Recommended Reading on WWII

[CrazyThumbs]

Over the past few months I kept on seeing books on WWII that I would like to read, but would always forget their titles and stuff. So for the past week or so, using Amazon books and the Axis History forums recommended reading topics, I have been compiling a list of all books that I think are interesting/good and that I hope to eventually get.

All the books are organized according to their combat theater etc...
Feel free to recommend books, take away some, and make suggestions. Hopefully we can make the master list of all recommended reading for WWII

*Right now I'm at about ~150 books, I might break it up a little so I can post it all

World War II Books​

​

WW2 General History
- World War II A Complete Photographic History
- The Story of World War II
- Why The Allies Won
- The Second World War- John Keegan
- Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European war, 1941-1945
- History of the German Resistance- Peter Hoffmann
- Germany and the Second World War
Vol. 1 The Build up of German Aggression
Vol. 2 Germany’s Initial Conquests in Europe
Vol. 3 ????
Vol. 4 The Attack on The Soviet Union
Vol. 5 Organization and Mobilization in the German Sphere of Power
Part 2- Organization and Mobilization in the German Sphere of Power
Vol. 6 The Global War
Vol. 7 The Strategic Air War in Europe/War in the West/War in East Asia
- History of the Second World War- Hart
- WWII Series- Time Life (39 volumes)
- Waffen SS Handbook 1933-1945-Gordon Williamson

Western Front & Atlantic
- The last Escape
- D-Day- Ambrose
- The longest Night- Mortimer
- The Struggle for Europe- Chester Wilmot
- The Fall of France: The Nazi Invasion of 1940- Julian Jackson
- Battle of Britain- Bergstrom
- The Norwegian Campaign of 1940- Moulton
- Norwegian Resistance: 1940-1945- Gjelsvik
- Doomed Expedition: The Norwegian Campaign of 1940- Adams
- The Bitter Years; The Invasion and Occupation of Denmark and Norway- Petrow
- Norway 1940- Kersaudy
- Assault In Norway: Sabotaging the Nazi Nuclear Program- Gallagher
- The Sledge Patrol- Howarth
- Blitzkrieg in Their Own Words- Bance
- The Germans in Normandy- Hargreaves
- Battle for the Ruhr: The German Army’s final defeat in the West- Zumbro
- Operation Dragoon: The Allied Invasion of the South of France- Breuer
- Dragoon- Gaujac
- Omaha Beach: 6/6/1944- Bernage
- Gold Juno Sword- Bernage
- Operation Sea Lion- Peter
- The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain- Bungay
- Overlord- Hastings
- Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945- Hastings
- D-Day: The Air Battle- Delve
- The Battle of the Atlantic- Ireland
- The Battle of the Atlantic: The Allies Submarine Fight Against Hitler’s Grey Wolves of the Sea- Williams

Eastern European Front
- Stalin’s Folly
- The Road to Stalingrad- Erickson
- Island of Fire
- Russia’s War- Overy
- Stalingrad- Beevor
- 900 Days- Salisbury
- Black Cross Red Star- Bergstrom
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
- Moscow to Stalingrad. Decision in the East- Ziemke/Bauer
- Death of the Wehrmacht- Citino
- The Road to Berlin: Stalin’s War with Germany- Erickson
- Stopped at Stalingrad: The Luftwaffe and Hilters Defeat in the East
- War in the Wild East
- The Fall of Berlin 1945- Beevor
- Before Stalingrad: Barbarossa, Hitler’s Invasion of Russia 1941- Glantz
- Stalingrad: How the Red Army Survived the German Onslaught- Jones
- Barbarossa: The Air Battle July-December 1941- Bergstrom
- Stalingrad: The Air Battle: November 1942-Febuary 1943
- Kursk: The Air Battle, July 1943
- The Winter War: The Soviet Attack on Finland 1939-1940- Engle
- A Frozen Hell: The Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939-1940- Trotter
- The White Death: The Epic of the Soviet-Finnish winter War- Chew
- Red Storm over the Balkans- Glantz
- The Battle for Leningrad- Glantz
- Zhukovs Greatest Defeat: The REd Army's Epic Disaster in Operation Mars, 1942- David Glantz
- War Without Garlands- Robert Kershaw

