What are you reading

[Witt]

I nearly bought Osprey’s Graf Spee today. But I held back! Osprey also have a new Campaign book on the English part of Operation Market Garden. (One of my fav subjects.) Again, i have not read the second (Southern Front) Osprey Campaign book on Kursk. Had it months! Cannot see the writing: is too small, even for my good eye.

[CWO Marc]

On the subject of the Graf Spee, Eric Grove’s book The Price of Disobedience is a good recent work on the Battle of the River Plate.  I read it a few years ago.

[Witt]

Thanks Marc. Naval engagements are not my thing, really. I would but the Osprey Campaign on the Graf Spee, as they have lovely pics and just enough information.
I do hope you have been well. (I have had a bad year, unfortunately: trouble with my eyes!).

[CWO Marc]

@wittmann:

(I have had a bad year, unfortunately: trouble with my eyes!).

Sorry to hear this.  When I read your previous post about your good eye, I was reminded of the time when Nelson (back in the days when he was a ship captain rather a fleet commander) was told by a subordinate that the flagship had hoisted a flag signal to do something-or-other.  Nelson, who wanted to do something else, pointed his telescope at the flagship, held it up to his blind eye, and told his subordinate that he could see no such order being displayed.

[Narvik]

Yesterday I got the best WWII book I ever had, WAR at SEA, A naval atlas 1939-1945 by Marcus Faulkner, published 2012 by Seaforth Publishing in England. Cost me £ 50. The best book ever. Most of the information are pictures of maps, maps that looks like A&A maps, and the ships and aircrafts are pictured in the same way as the A&A Rulebook. It feels like reading the A&A Rulebook, or a book about A&A. And the text are almost statistic only, how many ships, how many men, how many aircrafts and so on. Not that nonsense you usually see in WWII books, that private Schumacker write letters home to his family, and tell them how poor it is at the front, he is wet, frozen and hungry, and the enemy kill his friends and so on, all the off topic stuff that have ruined so many WWII books. This Atlas is free from that BS. Statistics only, and pics of the situational maps that tell the story.

Best buy ever  :-)

[Imperious Leader]

Im buying this for sure right now. I also bought the Great War version .

Eagle you should also buy the WW2 and WW1 Data books. The same thing . no stories about dysentery to grandma. Just the facts. Im with you on this completely. I just want raw data for me to interpret.

[taamvan]

Anything by Stackpole books.  These are amazing.  Currently reading “Tank Tactics”, next “Panzer Wedge!”  Luthwaffe Fighters and Bombers was a great read of short action reports and biographies…

Only problem is that Half-priced books got a huge run of these, sold for $5-11, now they have all been picked up and only AMZN carries the full catalog of both theory books and eye-witness accounts.

[Benito Mussolini]

One that I like is The Longest Winter by Alex Kershaw.

[Private-Panic]

Just finished Burma '44 by James Holland.

It is about the largely forgotten Battle of the Admin Box, which was the first decisive victory by the allies against Japanese mainland forces. Of course, the US was already winning the war at sea and across the islands.

The Japanese attacked British Empire forces in southern Burma and for the first time were defeated. What makes this a fascinating read is the succession of tactical and strategic lessons the allies had learned, which were here deployed so effectively, despite the Empire forces at hand being “a ragtag collection of clerks, doctors and muleteers, a few Yorkshiremen and a handful of tank crews” to quote the book cover.

The later larger and better know Battles of Imphal and Kohima, followed by the Burma campaign, have rather eclipsed this battle, whose name invites relegation. But prior to the Admin Box the Japanese were perceived as unbeatable in the jungles of Burma.

[Narvik]

@Imperious:

Im buying this for sure right now. I also bought the Great War version .

Eagle you should also buy the WW2 and WW1 Data books. The same thing . no stories about dysentery to grandma. Just the facts. Im with you on this completely. I just want raw data for me to interpret.

In case you are talking about The military Atlas of WW II by Chris Bishop, the 2013 edition from Amber Books, then I just got it, based on your suggestion. This book is good, maybe one of the best books ever to get an understanding of the conflict. But what I miss, if nitpicking, is a correct number of men in each battle. This book only deals with divisions and corps, but a division could be from 7000 men to 18000 men, and a panzer division could have from 500 Tanks in the early war, dropping to 250 Tanks for the late war division, and Bishop dont go deep into that. But nevertheless, one of the best WWII educational books ever, and absolutely short of any dysentery to grandma stories.

[Imperious Leader]

no these books:

https://books.google.com/books/about/The_World_War_II_Databook.html?id=MD4OAQAAMAAJ&source=kp_cover
https://books.google.com/books?id=ntBmAAAAMAAJ&source=gbs_similarbooks

[ABWorsham4]

@ABWorsham:

Just got in the mail the book Ship 16, a story of a German Surface Raider.

Finished Ship 16, overall was a very good read.

[Chris_Henry]

I’m just finishing Crete 1941: The Battle and the Resistance, by Antony Beevor. It’s a great read. I’ve heard his name before but never read any of his books, but I’ll be searching them out now and highly recommend this one. Classic example, for me, of a subject on the war that I knew about generally, but not a ton of the specifics. The biggest surprise to me was Freyberg’s misunderstanding of the invasion, thinking the main assault would come by sea, thus giving paratroopers more time to regroup and take Malame airfield. Beevor has done great research and made everything very compelling to read. I loved that he prefaced with the mainland invasion of Greece first, and also went into the resistance to the occupation as well. The actual invasion is enough for a book itself, but I always love more context. Great read.

[Wolfshanze]

I don’t want to spoil the ending for you, but at the end of the book… the Germans win.

[taamvan]

after their boy scout army got shellacked, they won.

Losses;

4 paratrooper units and 2 transport aircraft for Germany,

2 infantry, 1 AAA, 1 DD, 2 partisans lost for UK

…good trade.

[Chris_Henry]

@Wolfshanze:

I don’t want to spoil the ending for you, but at the end of the book… the Germans win.

Yea…definitely know that. As I said, if you read my post, I know the basic history of the battle. Costly paratroop operation, lacking defensive forces, etc. It was the intimate details that were new to me as someone who hadn’t read about the battle in depth before.

And if we’re being technical, they lose in the end! As I said, the book covers the resistance/end of the war as well. Don’t want to spoil WWII history for you, but at the end of the war…the Germans lose.  8-)

[Wolfshanze]

@Chris_Henry:

And if we’re being technical, they lose in the end! As I said, the book covers the resistance/end of the war as well. Don’t want to spoil WWII history for you, but at the end of the war…the Germans lose.  8-)

Ah, dammit, you ruined it for me… [closes Time-Life’s History of WWII book]… no point reading the final chapters now…  :-(

[ABWorsham4]

Currently reading Jurassic Park

[Private-Panic]

Nemesis by Max Hastings. I have enjoyed every one of his books and recommend him unreservedly.

[Wolfshanze]

@ABWorsham:

Currently reading Jurassic Park

Try this link for the summary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh4zvQfDhi0