What is everyone reading on WW2?

[Kunikov]

'Stalin - A Political Biography'

Still munching my way through and add another comment: curiously, about the fate of Czar and Co.: nothing.

Karl

By Isaac Deutscher? It's quite dated.

[Karl]

'Stalin - A Political Biography'

Still munching my way through and add another comment: curiously, about the fate of Czar and Co.: nothing.

Karl

By Isaac Deutscher? It's quite dated.

Yes. 1966 edition includes Postscript: Stalin's Last Years.

Are there so many mistakes then?

[Kunikov]

'Stalin - A Political Biography'

Still munching my way through and add another comment: curiously, about the fate of Czar and Co.: nothing.

Karl

By Isaac Deutscher? It's quite dated.

Yes. 1966 edition includes Postscript: Stalin's Last Years.

Are there so many mistakes then?

I wouldn't say 'mistakes' but most likely omissions. The biography that I always turn to is Volkogonov's.

[Kunikov]

"Europe at War 1939-1945" Norman Davies
12 pages in and already I feel the bias

Now I'm 112 pages in and I have to say this is one of the worst books I've ever read, horrible, words cannot describe. This has to be one of the laziest authors I've ever encountered, he can't even be bothered to look up Soviet losses at Kursk! And his Russian/Soviet sources are nonexistent and this from a man who prides himself on being an "Eastern European expert"? Please.

[Imad]

The Long Left Flank by William Jeffries

[Peter H]

Some novels...

The Naked and the Dead,Norman Mailer,1948.

Mailer served with the 1st Cavalry Division in the Pacific and interwines his own rexperiences into this work of fiction.

[Peter H]

The Thin Red Line,James Jones,1962.

Jones' next major work after his From Here to Eternity.Made into a motion picture in 1964 and 1998.

Jones served at Pearl Harbor and on Guadalcanal with the 27th Infantry Regt,25th Infantry Division.

[Peter H]

Quartered Safe Out Here: A Recollection of the War in Burma,George MacDonald Fraser.

"Flashman" author Fraser's memoirs as a ranker with the 17th Indian(Black Cat) Division in Burma 1943-45.An excellent coverage of what it was like to serve with an infantry squad in the jungle war in Burma.

[Peter H]

Bold Plum: with the Guerillas in China's War against Japan Hsiao Li Lindsay

The memoirs of a Chinese lady who joined the 8th Route Army:

[Pips]

Barracuda Pilot
By Dunstan Hadley

The RN's Fleet Air Arm Fairey Barracuda has to rank as one of the most ungainly aircraft ever to grace the deck of a Carrier. Yet it was a highly capable torpedo/dive bomber and provided excellence service, especially in the Pacific.

Dunstan Hadley saw extensive service piloting the Barracuda, and his descriptions of flying this ungainly aircrafrt is perhaps the best around. His story of carrier strikes by the Pacific Fleet are rivetting, and the vivid action account over Sumatra and Sigli alone make this book well worth the purchase price.

[Pips]

Carrier Pilot
By Norman Hanson

This is one of the very best books ever written about carrier operations in WWII, by any pilot of any nation.

Norman Hanson served on board HMS Illustrious in the Pacific, flying Corsairs. His description of Carrier life, flying the Corsair, combat against the Japanese (bot air and ground), the attitude of the Americans to the British, kamikaze fighter interceptions and the constant flying deck accidents really brings home just how dangerous the life of a Naval Aviator is.

[Pips]

They Gave Me A Seafire
By Mike Crosley

Another wonderful book on the FAA in service in the Pacific. Crosley's extensive service started in the Med flying Sea Hurricanes from HMS Eagle in 1942. Transitioning to Seafires he flew in Operation Torch, Sicily and then D-Day. Commanding a squadron of Seafires on HMS Implacable he took part in almost all the British Pacific Fleets carrier strikes in the Pacific. His descriptions of just how the Seafire performed on board carriers is the most accurate around.

Crosley's book is a good contrast to Hanson's above. Crosley not only descirbes the day to day activity but also looks at the broader picture of British carrier operations in the Pacific. He is especilally critical of the RN's Fleet command structure and use of carrier operations. His comparison of Admiral Vian's tactically outdated operational policy to the Americans makes especially interesting reading.

[Dan W.]

With The OId Breed by E.B. Sledge is easily the best first person account of Pacific warfare that many say they have ever read. The title refers to those career Marines who had years in the Pacific under their belts before they went to war. Sledge fought with these guys and their exploits are duly recorded.

Whereas one may recommend Sajer as the most lucid first person author of the Eastern Front, the same can be said of Sledge about the Pacific.

[Pips]

Out Of The Blue
By Terence O'Brien

This book is unique in it's subject, that of flying with the Chibdits over Burma. O'Brien was an Australian who had completed a tour in Coastal Command before volunteering for 'Special Servces' in Burma in 1943. Special servcies meant that he flew a range of aircraft including the Blenheim, DC.3, Beechcraft, Domine, Walrus and Mosquito with the air support arm of the Chindits, supplying Wingate's and Stillwell's operations behind Japanese lines.

[Dan W.]

Tennozan: The Battle Of Okinawa And The Atomic Bomb
By George Feifer

An outstanding and comprehensive look at this battle. Feifer interviewed many veterans of the battle and got their first hand accounts that are woven into his scholarly look at the island, its history, and the bloody devastation that would claim Japanese, American and civilian Okinawan lives. He delves into the casualties and the instances of violence by using sources from all three of these groups, first hand accounts that add a level of clarity to his research. Many of his accounts are very graphic in their description.

Feifer, I believe, got the motivation to write the book from a discussion with his neighbor, who once casually mentioned he'd fought on Okinawa. It turned into this book after Feifer was finished.

The book is 556 pages long, takes a look at the war from the perspective of both a Japanese Lt. of the 32nd Army who survives and various Marines he interviews as well.