I'm looking for a good book on WWII. I've read 1776 and John Adams which gave me a good feel for the Revolutionary War, a while ago I read Gods And Generals and The Killer Angels about the Civil War, and I also read The Things They Carried about Vietnam. Seems like I'm really missing WWII on that list. If anyone has any good ideas, let me know in the comments. Thanks!
9 comments:
This may not be the type of WWII book you are looking for--because its not so much the history, but more the emotional and spiritual journey, but I really think that "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom is an amazing story from WWII...I would say life changing. Its a pretty quick read too...
I know a few people who have read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and really liked it.
"Citizen Soldiers" and "D-Day" by Stephen Ambrose are dynamite.
"The Last Battle" by Cornelius Ryan is also terrific, but focused on the Battle for Berlin. "Night" by Elie Wiesel is one of the most moving accounts of the Holocaust. I majored in History in college, and those books are sort of general accounts. Hope these are helpful.--tim w.
This isn't WWII, but I loved this war book: Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills. It was compelling to look into the life of this soldier who went behind enemy lines and shot specific people. Wow. A gutsy job.
I agree with Ashley, "The Hiding Place" is an excellent book. One of my favorites. I also think "The Moon is Down" by John Steinbeck is an interesting WWII book. It is really short, but a good read.
What about "The Greatest Generation"? A US perspective, anyway. Slightly biased :)
I asked my brother who has been into WWII and history since he was five. He recommends these authors: Rick Atkinson (Army at Dawn [about US in North Africa] and Day of Battle [about the US in Italy]), Max Hastings (Normandy, Armageddon [end of the war in Germany], Retribution [end of the war in the Pacific]
...happy reading!
This is kind of weird because it's my first comment on your blog- even though I've been "secretly" reading for a few months now (I just love the way both of you write and the things you write about, plus Henry is just so darn cute and funny, Ava really loves the videos with him in them)...
Anyway- I really enjoyed "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl, it's a true psychologists point of view after surviving Auschwitz so it's not written chronologically, but is a great read (though I didn't make it too far into the second section where it's solely about logo-therapy). It completely changed my attitude about life.
And if you want another, I really enjoyed "The Devil's Arithmetic" by Jane Yolen- though that one's just a historical novel.
Anyway- sorry to have spied for so long! Now that I'm out of the cupboard I'm going to add you to my updated list so that I'll read regularly instead of just when I get extra time and pop over from Tyler's page. Glad to see you are all doing so well!
I just got a book for my book club about WWII called April in Paris by Michael Wallner. I haven't started reading it yet but it looks interesting and is different than your typical WWII novel. I'll let you know how it goes...
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