WWII Non-Fiction Book Recs

[tadamsmar]

A Man Called Intrepid
The Bastard Brigade

[tadamsmar]

Genius in the Shadows: a Biography of Leo Szilard

[SmileyFace]

I also enjoyed the Liberation Trilogy and if you don't like the lighter reads (Ambrose, etc) and like Atkinson you might like these:
The Pacific War by Castello
Patton: A Genius for War - D'Este
Bloodlands by Snyder (covers before/after too)
African Kaiser - Gaudi

[Civilengr]

The Pacific War Trilogy by Ian W. Toll

Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942
The Conquering Tide, War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944
Twilight of the Gods, War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945

The 3 books combine for about 1500 pages. Mainly covers the naval aspects of the war. Oops didn't notice that your post already mentioned these.

[dan7800]

Inside the 3rd reich.

While not a WWII book, David Hackworth was one of my favorite "war" authors.

[quantAndHold]

If you want something a little different, Olivia Manning’s Balkan and Levant trilogies are lightly fictionalized memoirs of her time as a young wife living in Europe and North Africa during WWII. The writing is uneven, but first two books of the Balkan trilogy, about their time in Romania at the beginning of the war, contain some excellent storytelling.

[ScubaHogg]

Speaking of Malcolm Gladwell, I really enjoyed his audiobook about Curtis LeMay and the firebombing of Tokyo, "The Bomber Mafia." It's available in print, too, but he produces the audiobook like a podcast with interview segments, music, and so on.

I'm enjoying all of the recommendations, thanks everyone, although I don't know if I've yet found the authors who will scratch my Atkinson/Toll itch.

If you really like Ian Toll I’d start with Neptunes inferno

[bagle]

Not an exciting personal memoir, but Phillips O'Brien's How the War Was Won explains how air-sea power, not cinematic land battles, determined who won.

[novicemoney]

Speaking of Malcolm Gladwell, I really enjoyed his audiobook about Curtis LeMay and the firebombing of Tokyo, "The Bomber Mafia." It's available in print, too, but he produces the audiobook like a podcast with interview segments, music, and so on.

I'm enjoying all of the recommendations, thanks everyone, although I don't know if I've yet found the authors who will scratch my Atkinson/Toll itch.

If you really like Ian Toll I’d start with Neptunes inferno

If I am not mistaken, "Neptune's Inferno" was written by James D. Hornfischer. Mr. Hornfischer also wrote "The Last Dance of the Tin Can Sailors". This book is about the heroic sacrifice of Task Unit 77.4.3 (popularly known as "Taffy 3") against the main Japanese battle fleet of Samar in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

[ScubaHogg]

Speaking of Malcolm Gladwell, I really enjoyed his audiobook about Curtis LeMay and the firebombing of Tokyo, "The Bomber Mafia." It's available in print, too, but he produces the audiobook like a podcast with interview segments, music, and so on.

I'm enjoying all of the recommendations, thanks everyone, although I don't know if I've yet found the authors who will scratch my Atkinson/Toll itch.

If you really like Ian Toll I’d start with Neptunes inferno

If I am not mistaken, "Neptune's Inferno" was written by James D. Hornfischer. Mr. Hornfischer also wrote "The Last Dance of the Tin Can Sailors". This book is about the heroic sacrifice of Task Unit 77.4.3 (popularly known as "Taffy 3") against the main Japanese battle fleet of Samar in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

Another great one!

[brokendirtdart]

The Pacific War Trilogy by Ian W. Toll

Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942
The Conquering Tide, War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944
Twilight of the Gods, War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945

The 3 books combine for about 1500 pages. Mainly covers the naval aspects of the war. Oops didn't notice that your post already mentioned these.

On that note, two of three books of John C McManus's trilogy on the US Army in the Pacific have been published.

Fire and Fortitude: The US Army in the Pacific War, 1941-1943
Island Infernos: The US Army's Pacific War Odyssey, 1944
To the End of the Earth: The US Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945 (pending in May and I will buy it)

Lots of exposure for the many national guard divisions and few active divisions that crawled through the Pacific theater. I don't think the author likes MacArthur either.

