Books about WW2 (1 Viewer)

Poppo

2nd Lieutenant
Joined
Mar 17, 2012
Messages
3,449
If we search for books about WW2, we will find many books about Normandy and Bulge battles ( because of the great interest in US and western allies readers); Stalingrad and Kursk( much less) battles.Then, many about the african campaign, a minor one in terms of men, materials and casualties but very exotic and still very read by US, Canada, british and so on readers. Other main battles like Montecassino, who knows why, arouse much less interest.

But, at the time of the landing in Normandy, a even huger event took place in the east: the total collapse of the german central front in Belarus.Even after the defeat at Kursk, The german generals could create a new front ( summer 43), but this time the soviets attacked with hugest forces and destroyed the main german eastern front( "Operation Bagration"summer 1944).Like 290 000 german disappeared and 200 000 russians, a bigger disaster than Stalingrad; the surviving nazi forces were put back in a month from central URSS to the sea of baltic countries.... Well, no books about this main fact!!! {sm2}

So many books were written by US and british historians. Many written about the sovietic historians are unfortunately a ridiculous communist rubbish propaganda and we can' t believe on those ones. Hopefully, many german witnesses , generals and even ex nazi propaganda officers became historians after war, and crossing their books we can rebuild the tragedy which was the eastern front.Most german soldiers didn' t fight neither for the Fuhrer, nor to save their families, but only to live one more day. The choices were 2: surrender to the russians and being shot or slowly die in siberia camps, or desert and being caught by the feldgendarmerie who patrolled and checked each man behind the lines and be shot the day after condemned by travelling court-martials .
 
Last edited:
If we search for books about WW2, we will find many books about Normandy and Bulge battles ( because of the great interest in US and western allies readers); Stalingrad and Kursk( much less) battles.Then, many about the african campaign, a minor one in terms of men, materials and casualties but very exotic and still very read by US, Canada, british and so on readers. Other main battles like Montecassino, who knows why, arouse much less interest.

But, at the time of the landing in Normandy, a even huger event took place in the east: the total collapse of the german central front in Belarus.Even after the defeat at Kursk, The german generals could create a new front ( summer 43), but this time the soviets attacked with hugest forces and destroyed the main german eastern front( "Operation Bagration"summer 1944).Like 290 000 german disappeared and 200 000 russians, a bigger disaster than Stalingrad; the surviving nazi forces were put back in a month from central URSS to the sea of baltic countries.... Well, no books about this main fact!!! {sm2}

So many books were written by US and british historians. Many written about the sovietic historians are unfortunately a ridiculous communist rubbish propaganda and we can' t believe on those ones. Hopefully, many german witnesses , generals and even ex nazi propaganda officers became historians after war, and crossing their books we can rebuild the tragedy which was the eastern front.Most german soldiers didn' t fight neither for the Fuhrer, nor to save their families, but only to live one more day. The choices were 2: surrender to the russians and being shot or slowly die in siberia camps, or desert and being caught by the feldgendarmerie who patrolled and checked each man behind the lines and be shot the day after condemned by travelling court-martials .
A quick search of the term Operation Bagration on Abebooks turns up at least a dozen titles directly involved with Bagration. Certainly not the hundreds of titles that cover Normandy or The Bulge, but enough to learn about and understand the operation and that doesn't include general East front histories that will encompass the subject as a matter of course. Just a matter of looking for them. :wink2: --Al
 
Last edited:
For those younger than a certain age or living outside of the USA it helps to remind them that there was a small "attitude difference" between the West and the USSR from 1945 through the 1990s, and some vestiges continue today. The Cold War didn't affect just politics. Few histories were printed in the West giving an honest portrayal of the Eastern Front as the market was soft for books about the Russians, and more importantly, there was a lack of intellectual freedom in the USSR. Western writers were not allowed into the deep archives, so they had to re=hash the same old Soviet material. The only primary source were the German officers, who obviously had a particular point of view on the war. Few, if any, of the German generals would ever admit that they were out-thought and out-fought in some battles. As an example of the information lack; back in the 1970s many of us amateur tank historians knew that the Russians had a tank museum collection at Kubenka (sp?) but NOBODY knew what was in it. Access was restricted to Soviet military personnel..
 
Lots of books about this available and its been heavily written about. Some names that spring to mind that have done decent work are Baxter, Zaloga, Tucker Jones and Connor. There are also many pictoral and photographic histories that have been released.

Some are more expensive than others I think even Osprey have done work on this operation (though I would not ever recommend Osprey) I think it always seems that the eastern front is under represented in print but, its not the case IMO
Mitch
 
Lots of books about this available and its been heavily written about. Some names that spring to mind that have done decent work are Baxter, Zaloga, Tucker Jones and Connor. There are also many pictoral and photographic histories that have been released.

Some are more expensive than others I think even Osprey have done work on this operation (though I would not ever recommend Osprey) I think it always seems that the eastern front is under represented in print but, its not the case IMO
Mitch

Well,I ll try to ask in some book shops if they have about operation Bagration as I never buy through internet, but it is amazing that western historians wrote about this.Hope to find by germans as all what I read on ww2 is by german ( sometimes italian) writers as I like their way of writing and I m interested in the german army...With some exceptions like Antony Beevor ( a very good historian on the eastern front)and some others.I could find a lot on the eastern front by german writers, I d just like to get deeper in this part though.
 
