I'm looking for a book. World war 2

unclebob123 · 23 Jul 2008 at 00:15

I'm looking for a book with first hand personal accounts from world war 2.

I'm also looking for a book documenting famous raids from world war 2.

Sorry for the vagueness of the theread but thats really all the requirements.

Hopefully someone here at ocuk will have read a book(s) of similar nature. Any recomendations will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

EDIT

Just to add to that, if anyone can recomend any good British world war 2 films or televsion series that would be awesome.

Scam · 23 Jul 2008 at 01:12

I'm currently reading 'Citizen Soldiers' by the same guy that wrote Band of Brothers.. but to be honest it's not really holding my attention.

yantorsen · 23 Jul 2008 at 01:20

Saving Private Ryan
Band of Brothers

unclebob123 · 23 Jul 2008 at 01:26

yantorsen said:
Saving Private Ryan
Band of Brothers

Thanks for the suggestions, both excelent, but im looking for british films/series.

Edinho · 23 Jul 2008 at 05:13

Antony Beevor - Stalingrad

Frightening how close the Germans came to pulling it off through tactical naivity and stupidity threw it away. Has some real sad storys.

ten80p · 23 Jul 2008 at 08:37

You must read the official books on the raid to end all raids, "The Dambusters", I've read the books by John Sweetman and Jonathan Falconer and they are fantastic reads. The level of detail and background to the raids, development of the bouncing bomb, low level training and the raid itself are fascinating. Both books use testimonies from raid survivors and now available RAF/MOD logs and facts from the time

Interestingly they form the basis for Peter Jackson's film remake for which Stephen Fry is doing the script and screenplay and both have stated it will be historically accurate using the book, working with remaining survivors and RAF/MOD/Imperial War Museum, having read the books I'm in a position where I hope to see this translate to the film due out 2009

Also D-Day by Stephen E Ambrose

Antar Bolaeisk · 23 Jul 2008 at 08:59

Edinho said:
Antony Beevor - Stalingrad

Frightening how close the Germans came to pulling it off through tactical naivity and stupidity threw it away. Has some real sad storys.

^This one^

It's brilliant.

Berlin, also by Beevor, is worth a look if you like Stalingrad.

checjb · 23 Jul 2008 at 09:37

For a particular raid, I'd recommend "Pegasus Bridge" by Stephen E Ambrose; its quite good.

For first hand accounts try "Forgotten voices of the Second World War". I read this a few months back and its briliant, harrowing, thought provoking and amazing, all at the same time. I have read all the "Forgotten voices" series and they are all good. I am haunted by a particular memory from FVot Holocaust. That really is the most staggering book. Some of the horrors that were visited upon people are truly horrifying.

C.

unclebob123 · 23 Jul 2008 at 10:32

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will be sure to check them all out.

wordy · 23 Jul 2008 at 10:38

Stalingrad. Shows just how much worse the Russians had it than anyone else.

:EDIT: bah beaten to it

NeedleGunner · 23 Jul 2008 at 20:04

For a great overview of events I'd get World at War by Mark Arnold-Forster. I'm reading this at the moment and I am finding some of the stuff in it truly incredible!!

For a more personal approach try The World at War: The Landmark Oral History from the Previously Unpublished Archives by Richard Holmes.

Ricochet J · 23 Jul 2008 at 22:34

I would seriously recommend Stalingrad.

checjb · 24 Jul 2008 at 13:48

I thgought Beevor's "Berlin" was also excellent. There are two sections that particularly stay with me.
The first is a description in the sinking of a German cruise liner full of refugees. I had never heard of it and was staggered to read that more people (mainly women and children) died in that incident that did on the Titanic.
The second, is that they are still regularly finding large number of skeletons and such like from some of the last battles held in germany to this day. The scale of some of the slaughters is just horrifying.

Maximum Triceratops · 25 Jul 2008 at 17:57

The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer is an excellent first had account of a German soldier during ww2.
Sniper on the Eastern front by G Koschorrek is also recommended.

NotJimNot · 25 Jul 2008 at 20:05

The Big Show, Pierre Cloisterman. The best personal account of an RAF pilot (french) and I have read a lot of them.

Reading "Day in Battle" about the italian campaign at the moment. Well researched

Edinho · 25 Jul 2008 at 22:54

Beevor's Berlin really shows how the nazis had the best army that there ever been imo. And systematically just did nothing but destroy it. They really could have taken the entire African, European and Russian continents.

malccy · 27 Jul 2008 at 14:45

Soldat - believe by Guy Sajer; probably best there is.

Defcon5 · 27 Jul 2008 at 14:59

I think all of Ambrose's books are fantastic.