so last year I enjoyed Ken Burns' The War documentary, and I also just enjoyed the FDR American Experience thing on PBS. Both really fleshed out my "dates and facts" knowledge of WWII, made them relatable I guess. I'm looking for a couple good books to start in on about WWII. I'd like to start with a thick overview, maybe one each for each front, and then I'll dive deeper, but I still dont feel I have a good grasp on the lead up to the war, the progression of the battles and what they meant, etc. Preferably books that aren't too dry either! I'm a da of a three year old, so I dont get much reading time, but really want to dive more into WWII.

John Keegan's History of World War II is where you need to start.

that one on amazon was the first one to jump out at me.

I am currently reading Citizen Soldiers by Stephen Ambrose..... it covers the period right after Normandy until the end of the war in Europe...... it's very good!

First of all, the obvious ones:

Stephen Ambrose:
Citizen Soldier
D-Day
Band of Brothers

Cornelius Ryan:
The Longest Day
A Bridge Too Far

Douglas Brinkley:
The Boys of Point du Hoc

Less Obvious/Older Books:
A Soldier's Story Gen. Omar Bradley
Company Commander Charles B. McDonald
A Time for Trumpets the Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge Charles B. McDonald
A Bitter Woods the Battle of the Bulge John Eisenhower

I wasn't particularly impressed with Dwight Eisenhower's memoir A Crusade in Europe I believe was the title. Too much of Ike's ego, and not much about the men he commanded, as I recall.

I'll second Keegan's work as the best starting point. I'd also recommend his book on WWI as a good starter for that time period.

I was looking at keegan's WWI book too! I was a history minor at a&M, yet I feel I know next to nothing about WWI, and WWII, well I thought I had decent knowledge till I watched Ken Burns' The War and realized I knew very little about how it unfolded, esp the pacific front.

The Best War Ever, by Michael C.C. Adams. Read it as part of a military history class at A&M.

I read "With The Old Breed". It was a written by a Marine about his experience at Okinawa and Peleliu. It was very interesting and an eye opener.

Don't forget to include the Eastern Front, where the German military was destroyed. I suggest The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer for an account of the German experience in Russia.

Sajer was a member of the Gross Deutschland SS Division and fought from Russia back to Germany in almost constant combat. It's a very vivid portrayal.

The Forgotten Soldier was eye opening and led me to more eastern front reading..all of these are excellent memoirs

Sniper on the Eastern Front: The Memoirs of Sepp Allerberger

Blood Red Snow: The Memoirs of a German Soldier on the Eastern Front

In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front

Black Edelweiss: A Memoir of Combat and Conscience by a Soldier of the Waffen-SS

No.312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron 1940-1945
By Michael Benolkin

The Fall of Berlin 1945 - by Antony Beevor