What are your top ten books written about WWII?

[BFOOT1]

Starting off my list in no particular order:

The entire series written by Donald Burgett about his experiences in the 101st Airborne.

All The Gallant Men written by Don Stratton about the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Two Man Air Force written about Don Gentile and John Godfrey, two aces of the 4th FG.

The Bedford Boys written about A Company, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division. This book gave me an insight into my grandfather's experience on D-Day.

With The Old Breed, written by Eugene Sledge about his experiences with the 1st Marine Division on Peleliu, and Okinawa.

The Star of Africa, which is about Hans Marsielle and his rise to fame during WWII.

The Filthy Thirteen, written about the Demolition Section of the 506th PIR.

Hans Sturm, A Soldiers Odyssey on the Eastern Front.

1000 Destroyed, The Life and Times of the 4th Fighter Group.

Scramble, written about Tom McNeil's service in the RAF.


 

[Brooke]

With the Old Breed, by E. B. Sledge.  My recommendation to anyone, if they are to read only one book in their lives about warfare, this should be it.

Now in no particular order:

Masters of the Air, by Miller.  Covers the whole gamut from strategic considerations down to individual pilot stories about the 8th AF bomber guys.

Top Guns, by Foss and Brennan.  Interesting stories from various US aces.

Samurai, by Sakai.  The biography of Saburo Sakai, one of Japan's top aces.

Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors, by Hornfischer.  Awesomely detailed story of Leyte Gulf naval battle.

Neptune's Inferno, by Hornfischer.  Story of the Guadalcanal campaign, which was a very evenly fought bunch of battles with surface-ship combat, carrier combat, air combat, and ground combat.

The Bravest Man, by Tuohy.  Story of Dick O'Kane and the USS Tang submarine.

No Simple Victory, by Davies.  A great history of WWII with aspects not known by most Americans.

America's Hundred Thousand, by Dean.  Great details on all the major US WWII fighters.

The Lockheed P-38 Lighting, by Bodie.  Excellent, very detailed, and entertaining history of the P-38.

And because I can't stop at just 10:

Zemke's Wolfpack, by Freeman.  Great stories of Hub Zemke, the Wolfpack, and P-47's.

The First and the Last, by Galland.

There are a lot more. 

[Chalenge]

The Tigers Are Burning - Martin Caidin
The Last Dogfight - Martin Caidin
Black Thursday  - Martin Caidin
The Final Countdown - Martin Caidin
Whip - Martin Caidin
Ghosts of the Air - Martin Caidin
Forked Tailed Devil - Martin Caidin
The B-17: The Flying Forts - Martin Caidin
The Ragged Rugged Warriors - Martin Caidin
The Night Hamburg Died - Martin Caidin
A Torch to the Enemy - Martin Caidin
Samurai - Saburo Sakai and Martin Caidin

Sensing a theme yet?

Most of the others I have read are about tanks. Hundreds of them. Mostly technical. And there there are the ones by Lemay, Boyington, Guyton, Gamble . . .

[Oldman731]

Sensing a theme yet?

Yes.  We know now why you are so misguided.

- oldman

[Brooke]

Oh, and how could I forget:

Band of Brothers, Ambrose.

[Masherbrum]

Given Up For Dead  - Bill Sloan
Flags of our Fathers  - James Bradley
The Rommel Papers - B.H Liddell-Hart
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors - James D. Hornfischer
A Question of Honor - Lynne Olson and Stanley Cloud
The Longest Winter - Alex Kershaw
I Could Never Be So Lucky Again - Gen.  James Doolittle
Ghost Soldiers - Hampton Sides
The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich - B.H.Liddell-Hart
The Rise and Fall of the Luftwaffe - David Irving

Honorable Mention:
An Army at Dawn - Rick Atkinson
The Battle for Italy - Rick Atkinson 
The Guns At Last Light - Rick Atkinson

All are exceptional books.    Frankly, this list could be melded into hundreds of different ways.    More Rommel, Luftwaffe, 8th AF, USN, etc.   

[Brooke]

An Army at Dawn - Rick Atkinson
The Battle for Italy - Rick Atkinson 

I liked those, too.  I plan to read the third in the series soon.

[AKIron]

The first one I read: https://www.amazon.com/THIRTY-SECONDS-OVER-TOKYO-Landmark/dp/B00BSGWLRA
The most recent I've read: https://www.amazon.com/Thunderbolt-Extraordinary-Story-Aviation-History/dp/1885354053

[Masherbrum]

I liked those, too.  I plan to read the third in the series soon.

Since he delayed the Third one, with a couple of projects?   I came away with that "it is missing that something you cannot place your finger on", type feeling.   Well written, just not as sharp and crisp as the other two.   Still a good read though.   Others who have read it, agree as well.

[Devil 505]

Great reads not yet mentioned.

Messerschmitts Over Sicily - Johannes Steinhoff
The Final Hours - Johannes Steinhoff
A Higher Call - Adam Makos
Luftwaffe Fighter Ace - Norbert Henning
Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds - Christina Olds and Ed Rasimus
The Jolly Rogers: The Story of Tom Blackburn and Navy Fighting Squadron VF-17 - Tom Blackburn
Woodbine Red Leader: A P-51 Mustang Ace in the Mediterranean Theater - George Loving

[Brooke]

Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds - Christina Olds and Ed Rasimus <---- I, too, like that one a lot.

Woodbine Red Leader: A P-51 Mustang Ace in the Mediterranean Theater - George Loving <--- I've got a signed version of this, but haven't read it yet.  Good to know it's a good one.

[Oldman731]

OK, since it's WWII in general, novels and non-fiction, whether earth-shaking or not, and in no particular order except for the first two:

Twelve O'Clock High (Bartlett and Lay)
The Mighty Eighth (Roger Freeman)
Bomber (Len Deighton)
A Soldier's Story (Guy Sajer)
The Battle of Casino (Fred Majdalany)
Rick Atkinson's trilogy (OK, cheating here)
The Two Ocean War (Samuel Eliot Morison)
Incredible Victory (Walter Lord)
Piece of Cake (Derek Robinson)
Up Periscope (Robb White)

- oldman

[Chalenge]

Yes.  We know now why you are so misguided.

- oldman

Hardly. Martin Caidin was a great man! I have all of those you posted too, but I also got the video for Piece of Cake.

I just started at the earliest authors.

[Guppy35]

Nanette-Edwards Park
Wing Leader-johnnie Johnson
The Mighty Eighth-Roger Freeman
The Look of Eagles-johnny Godfrey
Flying Buccaneers-Steve Birdsell
Flying Fortress-Edward Joblonski
Good bye Darkness-William Manchester
Neptunes Inferno-James Hornfischer
Enemy at the Gates-William Craig
The Longest Day-Cornelius Ryan


All these were read early on and influenced the direction I went for more books.  There are so many more I could list too.

<smacks Oldman>. The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer 😀

[bozon]

Catch-22 - Joseph Heller