What is everyone reading on WW2?

[Sheldrake]

Gunners in Normandy: The History of the Royal Artillery in North-west Europe, January 1942 to August 1944, Baldwin and Townend (2020). A thoroughgoing treatment of Anglo-Canadian artillery in Normandy. I've dipped into a few chapters, particularly Greenline and Pomegranate. The authors won't win any prizes as prose stylists and the copy editing leaves something to be desired but the book provides lots of information that fleshes out Hart's Colossal Cracks.

Oh and the maps are colour photos, a bit small but the relief is picked out very well.

Dreadful book. Will wrote the middle 12 chapters, so I will sideswerve the criticism of the writing style but will take the hit on copy errors (If you have a list we will put out some errata.) . I am particularly proud of chapters 22-25.

[Attrition]

I'll start a list of typos and pass them on. ;O)

[colhot]

Hi

has anyone read this book "Operation Market Garden: September 1944-Simon Forty, Tom Timmermans". I have a lot of books on Arnhem but is this just ANOTHER book on the subject rehashing old theories or is there substantial new information?

Thanks

Colin

[Hans1906]

Good afternoon,

I bought the book "Ein Leben für die Jugend" - Mädelführerin im Dritten Reich" on a local flea market not long ago.

Asked price for the book was 2,50 Euro, interesting work, many photos, worth reading.

Jutta Rüdiger / Wikipedia (D) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jutta_Rüdiger


Hans1906

Strange photos in the book, most of them never online before...

[Hans1906]

Good afternoon,

got a copy of a german book about Franz Pfeffer von Salomon a few days ago: (10,- Euro)

Mark A. Fraschka
Franz Pfeffer von Salomon
- Hitlers vergessener Oberster SA-Führer -
Wallstein Verlag, (Out of print)

"The political career of Franz Pfeffer von Salomon offers a new perspective on the early history of National Socialism"

"For almost four years, Franz Pfeffer von Salomon (1888-1968) was one of Adolf Hitler's closest collaborators. Who was this man who already made a name for himself throughout the Reich in 1919 as Freikorpsführer and in 1926, after only one year of personal acquaintance with Hitler, rose to become his Oberster SA-Führer?
What led the leader of the "Westphalian Freikorps von Pfeffer" to Hitler and the National Socialists from 1923? What influence and what effect did he have on the development of the SA and the NSDAP until his expulsion from the party in 1941? And what were the reasons why he did not become a political factor after his resignation as Supreme SA Leader? What continuities and insights determined his thoughts and actions after 1945?
Mark A. Fraschka sheds light for the first time on an extraordinary biography which, almost completely overlooked by research to this day, moved almost permanently into the "blind spots" of 20th century German history"

Link: https://www.wallstein-verlag.de/9783835 ... lomon.html

F. Pfeffer von Salomon / Wikipedia (G) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Pfeffer_von_Salomon


Hans1906

[JeroenPollentier]

John Toland: But not in shame - the six months after Pearl Harbour.

[Tamari]

Hello to all of you,

I'm reading Roderick Bailey's: „The wildest province. SOE in the land of the eagle”, Vintage Books, London 2009.

https://www.amazon.com/-/de/dp/18459507 ... 466&sr=8-1

I came across the topic of SOE in Albania while I had worked with the British National Archive file KV-2-752 of Fred Hermann Brandt. Brandt was a Baltic-German former butterfly researcher and Brandenburger whose assignment on behalf of Abwehr II was to foment trouble in the Afghan-Indian border region, later on he was deployed to Albania where he led a troop of Tajiks (remenants of the Caucasus-based Operation Schamyl or Sonderkommando Lange named after Hauptmann Erhard Lange) against the Albanian communist partisans under Enver Hoxha.

Fred Brandt had three peaceful meetings with his British counterparts of SOE under the command of Wing-Commander Tony Neel before he defected to the SOE and was transfered to Bari/ Italy.

The book shows in detail the difficile ethnic and political division in Albania and how difficult the situation for the different SOE-teams was reagarding bad weather, rough terrain and a lot of inter-resistance rivalries.

