World War II Books

Critteranne · 04-02-2014, 04:39 PM

I've just read the book A Serial Killer in Nazi Berlin: The Chilling True Story of the S-Bahn Murderer (by by Scott Andrew Selby). Naturally, as a result, I've become interested in World War II stuff again. All readers know that's often the way our minds work...

So I'm interested in your nonfiction WWII recommendations -- from Will Shirer type books or Studs Terkel, and Stephen Ambrose books, to more specific books on a smaller scale. I've even dipped my toes into soldier memoirs; last night I started The Road to Arnhem: A Screaming Eagle in Holland (World War II Library) by Donald R. Burgett. (His books are not available for Kindle.

) For now, I'm concentrating on Europe, but I might get dragged off to the Pacific, and even North Africa.

Fiction recommendations would be cool, too. However, for some reason, my preferences for WWII fiction lean toward espionage, such as Eye of the Needle. Particularly WWII-related books taking place after the war -- The Boys from Brazil, etc. I can't explain it, either.

And I've never looked at Dobermans in the same way...

Pablo · 04-02-2014, 04:50 PM

Non-fiction:

(All by Ben MacIntyre)

Operation Mincemeat: The True Spy Story that Changed the Course of World War II.
Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies
Agent Zigzag: The True Wartime Story of Eddie Chapman: Lover, Betrayer, Hero, Spy.

MickiTee · 04-02-2014, 05:06 PM

Try Len Deighton. He wrote both fiction (e.g. Bomber) & non-fiction (e.g. Fighter) about WWII.

He's probably most famous for his Harry Palmer books which were made into films starring Michael Caine.

bfisher · 04-02-2014, 05:34 PM

For WW2 espionage fiction, you might like Alan Furst's "Night Soldier" series

Catlady · 04-02-2014, 06:00 PM

Nonfiction: Paul Brickhill's The Great Escape, and Tim Carroll's The Great Escape from Stalag Luft III.
Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day and Stephen Ambrose's D-Day.

Section8 · 04-02-2014, 07:35 PM

The Nazi Doctors, by Robert Jay Lifton

rollei · 04-02-2014, 11:42 PM

Agent 146 by Erich Gimpel (Non-Fiction World War II)

AnemicOak · 04-03-2014, 12:16 AM

A very broad subject. Here are a few off the top of my head...

The Liberation Trilogy by Rick Atkinson...
An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943
The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944
The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945

Cornelius Ryan's trilogy...
The Longest Day
A Bridge Too Far
The Last Battle

Sir Winston Churchill's WWII books...
The Gathering Storm
Their Finest Hour
The Grand Alliance
The Hinge of Fate
Closing the Ring
Triumph and Tragedy

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer
It Never Snows in September by Robert Kershaw
Pegasus Bridge by Stephen Ambrose
The Star of Africa by Colin D. Heaton & Anne-Marie Lewis
The Sword of St. Michael by Guy LoFaro
Arnhem 1944 by Martin Middlebrook
Shattered Sword by Jonathan B. Parshall & Anthony P. Tully
Tigers in the Mud by Otto Carius

George Koskimaki's 101st Airborne history trilogy
Phil Nordyke's various 82nd Airborne books

Day of Infamy and other's by Walter Lord

You're Stepping on my Cloak & Dagger by Roger Hall
Those Devil's in Baggy Pants by Ross Carter
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo by Ted Lawson

Billi · 04-03-2014, 01:25 AM

Another from Berlin:
David Fisher, Anthony Read: The Fall of Berlin

Gazella · 04-03-2014, 07:54 AM

I highly recommend Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand.

bfisher · 04-03-2014, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bfisher

For WW2 espionage fiction, you might like Alan Furst's "Night Soldier" series

Mission to Paris by Alan Furst is on sale today at Amazon - see Arcadata thread

mrmikel · 04-03-2014, 04:09 PM

There are a whole bunch of them in the MR Library, mostly from the standpoint of military history. I just put one on there of oral histories of people who worked decoding Japanese messages. I hope to soon up up one on the Nisei Linguists, real patriots who worked decoding messages and interviewing prisoners when their relatives were in relocation camps.

Namekuseijin · 04-03-2014, 04:24 PM

The Lord of the Rings

Catlady · 04-03-2014, 06:14 PM

Susan Elia MacNeal's new-ish Maggie Hope mystery series is set during WWII. I've read only the first one so far--Mr. Churchill's Secretary--and enjoyed it.

By the way, has anyone read the Billy Boyle WWII series by James R. Benn?

bfisher · 04-03-2014, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catlady

Susan Elia MacNeal's new-ish Maggie Hope mystery series is set during WWII. I've read only the first one so far--Mr. Churchill's Secretary--and enjoyed it.

By the way, has anyone read the Billy Boyle WWII series by James R. Benn?

I read the first two books in the series last year. More murder-mystery in the context of the Anglo-American campaigns (the character is a Boston detective who is Eisenhower's in-law). They were ok.

