THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP discussion

This thread is for members to post details about books you are waiting for to be released/published in 2016 or books you intend to read in 2016. Your recommendations are bound to help other members fill their TBR shelves!

Two books for me in 2016 will be:

Snow and Steel: The Battle of the Bulge, 1944-45 by Peter Caddick-Adams

which I purchased a couple months ago.

Auchinleck: A Critical Biography by John Connell

which has been on my shelf, unread, for about 15 years.

I have a few I'd sure would like to get into for 2016.

Copenhagen

Michael Frayn

To Hell and Back: Europe 1914-1949

Ian Kershaw

In the Wolf's Mouth: A Novel

Adam Foulds

Some excellent titles being listed already!

I am hopefully that you really enjoy Snow and Steel. I think it is close to being one of the best books that I have read on the Ardennes offensive so far.

by Cornelius Ryan would be my choice.

Doreen wrote: " by Cornelius Ryan would be my choice."

Good one, Doreen.

The library just got this one for me on an ILL. It is not due till 9 Jan, so it will probably be my first read for the new year :)



They also got



for me, but that is due 9 Nov, so it will be my next read.

happy wrote: "The library just got this one for me on an ILL. It is not due till 9 Jan, so it will probably be my first read for the new year :)



They also..."

Happy: I have Hugh Sebag-Montefiore's --

Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man

yet to be read, but Thompson's looks good.

another one for the TBR :)

I have a few of those Dunkirk titles mentioned and alas they are yet to be read as well :)

Well already a stack of books for me to think about.

I would like to read these next year, the first a new release and the second on my shelves already:

Invasion Syria, 1941: Churchill and de Gaulle's Forgotten War by Henri De Wailly

Heinrich Himmler by Peter Longerich

Geevee wrote: "Well already a stack of books for me to think about.

I would like to read these next year...: Invasion Syria, 1941

Second that and add The Cover-Up at Omaha Beach: D-Day, the US Rangers, and the Untold Story of Maisy Battery IF it's not conspiracy bull like "killing Patton", maybe Dawn Attack: The Battle of Narvik, April 1940 if I haven't had my fill of Scandinavia and one that Jerome mentioned elsewhere: All Behind You, Winston: The Secret Life of Churchill's War Ministry.

To be honest tough, I'm foremost going to do so much Verdun & the Somme books next year in preparation for walking the fields.

Aside from the stack of FDR books on order, I think I'll cast a vote for Invasion Syria ... am particularly interested in free French vs Vichy forces

The book on Syria looks good Geevee, maybe one I need to follow up on!

Good idea Dimitri on reading a few Somme and Verdun books. Slightly off topic but have you seen the new release by Andrew Roberts on the Somme:

by Andrew Roberts

Plus this January 2016 release:

by Keith Jeffery

One of my favorite authors, Rick Atkinson, has stepped away from WWII. Does anyone have any news regarding how he might be progressing with his new project, the Revolutionary War? I've googled several times but have come up empty other than the many announcements of his new focus.

Pamela wrote: "Aside from the stack of FDR books on order, I think I'll cast a vote for Invasion Syria ... am particularly interested in free French vs Vichy forces"

It was different enough I dropped it into my TBR list.

Chad wrote: "One of my favorite authors, Rick Atkinson, has stepped away from WWII. Does anyone have any news regarding how he might be progressing with his new project, the Revolutionary War? I'..."

I think he has a few more years to go on his work for the Revolutionary War. It may be sometime till we hear something but like many I'm looking forward to his next book, however long that may be :)

For next year I would really like to try and find the time to read this quite large (and heavy!) WW2 book:

Barbarossa Unleashed the German Blitzkrieg Through Central Russia to the Gates of Moscow June-December 1941 by Craig W.H. Luther

I would also like to try and make a start on the Stalingrad trilogy by Glantz.

by David M. Glantz

I will try to read this book. It has been sitting on the shelf for too long.

Nazi Germany: A New History

The othe one might be Warlord: A Life of Winston Churchill at War, 1874-1945

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "The book on Syria looks good Geevee, maybe one I need to follow up on!

