I would have to say that my alltime favorite WWII book would have to be "Days of Infamy" by Harry Turtledove. It as an alternate reality book based on the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is based on the idea that Hawaii is invaded during the attack. This book is great because it gives the views of everyone involved ,from the Japanese infantrymen to the wife of a American Artillery commander. If you ever wondered what would have possibly happened if Hawaii was invaded this is a good read for you.
really liked the dam busters by paul brickhill. also liked both of anthony beevor's books on the eastern front
I really enjoyed the book, "Steal Boat, Iron Hearts" by Hans Goebeler and John Vanzo. I couldn't put that book down for a very long time. A great narrative about what it was like to be in the U-boat service!
Istanbul Intrigues-by Barry Rubin This book is a classic. There aren't many modern books about which you can say this but this is quite simply a Great Book. Curiously it is not written in the normally somewhat harsh tasting Barry Rubin mode. It has a powerful descriptive power and even a bit of Alan Furst style romance mixed with good research. It has a nostalgia that some will find heartless, but in another sense is most fitting. It reminds us of a world that finally passed away in the greatest of wars, a world that with all it's injustice and snobbery had an aesthetic attraction and style that sparkles from a distance. All of that world, good and bad is gone and in some ways this book is a form of mourning. There was enough to mourn for to be sure. Romanticizing war has been criticized often enough and this book is to some degree guilty of that. However it is doubtful that our age needs to be taught that lesson as much as previous. This war was a war that had to be fought, one way or another, and this form of writing is a way of showing gratitude to our grandparents. The authors powers of description is tremendous. You feel you are there, in that labyrinth of conspiracies and counterconspiracies between a multitude of factions. You travel to posh diplomatic receptions where impeccably dressed power brokers discuss the fate of nations over glasses of wine. You go to the bazaars and alleys of Istanbul where the spies carry on their game, refereed by the sinister and ever vigilant Emniyet, the Turkish secret police. You go to the Balkan's and Middle East to meet a devil's menagerie of partisans, bandits, smugglers, terrorists, spies, thises, thats, and the others. Or you visit the "politically unsound" exiled German and Russian aristocrat's, and watch them pine away their sorrows in meaningless luxury, interspersed by those who lend a hand to one faction or another. You meet heros, villains, and ordinary folk trying to survive. And you see the final end where the respective victors and vanquished are told their respective fates. Among the most pitiful of these by the way is that of the Poles and the Czechs who gave so much to final victory only to find they had fought for a lost cause, that victory was vain for them and their homes were enslaved to another conqueror. At least they are remembered for what it's worth. This book is in my opinion the best World War II spy history that has ever been written. Certainly the best I have ever read. It is a pity that I am only allowed to give it five stars.
My current favorite is Stalingrad by Anothny Beevor, which i am 2/3 through. My faavorite completed book in the Road to Arnhem or Flags of our Fathers
Agree with Zoya about the Forgotten Soldier. A book to give a teenage son to show him what a hard life really means. Often read it to remind myself of just how easy most of our lives are compared to what many have been through. Also love Stalingrad by Beevor. Read it cover to cover twice in a row on holiday a few years ago. Some people on the adjacent sun loungers seemed confused at my choice of holiday reading though..... If anyone can recommend something on Tobruk, I'd appreciate it. I'm interested not so much in the story of those invovled in the seige but the battles at Sidi Rezegh and Gazala.