[brokendirtdart]

I would add Rick Atkinson's trilogy:
An Army at Dawn
The Day of Battle
The Guns at Light

These cover the US participation in WW2 from the first landing in Africa thru Germany's surrender. Well written and highly detailed.

I tried one of the Atkinson books.

Highly detailed is almost an understatement. I couldn’t finish it because of the level of minutia.

As with any reading choice, the fit depends on what you want to get out of it.

Would agree on Atkinson's The Guns at Light. (Haven't read the others.) But it's a perspective that is lost today: that victory in the west wasn't a forgone conclusion; the effort was mired in shortages and bungling.

You have to read them in order. The bungling in North Africa and then Italy highlights some of the issues with hollow armies. Of course we didn't learn that lesson so we repeated it again in Korea.

[SteelyEyed]

Thunder Below by Eugene Fluckey.

I'll second this. I met (then-retired) Admiral Fluckey and got a signed copy of Thunder Below. This is a first-hand account of leading multiple combat patrols on a diesel submarine. The man was a true warrior and leader.

[Thranduil]

I would add Rick Atkinson's trilogy:
An Army at Dawn
The Day of Battle
The Guns at Light

These cover the US participation in WW2 from the first landing in Africa thru Germany's surrender. Well written and highly detailed.

I second (or third or fourth, whatever we are up to) this recommendation. Great reads.

[ModifiedDuration]

If I am not mistaken, "Neptune's Inferno" was written by James D. Hornfischer. Mr. Hornfischer also wrote "The Last Dance of the Tin Can Sailors". This book is about the heroic sacrifice of Task Unit 77.4.3 (popularly known as "Taffy 3") against the main Japanese battle fleet of Samar in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

It’s “The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors” and it is a terrific book.

[KlangFool]

https://www.thriftbooks.com/series/ball ... ons/57532/

Ballantine's World War II Series

KlangFool

[MoonOrb]

Speaking of Malcolm Gladwell, I really enjoyed his audiobook about Curtis LeMay and the firebombing of Tokyo, "The Bomber Mafia." It's available in print, too, but he produces the audiobook like a podcast with interview segments, music, and so on.

I'm enjoying all of the recommendations, thanks everyone, although I don't know if I've yet found the authors who will scratch my Atkinson/Toll itch.

If you really like Ian Toll I’d start with Neptunes inferno

If I am not mistaken, "Neptune's Inferno" was written by James D. Hornfischer. Mr. Hornfischer also wrote "The Last Dance of the Tin Can Sailors". This book is about the heroic sacrifice of Task Unit 77.4.3 (popularly known as "Taffy 3") against the main Japanese battle fleet of Samar in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

Another great one!

I do like Hornfischer, but not quite as much as Atkinson or Toll. I just finished The Fleet At Flood Tide over the weekend and that's what got me thinking about this post.

[K72]

https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Fears-Amer ... 1681773198

Blood and Fears: How America's Bomber Boys of the 8th Air Force Saved World War II by Kevin Wilson

Gripping account of the bombing campaign and the P51 escorts. I've read it at least 4 times.

[novicemoney]

If I am not mistaken, "Neptune's Inferno" was written by James D. Hornfischer. Mr. Hornfischer also wrote "The Last Dance of the Tin Can Sailors". This book is about the heroic sacrifice of Task Unit 77.4.3 (popularly known as "Taffy 3") against the main Japanese battle fleet of Samar in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

It’s “The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors” and it is a terrific book.

I am mortified and stand corrected.

[egri]

Intact, the memoirs of John Raaen. As a Captain, he commanded the headquarters company of the 5th Ranger Battalion at Omaha Beach. He is now the last living officer from the World War II Ranger battalions, and the last living officer to have landed with the first wave at Omaha Beach.

[egri]

Also Never Call Me a Hero, by Dusty Kleiss, who scored hits on three Japanese ships at Midway.

[btq96r]

I recently started this one...really enjoying it so far and I'm only a few chapters in.