Good idea Dimitri on reading a few Somme and Verdun books. Slightly off topic but have you seen the new release by Andrew Rob..."

It's been mentioned around here, right ? Hopefully, it offers something fresh and improved upon Middlebrook's First Day. Andrew Roberts is a selling point in himself.

Here are a few I'd like to read in 2016:

The Pianist: The Extraordinary Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-45 by Władysław Szpilman
Avenue of Spies: A True Story of Terror, Espionage, and One American Family's Heroic Resistance in Nazi-Occupied Paris by Alex Kershaw
Quartered Safe Out Here by George MacDonald Fraser
A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France by Caroline Moorehead
Donovan's Devils: OSS Commandos Behind Enemy Lines—Europe, World War IIDonovan's Devils: OSS Commandos Behind Enemy Lines—Europe, World War II by Albert Lulushi

A.L. wrote: "Here are a few I'd like to read in 2016:

[book:The Pianist: The Extraordinary Story of One Man's Sur..."

A. L. -- I endorse strongly MacDonald Fraser's book.

Manray9, I think your recommendation from a while ago is why it's on my to-read list! It's about time I got around to reading it.

Me too on Manray9's recommendation A.L., one of the best first person accounts I have read on Burma and any war in my opinion.

Sounds like I need to read it soon!

I also have that one lurking on my shelf, waiting to be read. 2016 could see it done.

I would like to read more on the Hurtgen Forest and also the Colmar region and Aachen. I have these on my list for 2016:


Hell in Hurtgen Forest: The Ordeal and Triumph of an American Infantry Regiment by Robert S. Rush

Aachen: The U.S. Army's Battle for Charlemagne's City in World War II by Robert W Baumer

Eisenhower's Thorn on the Rhine: The Battles for the Colmar Pocket, 1944-45 by Nathan B. Prefer

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "I would like to read more on the Hurtgen Forest and also the Colmar region and Aachen. I have these on my list for 2016:


[bookcover:Hell in Hurtgen Forest: The Ordeal and Triumph of an American I..."

I read a book on the Hurtgen Forest many years ago and can't recall the title. I think it was a Ballentine paperback.

I've read a few on the Hurtgen. I think the two best were MacDonald's




and Miller's

I have also been tossing up whether to get a copy of this book:


The Bloody Forest by Gerald Astor

I have enjoyed nearly all his other WW2 titles so maybe I should add a copy to my library :)

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "I would like to read more on the Hurtgen Forest and also the Colmar region and Aachen. I have these on my list for 2016:

Can this be of assistance ? A criticital historiography of the Hürtgen.

http://members.aeroinc.net/breners/bu...

Aachen: The U.S. Army's Battle for Charlemagne's City in World War II is not perfect, but apart from Charles Whiting's Bloody Aachen there is little to choose from ( far as I know ). I am so tossing that tactically muddled, Vietnam-flavoured brass-bashing Hürtgen work of his out of my case.

Good link Dimitri, I will have to take some time to read through the article.

happy wrote: "I've read a few on the Hurtgen. I think the two best were MacDonald's




[bookcover:A Dark and Bloody Ground: The Hürtgen Forest and the Roer ..."

Happy I think the first book you recommend was originally published as one of the US Army Green Books. Is this right? If it isn't quite the same I can only assume MacDonald adapted it from his original text.

That is some article. The trouble is that for all his reasoning, there is nothing to prove his point of view is the right one. He wants it to be because he believes it is. Frankly, I do not think there is a definitive answer, except that lots of men died in that forest.

I just another one I would like to read since my grandfather was involved in this battle. Battle of Leyte Gulf

Astor's book on The Battle of the Huertgen Forest is excellent--I highly recommend it!

Living and working in Southeast Asia, it's not always easy to find the books I want to read, so returning from the US a couple weeks ago, I took advantage of Amazon and a number of great used book stores to get some great reads for this year. I was really in the mood for some aviation books, included are:









Between a great used book store in Bangkok and an individual selling some good titles over craigslist, in the last week I've also acquired:











These should keep me busy for the year.

