Recommended reading on the USA 1919-1945

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Marcus
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Recommended reading on the USA 1919-1945

#1

Post by Marcus » 19 Aug 2009, 19:37

The idea of this sticky is to collect recommendations on good books dealing with the USA during the 1919-1945 period.

Please post the title, author and a short (or long) explanation as to why you feel that particular title deserves to be included.

/Marcus


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Robert Rojas
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RE: Recommended Reading On The U.S.A. (1919-1945)

#2

Post by Robert Rojas » 21 Aug 2009, 08:19

Greetings to Chairman Wendel, his august lieutenants and the community as a whole. Howdy Marcus! Well sir, in light of your introductory posting of Wednesday - August 19, 2009 - 6:37pm, old Uncle Bob would like to recommend the following work of literature for your readerships perusal. The work of literature in question is entitled as IN OUR IMAGE: America's Empire In The Philippines. The author of this literary work is Stanley Karnow and the publisher is Ballantine Books (a division of Random House) in New York City. The publishing year is 1990 and the ISBN is 0-345-32816-7. It is my contention (rightly OR wrongly) that ANY study involving the role of the United States of America in the Pacific War would inevitably involve the relationship that existed between the United States of America and its principal extraterritorial possession in the Pacific Rim - THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES. Much of America's political and military pre-war strategy in the Pacific Rim gravitated around this far-flung archipelago. The Philippine archipelago was also the scene of the greatest defeat of American arms during the course of the Second World War. Hyperbole notwithstanding, the United States Army's defeat on the Bataan peninsula was nearly as epic as the Wehrmacht's catastrophe at Stalingrad. Finally, courtesy of the machinations of General Douglas MacArthur of course, the ultimate liberation of THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES developed an ideological life all of its own. Comparatively speaking, the liberation of the Philippine archipelago was tantamount to liberating an actual State of the American Union if such an actual state had been conquered and subjugated by the minions of the Imperial Japanese Empire. And after all was said and done, the United States of America granted independence to the now REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES of July 04, 1946. The rest, as some would say, is history. Well, that's my initial two cents worth on this literary topic of interest - for now anyway. As always, I would like to bid you an especially copacetic day over in the ever bucolic Kingdom of Sweden.

Best Regards,
Uncle Bob :idea: :) :wink: 8-)
"It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it" - Robert E. Lee


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Re: Recommended reading on the USA 1919-1945

#3

Post by bil » 21 Aug 2009, 09:01

1919,by John Dos Pasos It gives a view of the US that does not always jibe with the history books,sort of a look at the underbelly no one wanted to admit.Actual events fictionalised with a broken writing pattern.Next... The Teapot Dome Scandal,by Laton McCartney.The story of how Warren G Harding was elected in a rigged election,and how big oil conspired to take the Naval Reserves virtually for free.Bribery,murder,and scoundrels in control.Then how it was uncovered and exposed.At that time,this sort of stuff was frowned upon.A good read,well documented,many footnotes.A look at the times just before the big bust,it makes an easy comparison to today,although the book stays away from making any such comparison. ---bil

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RE: Recommended Reading On The U.S.A. (1919-1945)

#4

Post by Robert Rojas » 27 Sep 2009, 07:04

Greetings to Chairman Wendel, his august lieutenants and the community as a whole. Howdy Marcus! Well sir, as an addendum to my posting of Friday - August 21, 2009 - 7:19am, old Uncle Bob would like to recommend the following work of literature as a historical supplement to Stanley Karnow's publication entitled as IN OUR IMAGE: America's Empire In The Philippines. That historical supplement is entitled as TEARS IN THE DARKNESS: The Story Of The Bataan Death March And It's Aftermath. The authors (plural) are Michael Norman and Elizabeth M. Norman. The publisher is Farrar, Strauss and Giroux of New York. The publishing year is 2009 and the ISBN (plural) are 13: 978-0-374-27260-9 and 10: 0-374-2760-3. The literary work entitled as TEARS IN THE DARKNESS offers a stark expose of the fate of the survivng members of the American armed forces who surrendered to the Imperial Japanese Army after their ignominous defeat on the Bataan peninsula in the month of April in the year of 1942. This is a must read for every member of the Axis History Forum's rather extensive American constituency. Well, that's my latest two Yankee cents worth on this literary topic of interest - for now anyway. As always, I would like to bid you an especially copacetic day over in the ever bucolic Kingdom of Sweden.

Best Regards,
Uncle Bob :idea: :|
"It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it" - Robert E. Lee

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Re: Recommended reading on the USA 1919-1945

#5

Post by karlik » 23 May 2010, 20:30

Hi!
Tell me please anyone ever seen this book
M3A1 White Scout Car - Armor Walk Around No. 20
Image

I wonder whether there is in this book color profiles and/or line drawings of predecessors of M3 - M1/T7, M2/T9, T13 Scout cars
Best regards!

