Thanks again Brian, great recommendations! I would also suggest "Return from the River Kwai" about survivors in the Pacific and some of their experiences, I read it as a young teenager and was blown away. My definition of the word Hero changed after reading it.
I've read many of those books! I highly suggest checking out With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by E.B. Sledge. It's not nearly as well known, but it was a major source for the Pacific mini series. It's a first person account. Very personal and pulls no punches. E.B. Sledge was portrayed in the show as one of the main characters.
What a great list! I really need to learn more about the war in North Africa. I served in the Peace Corps in Mali, West Africa, and one of my neighbors was a WWII vet. He talked with me about the war- they were fighting with the French in North Africa. The language barrier was pretty tough, but he pantomimed and talked to me in elementary Bambara about fighting, using machine guns, bombers, and such. It was pretty amazing. He died while I was there. So glad I got to hear his story.
Enemy at the Gates by William Craig is my favorite. It's about the battle of Stalingrad. I've read it numerous times and will be reading it again soon.
Oh, and as a former sailor I HAVE to recommend the books of the late James D. Hornfischer. He focused on the naval battles of the Pacific. Start with The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors. A small U.S. destroyer squadron goes up against a fleet of Japanese battleships and heavy cruisers! You will love it. I promise. “This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can.” - Lieutenant Commander Robert W. Copeland
Enjoyed your top twenty just wondering if you’ve read The true story of hazel and Gretel. The red badge of courage. Spearhead. All are good but spearhead was amazing in my opinion
I have a hardback Library copy of "A Time for Trumpets". Its a behemoth so I haven't cracked it. Its about the Battle of the Bulge. I plan to check out Band of Brothers. The TV show was so good. My Grandfather served. He went and signed up when Pearl Harbor was hit. Served in a hospital in England. Never wanted to talk about it. I think maybe he saw a lot of wounded soldiers etc. Must....Read......Faster
The Liberation Trilogy was excellent. The scenes at Anzio reminded be a lot of the camping scenes of the Chain of Dogs. Enemy at the Gates - Craig. Battle of Stalingrad. Read when I was 15 or so. Brutal. Patton and Rommell - Showalter. A comparative biography of each.
Nazi Germany was overwhelmingly defeated by the Russians. A great book in English on this is When Titans Clashed by David M. Glantz and Jonathan M. House.
You pick some safe, and predictable, selections, but the field of historical non-fiction about WW2 is vast, and some of the earliest books are better, for their sense of urgency. It's still one of my favorite reading themes, so varied are the theatres, genres, and goals. I agree with two of your picks of Stephen Ambrose books, and doubled up on another writer who captured the ethos of war better than most, earning a Pulitzer before falling to a Japanese sniper in the closing days of the war. I've read these, and recommend them all. The Best of World War II Non-Fiction 01 T H E G R E A T E S C A P E (1950) Paul Brickhill Best POW Novel Ever 02 T H E F E W (2006) Alex Kershaw Best Battle of Britain Book 03 A W I N G A N D A P R A Y E R (1998) Harry Crosby Best 8th Air Force History 04 N E P T U N E ' S I N F E R N O (2011) James D Hornfischer Best Naval Action History 05 H I R O S H I M A (1946) John Hersey Best Consequences of War Story 06 F L A G S O F O U R F A T H E R S (2000) James D Bradley Best War-in-the-Pacific Account 07 E N E M Y A T T H E G A T E S (1973) William Craig Best Battle of Stalingrad Account 08 I S P A R I S B U R N I N G (1965) Larry Collins Best Account of the Insanity of Bad Losers 09 B A N D O F B R O T H E R S (1992) Stephen E Ambrose Best Men-at-War Book 10 U P F R O N T (1945) Bill Mauldin Best War Correspondent Book 11 S I L E N T R U N N I N G (1995) James F Calvert Best Undersea-War Account 12 HHhH (2010) Laurent Binet Best Account of the Early Gestapo 13 B R A V E M E N (1944) Ernie Pyle Best Men-During-Wartime Account 14 H E L M E T F O R M Y P I L L O W (1957) Robert Leckie Best Pacific War History 15 T H E D A Y O F B A T T L E (2007) Rick Atkinson Best Mediterranean War Book 16 D A Y S O F D A R K N E S S (2012) Wayne Vansant Best Beginning-of-the-Pacific-War Account 17 T H E L I G H T OF D A Y S (2021) Judy Batalion Best Women-at-War History 18 T H E W I L D B L U E (2001) Stephen E Ambrose Best Mediterranean Air War Book 19 R O O S E V E L T ' S S E C R E T W A R (2001) Joseph E Persico Best Spv-vs-Spy History 20 H E R E I S Y O U R W A R (1943) Ernie Pyle Best How-Americans-Learned-Wafare Account
For a majority of the world by sheer population: Churchill was evil too. An issue with a lot of books around Churchill is that they are clearly lopsided books. One on hand he was a necessary figure in history but on the other hand ask anyone from the Indian subcontinent and the continent of Africa. We have our own mass killings directly caused by his decisions. People shouldn't worship him or consider him as a hero. He has nearly as much blood on his hands, mostly people of color, with piles of millions of corpses based on his decisions. As an Indian myself, who loves WWII history and hates RW fascism like the Nazi movement but legitimately cannot consider Churchill as a force of good, it is difficult. Anyways, thanks for the list and for 'The forgetting moon'. Loved it and will soon read the blackest heart!
