Read any good books lately?

I would recommend for those students of the Battle of the Bulge, three books:  Duel In The Mist, The Leibstandarte During The Ardennes Offensive, vol. 1-3 (Volume 1 is out of print, though with some examples being $1,000+.  Volumes 2 and 3 are about $30).  It is a forensic analysis of the German armor used during the battles around Stoumont and La Gleize.  The authors have tried to identify almost every piece of armor used in the battle and their dispositions after the battle.  It is also explicit on modifications and the coloring schemes used by Leibstandarte.  I am currently borrowing vol. 2 and 3 from a friend of mine while I am looking up information on the 740th TB of which I found a clarification from MacDonld's book, A Time For Trumpets. 

 

 WTF Germany!?!

Now have a look at John Toland's "The Rising Sun", and Alan Clark's "Barbarossa". And if you're still wanting to head down that path Churchill's six volume memoir "The Second World War"... I read the first two and made it partway thru the third so far...

All, Exploring the library and stumbled on Enterprise by Barrett Tillman. Its quite the easy read, and covers the career of the CV-6 U.S.S. Enterprise of WWII fame.  Since then I have read Corsair and Whirlwind by Tillman also.  I like his books.  Whirlwind covers the bombing campaign over Japan during WWII. Corsair covers the career of the F4U Corsair during WWII and beyond.   Very approachable writing style, seems well researched and thoughtful.  Starting to read Clash of Carriers now.  It covers the Marianis Turkey Shoot.  So far, so interesting.   I'll let you know more when I get done.

John

Currently reading Snow and Steel: The Battle of the Bulge, 1944-45

GMorrison

I'm halfway through "Shattered Sword". What an informative book!

Wayne, if you haven't read Heinrich's "Cross of Iron". WAY better than the movie.

 

Probably my favorite all around military book,just enjoyed it do much.

Beans

I just finished a book that’s been on my bucket list for years; The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer. A 1,600ish page paperback that’s been taunting me for years to read it. I think I picked it up for fifty cents.

 

Incredible book and worth the commitment.

 

I have always been a fan of WWII history and read what I thought was enough to grasp the events but I never read anything like this.

 

The book accounts the many missed opportunities that could have saved millions of lives. There’s enough blame to go around, believe me. The first three quarters of the book documents Hitler’s rise to power and the last quarter is the rapid downfall.

 

 

 WTF Germany!?!

 

An excellent choice, and I pull it off the shelf and re-read it every so often.  It's a little dated, and Shirer accepted the premise that there was a direct line through German history that led inevitably from Teutoberg to Auschwitz, but otherwise, it's a great account.  He had access to the tons of documents we captured from the Germans at the end of the war, as well as first-hand sources of people who were involved, and it's a good account.

I had that same paperback edition, given me by an uncle, and I literally read the covers off.  I taped them back on, till the outer pages started falling off.  I replaced it with a hard-bound edition that I found at a flea market.  That has maps in the end-papers.  In the front, it's a map of the Third Reich at its height, from the Channel to the Volga and North Cape to Libya.  In the back, it's a map of the Allied positions at the time of the collapse.

Just finished "A Higher Call" and loved it! One of Franz Stigler's rides is now on my short list of builds to do.

" A Great and Terrible King ", Edward I and the Forging of Britain, Marc Morris.

Does the instruction sheet for the Trumpeter A-6A count? If not then Keith Lowe's Inferno The fiery Destruction of Hamburg 1943. 

Here are some of the best books (in my opinion) that I have come across

The Hunt for Red October - Tom Clancy

A Higher Call - Adam Makos and Larry Alexander

Adolf Hitler - John Tolland

The Wild Blue - Stephen E. Ambrose

Blitzkrieg! In their own words - First-hand accounts from German soldiers 1939-1940

Stalking The Red Bear - Peter Sasgen

The Martian - Andy Weir

Mutiny - David Hagberg and Boris Gindin

Lords Of The Sky - Dan Hampton

Forgotten Fifteenth - Barret Tillman

Another Great Day At Sea - Geoff Dyer

Code Name Ceasar - Jerome Preisler and Kenneth Sewell

The Finest Hours - Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman

Air Force One - Kenneth T. Walsh

The Luftwaffe: a history - John Killen

When Titans Clashed - David M. Glantz and Jonathan M. House

The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz - Denis Avey with Rob Broomby

Blind Man's Bluff - Sherr Sontag and Christopher Drew with Annette Lawrence Drew

Viper Pilot - Dan Hampton

Frozen In Time - Mitchell Zuckoff

Final Patrol - Don Keith

Great Stories of the Great Lakes - Dwight Boyer

Escape from the Deep - Alex Kershaw

Code Talker - Joseph Bruchac

Out of Captivity - Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, and Tom Howes

81 Days Below Zero - Brian Murphy with Toula Vlahou

Voices of the Pacific - Adam Makos with Marcus Brotherton

The War Below - James Scott

My War - Andy Rooney

Silent Running - James F. Calvert

well, the list goes on and on... but I'll stop.

I love this tread and have found quite a few good reads.