Africa & Mediterranean
- The Mediterranean and the Middle East
Vol. 1 The Early Successes Against Italy, to May 1941
Vol. 2 The Germans Come to the Help of Their Ally
Vol. 3 British Fortunes Reach Their Lowest Ebb
Vol. 4 The Destruction of the Axis Forces in Africa
- An Army at Dawn: The War in Africa, 1942-1943- Rick Atkinson
- The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944- Atkinson
- Monte Cassino: The Hardest Fought Battle of World War II- Parker
- Cassino: The Hollow Victory: The Battle for Rome January-June 1944- Ellis
- Anzio: Italy And the Battle for Rome -1944- Clark
- They Fought at Anzio- Eisenhower
- Alamein- Bungay
- Alamein- Latimer
- War Without Hate: The Desert Campaign of 1940-43- Beirman/Smith
- Iron Hulls Iron Hearts- Walker
- Tank Combat in North Africa- Jentz
- Tobruk: The Birth of A Legend- Harrison
- Crete: The Battle and Resistance- Antony Beevor

Pacific & Asia
- The Pacific War- Costello
- Ghost Soldiers
- Japanese Submarine Raiders 1942- Carruthers
- Bloody Tarawa- Hammal/Lane
- Australian Commandos: Their Secret War Against the Japanese in WW2
- Burma 1942: The Japanese Invasion
- Forgotten Armies: The Fall of British Asia, 1941-1945
- The Imperial Japanese Navy- Dull
- Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway- Parshell/Tully
- Singapore 1942: Britain’s Greatest Defeat
- Touched with Fire: The land war in the South Pacific
- Fire in the Sky: The Air war in the South Pacific
- Burma: The Longest War 1941-1945
- Lieutenant Ramsey’s War

Equipment & Armies

Axis​

Small Arms/Infantry
- The Wehrmacht: The German Army in World War II- Ripley
- Eastern Front Operations- Raus
- Hitler’s Last Levy: The Volksstrum 1944-45- Kissel
- Hitler’s Volkssturm: The Nazi Militia and the Fall of Germany- Yelton
- Fighting Techniques of the Japanese Infantryman 1941-1945
- Guns of the Third Reich- Walter
- The Luger Story- Walter
- Backbone of the Wehrmacht- Law
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
- Death from above- Dugelby/Stevens
- German Automatic Weapons of WWII- Bruce
- German Machineguns- Musgrave

Tanks/Vehicles
- Panzer Tactics: German Small-Unit Armor Tactics in WWII
- Standard Catalogue of German Military Vehicles- Doyle
- Spielberger German Armor and Military Vehicle Series
Vol. 1 The Panther & Its Variants
Vol. 2 Sturmgeschutz & Its Variants
Vol. 3 Panzer III & Its Variants
Vol. 4 Panzer IV & Its Variants
Vol. 5 Strassenpanzer: German Armored Cars
Vol. 6 Armor on the Eastern Front
- Equipment and Armor in the Bulgarian Army. Kaloyan Matev
Vol. 1 Armored Vehicles 1935-1945
Vol.2 Trucks, Tractors and Automobiles 1935 – 1945

Airforce
- Hitler’s Luftwaffe
- Luftwaffe Over Germany
- Warplanes of the Third Reich
- Aufklarer Vol. 1: Luftwaffe Reconnaissance Aircraft and Units 1935-1941- Wadman
- Jagdwaffe: Battle of Britain- Wadman, Peg, Mombeek
Phase One: July-August 1940
Phase Two: August-September 1940
-Transporter- Peg
Vol. 1- Luftwaffe Transport Units 1937-1943
Vol. 2- Luftwaffe Transport Units 1943-1945
- Air Power of the Kingdom of Bulgaria Vol. 4 1940-1946
- The Japanese Airforce in WW2
- Japanese aircraft of WW2

