What do you guys read?

[FSSF]

Hi!
I was wondering what my fellow players read when they need a WW II fix?

Do you have a favorite magazine?
Reference books?
Read any good book on a specific unit lately?
Do any of you guys buy Osprey books? If yes, which do you recommend?

Right now I'm reading the January issue of ARMCHAIR GENERAL (with General Bradley on the cover)

I just ordered the two volumes on Infantry Tactics from Osprey (The first one is about squad-level tactics, the second is about Platoon and Battalion level tactics I think). any of you guys read this? I ordered them from Amazon.Ca along the movie Go for Broke (about the 442nd Nisei soldiers, the unit that was the most decorated in the US army of WW II)

Oh!, I know it's not a book, but last week en I played Call of Duty 2 on my recently aquired X-Box 360 and the game was pretty awesome, riding a Universal Carrier, commanding a Crusader tank, manning the gun on a german Sd Kfz 222, sniping with a scoped Mosin Nagan, fighting panzer IIs in the street of Stalingrad... Lots of fun. And most of the voices were done by the actors from Band of Brothers!

Last book I read was Canadian Forces in World War II by René Chartrand and illustrated by Ron Volstad (Osprey Publishing). I'm pretty sure, one of the soldiers pictured on the cover was the model for the Eagle-Eyed NCO. It was pretty good, but at less than 50 pages, I was left with wanting to know more. Any good book about Canada in WW II to recommend?

[Tesla_Trooper]

I have a large collection of Osprey books myself. The Osprey new Vanguard serries are great referece books. Some of them can be a little dry but others are really interesting and fun to read. I receintly read Stalingrad: The Fatefull Seige. It was a wonderfull book that I would recommend to any history buff.
I haven't played call of duty 2 yet but I own call of duty 3. It's a really good game but multiplayer has too many glitches. A few weeks ago my nephew and i were playing and he accidentally ran me over with a sherman and I got plastered to the side of the tracks. It gave me controll of the 50 cal. somehow and I could still fire my bazooka. Before a panzer IV took us out, I managed to destroy a tank and multiple infantry, all while I was stuck in the tracks!:)

[gstrand]

Both Noah and I read and love Armchair General... He is currently reading a history of D-Day and the 101st, and I am reading Blood Brothers...

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1538664,00.html is a little excerpt from Blood Brothers...

-Gus

[Remember-OWS-]

FSSF, Do not start this... It will take forever until I can stop my collection. :D

Terry Copp - Canadian Army studies

Tomas Jentz, for Panzer period!
If you see his name, then, the book on Panzer is in a top level Class.

Recommended publisher:

Schiffer publishing
Fedorowicz publishing
Maple Leaf Route
Histoire & Collection
Arms and Armor (go on Abebook) collection
Windrow & Greene
Da Cappo

For images
Squadron/Signal publication
Concord Publication
Europa Miliatria (go on Abebook)
Osprey, yes and no. Some are really good, others not. I have put Osprey in the image section, because most of the series is too succinct, lacking reference.
p.s. FSSF, you should have ask me about the Infantry Tactics from Osprey, you are going to be disappointed.

For the maps... I love maps, did I say I love maps:

The only reference, use anywhere, anyhow, anytime:

WEST POINT ATLAS FOR THE SECOND WORLD WAR (2 books)

[skystalker]

Armchair General is a definite read, and the Osprey books are also good. For a great read, get a copy of "An Army at Dawn" by Rick Atkinson. It is the first book of the "Liberation Trilogy" and takes you from the start of WWII through North Africa. Very well written and solid historically.......the next two books will complete a very readable history of the war.....

[Remember-OWS-]

Good books about Canada in WWII:

Ortona - Mark Zuehlke - Stoddart publishing
Maple leaf route series - Terry Copp - Maple leaf route
The Brigade - Terry Copp - Fortress publication
Field of Fire - Terry Copp - UTP
The Bloody Battle for Tilly - Kent Tout - Sutton
The Canadian Soldier: From D-Day to VE-Day - Jean Bouchery - Histoire & Collection
Bloody Buron - J. Allan Snowie - Boston Mills Press (RARE book)
No Holding Back - Lieutenant Colonel Brian Reid - Robin Brass Studio

[Predator666]

I like Armchair General and WWII History magazines. I have a few books on WWII. One on Stalingrad, one on The Battle of the Bulge and another about the German command structure, and effects of the war on soldiers and civilians during the time. Its called Endkampf. A very good read.