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Re: Recommended reading on the USA 1919-1945

#6

Post by OpanaPointer » 23 May 2010, 20:45

Many freebies at http://www.archive.org/
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Re: Recommended reading on the USA 1919-1945

#7

Post by Trackhead M2 » 09 Apr 2012, 20:41

Dear MW,
I have a lot of books we could discuss. A short list you can find commerically are Balkoskis' Beyond the Beachead, a history of the US 29th INF DIV, Jensen's Strike Swiftly, a history of the US 70th TNK BAT, and Darby's We Led the Way, a history of the US Army Rangers.
Strike Swiftly,
TH-M2

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Re: Recommended reading on the USA 1919-1945

#8

Post by OpanaPointer » 09 Apr 2012, 21:46

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Re: Recommended reading on the USA 1919-1945

#9

Post by john becktel » 22 Jul 2012, 19:24

I'll add some old classics that i found very interesting.

diplomatic


the challenge to isolation 1937 - 1940
the undeclared war 1940 - 1941

the 2 volume work by william l langer and s everett gleason
published for the council on foreign relations by harper & brothers new york 1952 & 1953

langer taught history at harvard and gleason at amherst before the war. during the war both worked in washington for the oss then langer as special assistent to secretary of state and gleason to intelligence staff of jcs. sources for this work are state dept files, private papers of cabinet officers and diplomats and post war records of foreign countries. if i had only one source covering the run up to the war (excluding domestic issues), this would be it.


churchill - roosevelt - stalin the war they waged and the peace they sought

herbert feis
princeton university press 1967

perhaps the most important us foreign policy objective from 1941 to 1945 was to build and hold together an anti-nazi coalition and direct its resources to winning the war. this is a comprehensive examination of the actions of the members of that coalition on the grand strategic level.

military

the united states army in world war II (the 'green books')

there are a dozen sub series with 50 - 55 books in total i believe.
one can spend half of a long lifetime doing them all in some order or pick and choose campaign books as a mood strikes.
published by the office of the chief of military history department of the army from shortly after the war till late 70's. outstanding work by outstanding authors for the most part.

a fault is a lack of critical analysis of command actions/inactions e.g., how does one apportion blame/credit among eisenhower, bradley, montgomery et. al. as the falaise gap failed to close promptly; or among alexander, montgomery, patton et. al. when the germans were pushed from sicily into italy to fight again instead of rounded up and captured near messina.

naval

history of united states naval operations in world war II


15 volumes
samuel eliot morison
little, brown and company 1947 - 1960

like the green books, one can read them in the authors volume order of pick and choose topics, since each volume is for the most part topic(s) specific.

morison was 'embedded' in the navy by way of fdr's influence (by way of morison's lobbying) to capture and finally to write the naval operational history while the corpse was still warm, so to speak, without too much regard for future interpretation of the 'overall'. he entered as captain and retired as rear admiral and was afloat for some combat encounters.

the 'embedding' had the unfortunate result in a few instances of twisting historical objectivity - a reader may be shocked by a few references to 'the japs . . .' and by 1 or 2 'we/they . . .' statements. but otherwise he is very readable and quite accurate. and he does not shy from pretty right on criticism, e.g., halsey at leyte or spruance at the philippine sea.

us society

war and society: the united states, 1941 - 1945

richard polenberg
j b lippincott company 1972

excellent book in 'critical periods of history' series. touches on economy & economic regulation, civil & equal rights, relocation centers, the diminishing new deal and final emergence from the depression and other home front issues.

no ordinary time - franklin & eleanor roosevelt:the home front in world war II

doris kearns goodwin
simon & schuster 1994

as i put this list together i put this book in, then took it out, then put it in . . . so now it's in. it probably contains more about fdr and eleanor's lives then the average war reader may want to get into, but it offers a wonderful view of the home front from the top of an exciting capital in an exciting time. a pulitzer prize for history.

"the good war" an oral history of world war two

studs terkel
ballantine books new york 1984

this is an oral history of how the 'little people' lived their lives at home. can be read on the bus or subway.

[/u]

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Re: Recommended reading on the USA 1919-1945

#10

Post by OpanaPointer » 25 Jul 2012, 14:48

I agree with the ones I've read, which is most of them. Good list.

BTW, the Army Green Books can be found free online at http://www.history.army.mil/html/booksh ... llect.html
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Re: Recommended reading on the USA 1919-1945

#11

Post by Andy H » 18 Sep 2014, 13:44

Hi

A must for anyone interested in the 'Bigger Picture' is Mark Stoler's excellent work Allies and Adversaries (The Joint Chiefs of Staff, The Grand Alliance and US Strategy in WW2), Published by North Carolina Press 2000

The book charts the development of US civil-military relations, the expansion of the US military not just on the battlefield but within the sphere of foreign policy planning and the broader spectrum of national security policy. How strategy and policy became indvisable despite the many turf wars fought between various Government Departments. The change from a continental defence policy to a truly global one is also discussed against the ever changing relationships with its 3 closest friends/rivals (UK, USSR & China). Stoler takes a good look at the British Empire and how the US had several different and often contradictory policies relating to it. The demands and restictions on the US by its friendship with USSR, inc its 'appeasement' from 1944 onwards in particular, are freely discussed. As indeed is the US's misplaced importance upon China and its future relations with the US.

Regards

Andy H

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Re: Recommended reading on the USA 1919-1945

#12

Post by USS ALASKA » 07 Apr 2016, 04:10

All the Factors of Victory - Adm Joseph Mason Reeves and the Origins of Carrier Airpower by Thomas Wildenberg.

Black Shoe Adm born in 1872. Got his aviation qual in 1925. Greatly helped develop USN carrier tactics through his leadership during numerous pre-war Fleet Problems. Foundation of why USN aviation did so well in WWII.

Cheers,
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Re: Recommended reading on the USA 1919-1945

#13

Post by OpanaPointer » 10 Apr 2016, 19:58

I served aboard USS Reeves '81-'83.
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Re: Recommended reading on the USA 1919-1945

#14

Post by OpanaPointer » 10 Apr 2016, 20:00

Redundant/
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Re: Recommended reading on the USA 1919-1945

#15

Post by USS ALASKA » 18 Apr 2016, 15:13

OpanaPointer wrote:I served aboard USS Reeves '81-'83.
Sir - was this in the beginning / middle / or end of your career?

USS ALASKA

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