Naval
- Japanese Naval Vessels at the end of WW2
- Submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1904-1945
- U-Boat War: Doenitz and the Evolution of the German Submarine Service- Westwood
- Destroyer: German Destroyers in World War Two- Whitley

Defenses/Artillery
- German Artillery of World War II- Hogg
- Flakturme

Allied​

Small Arms/Infantry
- Weapons of Patton’s Armies- Green
- Fighting Techniques of the U.S. Marine 1941-1945
- Complete M1 Garand- Thompson
- The Mosin-Nagant Rifle

Tanks/Vehicles
- Sherman: A History of the American Medium Tank- Hunnicutt
- Half-Track: A History of American Semi Tracked Vehicles- Hunnicutt
- Pershing- Hunnicutt
- Tanks & Artillery: Standard guide to U.S World War II- Schreier
- T-34 In Action- Drabkin
- Light Tanks (Russian Armor)- Baryantinskiy
- British Tanks in Normandy- Fortin
- Sherman Tank- Birch
- Russian Tanks of WWII- Page
Airforce
- Bomber Command- Hastings
- The Story of the Spitfire: An Operational and combat History- Delve
- Flying Fortress- Jablonski
- Lockheed P-38 Lightning- Pace/LeVier
- P-51 Mustang: Development of the Long-Range Escort Fighter- Ludwig

Naval

Defenses/Artillery

Espionage
*- Shadow War against Hitler
- Sisterhood of Spies: The Woman of the OSS- McIntosh
- Operatives, Spies, Saboteurs- O’Donnell
- OSS: The Secret History of America’s First Central Intelligence Agency- Smith

Biographies
Stauffenberg: A Family History- Peter Hoffmann

First Hand Accounts
- The Longest Winter
- Flags of our Fathers
- With the Old Breed- Sledge
- Sniper on the Eastern Front- Sepp Allerberger
- 800 Days on the Eastern Front
- Red Road from Stalingrad- Abdulin
- Red Partisan
- Barbarossa and the Retreat to Moscow- Drabkin
- Red Star Aircobra: Memiors of a Soviet Fighter Ace 1941-45- Drabkin
- IA Dralsia S Asami Liuftvaffe- Drabkin
- IA Dralsia Na Istrebitele- Drabkin
- IA Dralsia Na IL-2- Drabkin
- IA Dralsia Na T-34- Drabkin
- Skis Against the Atom- Haukelid
- Black Edelwiess- Johan Voss
- Brazen Chariots- Crisp
- Soldier Bear- Morgan
- The Forgotten Soldier-Gut Sajer
- Soldat- Seigfried Knappe
- Tank Rider- Evgeni Bessonov

That's all I got so far.
Looking forward to your suggestions

 

[Bolt]

Artiom Drabkin has a wonderful site iremember.ru with first-hand accounts and interviews of the veterans.
He has wrote several books ("I was fighting in T-34", "... in IL-2", "...against Panzerwaffe", "I was a fighter pilot"), I've read most of them and can really recommend to check them out - very interesting reading, in my opinion.

 

[CrazyThumbs]

I added the books by Drabkin that you mentioned. Four of them are in Russian though as you can tell be the titles. Any translated versions of these four by any chance?

 

[aag567]

I reccomend Soldier Bear by Geoffry Morgan, it's about the Polish soldier bear Voytek who was the mascot of the 22nd Polish Transport Company, most uplifting book I've ever read. It's pretty rare though, I bought my copy for 70 $ and it was from a libary.

 

[Bolt]

Any translated versions of these four by any chance?

Sorry, but I don't have this information..
But since there are others translated books by this author, the chances are they will be translated to English some day.