[RommeL BombeR 77]

check out my sig buddy! armchailgeneral.com
But book wise I am reading The Longest Winter by Alex Kershaw. Its a very good book about the battle of the buldge and a platoon of ASTPers.
I recently read FLYBOYS by James Bradley. That was a great book too. World War Two Magazine is another great magazine. You can pick it up at your local Borders Book store. :)

[Grenzewolf]

Yep the list is too long but here are a couple I could recomend

Any of the Stackpole Military History Series.

Military History Magazine

Department of the Army Pamphlet NO. 20-234
Historical Study "Operations of encircled Forces" German Experiences in Russia January 1952 ( I believe this can be downloaded now from the Army Pubs web page )

US Army "Armor" Magazine. (If you can get back issues of this they are great. Many first hand accounts at the crew, & Plt level from both sides of the war.) Highly recomend for scenario building.

[RommeL BombeR 77]

yes military history magazine is good too! How could i have forgotten :) And so is WWII History magazine if you like to be more specific with your history.

[J.L.Robert]

My first reach is for one from a series of biographies:

Hitler's Generals (edited by Correlli Barnett, 1989)
Churchill's Generals (edited by John Keegan, 1991)
Stalin's Generals (edited by Harold Shukman, 1993)

Nothing too deep or heavy, but interesting reads of the major military commanders of these three major powers (there weren't any similar titles covering American or Japanese generals).

[Patton 68]

I read MHQ (Military History Quarterly) a lot.I have some Osprey/New Vanguards,but well over 100 (closing on 200) Squadron/Signal books,and reference them often,especially when threads on this forum turn to equipment specs or service entry/phase out dates.

[dracos42]

I've been rereading my old Command issues. Recently picked up a new book about the battle of Wake Island and a paperback about the US army that invaded through southern France.

[cannonfodder]

I just finished Lightning War: Blitzkrieg in the West 1940 by Powaski, Castle Books ISBN: 0-7858-2097-3. Given my limited reading in the field you can take it for what it's worth but I really enjoyed this day by day description of the blitzkrieg of France.
I also just read Waterloo by Andrew Roberts, Harper Collins, ISBN: 0-06-008866-4. I found it in the bargain bin. A good, if traditional, reading of the events of June 18th, 1815. I prefer Wellingtons Smallest Victory by Peter Hofschroer, faber and faber publishing. ISBN: 0-571-21768-0 but that's probably because I prefer revisionist history.

[maciej12]

I usually read WWII mag. but I recently got over 60 WWII books at an auction. They are all in perfect condition, and I paid $1.00 each for them. I don't even know all of the titles yet, but I have started reading the Time Life History of WWII. it is a big coffie table sized book. There is enough there to keep me reading for many years to come.

[Legbiter]

Armchair General is a definite read, and the Osprey books are also good. For a great read, get a copy of "An Army at Dawn" by Rick Atkinson. It is the first book of the "Liberation Trilogy" and takes you from the start of WWII through North Africa. Very well written and solid historically.......the next two books will complete a very readable history of the war.....

I agree about this being a superb book, but note that it starts with the Allied landing in North Africa. This took place in late 1942. The war started in 1939 in Europe, and in 1937 in China. So it does not take you from the start of WWII.

For a similarly-good book closer to the beginning of WW2 you could do worse than Lightning War: Blitzkrieg in the West, 1940 by Roland E Powaski.

[PatrickWR]

I've been caught up with Anthony Beevor's books: Stalingrad and the Fall of Berlin. Both are definitive sources on the topics.

I also picked up (but have not yet read) a brand-new volume about the average Red Army soldier, called Ivan's War. It's by Catherine Merridale, published in 2006. I paged through it and it looks absolutely amazing.

[Legbiter]

When I was a little boy I loved the Commando comics, which now have retro value and are being reissued, at least in the UK, Handsomely Bound and with thoughtful scholarly introductions. They are actually rather good, able to make the distinction between heroism and jingoism.

