Book Recommendations Wanted

Seelowe nord is a cracking book by Andy Johnson. 3/4 of the way through, really enjoying it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seelöwe-Nord-Germans-Are-Coming/dp/1907294384/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319228933&sr=8-1

Then there is my new novel coming out in November/December....
Silk Drop - The Green Devils' Invasion of Crete - Matador Fiction - Harvey Black

 

Try "Mark of the Lion" by Kenneth Sandford about NZ soldier Charles Upham, the only double VC winner of WW2 and the only combat soldier to get the double award.
Pete

 

THE GOOD WAR by STUDS TERKEL .. it as over 120 interviews .ranging from
admirals and politicians to ordinary civilians and combatants ..

 

"Company Commander" by Charles B. MacDonald - the story of an infantry Captain in the 2nd U.S. Infantry Division (sept 1944 until the end of the war);



I'll second that. Great book.

 

"With the Old Breed" by E.B. Sledge is also excellent.

A very well written account of the 1st Marines in the Pacific.

 

The Men of Company K by H.P.Leinbaugh and J.D.Campbell is pretty good as well

 

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Jewel of the Mall: World War II Memorial book by Stephen R. Brown. Beautiful book that documents the creation of the Memorial as well as how it honors veterans today.

 

Sniper on the eastern front
Follows Sep Allerberger, the second most successful sniper of the Wehrmacht, who takes on a sniper rifle and vividly tells his story.

The last witness, Rochus Misch
Hitler's bodyguard memoirs. Not a spectacular as a frontline story but historical very interesting. His story takes you to the last days in the Berlin bunker.

Panzer commander; the memoirs of Hans von Luck.
This man servers his name, fights on all fronts, serves under Rommel and gives you a adventure like Indiana Jones, only his story did happen.

The sergeant in the snow; by Mario Rigoni Stern
An Italian story of survival from the Russian counterattack and the freezing cold.

Black Edelweis; Johan Voss
6th SS Mountain division, which fought in the Arctic Circle near Murmansk and Around Trier in Operation Nordwind. Written in captivity in 1945!

 

I very much recommend: The Guns of Normandy & The guns of Victory by Blackbrun give the account of a Canadian artillery FOO in 2nd Canadian Infantry Division. Well written & gices a good insight in the usage of this most decisive weapon.

 

the forgotten highlander by alisdair Uquahart
Band of brothers & Pegasus Bridge by stephen E. Ambrose
Pacific by Hugh Ambrose

but really depends on the campaign & unit your interested in.

 

"Age Shall Not Weary Them" by Major Roy Rees.
Personal memoirs of the highs and lows following Roy Rees during WW2., his prewar training and activities thro to eventual retirement from the Army 1946. Mainly of his time with !st Bat The Royal Sussex/8th Army

 

Here are some that I know and like:

1. John Ellis, The Sharp End. A great comprehensive study of the details of combat and soldier life in the Allied armies.
2. Donald Burgett, As Eagles Screamed. Burgett was a paratrooper who fought on D-Day. Unpretentious and honest.
3. Bill Mauldin, Up Front. Classic cartoons of the US Army in combat, with many sharp observations by the author.
4. Brazen Chariots, Robert Crisp. Tank warfare in Operation CRUSADER by a South African officer of a British regiment.
5. William Manchester, Goodbye Darkness. Manchester's recollections of the Okinawa campaign and the wartime US Marine Corps.
6. Charlton Ogburn, The Marauders. A great book by a veteran officer of the famous US unit that fought in Burma.
7. Raleigh Trevelyan, The Fortress. A stark memoir by a British officer who fought at Anzio.
8. Farley Mowat, And No Birds Sang. A grim account of combat in Sicily and Italy with the 1st Canadian Division.
9. Spike Milligan, war memoirs. These are in three volumes. (Hitler, My Part in His Downfall; Rommel? Gunner Who? and Mussolini, His Part in My Victory.) They are somewhat fictionalized, but the best parts give you a very accurate picture of the boredom and humor of army life, as well the sheer physical drudgery of serving the guns. Milligan's outfit (56th Heavy Regt RA) fought in Tunisia and Italy.
10. A Writer at War, Vassili Grossman. Grossman was a correspondent with the Red Army newspaper, and he cuts through propaganda and ideology to give an honest picture of frontline life and the ordinary Soviet soldier.
11. Catherine Merridale, Ivan's War. Merridale does for the Soviet soldier what Ellis does for the British and Americans. A superb study of life and combat in the Red Army.
12. Raymond Ganter, Roll Me Over, and George Wilson, If You Survive. Two outstanding accounts of warfare in the ETO by American infantrymen. Ganter served in the 1st Division, Wilson in the 4th.
13. John Masters, The Road Past Mandalay, and Richard Rhodes-James, Chindits. Two great books about the second Wingate campaign. Rhodes-James was Masters' signal officer in 111th Indian Brigade.
14. Paul Fussell, The Boy's Crusade. Typically complex thoughts and sharp commentary about the US Army in the ETO. Fussell was a junior officer in the 103rd Division.
15. James Jones, WWII. An idiosyncratic book--partly a war history, partly a study of wartime art, and partly a personal account of army life and combat on Guadalcanal. Jones is best known for his novels, but here he speaks without a fictional mask and he has some very good things to say.
16 Floyd Radike, Across the Dark Islands, and Charles H. Walker, Combat Officer. Excellent memoirs by two dedicated junior infantry officers who fought from Guadalcanal to the Philippines. Radike was in the 25th Division, Walker in the Americal.
17. John Horsfall, Say Not the Struggle... The Dunkirk campaign, as seen by a junior officer of the 1st Royal Irish Fusiliers.
18. Geoffrey Picot, Accidental Warrior. A fine account of combat in Normandy and the Low Countries by the mortar officer of the 1st Hampshires (50th Division).
19. Andrew Wilson, Flamethrower. Normandy and NWE as seen from a Crocodile flame tank of 79th Armoured Division.
20. Stuart Hills, By Tank Into Normandy. Hills was an officer in the Sherwood Rangers (8th Armd Bde). He covers actions from the landings up to the Rhine.
21. Bill Cheall, Fighting Through. The memoirs of an infantryman who fought with 6th Green Howards from Dunkirk to Normandy. Bill's son and editor, Paul, is a member of this forum.

I could go on, but that should keep you busy. By the way, I strongly support the previous recommendations of Sledge, Charles MacDonald, and Fraser.