40 Thieves on Saipan: The Elite Marine Scout-Snipers in One of WWII's Bloodiest Battles
by Joseph Tachovsky


I'm also quite fond of anything by Stephen Ambrose. Citizen Soldiers is a very underrated read since Band of Brothers is (rightfully) so popular.

[ScubaHogg]

If I am not mistaken, "Neptune's Inferno" was written by James D. Hornfischer. Mr. Hornfischer also wrote "The Last Dance of the Tin Can Sailors". This book is about the heroic sacrifice of Task Unit 77.4.3 (popularly known as "Taffy 3") against the main Japanese battle fleet of Samar in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

It’s “The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors” and it is a terrific book.

I am mortified and stand corrected.

Haha! I didn’t even notice. My brain filled in what it expected to see

[earlywynnfan]

Pretty much all I read are WWII Pacific books. I'm lots of fun at parties!

Really like Hornfischer as an author. Another author I like is Bill D Ross. Informational yet reads like a novel

I usually don't choose "interview" books, but recently finished "The Pacific War Remembered" by John T Mason. Full of oral histories from admirals and generals, I found it quite insightful.

One book that really jumped out, for some reason one WWII book that hooked me like no other, is "The Heart of Hell" by Mitch Weiss. About a gunboat during the Iwo Jima invasion. IMHO, just an incredible book. I took it on a beach vacation, and I found myself reading instead of going outside.

[Thesaints]

The 3 books by Ryan are just great.
Anyway:

Von Mellenthin's Panzer Battles is a classic.
Not a first person account, but an excellent East Front study and very readable is Barbarossa by Alan Clark.
On the lesser known side: Chuykov's Battle of the Century is a must, if you can get your hands on a copy.

[David Althaus]

If you can find:

Eisenhower by Stephen Ambrose. Only covers WWII and very good.
Eishenower at Wear by Carlo Déste.

Others easier to find:

Churchill by Andrew Roberts. Long but considerably shorter than many of his biographers and engagingly written.

Pacific Theatre

Nimitz by E B Porter
Mac Arthur at War by Walter R. Borneman

All the best

[ModifiedDuration]

Pretty much all I read are WWII Pacific books. I'm lots of fun at parties!

Really like Hornfischer as an author. Another author I like is Bill D Ross. Informational yet reads like a novel

I usually don't choose "interview" books, but recently finished "The Pacific War Remembered" by John T Mason. Full of oral histories from admirals and generals, I found it quite insightful.

One book that really jumped out, for some reason one WWII book that hooked me like no other, is "The Heart of Hell" by Mitch Weiss. About a gunboat during the Iwo Jima invasion. IMHO, just an incredible book. I took it on a beach vacation, and I found myself reading instead of going outside.

Thanks. I read the preview on Amazon of “The Heart of Hell” (which was rather engrossing) and have ordered the book.

[Garfieldthecat]

For WWII Eastern Front:

Ostkreig - Stephen Fritz
When Titan's clashed - Glantz
Anything by David Stahl, he has several books on the Eastern Front
Beware of older Eastern Front books that only tell the "propagandized German view" of the war. More ecent books are way more balanced.

For Europe:

Anything by Carlo D'este, as mentioned before
Business in Great Waters - John Terraine - U-boat wars for WWII
Hitlers U Boat War (two volumes) - Clay Blair - More detailed U-boat war books

Pacific:
Battle of Midway - Craig Symon
Guadalcanal - Richard Frank - "the" book on that campaign
Silent Victory - Clay Blair - US submarine war in the pacific
Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors - Hornfisher - Can't say enough about the bravery of those sailors in that battle

Honorable Mention for a Movie:
Das Boot - best u-boat movie ever

[MMiroir]

Churchill's History of the War was mentioned upthread. It is an excellent series worthy of a Nobel for Literature. Manchester's series about Churchill is great, but only one of the volumes is about WWII. Some other recommended books are as follows, with strongly recommended books bolded.