The same cannot be said for the Soviet propaganda books about Stalingrad which I lapped up at my Grandfather's house. The photos of naked Russian female soldiers rolling around in the snow may have had something to do with my enthusiasm, I suppose, but I brought away from those books a deep sense [which I still feel] that despite all their faults the Russians were very brave in world war 2, they were on the right side, and they were/are matchless storytellers. More recently my wife and other female friends have born home to me the Superiority of Russian Trousers. Russian trousers do not KICK ass. They accentuate, improve, ennoble ass. Ass is very important to women.

Now that I am apparently grown-up, at least on the outside, I find that the great wars fascinate me for two somewhat contradictory reasons.

First, I am ENTHRALLED by the amazing POWER and paradoxical beauty of the machinery of death. Aircraft are the noblest example of this IMO, followed by Armoured Cars. So any book about WW2 aircraft attracts me, and Kenneth Munson's colour encyclopaedia is my vade-mecum [old, wrong and boring as it often sadly is].

Second, the human drama and the unravelling of history. For this there is IMO no finer general source than War of the Century by my countryman Niall Ferguson. But the devil and the angel both are in the details. For these, I recommend Primo Levi's The Periodic Table and Rebecca West's The Meaning of Treason.

Anything else I like has already been covered by other posters. I do like Osprey books very much indeed, and have a complete collection of Russian Civil War titles. Just the other day I finally got round to BUYING Iraq: 1941. GREAT read, and still relevant.

[Photoner Hawkwind]

I still enjoy the Time Life Books collection for WWII.

Yes I did read them all!:eek:

[Predator666]

There was also a thick book about the Battle of Kursk I read. It was extremely large and explained in depth the beginning throught he battle to the end. I was only able to read half way through it before I had to return it but it was very well written. If I can get the exact title and the author I'll post it.

[Legbiter]

Hmmm, how did I forget Supreme Courage by General Sir Peter de la Billiere? Perhaps because by no means all Victoria Crosses were won in WW2. Anyway, NOW I remembered.

[FSSF]

When I was a little boy I loved the Commando comics, which now have retro value and are being reissued, at least in the UK, Handsomely Bound and with thoughtful scholarly introductions. They are actually rather good, able to make the distinction between heroism and jingoism.

Whoa...
I think that might be the comics from my childhood I've been trying to hunt down for so long? Did these came in digest format? I think I read a french translation of a commando comics when I was a young teenager. Do you have a link where I could find out more about these? :)

[J.L.Robert]

I can always look elsewhere on my bookshelf, and find:

The complete Time-Life series on The Third Reich
The Jane's guides to WWII ships and aircraft
The tried-and-true Encyclopedia of WWII (a collection of magazines, IIRC)
Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Biographies on Hitler, Stalin, or Mao
My Cornelius Ryan collection (1st Ed. h/b's of The Longest Day, A Bridge Too Far and The Last Battle)

[Surfer_Sam]

Time Traveller- By H.G. Wells
Uncle Tom's Cabin- By Harrite Beecher Stowe
The Victors- Steven Ambrose
Band of Brother- Steven Ambrose

Just some of them. I like reading classics.

[Above&BeyondtheCallofDuty]

I just looked at the site armchairgeneral.com. Is it a good periodical? It looks interesting.

I think I should buff up my WWII knowledge. I only know mostly about D-Day. XP

[RommeL BombeR 77]

armchair genral is a website for a magazine. You can pick it up at bookstores in the magazine sections. Or of course suscribe.

[Diamondback]

Books:
Anything from Osprey Publishing is good. I also tend to read a lot of commanders' autobiographies, even though ya gotta take some of what they say with a grain.

For research on aircraft, I favor the uber-expensive Jane's pubs, and ships I turn to Conway's (available here in USA from Naval Institute Press--super-expensive, but more data than you'll ever want to know.

Also, everytime I see something WWII in the bargain bin at Borders, Waldenbooks or Barnes & Noble, I buy it, just in case it might be good. (If it is, I've saved a bundle; if not, I haven't lost much. 2/3 off or more is a beautiful thing!)

Mags:
Armchair General, World War II, Military History and MHQ are all generally good. Also, the Military Book Club and Naval Institute Press catalogs. Just the catalogs give you an overview of what's available...

