knowledge is on the western front.

What are some good books to read on the subject?

 

[white7]

"Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer... It is the authors memoirs about serving with the Gross Deutchland Division operating on the eastern front. Guy Sajer was Alsace-Lorraine-ian and was drafted into the Wehrmacht. It takes you from basic training to his gritty accounts on the eastern front. The best book I have read on the subject.

 

[Gardner]

Ww I

Ww I

Tannenberg: Clash of Empires 1914, by Dennis Showalter.

 

[BubbaG]

The Fall of Berlin by Anthony Beevor
Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor
The Battle for Moscow by Col. Albert Seaton
Gotterdammerung 1945 (Germany's last stand in the East) by Russ Schneider

I promise you can't go wrong with these books.

 

[Nagels]

Ivans War is highly informative as well, you'll not go wrong with any of the books mentioned thus far.

 

[aktionman]

most my knowledge is on the western front.

Which books do you consider good ones on the Western Front? Then corresponding specific suggestions can be made for the Eastern Front: Allied or Axis perspective, memoirs, broad strategic overviews, individual campaigns and battles, fiction, tank/infantry/air perspectives, weaponry, everyday life, and so on.

Wilsonam provided a good list under Downloads->Manuals: http://www.redorchestragame.com/index.php?categoryid=3&p13_sectionid=5&p13_fileid=19

Also, there are a few of threads under the Podium and History topics devoted to Ostfront books.

 

[LukeFF]

If you're into the aviation aspect, the Black Cross/Red Star books are second to none.

 

[[Mad_Murdock]]

Hmm, i pretty much agree with whats been suggested so far, actually, I havent read Gotterdammerung or Stalingrad so i might read those myself, but i think i'd add Red Road From Stalingrad, by Mansur Abdulin, which is a memoir, or Enemy At The Gates(No relation to the movie), by William Craig, which is a narrative composed of several memoirs.

 

[Gamburd]

If you want a quick read, without wading through all the narrative verbiage (meaning you want information at your fingertips; don't get me wrong: military history books are great and are a great genre of writing), especially on a specific campaign or want more information about the Russian Army, I suggest some of the titles by Osprey Publishing Company on the Eastern Front.

http://www.osprey-publishing.com

You can see some previews at that site.

The booklets are written by various military experts and historians. They usually contain about 6-8 pages of color plates of uniform information, though I wouldn't call them unifrom books.

The booklets run about $16-18-24.00 U.S., depending on the series you buy (Men-At-Arms; Elite; Campaign). That's a little pricey, because they average 40-50-60 pages or so, but they are chock full of information, and I've never been dissappointed with any that I've bought.

Any better hobby store in the U.S. should have them, or you can order online.


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[Reddog]

Barbarossa by Alan Clark is a pretty good overview of the whole war in the east.

 

[koalorka]

Another vote for Forgotten Soldier, changed my perspectives on life. Very moving book.

 

[Nestor Makhno]

http://www.osprey-publishing.com

They do good uniform books but their book about Stalingrad could suck-start a leaf-blower.

Beevor's Stalingrad book would benefit from a new edition where he went through some of the newly-released archival materioal and got rid of all the apocryphal cold-war-filtered (by both sides) bollox.

 

[BubbaG]

Barbarossa by Alan Clark is a pretty good overview of the whole war in the east.

I might have to pick up a copy of that one. Does it deal with the Eastern Front from the beginning to the end?

Gotterdammerung is by far my favorite Eastern Front book after Beevors Stalingrad book. Gotterdammerung deals with the Eastern Front from Jan 45 until May 45. Day to day operations, personal accounts..the book contains everything. I couldn't put it down.

 

[Boogerhead]

I thought Barbarosa was god-awful boring. Never did find a good overall book.

If you can find it on Bookfinder.com, Vasili Chuikov's memoirs from Stalingrad are superb. I've got his fall of Berlin book, but haven't read it yet.

 

[Bolt]

If you guys ever come across Zinchenko's or Neustroev's memoirs (I don't know if there is a translated version), definetly buy them! They are worth checking.

My personal favourite is Aleksandr Pylcyn's "The truth about penal batallions". He served whole his war as a combat officer in a penal batallion (he wasn't "sentenced", it was his job). He participated in liberation of Byelorussia and fought his way to Oder. He with a handful of men captured first positions on the other side of the river, repelled first German counter-attack and catched a buller to his head, but survived. He made it to Berlin and had his autograph written on the Reichstag.
After reading this book, I really want to vommit while watching TV-series "Shtrafbat" or reading another crap-article about how those soldiers were the only one inthe whole Red Army, how they had only wooden weapons, attacked only when they had zagradotriads behind their backs etc etc etc. A VERY good book!

 

[aktionman]

From the overview side: published in March this year and receiving a lot of praise is Evan Mawdsley's Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941-1945. The reason why Ostfront history is undergoing a revival is that new archival material is surfacing and the end of the Cold War has brought about fresh perspectives. For example, from the article:

Stalin

 

[Coey]

Blood Red Snow by Gunther K Koschorrek and Sniper on the Eastern Front by Sepp Allerberger are two very good war memoirs from the German POV of the Eastern Front.

Also, most Sven Hassell books deal with the Eastern Front, they're highly entertaining, if far fetched at times.

 

[Bolt]

If you want a quick read, without wading through all the narrative verbiage (meaning you want information at your fingertips; don't get me wrong: military history books are great and are a great genre of writing), especially on a specific campaign or want more information about the Russian Army, I suggest some of the titles by Osprey Publishing Company on the Eastern Front.

BTW, if anyone is interested, PM me and I'll give you a free link to download a pdf version of Osprey's book "Soviet rifleman 1941-1945". Not the best book on this topic for sure (eg - it says that EatG scenes with one rifle for 3 soldiers was close to reality), but still gives you some info.

 

[Bolt]

I have brought out a new book on Stalingrad:

Michael K Jones, Stalingrad: How the Red Army Triumphed (Pen and Sword Military, 2007; ISBN: 9781844155439). David M Glantz wrote the Foreword. There are more details on the publisher's website (www.pen-and-sword.co.uk) or www.amazon.co.uk

Stalingrad has been much written about- and filmed - so why another book on the subject? I was fascinated by one simpe question: how had the Red Army managed to hold out in such atrocious conditions? I decided to focus on the Soviet 62nd Army - the defenders of the city - and look at their morale, motivation and leadership.

For the past five years I have led battlefield tours to Stalingrad, working closely with Red Army survivors of the fighting. My book uses a lot of powerful new veteran testimony, alongside the recently released combat records of the 62nd Army, and I believe a very different version of this famous battle emerges as a result.

As the thread on William Craig's Enemy at the Gates rightly says, his pioneering book was about far more than just the sniper duel feature in the film: Craig first brought home the power of Stalingrad to a western audience. More recently, Antony Beevor's book has formed our modern view of the battle. It is one that - like his follow-up on Berlin - does no favours to the Red Army. We learn much about the worst instances of Soviet soldiers' behaviour, but far less about their astonishing resilience and courage. And it is these men's courage that I wish to pay tribute to.

Stalingrad was not some propagandist victory of the communist system - but it was, I think, an extraordinary triumph against the odds by the Red Army, which regained its will and self-belief in the devastated city and showed a level of heroism that confounded its German opponents. This is the story I want to tell.

With best wishes to everyone on the Forum, Mike.

Sounds like a good book. Have anyone read it?

 

[RedGuardist]

Thanks for the tip, Bolt. Seems very interesting book. Have to try to get it at once.