A Man Called Intrepid is incredible. Anything by Ambrose, Ian Kershaw, and William shirer. Helmet for my pillow. With the old breed. If there is any specific area of wwii that you're interested in let me know. The very best thing on the war ever done is the World at War documentary series. It may be the best documentary of all time.
Depends on what you're looking for. Antony Beevor is fantastic and has an incredible book about the war as a whole. He also has one on D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, Stalingrad, and probably a few more I haven't discovered yet. If you are into the Pacific Theater, The Battle of Midway by Craig L Symonds is incredible. Pacific Crucible by Ian Toll is also really good, heavy on the character study but some really interesting stuff. Retribution by Max Hastings is a fascinating look at the end of the war and what we did to Japan in the process of ending it.
Anything by Stephen E Ambrose is great. Enemy at the Gates is one that is supposedly great, but I have yet to read.
Generally agree on the Ambrose recs but his D-Day book apparently contained some made up stories and brought him disgrace within the WW2 history community. Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder is highly regarded, to add another.
I just finished bloodlands. It's awesome and devastating. Can be slow because it's not really a narrative or anything. Did not know that about DDay although I did notice some inaccuracies just from reading A Man Called Intrepid
With the Old Breed needs to be required reading in high school. Beneath the Scarlet Sky is also incredible, it takes place during WW2 but its not as "War-y" as others.
The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 (Clark) and A World Undone (Meyer) are both very good. Tuchman's Guns of August is a classic in the field, too. Junger's Storm of Steel is a popular personal account.
Wanting to pick up a book on D Day and have seen a lot of positive reviews for Sand and Steel. Anyone read that yet? Also I don’t think I saw it mentioned, but I loved The Winter Fortress.
Many of the popular ones are multi-volume. Stephen Kotkin has released 2 of a planned 3 volume set in the last 5 years and they've been well-received. Simon Sebag Montefiero also has a multi-volume take. You might look at Robert Conquest's works for a single volume. He wrote a lot about Stalinist Russia but is deeply anticommunist (heads up on that).
The Story of World War II by Donald Miller was ok When Titans Clash by David Glantz-considered one of the best books ever on the tactical aspects of Germany v Russia and Barborossa in WW2. Antony Beevor-DDay. I've read probably 3 books by Beevor and they're all good. Stalingrad Antony Beevor-see above. The Max Hasting books are all good Blood Red Snow by Gunter K Koscorrek was really good. Memoir of a German soldier on eastern front. Spearhead by Adam Makos was good. Memoir of American tank gunner who got to use one of our first super tanks. Panzer Ace by Richard Freiherr von Rosen was good. Memoir of German tanker on the eastern front. Desert Fox by Samuel Mitcham was real good. Biography of Rommel was awesome. Shattered Sword by Jonathan Parshall was real good . Book on Midway. This thing goes super in detail and can get boring but was still real good. In Deadly Combat by Gottlob Herbert Bidermann was real good. Memoir of German soldier on Eastern Front. Total War by Micahel Jones was real good. Memoir of German soldier on Eastern Front. Pacific Crucible Trilogy by Ian Toll is epic. All about the Pacific War. Very famous series. Highly recommend. The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer is epic . Memoir of German soldier on Eastern Front. Just finished this one and was really good, highly recommend. The Fleet at flood Tide by James Hornfischer is real good . Another big account of the Pacific War. The Liberation Trilogy by Rick Atkinson. Covers North Africa, Italy, and Europe campaigns for allies. Epic series highly recommend.
Just finished The Retreat: Hitler's First Defeat by Michael Jones. Another excellent book. Haven't read any other book the focuses exclusively on this segment of Barborossa. Highly encourage reading it. The big books that cover all of Barborossa don't give nearly the detail . Side note: Some folks consider the failed offensive on Moscow as the turning point of the war instead of Stalingrad. Considering Germany gave the attack on Moscow everything they had and was repulsed, this is definitely a legit point. They were able to eventually stabilize the front after the Red Army knocked the shit out of them on a massive counter offensive. And it took another 2-3 years to really obliterate Army Group Center with Bagration which effectively knocked Germany to its knees. And after stablizing the front Germany was able to go back on the offensive and attack the Caucuses and Crimea. So was it really the turning point if they were able to go back on the offensive and win massive encirclement battles in the caucuses? Conversely, Germany lost substantial manpower and equipment on this failed offensive and some folks said the Wermacht was never the same afterwards.
I really enjoyed Sons and Soldiers by Bruce Henderson. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, its not as much about the war and tactics. It's follows 3 or 4 (cant remember) jewish soldiers whose family got them out of Europe just in time in the early 30s, came to America, enrolled in the Army and went back to Europe to fight. A few in the same home towns they grew up in.
Just finished The Last Lion the three volume biography of Churchill. Was probably the best biography I've ever read.