[Legbiter]

Whoa...
I think that might be the comics from my childhood I've been trying to hunt down for so long? Did these came in digest format? I think I read a french translation of a commando comics when I was a young teenager. Do you have a link where I could find out more about these? :)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Commando-Dirty-Dozen-Best-Books/dp/1844423077/ref=pd_ka_1/202-7613888-7303040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1172824078&sr=8-1

There is at least one other collection, of the TOUGHEST 12 commando books of all time. "Commando comic" is the Google search string I used.

[FSSF]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Commando-Dirty-Dozen-Best-Books/dp/1844423077/ref=pd_ka_1/202-7613888-7303040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1172824078&sr=8-1

There is at least one other collection, of the TOUGHEST 12 commando books of all time. "Commando comic" is the Google search string I used.

Thank you Legbiter.
I think I'll order one to see if this is what I was looking for.
If it's not, then it's still a good read no?

[Legbiter]

Thank you Legbiter.
I think I'll order one to see if this is what I was looking for.
If it's not, then it's still a good read no?

My pleasure! And I don't think you'll be disappointed even if it isn't what you read as a boy. The Commando comics have stood the test of time remarkably well, IMO.

[tragicmishap]

I just finished Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra by C.S. Lewis. I'll start on the last one of the space trilogy, That Hideous Strength as soon as I can tear myself away from http://www.astroempires.com, Call of Duty 2, BF1942 and BF2142. Hmmmm... probably never then.

[Y2UAsk]

Wow ... I read those so long ago, I remember nothing about them but the titles.

I usually have two books on the reading shelf at once -- a trashy SF/fantasy novel and some history. Anything on the German/Soviet war gets read eventually. WW2-wise, I especially like the work of Paul Carrell (Hitler Moves East, Hitler Moves West, Scorched Earth) and most any first-person accounts (Blazing Chariots, Company Commander, Panzer Leader, Fighting for the Soviet Motherland). Both Churchill's and Liddell-Hart's histories are also good reads.

Steve

[Sheppard1972]

At this time I am reading, THE WORLD WAR 2 DESK REFERENCE, with the Eisenhower Center for American Studies. It is dry reading but has a wealth of information and is great for time line reference.

[FSSF]

Well, looks like I'm all set for the week-end.
Just got my order from Amazon.ca this afternoon.
Boy! Are they fast or what?
Even with snowstorm in Montreal I got it in the same week I ordered it.

I got my two books on Infantry Tactics from Osprey (they look interesting enough Remember-OWS! I'll let you know after I read them) and two WWII movies DVD.
GO FOR BROKE! (about the 442nd Nisei Regiment, the most decorated regiment in the US army of WWII) and HELL IN THE PACIFIC with two of my favorite actors: Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune!

I'm all equiped for a great snowed-in week-end!
Plus, because of the snow storm schools are closed today (I'm a educator), so I get to start the week-end early!
Am I blessed or what?
If there wasn't for the storm I'd go out and buy lottery tickets!

[FSSF]

At this time I am reading, THE WORLD WAR 2 DESK REFERENCE, with the Eisenhower Center for American Studies. It is dry reading but has a wealth of information and is great for time line reference.

I have this one also.
Great (and thick) volume.
But it's not the kind of book that I will read from cover to cover.
It's more of a reference book.

[RommeL BombeR 77]

Sounds like a good weekend to me :)

[Y2UAsk]

About Osprey -- they're a nice introduction to a subject, and I have a shelf full of them myself, but they're not always produced to the highest historical standard. At least, that's been my experience. It's good to follow up an Osprey with something more authoritative on the subject.

That doesn't mean they get things wrong or are sloppy, though I have found out-and-out errors in some. Often it's their brevity that just causes important things to be skipped over or over-simplified to the point where it leaves a wrong impression in the reader. And many of them are top-notch.

I guess it boils down to, remember that you're getting the Readers' Digest version of history in an Osprey publication. Light, entertaining, often informative, but usually not the whole picture.

Steve

[Remember-OWS-]

About Osprey -- they're a nice introduction to a subject, and I have a shelf full of them myself, but they're not always produced to the highest historical standard. At least, that's been my experience. It's good to follow up an Osprey with something more authoritative on the subject.

