WW1 and WW2 book recommendations

6,860 Views | 44 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by Russ Dalrymple
ccaggie05
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AG
Reading the Civil War recommendation thread made me interested in putting together a reading list for WW1 and WW2. I haven't read a thing about WW1 sadly, and other than Shirer's "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" and a couple books about Pearl Harbor, I haven't read much about WW2 either.

What are some good recommendations to start off with?
74OA
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Be sure to read the preface before scrolling to the WWI/II sections. Tons of excellent recommendations, each with a short description: BIBLIOGRAPHY

(There's also this earlier discussion.)
ScottishFire
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AG
William Shirer's
Rise and Fall of the Third Reich is a must, IMO.
Cinco Ranch Aggie
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Shattered Sword (Parshall & Tully) which covers the Battle of Midway
Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific 1941 - 1942 (Ian Toll)
The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands 1942 - 1944 (Ian Toll) Mr. Toll has a third volume in this series scheduled to be published this summer
AgRyan04
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Non-Fiction WWII:
The Long Walk - Rawicz
Band of Brothers - Ambrose
Before Their Time - Kotiowitz
The Fool Lieutenant - Moen & Heinen
In the Unlikeliest of Places - Berkovitz
A Spy Among Friends - Macintyre
With the Old Breed - Sledge
Things Our Father Saw series - Rozell
D-Day Through German Eyes - Eckhertz
The Last Panther - Faust
Tiger Tracks - Faust

For historical fiction:
Saints & Villians - Giardina
Century Trilogy series - Follett (book 1 is WWI and book 2 is WWII)
who?mikejones
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AG
Ww1:

3 to start with

Guns of august
Storm of steel
Poilu: the World War I notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas
BrazosBendHorn
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I recommend Countdown to Pearl Harbor: The Twelve Days to the Attack by Steve Twomey.
Dooski
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As already mentioned, Ian Toll's Pacific War Trilogy is outstanding. Rick Atkinson's Liberation Trilogy is a must read. The first book covers the North African Campaign, the second book is the war in Italy, and the final volume covers the war in Western Europe.
Maximus_Meridius
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Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by Hornfischer.

Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie
ja86
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Martin Gilberts The First World War : A Complete History is a good overview of WW1
Nagler
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A World Undone by GJ Meyer is a really good one about WWI.
Civil04
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Eric Metaxas' biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer...if you know the Valkyrie plot and are interested in it, this book is the story of a German martyr who contributed to three attempts on Hitler's life.
Smeghead4761
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For a good overview, I'd recommend A War to Be Won by Murray and Millet

For more specific areas:

Russian Front - When Titans Clashed by Glantz

CBI - Defeat Into Victory by Field Marshall William Slim. Slim commanded the Commonwealth forces in the India-Burma theater. Excellent memoir.

South Pacific
Neptume's Inferno - Hornfischer
Islands of Destiny - Prados
These last two together, for me, really make you think about the popular conception of Midway as the decisive turning point of the Pacific War. The Guadalcanal campaign cost the USN two fleet carriers (Hornet and Wasp), put another in dry dock with heavy damage (Saratoga), and left the last, the Enterprise, damaged and operating at partial capability in the South Pacific. (Little known fact - the Big E was accompanied for some of this time by a Brit carrier). The air campaign in the Solomons ground down the IJN's air arm, both the carrier planes and those operating from land bases on Rabaul.

Midway left the initiative in the Pacific up for grabs. After Guadalcanal and the Solomons, the Americans had seized it for good.

Lastly, I'll pimp a book by one of my former professors at the Army War College: Carrying the War to the Enemy: American Operational Art to 1945 by COL (R) Michael Matheny. This one is more military science-y, but still an excellent book.
Wearer of the Ring
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Vandiver bio of Pershing is terrific.
Smeghead4761
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On the subject of the Great War-

Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August. It's been a must-read on the lead up and the first month of WWI since it was published.

The Great War and Modern Memory by Paul Fussell. Another standard in the historical study of WWI, this is less about the war itself, and more about how the modern historical memory of the war was shaped.

A more unusual selection To the Last Salute: Memories of an Austrian U-Boat Commander by Georg von Trapp. Yes, this the the same von Trapp more popularly known for being the father in The Sound of Music. He was a real person, an Austrian sub captain in WWI.
(removed:110205)
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https://www.amazon.com/Ring-Steel-Germany-Austria-Hungary-World/dp/0465094880

This is really good. Discussion of the German and Austro-Hungarian view of WWI. It kind of acts as a corollary (for me) of Tooze's "Wages of Destruction". Both lay out the difficulties Germany faced in both world wars from an economic/strategic view.
(removed:110205)
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https://www.amazon.com/Wages-Destruction-Making-Breaking-Economy-ebook/dp/B008DR6YXO/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=Wages+of+world+war+2&qid=1589990155&s=books&sr=1-4

