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Posts: 1933 Location: England Medals: 35 Gaming Profile

Post your reviews of books concerning warfare here.

I have an extensive library and I will do my best to pick out and review the ones I consider to be the best.

First up a book I finished last night.

'Iron Coffins' - Herbert A. Werner

A superb easy read. Well written and translated (even the poems rhyme!).

A personal account by a U-Boat Captian who survived the war (but only just!). Very thrilling and a real page turner. Brings home how difficult the U-Boat war got for the Germans by 1943. U-Boat losses were staggering! Goes into detail about how the Germans tried to stay one step ahead of the Allies technologically but which ended in dismal failure.

This book is a light read suitable for all ages... although it is very gritty in places. One part that sticks in my mind is his description of it being so cold that the spray from the sea turned instantly to ice before falling back. It must have been hellish to have been on watch during sea conditions which he describes in great detail.

A true Hero's story told by the Hero himself. Thoroughly recommended.

ISBN: 0304353302

Posts: 1933 Location: England Medals: 35 Gaming Profile

"The Forgotten Soldier" - Guy Sajer

This is without a doubt the most incredible piece of literature to come out of the Eastern Front, perhaps even the entire Second World War.

Written by a Frenchman with a German mother. He joined the Wehrmacht and found himslef in bitter conditions as part of a transport unit on the Eastern front. After going through ordeals where some of his fellows chose suicide over suffering further, he eventually joined the Grossdeutschland Division. He then saw some of the fiercest action against the Red Army.

A really lengthy account, this book goes into great detail and you feel his elation and desperation. In fact this book is so incredible that there is a small community of people who claim it is a false account. But read it for yuorself and ask yourself whether you think someone could make up such an amazing story.

What sticks in my mind about this book is a fact that Sajer repeats a number of times: If you think you've got it bad, then remember this story and you'll realise just how bad it can get. And you aren't even close!

This book deals well with the physical and psycological effects of prolonged exposure to bitter fighting. What this book did for me was take all vestiges of glory out of warfare. The irony is that it is apparant that you are more alive the closer you are to death. It seems that when you stop taking life for granted you appreciate life that little bit more. But I imagine this comes as scant reward for the fear and deprivation that most frontline soldiers experience.

A long but rewarding read. The No.1 War Book IMHO. My top recommendation.... should be on your list of 10 things to do before you die. Wink

ISBN: 0080374379

A history of the German tank Divisions in World War II

PanzerKrieg

The Epic story of the German figthing machines and the men of the Panzerwaffe

The Panzer's achievements in battle were largely responsible for Germany's early run of success in the second World War. Once the tide of war begun to turn against the reuch, they became the backbone of its defence.

in this fast-paced and action-packed narrative the dramatic story of Hitler's tank divisions is brought to life - their evolution,exploits and eventual destruction, agaunst a backdrop of the vast cavas of the war. In Layman's terms the authors give a clear and succinct overview of all respects of the subject, both human and technical. There is special emphasis given to the men wgo fought in and led the Panzer divisions: great generals like Guderian, Rommel and Manstein, tank aces like Wittmann and Bake, and inspired commanders like Balck and bayerlein. ith new information available since the opening of Cold War archives and benefiting from the most recent scholarship, this comprehensive account sheds new light on old controversies and misconceptions and leads to original conclusions on the adventure on the achievements,failures and ultimate legacy of the panzer

'The authers. . . have shown us very clearly what a powerful inflience [Germany's armoured] divisions had on all the thretres of war where they were engaged"

Posts: 1933 Location: England Medals: 35 Gaming Profile

Das Boot

By Lothar Gunther Buchheim

I have just finished this book and on the whole, I enjoyed it immensely. This is the book that the TV series was based upon. Having watched the Directors Cut film of the TV series I have to say it follows it quite faithfully, although readers of the book will enjoy a much more interesting ending.

This is a hefty book and to the novice reader will present quite a challenge. Buchheim, being an artist, loves his embellished descriptions of sea states and cloud formations.... but I feel that, whilst this can drag a bit, it does give a good feeling for what it must have been like on watch with the only two things you see for days on end being the sea, the sky and precious little else.

For me the salient point that Buchheim drives home is the fact that what these guys did was incredibly dangerous..... the effects that a sustained depth charge attack could have on the nerves of even the toughest of veterans was quite disturbing. Another point driven home by the author is just how reliant the crew is on the Captain or 'Kauleun' as he is called in 'Das Boot'. The crew hang on his every word and decision. In one tight situation all it took to make things seem helpless was just one word from the Kauleun, 'Sorry'.