Wow, James, you picked up a slew of great books!

I knew Erich Hartmann and Saburo Sakai quite well. You may want to see some of my titles from my interviews with great WW II pilots also.

Hi Colin, thanks for your input. I added The Star of Africa: The Story of Hans Marseille, the Rogue Luftwaffe Ace Who Dominated the WWII Skies to my list of books to get.

James wrote: "Living and working in Southeast Asia, it's not always easy to find the books I want to read, so returning from the US a couple weeks ago, I took advantage of Amazon and a number of great used book ..."

Good haul and happy reading.
I hear you about finding books, last time I went stateside I bought so many books I had to box them up and mail them..

James wrote: "Hi Colin, thanks for your input. I added The Star of Africa: The Story of Hans Marseille, the Rogue Luftwaffe Ace Who Dominated the WWII Skies to my list of books to get."

I think you may enjoy it. We have received great reviews, and we have some film interest also.

Hi James ! I was in Bangkok for 8 years until moving back to the USA 2 years ago. Have been on an Amazon book-buying binge ever since


James wrote: "Living and working in Southeast Asia, it's not always easy to find the books I want to read, so returning from the US a couple weeks ago, I took advantage of Amazon and a number of great used book ..."

Anyone read this The Lost Airman: A True Story of Escape from Nazi Occupied France



Good reviews. thinking about picking this one up

Good one, Michal, added TBR.

This thread inspired me to create a '2016' shelf, in the vain hope of limiting my purchases to new releases and it contains quite a bit of WWII by now:

The Battle of the Bulge: The German View by Danny S. Parker

Released 2 days ago , but the same book seems to be sheduled for August and Danny S. Parker's bibliography seems to contain the same book 4 times; he did write only ONE book about the German side of the Bulge right ??

https://www.goodreads.com/author/list...


Paras: Voices of the British Airborne Forces in the Second World War by Roger Payne

At War on the Gothic Line: Fighting in Italy, 1944-45 by Christian Jennings

Karl Doenitz and the Last Days of the Third Reich by Barry Turner

Dawn Attack: The Battle of Narvik, April 1940by Alf Jacobsen

The Defeat of the Luftwaffe: The Eastern Front 1941-45, a Strategy for Disaster by Jonathan Trigg

Pearl Harbor: From Infamy to Greatness by Craig Nelson

and Rear Admiral Paul Auphan's reprinted account of the French Navy, which is already mentioned in the New Release topic and elsewhere.

Some good books there Dimitri. I have a copy of that book on Doenitz and the books on the Gothic Line and Narvik may end up on my wish list as well :)

happy wrote: "The library just got this one for me on an ILL. It is not due till 9 Jan, so it will probably be my first read for the new year :)





Thanks for pairing these. Since I found out "the men they left behind" is about the cordon at Dunkirk and Thompson writes more about the 1940 campaign as a whole, they look like worthwhile companions to Dunkirk: Fight To The Last Man by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore rather than the same Dunkirk evacuation story three times over.

Dimitri wrote: "happy wrote: "The library just got this one for me on an ILL. It is not due till 9 Jan, so it will probably be my first read for the new year :)
[bookcover:Dunkirk - The Men They Left Behind|695374..."

Dimitri: I have a copy of Sebag-Montefiore's book too. I haven't read it yet, but it looks a winner.

These are just a few WW2 books that I would like to try and read this year:


Aachen: The U.S. Army's Battle for Charlemagne's City in World War II by Robert W Baumer

The Battle of Midway by Craig L. Symonds

Invasion Syria, 1941: Churchill and de Gaulle's Forgotten War by Henri De Wailly

War at the End of the World: Douglas MacArthur and the Forgotten Fight For New Guinea, 1942-1945 by James P. Duffy

The Sword Behind the Shield: A Combat History of the German Efforts to Relieve Budapest 1945 - Operation 'Konrad' I, III, III by Norbert Szamveber