(History) WW I & WW II

[outlander78]

Originally Posted by digital_steve

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer is an awesome book... sadly i have yet to see it become available in digital format.
If anyone has found it, please PM me!

I looked and I can't find it. My copy is the large paperback. I should have checked before suggesting it on this site.

If you don't object to still buying physical books, though, I suggest you pick up a copy - Shirer's book and Churchill's book are the two best that I have read or seen reviewed.

[randyflycaster]

In addition to the other WW I books mentioned: Martin Gilbert's book on World War I, Dreadnaught by Massie, Goodbye To All That - about living in the trenches, by Graves, Verdun, the Price of Glory,Tannenberg, The Clash of Empires.

I must warn you, however, reading about World War I can be very depressing. To me, the war, from start to finish, makes no sense. Millions and millions of people died. For what? To lay the foundation of an even bloodier war?

Randy

[digital_steve]

Originally Posted by outlander78

I looked and I can't find it. My copy is the large paperback. I should have checked before suggesting it on this site.

If you don't object to still buying physical books, though, I suggest you pick up a copy - Shirer's book and Churchill's book are the two best that I have read or seen reviewed.

I have the big ol' paperback as well
I'm not yet afraid to go back to basics

[Wordeater]

Originally Posted by StuMcBill

Hi,

Due to me wising I had stuck in at history in school, I now really want to learn about World War One and World War Two.

Any factual books you could reccomend that I read to "clue myself up"!

I have a Kindle 3 if that makes any difference.

Thanks

Stew

See if you can find these.

The WW1 fiction Classic.....Dalton Trumbo's, 'Johnny Got his Gun'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Got_His_Gun



Tim Cook's 2 volumes....'Shock Troops' and 'At the Sharp End'. Canadian accounts of WW1.


Pierre Berton's .....Vimy.


I got a million of 'em. Need more? Just shout.

WE

[StuMcBill]

Thanks for all the recommendations, I will have a look and see which I decide to read.

I don't mind if it is in paperback form, I can easily dump the kindle for a while (ok, maybe not easily )

[Seadweller23]

Shirer's Rise and fFll of the Third Reich is available in audio format, if you are interested. I got it from Audible and listened to it for a month and a half Pretty well done.

[Kiwimick]

Some excellent non fiction war books like Band of Brothers and D-Day by Stephen Ambrose.
Band of Brothers following several individuals in easy company (101st Airborne) from its formation through to the end of the war and
D-Day self explanatory

[mikeayers]

I am currently reading With The Allies by Richard Harding Davis. Downloaded from right here at MobileRead.com. It's a reporters accounts of the early days of WW-I. So far it is an excellent read. He might have been part of the American/English propaganda machine, cause it don't shed a good light on the Germans. It was published, I believe in 1914, so it is what the people during the war had access to.

[MV64]

World War I is easily the more interesting of the two wars. It's such a bizarre blend of 19th century and 20th century, and I'd argue that we're dealing with the fallout of World War I much more than we are the fall out of WW2 today.

I would recommend the Guns of August by Tuchman for how it started, World War I by SLA Marshall...heck, virtually anything you can get your hands on.

The 100th anniversary of the start of the war is coming up in 2014 so hopefully fellow historians will be churning out some good stuff to commemorate it.

[IcecreamLtDan]

I agree with MV64 about WWI being the more interesting study. Growing up near a major military base, Ft. Bragg, there was a lot of history to learn about, WWII, Vietnam, Korea and so forth, but not a lot on WWI as we Americans did not play as major a part as other countries did. As I grew older my interest in the war increased and I began to realize just how much of an affect WWI had on the world, more so that WWII I feel. I always felt the cold war, as it's known, really started when Russia succumbed to its own internal conflicts and fell into Communism. One of the more interesting subjects I read about recently was the American invasion of Russia in 1918. Yes, you read that right, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom as well, invaded Russia in 1918. Sound interesting? Then I recommend you check out "When Hell Froze Over".

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743407261

While I won't say it's the greatest book I've ever read, I found the subject matter fascinating and couldn't put it down, nor believe what I was reading. If you're interested in learning about a little known incident from WWI, then it's worth a read.

[dworth]

"Yes, you read that right, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom as well, invaded Russia in 1918"

My great grandfather was one of the troops. On the way back they had to dump their kit over the side of the ship to disguise what they'd been up to.

WWI had a massive impact on the world today, it was essentially the beginning of the end of European dominance of the world as even the victors were so heavily in debt that the cracks soon started to show in their global empires, and of course it caused WWII which finished Britain off for good as a superpower.

[HappyMartin]

Already been said but must add my voice for The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich. Brilliant

[roddglenn]

Anyone interested in real life prisoner of war diaries might like to check this one out - http://www.amazon.co.uk/W-Wartime-Lo...9581421&sr=8-2

It's currently only 71p

SR384, BU-A "Able" took off from Oulton shortly before midnight on 24th May 1944 and flew under radio silence at a height of 2,700m between Antwerp and Amsterdam. Shortly after midnight the B-17 was picked up by the radar of German night fighter ace Oberleutnant (flying officer) Leube who went in pursuit of the bomber stream. Oblt Leube first shot the fuselage, then the wings, and finally the fortress exploded over the Oosterschelde near Antwerp at 00.57 hours. As the plane was being attacked, Allan Hockley, the pilot, gave the order to "bail out". Seven members of the crew left the stricken plane by parachute after which it crashed in the eastern Scheldt River.

Starting that day, this is "Tommy's" diary as a P.O.W.

As well as containing his thoughts and day to day events, this recreation also contains scanned images of Tommy's sketches and drawings plus details on each of the crew members of "Able", a photo of "Able" and the graves of the two men who went down with her.

This book is a unique personal account of life as a P.O.W. in World War II.

The log is a word-for-word recreation of the wartime diary of Tom Glenn as his time as a prisoner of war in World War II by Tom's daughter-in-law, Rosamund Glenn and Tom's grandson, Rod Glenn. Tom lived in Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne until his death in 2000.