Poppo,

A good book covering Cassino is Neither Fear nor Hope by Frido Von Senger und Etterlin. Google for author's Bio. Incidently his son Ferdinand Maria Von Senger authored a reference book on German tanks of World War II.
 
Poppo,

A good book covering Cassino is Neither Fear nor Hope by Frido Von Senger und Etterlin. Google for author's Bio. Incidently his son Ferdinand Maria Von Senger authored a reference book on German tanks of World War II.


This is good idea as Von Senger was commander in chief of the german front line, a great german officier.
 
Poppo,

It is a really good read.

Another thought; if you can not find a copy on a store shelf, a good bookstore should be able to find a copy on the internet on your behalf and take delivery for you.
 
I don't know much about Bagration, but a good reference book to have is:

http://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-War-E...0535&sr=1-1&keywords=hitler's+war+in+the+east

which is a bibliography by two researchers from the MGFA with commentary. It says this is a 2nd edition which I really doubt (would be fantastic if true). More likely a reprint of the 1997 first edition. As a side note, Ueberschaer's wife is a very nice lady who does great contract work at the BA-MA.

A star in East Front historians right now is:

http://www.ospreypublishing.com/authors/Robert_Forczyk

He is active on Amazon, you could ask him if he is working on themes of your interest.

Michael Jones is another favorite for lighter less technical reading.

But really there are many East Front books out now...but I think you are looking for something very particular. When you mention Beevor, you want books of that nature, lighter reading focusing on the human elements & decision making? Have you tried to see if Erickson's two books meet your needs? "The Road to Stalingrad / Berlin" They may be old, but not yet outdated

Unfortunately with all this new focus on Middle East affairs, there is now a dearth of academics who are available to study the new sources in Russia, and we really need academics...not book writers like Beevor looking for their next paycheck. People who can devote their careers on a narrow topic.
 
I don't know much about Bagration, but a good reference book to have is:

http://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-War-E...0535&sr=1-1&keywords=hitler's+war+in+the+east

which is a bibliography by two researchers from the MGFA with commentary. It says this is a 2nd edition which I really doubt (would be fantastic if true). More likely a reprint of the 1997 first edition. As a side note, Ueberschaer's wife is a very nice lady who does great contract work at the BA-MA.

A star in East Front historians right now is:

http://www.ospreypublishing.com/authors/Robert_Forczyk

He is active on Amazon, you could ask him if he is working on themes of your interest.

Michael Jones is another favorite for lighter less technical reading.

But really there are many East Front books out now...but I think you are looking for something very particular. When you mention Beevor, you want books of that nature, lighter reading focusing on the human elements & decision making? Have you tried to see if Erickson's two books meet your needs? "The Road to Stalingrad / Berlin" They may be old, but not yet outdated

Unfortunately with all this new focus on Middle East affairs, there is now a dearth of academics who are available to study the new sources in Russia, and we really need academics...not book writers like Beevor looking for their next paycheck. People who can devote their careers on a narrow topic.



I have read many books by german historians, veterans, journalists about the eastern front,even novels with that background and I am satisfied.
Just I miss a detailed writing about the breaking of the eastern front in summer 44 and the destruction of the german group of armies "center": an even more tragic event for the whermacht than the Overlord which took place almost at the same time on the west....and very few and unknown books about this capital event...

About Beevor , well, surely he copied some german after war books, but also made searching in the 90ies in the newly open sovietic archives so put new facts about the falling of the easter front....and he showed the criminal responsabilities of the soviets against the german civilians...The systematic destruction and stealing of german houses, the raping of german women from 11 till 70 yo even to death by many men, the deportation and often death of the civilians deported to siberia camps( we are speaking of many hundred thousands of civilians, not soldiers!).
So I am grateful to him to be one of the first writers to show what the red army was: ords of criminals without discipline who destroyed all what they found on their way( surely encouraged by the soviet propaganda)...
Even the whermacht in Russia never reached such levels of barbaries...Many villages were burned when thought to hide partisans, some suspected executed, jews and political commissaries exterminated...But never seen such a violence against civilians ever.
 
probably a lot worse than you think

http://www.amazon.com/Soldaten-On-F...=UTF8&qid=1377667043&sr=8-1&keywords=soldaten

also, it's not worth starting this conversation on Treefrog. Unless you like typing to see it blown away by moderators. Best off to a new topic. That's why I stay off this forum to begin with. I only followed the Arnhem post here to mention the maps really



What the moderators could moderate? To be out of the thread topic? Sorry but I don't understand.....Anyway, I would put the nazi and the red army on the same level about war crimes, many evidences are on both sides, even if the ones on the russian side have been hidden for many years...I don't want to lower the german crimes, just I can affirm that the russians did the same.
 
For Bagration, you could always check this out of a library if you read German (you would need Vol. 8).

Reich_und_der_Zweite_Weltkrieg.jpg

Also David Glantz has a list of privately published books that would probably suit your interests. You need to email him & get the list...I have a list but it is 5 years old.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top