The Dark Valley - Piers Brendon
The Long Week-End - Robert Graves
The Spanish Civil War - Anthony Beever
Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell
The Collapse of the Third Republic - William Shirer
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - William Shirer
Five Days in London - John Lukas
The Desert War - Alan Moorehead
Ill Met by Moonlight - Stanley Moss
The Retreat - Michael Jones
Stalingrad - Anthony Beever
KL -Nikolaus Wachsmann
Gulag - Anne Applebaum
The End - Ian Kershaw
A Woman in Berlin - Anonymous
Hirohito - Robert Bix
Shattered Sword - Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully
Neptune's Inferno - James D. Hornfischer
Hell in the Pacific - Jim McEnery
Defeat Into Victory - William Slim
Retribution - Max Hastings
The Decline and Fall of the British Empire - Piers Brendon

[67Bosox]

The Bomber Mafia audiobook has the actual audio from speeches, radio reports, etc., quite interesting to hear it rather than when just reading it.

books by Adam Makos:
A Higher Call
Spearhead
Devotion

all three are great reads.

[ModifiedDuration]

The Last Battle by Stephen Harding

The story of a most unusual battle in Europe in early May 1945.

Highly recommend.

[Peculiar_Investor]

Not a book and not WWII but this blog WW1: Experiences of an English Soldier was very interesting to read.

This blog is made up of transcripts of Harry Lamin's letters from the first World War. The letters will be posted exactly 90 years after they were written. To find out Harry's fate, follow the blog!

[JPM]

Another vote for Sledge "With the Old Breed" and Zamperini "Devil at My Heels". None better IMO. Sledge's was made using contemporaneous notes he made in the margins of the Bible he carried during action. Making notes for one's own use after action was technically forbidden.

Also liked Manchester's "Goodbye Darkness" and "American Caesar". Goodbye Darkness like Sledge and Zamperini is a line soldier's story from the foxhole. Most of the recommendations are generals' headquarters' subjective viewpoints or objective historical rather than memoirists' works and there are many good works among the recommendations.

From the German side, Mellenthin's "Panzer Leader" is an account of regimental and divisional command in Russia without a US counterpart that I have read. "Tigers in the Mud" by Carius is an account by one of the few front line Panzer aces surviving the war and available in English translation. Neither is as literary in translation or as dramatic as Sledge or Manchester who were both well-educated men.

[galectin]

Pacific War Diary, 1942-1945

by James J. Fahey

This is a contemporaneous memoir by a seaman in the Pacific theater. It is quite interesting in its focus on the daily actions of the crew.

[HawkeyePierce]

The WWII chapters from The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power by Daniel Yergin. He makes the argument that part of the reason for the Allied victory was the US's ability to provide safe, secure oil resources to the Allies around the world. He goes into detail about how the industry was overhauled during the way by Harold Ickes, German and Japanese attempts (and failures) to secure the own energy resources and the how some of the earliest moves by the Japanese Navy were to attack Dutch oil colonies in what is now Indonesia.

The chapter on the Battle of Balikpapan alone is worth the price of admission.

[WestCoastPhan]

Not a book, but Dan Carlin's podcast series, Supernova in the East, about Japan and the war in the Pacific, is excellent.

[Taylor Larimore]

Tadamsmar:

I was a paratrooper in the Battle of the Bulge at Bastogne in WWII.

I have several books on the subject: In my opinion, the best book was written by George Koskimaki titled "The Battered Bastards of Bastogne."

Best wishes.
Taylor

Jack Bogle's Words of Wisdom: "I first met Taylor in 1999 -- ."

[dpa789kd]

Wow, what a list. I have several new books to add to my list.

I'll add Flyboys by James Bradley because I haven't seen it. It captivated me to the point I finished it in a couple sittings. His Flags of Our Fathers for some reason didn't grab me nearly as much. Must have just been my mood at the time.

[delamer]

Tadamsmar:

I was a paratrooper in the Battle of the Bulge at Bastogne in WWII.

I have several books on the subject: In my opinion, the best book was written by George Koskimaki titled "The Battered Bastards of Bastogne."

Best wishes.
Taylor

Jack Bogle's Words of Wisdom: "I first met Taylor in 1999 -- ."