WW2 Books Ranked 1. The Liberation Trilogy by Rick Atkinson. Covers North Africa, Italy, and Europe campaigns for allies. Epic series highly recommend. 2. Pacific Crucible by Ian Toll- this is the 1st of a trilogy on the Pacific War. This trilogy is as good as it gets on the Pacific. Can’t recommend it enough. Best I’ve read on the Pacific. 3. The Conquering Tide by Ian Toll-Part 2 of his Pacific Trilogy-see above 4. Twilight of the Gods by Ian Tolld- Part 3 of his Pacific Trilogy-see above 5. The Fleet at Flood Tide by James D Hornfischer-this is one of the best Pacific accounts I’ve seen 2nd only to Ian Tolls trilogy. 6. Escape From the Deep by Alex Kershaw-this is one of the best memoirs of the Pacific I’ve ever read. These guys were in the famous submarine Tang off the coast of China IIRC that went down and some of them were able to make it to the surface from about 300 feet down with minimumal equipment. Insane story. 7. Wahoo by Richard H O’Kane-Richard O’Kane is one of the most badass Americans to ever live. His books regarding his tours with the Tang and Wahoo are must reads. Basically they sunk more Japanese ships than almost any other American submarine. 8. Clear the Bridge by Richard H. O’Kane-This is his book in the Tang. See above. This is a must read. 9. Blood Red Snow by Gunter K Koscorrek was excellent. This is one of the best and most memorable memoir of a German soldier on the eastern front Panzer Commander by Hans von Luck with foreward from Stephen Ambrose-one of the best memoirs from the German perspective of their defense of France after DDay. Hans von Luck is one of the genuine Germans that was just doing his best to command his men and fought with honor. Excellent account. 10. Desert Fox by Samuel Mitcham was real good. Biography of Rommel was awesome. 11. When Titans Clash by David Glantz-considered one of the best books ever on the tactical aspects of Germany v Russia and Barborossa in WW2. If you are interested in the Eastern front , this is a must read 12. The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer-this is an epic memoir of a German soldier in WW2. Highly recommend. Goes from the start of the war until the end. 13. DDay byAntony Beevor-. I've read probably 3 books by Beevor and they're all good. 14. Stalingrad by Antony Beevor-see above. 15. Tiger Tracks by Wolgang Faust-if you want to read about German tank commanders on the eastern front , this is one of the best memoirs and a very entertaining read. 16. Panzer Ace by Richard Freiherr von Rosen was good. Memoir of German tanker on the eastern front. 17. In Deadly Combat by Gottlob Herbert Bidermann was real good. Memoir of German soldier on Eastern Front. 18. Shattered Sword by Jonathan Parshall was real good . Book on Midway. This thing goes super in detail and can get boring but was still real good. 19. Total War by Micahel Jones was real good. Memoir of German soldier on Eastern Front. 20. The Retreat by Michael Jones-this is an in depth analysis and history of the Battle for Moscow and the subsequent retreat. Very good. 21. Enemy at the Gates by William Craig-very good analysis of the Battle of Stalingrad. Covers it in more detail than anything else I’ve ever read. 22. Tigers in the Mud by Otto Carius-Another memoir of German tank crews on the eastern front that I highly recommend.“ WWII began with a metallic roar as the German Blitzkrieg raced across Europe, spearheaded by the most dreaded weapon of the 20th century: the Panzer. No German tank better represents that thundering power than the infamous Tiger, and Otto Carius was one of the most successful commanders to ever take a Tiger into battle, destroying well over 150 enemy tanks during his incredible career.” 23. Pegasus Bridge by Stephen E Ambrose-you will find this on many of the lists of the best books on WW2. It was good for sure. Recounts several men’s stories from Dday and the battles that followed into France. 24. The First Wave by Alex Kershaw 25. Spearhead by Adam Makos was good. Memoir of American tank gunner who got to use one of our first super tanks. 26. The Liberator by Alex Kershaw- This was an entertaining read. “Traces the remarkable battlefield journey of maverick U.S. Army officer Felix Sparks through the Allied liberation of Europe—from the first landing in Italy to the final death throes of the Third Reich.” 27. The Battle of the Tanks by Lloyd Clark-The Battle of Kursk is fascinating because it was the largest tank battle of all time. And it also had a massive air battle. And there aren’t a ton of books written exclusively on it. Most authors cover it within their general treatment of the eastern front. This is worth reading. 28. The Max Hasting books are all good but pretty dry imo. 29. The Story of World War II by Donald Miller-decent synopsis of the entire war, not a stand-out work.
SAS: Rogue Heroes About the story of David Stirling, who formed the SAS during WWII. Also on audiobook on Audible. Fantastic true story with some larger than life characters.
Just wrapped this one up: Kiev 1941 by David Stahel-The Battle of Kiev was Hitler’s greatest victory. This book gives a surprisingly in depth analysis of the build up to Operation Barbarossa and the Barbarossa campaign prior to the Battle of Kiev. Goes much further into the progress of Army Group South during Barbarossa than any other book or account I’ve ever read. Basically argues that the war was lost when Barbarossa failed to destroy the Red Army in the field. Goes in depth regarding the oil supply situation , industrial situation etc and paints a convincing picture that the German Army would never be able to sustain a war of attrition and that defeating the Red Army in the field was basically impossible over such a vast landscape and thus Germany’s war against the USSR was over before it really started. It also paints a different picture of the summer months of Baraborssa which are typically portrayed as Germany winning the huge encirclement battles at Smolensk and Minsk but this book instead discusses the attrition and grind that even those battles presented and how the German army was showing signs of cracking and deterioration even as early as late August and September 1941.
The series from BBC One (Now on EPIX) is also great. Got this for my dad for Christmas and he loved it.