That doesn't mean they get things wrong or are sloppy, though I have found out-and-out errors in some. Often it's their brevity that just causes important things to be skipped over or over-simplified to the point where it leaves a wrong impression in the reader. And many of them are top-notch.

I guess it boils down to, remember that you're getting the Readers' Digest version of history in an Osprey publication. Light, entertaining, often informative, but usually not the whole picture.

Steve


Well said YU2ask! I can agree more on that. That's why I told my old pal FSSF to be careful about Osprey.

[well_it_sounded_nice]

Ill read military history, or when I need WWII fix btween games Ill play Call Of duty 3 on Xbox live

[FSSF]

Well said YU2ask! I can agree more on that. That's why I told my old pal FSSF to be careful about Osprey.

Hiya buddy!
I just finished WORLD WAR II INFANTRY TACTICS - SQUAD AND PLATOON.
The main part of the book is about Squad formations and tactics and is interesting for the most part, although I already knew a lot of the info.
The second, much shorter part is about platoon-level builds and tactics was much less interesting, a bit on the arid side but since it didn't take too many pages in this already short book (like most Osprey volumes). There were a few pages about snipers which left me wanting for more but I did learn some new stuff.

I have yet to read the second book about WWII Infantry Tactics but it looks less interesting than the first.

[Legbiter]

About Osprey -- they're a nice introduction to a subject, and I have a shelf full of them myself, but they're not always produced to the highest historical standard. At least, that's been my experience. It's good to follow up an Osprey with something more authoritative on the subject.

That doesn't mean they get things wrong or are sloppy, though I have found out-and-out errors in some. Often it's their brevity that just causes important things to be skipped over or over-simplified to the point where it leaves a wrong impression in the reader. And many of them are top-notch.

I guess it boils down to, remember that you're getting the Readers' Digest version of history in an Osprey publication. Light, entertaining, often informative, but usually not the whole picture.

Steve

:) Bit like A&A minis, then!

Seriously, thanks for the health warning.

[grillcookr2]

ASMIC Trading Post rocks. I also like anything about the 82nd Airborne. I finished The All Americans in WWII and it was pretty good. Now it is on to two books by Bruce Canfield about the M-1 Garand. I'm thinking about a purchase and I don't mean a Base set miniature.

[grillcookr2]

If you are interested it is www.asmic.org

I am member #4233 so if you sign up show me some love.

[tragicmishap]

Wow ... I read those so long ago, I remember nothing about them but the titles.

Steve

I read them (The Space Trilogy) a long time ago too. My copies are really old. Decided it was time to read them again. Perelandra is still one of my all time faves. Do you read any other Lewis stuff?

[Kimblee_Clone]

Maybe this'll just make me sound like a nerd, but I like to crack open a history textbook in my spare time...

[Anubis]

Do any of you guys buy Osprey books? If yes, which do you recommend?


The only one worth getting, Afrika Korps. But they all are amazing.

[Mpedersen84]

ARMCHAIR GENERAL!!!!!!!!!! LOVE IT!!!!!!

The stackpole military series by Franz Kurowski is great, tha germans ones. Greenhill books has great alternate history books. SOLDAT, and Panzer Commander, by Dell WWII library, DC reference books, osprey, ha go to boarders and the military section, thats what I read!!

[Kaufschtick]

I could go on all night on this one.