Thank you for the recommendation, Taylor.

My father was a sergeant with the 83rd Infantry Division, and fought in the Battle Of The Bulge.

[ScubaHogg]

Not a book, but Dan Carlin's podcast series, Supernova in the East, about Japan and the war in the Pacific, is excellent.

As is his Ghosts of the Ostfront about the eastern front

[FCM]

Bitter Ocean: The Battle of the Atlantic, 1939 -1945 by David White

[Batavus]

So many great titles in this discussion to consider. This list is not complete until Valuethinker weighs in on books that discuss Russian efforts & the Eastern Front. And I’m shocked that hasn’t already happened.

Books I’ve read on WWII and enjoyed & recommend include:
Webster, Donovan - The Burma Road
Bradley, James - Flyboys
Rhodes, Richard - The Making of the Atomic Bomb
Bird & Shermin - American Prometheus
Price, David - Geniuses at War
Olsen, Lynn - Madame Fourcade’s Secret War: The Daring Young Woman Who Led France’s Largest Spy Network Against Hitler
Conant, Janet - Tuxedo Park, 109 East Palace

And on my to read List:
Overly, Richard - Blood and ruins : the last imperial war, 1931-1945 *Overy holds that WWII occurred because a new gang of would-be imperialists, namely Germany, Japan and Italy, wanted to oust old imperialists France, Britain, Holland, Belgium, Russia, et al., and replace them at the troughs of riches generated by and stolen from the latter group’s colonial holdings.
Terkel, Studs - The Good War: An Oral History of World War II
Rhodes, Richard - Hedy's Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World
Kochanski, Halik - Resistance : the underground war against Hitler, 1939-1945
Norris, Robert S - Racing for the Bomb: The True Story of General Leslie R. Groves, the Man behind the Birth of the Atomic Age
Kunetka, James - The General and the Genius: Groves and Oppenheimer--The Unlikely Partnership That Built the Atom Bomb
Cray, Ed - General of the Army - a biography of General George C. Marshall
Kleiner, Sam - The Flying Tigers : the untold story of the American pilots who waged a secret war against Japan
Matter, Rana - Forgotten ally : China's World War II, 1937-1945
Holland, James - Normandy '44: D-Day And The Epic 77-Day Battle For France
Steel, Jeff, Adlam, Linda - Dunkirk to D-Day: A Commando's War
Lichtblau, Eric Return To The Reich: A Holocaust Refugee's Secret Mission to Defeat the Nazis
Eisenhour, Dwight - Crusade in Europe

[JackoC]

Nerd level warning:

Shattered Sword by Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully. This is the single best book I’ve ever read regarding a battle that changed the pacific war in under 10 minutes. No land battles can compare in terms of speed at which everything can change. I wish all books were all like this. It’s basically a minute by minute accounting of the battle of midway, written in a readable format. Be warned, it gets down to nerd level detail. Like the elevator cycle times on Japanese carriers detail. Be it is great.

There are (at least) 1,000's of books about WWII, it's a *really* opened ended question overall. But for the particular part of the Pacific War on the level of description of a particular battle or operation, clinical detail, I agree Shattered Sword is an extremely good book. And while I've only read 100's of books about WWII, the genre represented by Shattered Sword is probably my favorite: detailed description of tactical/operational level air/sea operations highly balanced between the two sides' accounts and records.

In case of the Pac War there have been in my view perhaps 3 generations of such books, written from the Allied side. In the first the authors couldn't or anyway didn't access Japanese sources with the exception of the 'Monographs', a series of summaries written by Japanese officers, or results of interviews with them, under US supervision after the war, but where they couldn't refer back to actual records and in many cases appear to have given incorrect information. In the second generation, Western authors used translations from the Japanese official history, the 103 vol. 'War History Series' published between the mid 1960's and early 80's. Frank's 'Guadalcanal' (mentioned by other posters, a good book too) is an example. In the most recent generation extensive use was made of Japanese primary sources, the combat records themselves, like Shattered Sword.