The author mentioned also that SOE's operation had helped to some extent to bring Enver Hoxhas communists to power and if that was possibly fueled by communist sympathizers within the British intelligence community.

I also learned from this book that the actor Anthony Quayle had participated as a Major in SOE's Albanian campaign.
All in all, it is a very good and informative book which offers good background information about the political environment in which SOE's operations had taken place and shows in a well written style the sometimes funny situations which SOE's members had to deal with. I like the book!

For this topic see also: https://soetrails.wordpress.com/tag/neel/


Best regards

Robert

[SebastianHill]

I’m busy reading Gunter Koschorrek’s “Blood Red Snow Memoirs German: The Memoirs of a German Soldier on the Eastern Front“.

I’m really enjoying it so far.

[JeroenPollentier]

I'm reading "Quartered safe out here" by George Macdonald Fraser, his personal memoir of the War in Burma. So far I'm enjoying it.

I had also started reading "The First Day on the Somme" by Martin Middlebrook, but I found it a bit disappointing (lots of descriptions, little action in the beginning) so I put it away for now. [edit: but that's not a WW2 book of course]

[FireSword]

At the moment, I am reading "The Battle of Korsun-Cherkassy: The Encirclement and Breakout of Army Group South, 1944" by General Nikolaus von Vormann. However, I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of "Der Zweifrontenkrieg: Das Heer vom Beginn des Feldzuges Gegen die Sowjetunion bis zum Kriegsende." by General Burkhart Müller-Hillebrand, which should be here soon.

[Hans1906]

Seldom, I find my time to read a book anymore..

Once again the paperback "Kamikaze", written by Bohdan Arct, published in the east german Militärverlag, Berlin, 1983

Bohdan Arct: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohdan_Arct

A deeply touching work, very recommended


Hans1906

[genstab]

Just finished "Masters and Commanders" by Andrew Roberts, a fine history of the relations between FDR, Churchill and their respective commanders of the British and American armed forces through the war. It's quite well researched and great reading. He gives excerpts from commanders' and staff officers' diaries and postwar memoirs on both sides as well, and covers all the Roosevelt, Churchill (and Stalin later) strategic meetings and Churchill's visits to the US and FDR. Besides being detailed, it doesn't neglect the human element in the rivalries and alliances between the high commanders on both sides.

Best,
Bill in Cleveland

[OpanaPointer]

Reading https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/index.htm and OCRing into Word for conversion to HTML.

[LauraReyt]

Hello, I would also like to recommend a book: World War II: The Definitive Visual Guide
The book looks like this

A comprehensive visual history of humanity, politics, and events during World War II, the conflict that shaped the model of the modern world.

The fascinating history of WWII, presented in an accessible language, as one of the most difficult terrible and destructive periods of world history: from the beginning of the formation of prerequisites to the height of the war and an incredible amount of devastating consequences.

Learn about how deep-seated fears and hatreds sparked a global conflict that lasted to a victorious end. Delve into key battles, political and economic movements, and their leaders, as well as technological advances that greatly influenced the course of the war. A brief history of events and maps of the world provide a clear picture of the course of action throughout each year of the war: from the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party to power to Pearl Harbor, the landing of allied forces in Europe, and the bombings in Hiroshima.

World War II: The Definitive Visual Guide is a unique reportage of one of the most devastating conflicts in world history, accompanied by visuals, including rare color photographs and personal eyewitness notes.

I highly recommend reading it .

[Hans1906]

Good evening to the topic,

I found another copy of the book "Anmerkungen zu Hitler" by Herr Sebastian Haffner in the neighborhood today.
It's a nice tradition here, to provide old or unwanted books in a cardboard box on your doorstep.
A hardback edition in very good condition, unread, like new, a very nice find.

Sebastian Haffner: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_Haffner
Anmerkungen zu Hitler: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anmerkungen_zu_Hitler

Haffner reading from his book in german language: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55ik0V1k3NI (5 hours)


Hans1906

* The comments and analyses of Haffner at the time on the subject of Hitler still outstanding, although after the many years certainly partly outdated, no longer coherent, but still one of the most important works on this subject.