I currently read "The Berkut". The plot is that Hitler didn't commit suicide in 1945 but was rescued by his commando unit. Zhukov insist that he has Hitler's body, but it turns out to be a body double. Stalin sends a group of investigators to track Hitler and bring him back to Moscow. A gripping read so far.

The next book will be "The cylist who went out in the cold-adventures along the iron curtain trail". A guy rides his bike from the northern tip of Finnland-USSR border to the Southernmost tip of Bulgaria-Turkey following the Iron curtain border.

All, just finished a book titled Lucky 666, The Impossible Mission, about the 40 minute dog fight between a modified B-17 and the Japanese over the South Pacific.  Interesting story of the men and how then ended up taking what should have been a suicide mission. 

John

Movie coming I am sure.

I just finished the second edition of All The Fine Young Eagles by David Bashow.  It's a history of Canada's pilots in WWII serving on RAF squadrons and within dedicated RCAF squadrons.  It includes first hand accounts of many of Canada's (and the RAF's) great WWII fighter pilots, including Stan Turner, Art Sager, 'Johnnie' Johnson, Don Jaubman, 'Duke' Warren, 'Joe' Schultz, Russ Bannock, Douglas Bader and 'Stocky' Edwards to name but a few.  It was a great read.

Hmmm;

   Got tired of reading exploits of the wars and the units involved . Not because they are boring , but I needed a break . So - My landlady's daughter gives me three to read .

   The  "Hunger Games ". Post Modern revolution in which the country is divided into 13 districts .District 13 having been destroyed by the gov't in " Panem " for treachery and revolt . ( The New Capitol  ).Result , each remaining district must send " Tribute "

   . The " Tribute ? Two young people that must fight to the death and in the whole games there can only be , Now , two survivors . Their ages 12 to 18 ! Gees . anyway It's been a page turner !  T.B.

When Angels Wept; an alternate history of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

What might have happened if some different decisions were made by Kennedy. The bio's of Kennedy and Kruschev are tedious, but the scenario is realistic IMHO.

I finished the lastest book, The Flame Bearer, in the Bernard Cornwall Saxon Tales series and it was great.

I am also reading Cornwall's Richard Sharpe's series. I am on book 10 of the 25 written. I am learning so much about Napoleonic Era British Army. I really like how he went back and wrote more book to fill in this series.

I just finished reading, "All Cloudless Glory", a 2-volume biography of George Washington.  Then I ripped through Martin's "A Clash of Kings", the second installment in his "Song of Ice and Fire" series, which you folks probably know better as Season 2 of "Game of Thrones".  It's a quick read, but I think it's basically "Tolkien...After Dark".  I think I'm going to queue up "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" next.

Try "The Silmarillion", Tolkiens' Old Testament.

the Baron

It's a quick read, but I think it's basically "Tolkien...After Dark". I think I'm going to queue up "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" next.

i just finished reading  "All the Gallant Men An Arizona Sailor's Account of Pearl Harbor" by Donald Stratton and Ken Gire who helped Stratton write it..  This is the first memoir written by a sailor aboard the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor. The book is the type you cannot put down once you start reading it. Stratton was severely burned and after recovering was given a medical discharge. He tells in detail about the attack and how he was rescued and taken to a hospital then transferred to the U.S. where he was given his discharge. Shortly after returning home he rejoined the Navy and was aboard a dsstroyer during  battles which led to the defeat of Japan. It is an excellent book. He also talks about visiting the Arizona memorial.

Yesterday I picked up "Stay The rising Sun", an account of the life and death of the USS Lexington, CV-2.

It's not bad, a little repetitious, but I've learned quite a bit that I didn't know, in particular May 8, 1942.

Greg, have you ever read "Queen of the Flattops" by Stanley Johnston?  It was written in 1942, soon after the Battle of the Coral Sea.  Just curious how it compares if you have.  Later.

John

I am currently reading "Killing the Rising Sun" by Bill O'Reilly.  So far a good read, not terribly detailed so it should be a pretty quick read.

wolfhammer1

Greg, have you ever read "Queen of the Flattops" by Stanley Johnston?  It was written in 1942, soon after the Battle of the Coral Sea.  Just curious how it compares if you have.  Later.

John

 

No, I haven't but Stanley Johnston is quoted quite a bit in the book I'm reading and plays a big part in the subplot of the story. Which is that while being "imbedded" on the Lexington for that last mission, he became very good friends with the XO Morton Seligman, was made privy to intercepted coded messages from the Japanese, and divulged that information in a story for his paper the Tribune. In the event, no fault of his to do so, the end of Seligman's career, and the Japanese apparently didn't catch on.

But see this is what I love about this forum.

CheckmateK launches a GB about the Battle of the Coral Sea. I know just about nil of that except that it was after Pearl Harbor and before Midway. Search of the stash reveals the Trumpeter Lexington. Post on the GB gets suggestion of book. Book leads  this.

Coral Sea is a very interesting battle in that it was the culmination of a series of moves and countermoves between the US and Japan in that area. Actions as part of that campaign would lead to both Guadalcanal and Kokoda Trail/Buna. 

Yes and its hard to mention Guadalcanal as anything other than it's own key battle.

Have you read "Battle Cry"?

A large section in this book I'm reading is about the various "Fleet Problems" in the interwar period. If anyone has a link to the publication of these, please share.