Are you kidding me? Not one Gerald Astor book in this list? And where is "With the Old Breed"? "Helmet for my Pillow"? This guy is a joke and didn't include one book pre-dating the 1990's.
As is his over reliance on Stephen Ambrose. I would not recommend any book of his. I suspect his list is made of books easily found at Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million. Not all of them are bad, the Liberation Trilogy is very well done. But there are several books on the subject matter he missed. I suspect its all about your audience.
With the old breed, def should be in the top 5
Thanks again Brian, great recommendations! I would also suggest "Return from the River Kwai" about survivors in the Pacific and some of their experiences, I read it as a young teenager and was blown away. My definition of the word Hero changed after reading it.
I've read many of those books! I highly suggest checking out With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by E.B. Sledge. It's not nearly as well known, but it was a major source for the Pacific mini series. It's a first person account. Very personal and pulls no punches. E.B. Sledge was portrayed in the show as one of the main characters.
Yessssss. Best WW2 memoir I’ve ever read!
Once again you’ve given me so many books to read. :)
Loved 900 days ( the Siege of Leningrad) by Harrison Salisbury
Thank you for this list. You added 2 titles to my TBR.
What a great list!
I really need to learn more about the war in North Africa. I served in the Peace Corps in Mali, West Africa, and one of my neighbors was a WWII vet. He talked with me about the war- they were fighting with the French in North Africa. The language barrier was pretty tough, but he pantomimed and talked to me in elementary Bambara about fighting, using machine guns, bombers, and such. It was pretty amazing. He died while I was there. So glad I got to hear his story.
Robert Leckie
Helmet for My Pillow it's only 146 pages but worth a read for a soldiers perspective of the Pacific theater.
Enemy at the Gates by William Craig is my favorite. It's about the battle of Stalingrad. I've read it numerous times and will be reading it again soon.
I recommend Ian Toll's 3 volume history of the war in the pacific. Spectacular.
I need to read that trilogy. Pacific War reading is my favorite.
Second this recommendation. Fantastic series!
Thank you for the great list! Ghost soldiers is an amazing book you should check out.
Flyboys added to the ol’ TBPurchased list.
Now I’m gonna go back and watch to see if you edited out that one part. 🤪
Oh, and as a former sailor I HAVE to recommend the books of the late James D. Hornfischer. He focused on the naval battles of the Pacific. Start with The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors. A small U.S. destroyer squadron goes up against a fleet of Japanese battleships and heavy cruisers! You will love it. I promise. “This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can.” - Lieutenant Commander Robert W. Copeland
Stalingrad by Anthony beevor?
Hey Brian, do you have a recommendation for a one volume history of WW2? I have a list going of titles. Beevor, Hastings, Gilbert etc. thanks
Enjoyed your top twenty just wondering if you’ve read
The true story of hazel and Gretel.
The red badge of courage.
Spearhead.
All are good but spearhead was amazing in my opinion
I have a hardback Library copy of "A Time for Trumpets". Its a behemoth so I haven't cracked it. Its about the Battle of the Bulge. I plan to check out Band of Brothers. The TV show was so good. My Grandfather served. He went and signed up when Pearl Harbor was hit. Served in a hospital in England. Never wanted to talk about it. I think maybe he saw a lot of wounded soldiers etc. Must....Read......Faster
That helmet is amazing GO RAIDERS!!!