-Anything by Cornelious Ryan
-Panzer Leader By Guderian was good
-Enemy At The Gates by William Craig was excellent
-Blood, Tears and Folly by Len Deighton was excellent
-History Of The Second World War by B.H. Liddell Hart may be unsurpassed
-The Battle For Guadalcanal by Samual B. Griffith II
-The Battle For North Africa by John Strawson
-Samuri! by Saburo Sakia w/ Martin Cadin and Fred Saito
-A Torch to The Enemy by Martin Cadin
-Black Thursday by Martin Cadin
-Zero by Masatake Okumiya and Jiro Horikoshi w/ Martin Cadin
-The First And The Last by Adolf Galland
-MIDWAY! Incredible Victory by Walter Lord
-Midway by Mitsuo Fuchida and Masatake Okumiya
-Raid At Dieppe by Quentin Reynolds
-Stuka Pilot by Hans Ulrich Rudel
-Anzio by Wynford Vaughan-Thomas
-Curahee! aka: As Eagles Screamed by Donald R. Burgett(506 PIR, 101 AB Div., A Company)
-Those Devils In Baggy Pants by Ross S. Carter (504 PIR, 82nd AB Div.)
-The Biggest Brother by Larry Alexander
-The Silent service by William C. Chambliss
-The Blond Knight Of Germany by Raymond F. Tolliver and Trevor J. Constable (Eric Hartman)
-U-Boats At War by Harald Busch
-Defeat At Sea by C.D. Bekker
-Wing Leader by Group Captain J.E. Johnson
-Wake Of The Wahoo by Forest J. Sterling
-The Greatest Raid Of All by C.E. Lucas Phillips (St. Nazaire)
-God Is My Co-Pilot by Robert L. Scott
-Thunderbolt by Robert S. Johnson
-The Big Show by Pierre Clostermann
-Bloody Aachen by Charles whiting (So-so)
-Decision In Normandy by Carlo D' Este
-Rommel's War In Africa by Wolf Heckmann



Ah, I can't go on any more right now. There is some damn good stuff there, though.

[Kimblee_Clone]

I liked "Weapons of World War Two" by John Kirk...

[Photoner Hawkwind]

Maybe this'll just make me sound like a nerd, but I like to crack open a history textbook in my spare time...

I'm not laughing 'cause I picked up my wife's Junior College history book and couldn't put it down. They are so much better than what we had to read in the 70's.:o

[Kimblee_Clone]

Whew, so I'm not the only one!

[carrion]

Read Sci-fi, fantasy, history almost anything just finished MIDNIGHT EXPRESS and I am now starting to read SHOGUN again. Also have THE HISTORY OF THE SECOND WAR, a six part volume, on my book shelf.

[hornet69]

i am currently reading The Moscow Option by David Browning.a alternative ww2 book .the plot is based on hitlers plane having a crash landing .and the fuhrer having a minorhaeorrages in the medulla and brain stem .So Goring takes over.germans capture ,moscow ,deal with malta (airborne drop and amphibous invasion).i could go on but i have not finnished the book yet

[101st_Airborne]

^sounds good, i read a book where hitler forgoed the blitz in favor of an amhibious invasion

[Kimblee_Clone]

I liked the book "Four Steps from Death". I don't remember the author, but it was a fictional account of a few made-up soldiers fighting in Stalingrad. There were two brothers who worked un panzer tanks, and a man and woman russian sniper team. They become engaged later in the book (the russians, not the brothers ;)), but they... well, I'll let you read it for yourselves...

[FiberGlassHazard]

What do I read for a WWII info fix?
Mostly Wikipedia, because of the ease...
But I do reference a number of books (Mostly Osprey) for WWII unit dream sheets I make.

Anyone every read "My Tank is Fight!"? I plan on getting that at some point... supposed to be full of experimental WWII weapons.

[Texas_Archer]

I"m a history major and I am going for my masters in MIlitary History. It is not an exaggeration to state I have about a thousand books pretaining to war and military operations. These are spread through the ages from the Ancient Greeks and Romans all the way to the current conflict in Iraq. War is very interesting to read about.

Some interesting books that I own:

1. 900 days, The Siege of Leningrad. (Very interesting as well as horrific, A must for someone who dosen't know much about the Eastern Front during WW II)
2. The Forgotten Soldier
3. Janes fighting ships of WW I and WW II
4. The Influence of Sea Power on History
5. The truth about Thermopolye
6. Constantinpole, the Final fall of Rome (1453)
7. Dirty Little Secrets of WW II (Very Cool Book)

[Kimblee_Clone]

Well, if we're counting the ancients, than add in "The Sword of Attila" by Micheal Curtis Ford. Historical Fiction recalling the brotherly relationship between Flavius Aeteus and Attila the Hun. Beautifully written, awesome attention to detail, while still keeping it interesting. 5/5.

[J.L.Robert]

Does anyone else own a copy of Willi Heinrich's The Willing Flesh (aka Cross of Iron)?