Tooze's book on the German economy in WW2. Really excellent.
(removed:110205)
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https://www.amazon.com/Britains-War-Machine-Weapons-Resources/dp/0199832676

Fascinating revisionist history of UK's economic might going into WW2.
I Like Mike
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AG
World War II Books

Neptune's Inferno by James Hornfischer
The Fleet at Flood Tide by James Hornfischer
The Liberation Trilogy by Rick Atkinson
Turning the Tide by Ed Offley

Pacific Trilogy by Ian Toll

The Rise of Germany, The Allies Strike Back, Big Week, Normandy 44 by James Holland

Stalingrad and The Fall of Berlin 1945 by Antony Beevor

Smeghead4761
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Somehow, I overlooked the obvious: The First World War and The Second World War, both by John Keegan.
tallgrant
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Hereto second The Guns of August and the World Undone for WWI books.
Jaydoug
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Dooski said:

As already mentioned, Ian Toll's Pacific War Trilogy is outstanding.

Thanks for this emphasis. I bought the first two volumes and am already close to finishing book 1.
Jaydoug
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Cinco Ranch Aggie said:

Shattered Sword (Parshall & Tully) which covers the Battle of Midway
Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific 1941 - 1942 (Ian Toll)
The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands 1942 - 1944 (Ian Toll) Mr. Toll has a third volume in this series scheduled to be published this summer


Again, can't say enough about this list for the Pacific War.
Chipotlemonger
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Bought Guns of August recently and am looking forward to reading it.
who?mikejones
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Jaydoug said:

Cinco Ranch Aggie said:

Shattered Sword (Parshall & Tully) which covers the Battle of Midway
Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific 1941 - 1942 (Ian Toll)
The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands 1942 - 1944 (Ian Toll) Mr. Toll has a third volume in this series scheduled to be published this summer


Again, can't say enough about this list for the Pacific War.


Gotta add:

Helmet for my pillow by Robert leckie
Red blood, black sand by chuck tatum
With the old breed by eugene sledge
Cen-Tex
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AG
Flyboys - James Bradley. The book is a must read about the war in the Pacific. It discusses the Japanese warrior mentality, as well as the U.S. military strategy in the Pacific theater. Bradley also includes the story of American POW's held on Chichi Jima. Bradley is probably best known for writing Flags of Our Fathers. Clint Eastwood later directed a movie with the same title.
ccaggie05
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Thanks for all the recommendations! I started Guns of August last week and I'm really enjoying it so far. It's already made me realize how little I know about WWI or the lead up to it.
aggiejim70
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The Execution of Private Slovik by William Bradford Huie.

I think you'll find out something you may have not known about a famous Texas Aggie in WWII.
The person that is not willing to fight and die, if need be, for his country has no right to life.

James Earl Rudder '32
January 31, 1945
MD1993
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I love books that chronicle the end of wars. A good book that covers the final days of Japan on both the US and the Japanese side is The Fall of Japan by William Craig.

I second The Guns of August for the WWI
Brutal Puffin
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A couple or excellent big battle treatments by British historian Peter Caddick-Adams:

- Sand and Steel: The D-Day Invasion and the Liberation of France (2019)
- Snow and Steel: The Battle of the Bulge, 1944-45 (2014)

He also wrote about Monte Cassino, but I haven't read that one (yet).
agforlife97
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If you're interested in the eastern front of WW2, anything by David Glantz will satisfy.
Jaydoug
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Just finished The Conquering Tide and am now waiting not-so-patiently for Twilight of the Gods.

So I picked up Descent into Darkness: Pearl Harbor, 1941 - A Navy Diver's Memoir. Short book, and holy hell I couldn't have imagined diving blind into the black murky belly of a sunken battleship.

30wedge
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Bones of My Grandfather by Clay Bonnyman Evans. The story of Clay's grandfather, Alexander (Sandy) Bonnyman, Jr., one of the four recipients of the Medal of Honor for his service on Tarawa. Sandy Bonnyman was killed on the last day of the battle and his remains were recovered in 2015. Sandy was a character and Clay's story covers his life, the good and the bad, and the search for his grandfather's remains.
Jarrin' Jay
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What is this Civil War everyone is referring to? This country has never had a civil war. Are you referring to the War Between the States aka War for Southern Independence aka War of Northern Aggression?


Will second two repeated recommendations above:

Guns of August is outstanding.

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich..... before you read anything else about WWII, read this. Don''t just read it, buy it, read it and own it, dust if off every few years and read it again, or sporadically read a chapter here or there.
Chipotlemonger
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Unfortunately for your advice there at the end, I just started With The Old Breed this week. Fortunately though, I don't think they have too much to do with each other!
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