The Liberation Trilogy was excellent. The scenes at Anzio reminded be a lot of the camping scenes of the Chain of Dogs.
Enemy at the Gates - Craig. Battle of Stalingrad. Read when I was 15 or so. Brutal.
Patton and Rommell - Showalter. A comparative biography of each.
Thought for sure the Churchill books would have made an appearance.
Nazi Germany was overwhelmingly defeated by the Russians. A great book in English on this is When Titans Clashed by David M. Glantz and Jonathan M. House.
I wouldn't say overwhelmingly
Check out War without Mercy by John Dower. Intriguing and disturbing study of race during WWII between Japan and the USA.
You pick some safe, and predictable, selections, but the field of historical non-fiction about WW2 is vast, and some of the earliest books are better, for their sense of urgency. It's still one of my favorite reading themes, so varied are the theatres, genres, and goals. I agree with two of your picks of Stephen Ambrose books, and doubled up on another writer who captured the ethos of war better than most, earning a Pulitzer before falling to a Japanese sniper in the closing days of the war. I've read these, and recommend them all.
The Best of World War II Non-Fiction
01 T H E G R E A T E S C A P E (1950)
Paul Brickhill Best POW Novel Ever
02 T H E F E W (2006)
Alex Kershaw Best Battle of Britain Book
03 A W I N G A N D A P R A Y E R (1998)
Harry Crosby Best 8th Air Force History
04 N E P T U N E ' S I N F E R N O (2011)
James D Hornfischer Best Naval Action History
05 H I R O S H I M A (1946)
John Hersey Best Consequences of War Story
06 F L A G S O F O U R F A T H E R S (2000)
James D Bradley Best War-in-the-Pacific Account
07 E N E M Y A T T H E G A T E S (1973)
William Craig Best Battle of Stalingrad Account
08 I S P A R I S B U R N I N G (1965)
Larry Collins Best Account of the Insanity of Bad Losers
09 B A N D O F B R O T H E R S (1992)
Stephen E Ambrose Best Men-at-War Book
10 U P F R O N T (1945)
Bill Mauldin Best War Correspondent Book
11 S I L E N T R U N N I N G (1995)
James F Calvert Best Undersea-War Account
12 HHhH (2010)
Laurent Binet Best Account of the Early Gestapo
13 B R A V E M E N (1944)
Ernie Pyle Best Men-During-Wartime Account
14 H E L M E T F O R M Y P I L L O W (1957)
Robert Leckie Best Pacific War History
15 T H E D A Y O F B A T T L E (2007)
Rick Atkinson Best Mediterranean War Book
16 D A Y S O F D A R K N E S S (2012)
Wayne Vansant Best Beginning-of-the-Pacific-War Account
17 T H E L I G H T OF D A Y S (2021)
Judy Batalion Best Women-at-War History
18 T H E W I L D B L U E (2001)
Stephen E Ambrose Best Mediterranean Air War Book
19 R O O S E V E L T ' S S E C R E T W A R (2001)
Joseph E Persico Best Spv-vs-Spy History
20 H E R E I S Y O U R W A R (1943)
Ernie Pyle Best How-Americans-Learned-Wafare Account
Any one have book recommendations for British airborne squads ?
For a majority of the world by sheer population: Churchill was evil too.
An issue with a lot of books around Churchill is that they are clearly lopsided books. One on hand he was a necessary figure in history but on the other hand ask anyone from the Indian subcontinent and the continent of Africa. We have our own mass killings directly caused by his decisions.
People shouldn't worship him or consider him as a hero. He has nearly as much blood on his hands, mostly people of color, with piles of millions of corpses based on his decisions.
As an Indian myself, who loves WWII history and hates RW fascism like the Nazi movement but legitimately cannot consider Churchill as a force of good, it is difficult.
Anyways, thanks for the list and for 'The forgetting moon'. Loved it and will soon read the blackest heart!
Are you kidding me? Not one Gerald Astor book in this list? And where is "With the Old Breed"? "Helmet for my Pillow"? This guy is a joke and didn't include one book pre-dating the 1990's.
As is his over reliance on Stephen Ambrose. I would not recommend any book of his. I suspect his list is made of books easily found at Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million. Not all of them are bad, the Liberation Trilogy is very well done. But there are several books on the subject matter he missed. I suspect its all about your audience.
Personally I wouldn’t call churchill a great guy…..