 

[Rak]

Eastern Front Operations by Erhard Raus <3

 

[CrazyThumbs]

Added the two other mentioned. Wasn't exactly sure where to put Bear Soldier, so I just put it under first hand accounts. I'm thinking we could expand the list with a section for unit histories, where I think it would be a better fit.

Should we bother to have a a little review of what the book is about underneath, or other general info about it? Might be a little too much work.

 

[aag567]

Um, the book is called Soldier Bear, not Bear Soldier. I also reccomend Forgotten 500, it's about one of the most successful rescue operations in WW2 that involved rescueing down allied airmen in Yugoslavia, and Yorkie Doodle Dandy, the memoirs of William Wyne and his wardog Smoky, the smallest wardog in history, he fought in the Pacific, and Always Faithful, the memoir of William Putney, a medic who worked with wardogs on Guam, Slaughter at Halbe, a book of compiled accounts of German soldiers and one Russian account at the battle for Halbe where the Germans fought to break out to the western allies, and With Our Backs to Berlin, accounts of German soldiers toward the end of the war. And though not really in WW2, As far as my feet will carry me by Clemens Forrell, a German POW who escaped from Eastern Russia (he was really close to Alaska) to Germany.

 

[Oldih]

Crete: The Battle and the Resistance
Stalingrad

Both belong in the works of Anthony Beevor.

Unfortunately I can't find few books I was hoping to find and I really can't remember their names in english. I know they are somewhere in the house, but that's about it

 

[Gamburd]

I think the WWII Series from Time-Life Books from 1977 is a good introduction to the subject of WWII. I own a few of them.

The series is 30 years old, so it may not contain the latest research and perspectives, and their literary style, while informative and engaging, probably won't compare to the style of well-known military historians.

I recently read the section of the series on Stalingrad, contained in the book Red Army Resurgent and, while not a highly-detailed account of the battle, certainly gave a decent, though not the greatest, account of the battle, along with interesting some anecdotes, and it also contained an excerpt from an actual German military staff conference held after the German defeat.

The best feature of the series are the enormous amount of photographs contained in the books, a few of them in color; some of the books also contain color illustrations of the weaponry involved.



Most public libraries in the U.S. would probably have some of the books contained in this series.

The best place to try and buy them are at public library book sales; I was able to buy a few for $2.00 each at such a sale, and you could possibly even find a better price.




The books had these distinctive photographic covers with red lettering on the binding:












Here's a checklist of all thirty-nine volumes:

Adams, Henry. Italy at War ​

Bailey, Ronald H. The Air War in Europe ​

Bailey, Ronald H. The Home Front: USA ​

Bailey, Ronald H. Partisans and Guerrillas ​

Bailey, Ronald H. Prisoners of War ​

Bethell, Nicholas. Russia Besieged ​

Blumenson, Martin. Liberation ​

Botting, Douglas. The Aftermath: Europe ​

Botting, Douglas. The Second Front ​

Collier, Richard. The War in the Desert ​

Davis, Franklin. Across the Rhine ​

Editors of Time-Life Books. The Aftermath: Asia ​

Editors of Time-Life Books. Japan at War ​

Elson, Robert T. Prelude to War ​

Elting, John Robert. Battles for Scandinava ​

Fodor, Denis J. The Neutrals ​

Goolrick, William K. and Ogden Tanner. The Battle of the Bulge ​

Herzstein, Robert Edwin. The Nazis ​

Miller, Russell. The Commandos ​

Miller, Russell. The Resistance ​

Moser, Don. China-Burma-India ​

Mosley, Leonard. Battle of Britain ​

Pitt, Barrie. The Battle of the Atlantic ​

Rigge, Simon. War in the Outposts ​

Russell, Francis. The Secret War ​

Shaw, John. Red Army Resurgent ​

Simons, Gerald. Victory in Europe ​

Steinberg, Rafael. Island Fighting ​

Steinberg, Rafael. Return to the Philippines ​

Wallace, Robert. The Italian Campaign ​

Wernick, Robert. Blitzkrieg ​

Wheeler, Keith. Bombers over Japan ​

Wheeler, Keith. The Fall of Japan ​

Wheeler, Keith. The Road to Tokyo ​

Wheeler, Keith. War under the Pacific ​

Whipple, A.B.C. The Mediterranean ​

Whiting, Charles. The Home Front: Germany ​

Zich, Arthur. The Rising Sun ​

Ziemke, Earl F. The Soviet Juggernaut​

You also might also want to try reading ​

www.osprey-publishing.com 's various series.​

These are less books than booklets that contain fairly detailed information and concentrate on narrow topics such as armies, historical infantry regiments, individual miltitary campaigns, etc.​

Their men-at-arms series contain some information about uniforms with about 6-8 pages of colored plates in the center of the booklet, though they are not uniform books.​

Someone on this RO Forum said their Campaign series booklets on both Stalingrad and Berlin were badly done, so I'd stay away from those two titles; however, I have always thought the ones I owned were pretty good, though paying $17.00-$20.00 for a short booklet around 50 pages long is a bit steep.


I wanted to add that the Osprey publications are available mainly at hobby stores in the U.S, although some Borders (usually at the ritziest neighborhood Borders store) in your hometown may carry some of them; local Barnes and Noble bookstores may carry a few select titles in their history sections.
​

 

[Bluehawk]

Two good first hand accounts of the Eastern Front

The Forgotten Soldier - Guy Sajer
(Told from the view of a half-French, half-German - interesting perspective on the politics on the individual soldier).

Soldat - Siegfried Knappe
(This follows a Leutnant, eventually Major, and goes from 1936 to the invasion of France all the way to the Battle of Berlin (while on Weidling's staff), before ending in Soviet captivity).

 

[Oldih]

Waffen-SS Handbook 1933 - 1945, ISBN 952-5186-68-7, (c) Gordon Willaimson.

This could be considered as researcher's material mainly, but it offers quite good information about some eguipment, weaponry, organisation, drafting, units, insignias, famous persons and such related to WSS. Comes with decent photgraphic material ...

... and in some of them (oh horrors!) WSS VIOLATES AUTHENCITY STANDARDS!


I bought this book in own kind of "accident", but it was worth it.

 

[aktionman]

A few more books which may be worth looking at:

David Glantz's book Zhukov's Greatest Defeat: The Red Army's Epic Disaster in Operation Mars, 1942 is IMO interesting for a number of reasons. (Available online in summary form: http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/documents/countrpt/countrpt.htm)

Firstly, on a purely historical level we here have the detailed coverage of major Eastern Front battles of Nov/Dec 1942 other than that of Stalingrad. Secondly, Glantz argues that he is debunking a myth and that for the STAVKA, Operation Mars was originally planned bigger and more important than the battles around Stalingrad, but after its failure it was relegated to a second-class status. This claim makes the book even more interesting, because now one is on the lookout for the clues that support this.
Finally, the reception of the book has itself varied from praise to criticism, the latter for historical inaccuracies, subjective interpretations and a challenge to the central thesis of the book, i.e. that the myth is no myth at all: Operation Mars was not as big or important as Glantz makes it out to be.

I also finished Russ Schneider's Siege which has been mentioned here a few times, and although a work of fiction, the interaction between the major characters is very touching and the descriptions of battle and death are intense.

This novel is in the context of another interesting fictionlised work, viz. Theodore Plievier's Stalingrad which I have just started. It was printed in serial form in a journal called Internationale Literatur in 1944 and has since been translated into 17 languages. Plievier was in the USSR when he wrote it and was even allowed access to POWs. However, "In an unusual exception from official practice it was not subjected to prior censorship" - (p.179 in Literatur und Geschichte: Festschrift f

 

[aktionman]

Although I'm not done with it yet, perhaps it can already be mentioned: the paperback edition of Robert Kershaw's War Without Garlands (2000) was published this month. (The title refers to earlier WWII conquests when the soldiers were strewn with flowers, while the Eastern front is kein Blumenkrieg).