Other very good similarly extremely detailed books include 'Eagles of the Southern Skies' by the late Luca Ruffato et al about the Japanese Naval Air Force's Tainan Air Group, and several books by Bernard Baeza such as the 2 vol 'Guadalcanal, Cactus Air Force Contre Marine Impériale' though as title suggests he writes in his native French. Those authors used to compare notes on a forum where I made a few minor contributions based on my own research under my real name.

Another dimension, within this tiny niche among all WWII books, is books with balanced accounts of the outcomes but much more first hand accounts. Shattered Sword is pretty light on that. John Lundstrom's 'The First Team' and 'The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign' (about USN carrier fighter units from Pearl Harbor through Guadalcanal) reflected solid scholarship in the two sides' official accounts, but are most outstanding for the huge amount of personal research with the USN participants. William H. Bartsch's 'December 8, 1941' and 'Doomed at the Start' are somewhat similar about the Army air units in the Philippines early in the war. Both spent years getting to know these men. It's a form of research about WWII that is now, sadly, largely finished. The late US author Henry Sakaida also did this often focusing on Japanese airmen, in many books but my favorite is 'Genda's Sword' about the JNAF 343rd Air Group late in the war. When young I read at least dozens of books just on WWII air combat, but got sick of them just reciting one side's claims with no apparent attempt to find out what the other side recorded. The authors I mentioned had obvious respect for the participants but still only related as fact events or aerial victories that could be confirmed in the other sides' records. Authors had done this long before for WWII European theater air combat, but it happened much later for the Pacific War perhaps because of greater lingering resentment besides the language gap. Lundstrom was early to do it (1984) for Pac War air combat.

[AnnetteLouisan]

Studs Terkel - The Good War (interviews)

Victor Klemperer Diaries (1905-1963)

last witnesses: oral history of children WW2 survivors, Svetlana Alexeeivich

Briefe an Goldhagen - letters received by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen about his book, Hitlers Willing Executioners

Frauen, Alison Owings - interviews with German female WW 2 survivors

Nazi Foreign Minister and propagandist Alfred Rosenberg - personal diary (available on the Holocaust Museum website)

Original recordings of the Nuremberg trials - see above website (esp. Goering)

Edzard Reuter - Memoirs (former Daimler Benz chief who spent childhood in exile in Turkey because his family were socialists)

Joachim Fest, Ich Nicht

Marcel Reich-Reiniki, Mein Leben (German Jewish cultural commentator, book starts out with him being asked rudely, “What are you then, anyway?”)

[gamboolman]

Would add -
Marine: The Life of Chesty Puller
Blood Red Snow
Forgotten Soldier

[nisiprius]

Malcolm Gladwell, The Bomber Mafia. I have to say that the podcast series and the book are really quite different. The book is not a book version of the podcast series. Both were excellent.

The podcast had a sort of secondary focus, which is to think about people like General Curtis LeMay, who in Gladwell's conception is an example of someone who, given a mission, is willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish it. That is, someone who is a pure problem-solver and focuses solely on the problem they have been given, while completely ignoring any problems they may be creating along the way.

Similarly--another man in the same mold, perhaps? Racing for the Bomb: General Leslie R. Groves, the Manhattan Project's Indispensable Man by Robert S. Norris.

[ScubaHogg]

Another dimension, within this tiny niche among all WWII books, is books with balanced accounts of the outcomes but much more first hand accounts. Shattered Sword is pretty light on that. John Lundstrom's 'The First Team' and 'The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign' (about USN carrier fighter units from Pearl Harbor through Guadalcanal) reflected solid scholarship in the two sides' official accounts, but are most outstanding for the huge amount of personal research with the USN participants.

Thanks for these recs, I had not heard of these two before

[9liner]

Ordinary Men
Browning, Christopher

[Rebels38]

Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors.

James D Hornfischer

[frose2]

Since the Holocaust has been mentioned, let me add Lucy Dawidowicz's general book on the subject, The War Against the Jews. There are also good bios of the Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi. I think Levi's own books have been translated from Italian into English.

Since the Manhattan project has been mentioned, let me add Roy Monk's bio of Oppenheimer.