04-02-2014, 04:39 PM	#1
Critteranne Guru Posts: 810 Karma: 23183490 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: MD Device: Kindle, iPad	World War II Books I've just read the book A Serial Killer in Nazi Berlin: The Chilling True Story of the S-Bahn Murderer (by by Scott Andrew Selby). Naturally, as a result, I've become interested in World War II stuff again. All readers know that's often the way our minds work... So I'm interested in your nonfiction WWII recommendations -- from Will Shirer type books or Studs Terkel, and Stephen Ambrose books, to more specific books on a smaller scale. I've even dipped my toes into soldier memoirs; last night I started The Road to Arnhem: A Screaming Eagle in Holland (World War II Library) by Donald R. Burgett. (His books are not available for Kindle. ) For now, I'm concentrating on Europe, but I might get dragged off to the Pacific, and even North Africa. Fiction recommendations would be cool, too. However, for some reason, my preferences for WWII fiction lean toward espionage, such as Eye of the Needle. Particularly WWII-related books taking place after the war -- The Boys from Brazil, etc. I can't explain it, either. And I've never looked at Dobermans in the same way...

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04-02-2014, 04:50 PM	#2
Pablo Guru Posts: 972 Karma: 4999999 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Rosario, Argentina Device: SONY PRS-T2, Kindle Paperwhite 11th gen	Non-fiction: (All by Ben MacIntyre) Operation Mincemeat: The True Spy Story that Changed the Course of World War II. Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies Agent Zigzag: The True Wartime Story of Eddie Chapman: Lover, Betrayer, Hero, Spy.

04-02-2014, 05:06 PM	#3
MickiTee Guru Posts: 860 Karma: 4097942 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: London, UK Device: Sony PRS-505, Pocketbook TL3, TL4, TL5	Try Len Deighton. He wrote both fiction (e.g. Bomber) & non-fiction (e.g. Fighter) about WWII. He's probably most famous for his Harry Palmer books which were made into films starring Michael Caine.

04-02-2014, 05:34 PM	#4
bfisher Wizard Posts: 1,638 Karma: 28483498 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Ottawa Canada Device: Sony PRS-T3, Galaxy (Aldiko, Kobo app)	For WW2 espionage fiction, you might like Alan Furst's "Night Soldier" series

04-02-2014, 06:00 PM	#5
Catlady Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,408 Karma: 52613881 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip	Nonfiction: Paul Brickhill's The Great Escape, and Tim Carroll's The Great Escape from Stalag Luft III. Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day and Stephen Ambrose's D-Day.

04-02-2014, 07:35 PM	#6
Section8 Addict Posts: 260 Karma: 2092424 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Arlington, TX Device: Kindle PW4, Moon+ Reader on a cheap Android tablet	The Nazi Doctors, by Robert Jay Lifton

04-02-2014, 11:42 PM	#7
rollei Addict Posts: 219 Karma: 1000210 Join Date: Mar 2014 Device: Kobo	Agent 146 by Erich Gimpel (Non-Fiction World War II)

04-03-2014, 12:16 AM	#8
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	A very broad subject. Here are a few off the top of my head... The Liberation Trilogy by Rick Atkinson... An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943 The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 Cornelius Ryan's trilogy... The Longest Day A Bridge Too Far The Last Battle Sir Winston Churchill's WWII books... The Gathering Storm Their Finest Hour The Grand Alliance The Hinge of Fate Closing the Ring Triumph and Tragedy The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer It Never Snows in September by Robert Kershaw Pegasus Bridge by Stephen Ambrose The Star of Africa by Colin D. Heaton & Anne-Marie Lewis The Sword of St. Michael by Guy LoFaro Arnhem 1944 by Martin Middlebrook Shattered Sword by Jonathan B. Parshall & Anthony P. Tully Tigers in the Mud by Otto Carius George Koskimaki's 101st Airborne history trilogy Phil Nordyke's various 82nd Airborne books Day of Infamy and other's by Walter Lord You're Stepping on my Cloak & Dagger by Roger Hall Those Devil's in Baggy Pants by Ross Carter Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo by Ted Lawson

04-03-2014, 01:25 AM	#9
Billi Wizard Posts: 3,388 Karma: 14190103 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Berlin Device: Cybook, iRex, PB, Onyx	Another from Berlin: David Fisher, Anthony Read: The Fall of Berlin

04-03-2014, 07:54 AM	#10
Gazella Wizard Posts: 1,705 Karma: 4619474 Join Date: Nov 2012 Device: Kindle Scribe, Kindle Paperwhite	I highly recommend Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand.

04-03-2014, 04:09 PM	#12
mrmikel Color me gone Posts: 2,089 Karma: 1445295 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Central Oregon Coast Device: PRS-300	There are a whole bunch of them in the MR Library, mostly from the standpoint of military history. I just put one on there of oral histories of people who worked decoding Japanese messages. I hope to soon up up one on the Nisei Linguists, real patriots who worked decoding messages and interviewing prisoners when their relatives were in relocation camps.

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04-03-2014, 04:24 PM	#13
Namekuseijin affordable chipmunk Posts: 1,290 Karma: 9863855 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Brazil Device: Sony XPeria ZL, Kindle Paperwhite	The Lord of the Rings

04-03-2014, 06:14 PM	#14
Catlady Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,408 Karma: 52613881 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip	Susan Elia MacNeal's new-ish Maggie Hope mystery series is set during WWII. I've read only the first one so far--Mr. Churchill's Secretary--and enjoyed it. By the way, has anyone read the Billy Boyle WWII series by James R. Benn?