There have often been enquiries for memoirs or experiences from the ground rather than for a strategic overview. IMO this book meets this requirement - it offers the viewpoint from the ordinary German soldier during Operation Barbarossa.

Nice 'n hefty at 640 pages...

 

[Bolt]

I've read this book (in Russian) few months ago and really recommend it to anyone who is interested in Eastern front. Author of this book went through 2nd phase of war (from '43 to '45) in role of a commander of tank rider platoon - one of the most dangerous infantry roles - and not only survived fighting as a spearhead deep into enemy territory, far away from main Soviet forces, but managed to do it with as less casualties as possible.

Here's a quote from Amazon's page, with which I agree completely.

I just finished this book and found it to be one of the most interesting WWII memoirs that I've read. Here's what I liked about it:

1) This is the most honest Russian account of WWII that I've ever read. The author tells it like he sees it, even when it is not necessarily flattering for the Red Army: the absence of Russian fighter cover, tankers refusing to advance against panzerfausts or Tigers, fraticide, bungling, commanders mysteriously always absent from the fighting, etc. That said, the author's pride in his men and his unit's achievements is obvious.

2) Unlike some other military memoirs, where the author might start the war as a colonel and end as an army commander, this author remains a platoon leader for almost two years of constant fighting. While he seems to have been constantly passed over for promotion, he was constantly assigned to the most dangerous missions in the leading elements of his brigade (overall, this book really reminded of IN DEADLY COMBAT by Bidermann).

3) While the book focuses on the fighting, there is also plenty about rest periods, what they ate, how they interacted with civilians, etc. From this perspective, this book is vastly more informative about the Russian soldiers' experience during the war than the more highly acclaimed IVAN'S WAR and more interesting than books like FIGHTING FOR THE SOVIET MOTHERLAND by Loza.

What didn't I like? Nothing really...not many maps, but they are not really missed given the small scale of the engagements described in the book and the good descriptions by the author.

http://www.amazon.com/Tank-Rider-Into-Reich-Army/dp/1853675547



EDIT
Also, at the moment I'm reading a fine book (actually, that's the first book about Western Front that I read) written by Belton Cooper, called "Death Traps". He served as a communication officer at the maintenance battalion of 3rd Armoured Division. Author gives a lot of details about Sherman, Tiger and Tiger II, Panther, and overall about tank combat on that front. I havne't finished reading it yet, but I can say that lathough there are some mistakes here and there, the book is very informative and nicely written - I'm really enjoying reading it and can recommend to you guys.
http://www.amazon.com/Death-Traps-Survival-American-Division/dp/0891418148

 

[CrazyThumbs]

Just updated the list with the new suggestions, something that I've been meaning to do for a while.

I'm not to sure about "Death Traps". I've heard to stay away from the book, mainly because the author is so blatantly biased. I hear he has some good points, and it is from an interesting perspective that allows us to gain some insight into what went on behind the lines, but that's all I'd use this book for.

 

[Bolt]

mainly because the author is so blatantly biased.

Biased how? I mean, I haven't spotted any bias, but maybe I'll do that in the future, I'm only at half of it.

 

[CrazyThumbs]

His bias can even be seen in the name of the book. He hates the Sherman and takes every chance he can to discredit it, while praising the German heavies and the M-26 Pershing.
On the Amazon link you posted, I think it's the 3rd review down that makes me want to avoid reading this book.
This is all going off what I've heard though, so it may not be as bad as I'm imagining it. I might read it one day if I want to know about how tanks were salvaged and such since it does seem kind of interesting, but if I want to know about the effectiveness of the Sherman, I'd pick a different book.

 

[Nathan Bay]

hey, i have that book, stalins folly. The book is a little bit stretched, other than that, its very good.

 

[seamus07]

It never snows in september

It never snows in september

Great book by Robert Kershaw about Operation Market Garden from the German perspective. Lots of maps, photos and tables. Highly recommended.