As this book is based upon the experiences the Author had onboard U-96 during one patrol in late 1942, it comes across as a very believable account focusing as much, if not more, on the failures of U-Boat Command as its successes. I have read elsewhere that the entire account is factual apart from the ending which is fictional.

This book comes highly recommended... but might not suit those looking for stories of blood and bullets (although there is some intense action).

7.5/10

Hey, i dont have any reviews written up but if i could recommend two books:

"Fighting for the Soviet Motherland" by Dimitry Loza

and

"Panzer Commander The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck" by Col. Hans von Luck

both are very good books with an extrenious amount of detail in both.

Posts: 16 Location: GBG[SWE] Medals: 1 Gaming Profile

Stalingrad by Anthony Bevor, Final battle of Berlin (something like that) by The same author. The autobio written by Albert Speer about him self. A book written by a couple of Swedish authours called in Swedish "Avgörande ögonblick" If any Swede can translate that I would be grateful.

But both of the Bevor-books kick ass. They are SO good...I can recomend them with out a doubt Cool

Posts: 59 Location: Sweden Medals: 4 Gaming Profile

Posts: 268 Location: New York Medals: 7 Gaming Profile

Not a ww2 book but one of my favorite books of all:

For Whom the Bell tolls - Earnest Hemingway
-if you havent read this one yet, its about love and revolution in early 1900 Spain through the eyes of an American spanish teacher.

Some others (i have a problem, i can never read just one book at once):
The German Generals Talk - B.H. Liddell Hart
-Explains how the war looked from the german generals viewpoint.

The Tigers are Burning - Not sure the author atm Razz

-havent gotten to this one yet, but my father recommended it to me

The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors - James D Hornfischer
-Account of U.S. Naval victory off Samar, 1944

The Rising Sun - John Toland
-the rise and fall of the Japanese Empire from 1936-1945

im going to buy The Forgotten Soldier right now your review was excellent Very Happy

Last edited by Rush on Tue Jun 21, 2005 1:38 am; edited 1 time in total

I have an extensive library full of books about military history in general and Second World War. I can recommend a lot of books:

"Hitler's U-Boat War" by Clay Blair (2 volumes)

An excellente and full of details book about the German submarine warfare against USA and UK. About 1600 pages of tech details, some photos and lots of convoy battles and lone wolves. Detais about German codebreakers (B-dienst) and the succesful decypher of Enigma machine by Americans and British (Ultra and Magic). The wolfpack tactics and Dönitz strategy.

"Panzer General" by Heinz Guderian

Guderian's autobiography. Really nice account of the early blizkrieg success against Poles and French and the terrible battles in the Russian winter. Guderian´s role as Inspetor of Armoured Troops

"Ascension and Fall of the Third Reich" by William S. Shirer

The full history of the Nazi Germany

"Russia's War" by Richard Overy

The history of the Great Patriotic War. How the German Army was defeated by sheer numbers

"Penguin's History of the Second World War"

A short history of the Second World War. The best part is the Pacific War

"The Second World War" by Winston Churchill

I dont need to say anything about this book. This is a must-have

Posts: 2352 Location: Sweden Medals: 70 Gaming Profile

I have 5 Volumes of Clay Blair concerning the U-boat war. Do you have 2 extra thick books Rush?

Posts: 2352 Location: Sweden Medals: 70 Gaming Profile

Ah, ok, that explains it Smile

Posts: 803 Location: Holland Medals: 15 Gaming Profile

funny we talked about that yesterday, im now seriously start to think about reading a book or two.

from the reviews of Nayles im surely going to get my hands on those books.

I already have a book ordered atm, called: De Verloren Zonen (The Lost Sons).

dutch tolled me its about the guys of the French Foreign Legion, how they joined up, and fought feircly around the world.

funny about the previeuw on the back on the website it says that ex-SS and ex-polish resistance fighters are fighting sight by sight. supposefly earlier enemy nr 1.

Posts: 3960 Location: Brazil Medals: 79 Gaming Profile

Two books I recomend:

GRANDFATHER´S TALE ( TIMOTHY ERENBERGER)

A tale of a german sniper from 1939 untill the Berlins fall.An increduble Story about sniper rules.Even being a Tale they mixed it with real facts during WW2.

ISBN 0-595-16462-5

Panzer Tactics( Wolfgang)

This is the best book for whom loves tank warfare.Pictures, scretches about tactics and histories about battles around WW2. I trully recomend for tankwarfare lovers.

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