good books for didge

just finished these books.  for any one interested in true war history a must read.

BERLIN,the downfall. Antony  Beevor

DUNKIRK fight to the last man.Hugh  Sebag-Montefiore.

[got them off E-bay]

nicko wrote:just finished these books.  for any one interested in true war history a must read.

BERLIN,the downfall. Antony  Beevor

DUNKIRK fight to the last man.Hugh  Sebag-Montefiore.

[got them off E-bay]

Hi Nicko

I have the first one, have about 3 of his books, not read the second one, so thanks will give it a go.

Have to say Berlin is excellent

didge,if you know of any more good war books [fiction or non-fiction] let me know.

nicko wrote:didge,if you know of any more good war books [fiction or non-fiction] let me know.

The Naked and the Dead
A farewell to arms
All quiet on the western front

thanks scrat,read the first two. was there a film made of the third?

nicko wrote:didge,if you know of any more good war books [fiction or non-fiction] let me know.

Have you read "A thousand years of annoying the French"? Stephen Clarke

"Armageddon" By Max Hastings

"Nemesis" By Max Hastings

"Absolute War" By Chris Bellamy

Plenty more, depends what era you are interesting in Nicko?

didge,i'v read all max hastings, will have a look at"Absolute War"

The famous five

great books for the young reader. I got my love of books from reading those when I was about 8yrs old.

Sven Hassell books - I don't know if they are still available, I keep forgetting how many years pass since originally read stuff, I think there are 14 or so books based on his experience in the German army during the second world war, he was Danish I think.

and finally....

Phil Didge wrote:

Hi Nicko

I have the first one, have about 3 of his books, not read the second one, so thanks will give it a go.

Have to say Berlin is excellent

you've got three books from one author and not managed to get to the second book??

take em down you hardcore scholar of history you

Smelly_bandit wrote:

you've got three books from one author and not managed to get to the second book??

take em down you hardcore scholar of history you  

  idiot, have not read the second book Nicko asked me about..

Stephen Ambrose - band of brothers, D-Day, Pegasus Bridge among others

Anthony Beevor also wrote D-Day

Did you read Max Hastings Korean War? Excellent.

Osprey Publishing (based in Oxford) does a great series, huge list, of famous and not so famous battle analysis books going back to ancient Greece.

Sir Martin Gilbert - loads. His books on The Somme, The Second world War and The Holocaust are outstanding - wrote a lot on Churchill as well (admit he bores me a bit).

Currently I am reading Hitler's Furies by Wendy Lower, Hanns and Rudolf by Thomas Harding (about the British army Lt. Who tracked down the Kommandant of Auschwitz) and Red Fortress by Catherine Merridale - a history of the Kremlin which is outstanding and the Savage Continent - Europe in the aftermath of WW2 by Keith Lowe which is hard to put down.

Mum also got me the Intimate Letters of England's Queens and the Best of Mrs. Beeton's Christmas which I doubt will interest you much - Koulibiac anyone? Will be making this for New Years Eve.

thanks cass,have read a lot of them,but have made a note of those I have not and will be checking e,bay for them!

Cass wrote:Stephen Ambrose - band of brothers, D-Day, Pegasus Bridge among others

Anthony Beevor also wrote D-Day

Did you read Max Hastings Korean War? Excellent.

Osprey Publishing (based in Oxford) does a great series, huge list, of famous and not so famous battle analysis books going back to ancient Greece.

Sir Martin Gilbert - loads. His books on The Somme, The Second world War and The Holocaust are outstanding - wrote a lot on Churchill as well (admit he bores me a bit).

Currently I am reading Hitler's Furies by Wendy Lower, Hanns and Rudolf by Thomas Harding (about the British army Lt. Who tracked down the Kommandant of Auschwitz) and Red Fortress by Catherine Merridale - a history of the Kremlin which is outstanding and the Savage Continent - Europe in the aftermath of WW2 by Keith Lowe which is hard to put down.

Mum also got me the Intimate Letters of England's Queens and the Best of Mrs. Beeton's Christmas which I doubt will interest you much - Koulibiac anyone? Will be making this for New Years Eve.

Hello me Lady.


Anthony Beevor also did two other great books I have read, one on Stalingrad, by the same name and a superb book called the "The Battle orf Spain"

You are sorely missed me Lady when not around, am reading the book Zulu Rising by Ian knight at the moment, excellent so far. Also read 1415 by Ian Mortimer recently, if you have not read, please give it a go, is fab..

Take care Me Lady and as always best wishes to the family!

Cass wrote: "Mum also got me the Intimate Letters of England's Queens..."


I bet Julian Clary's sribblings were shocking.

nicko wrote:thanks cass,have read a lot of them,but have made a note of those I have not and will be checking e,bay for them!

Good luck dont forget 2nd hand on amazon marketplace.

When I get back to work tomorrow (boooooo) I will have a look at the shelves for you

Phil Didge wrote:

e.

Hello me Lady.
Anthony Beevor also did two other great books I have read, one on Stalingrad, by the same name and a superb book called the "The Battle orf Spain"

You are sorely missed me Lady when not around, am reading the book Zulu Rising by Ian knight at the moment, excellent so far. Also read 1415 by Ian Mortimer recently, if you have not read, please give it a go, is fab..

Take care Me Lady and as always best wishes to the family![/quote]
Cheers didgelet - we is good and hope you and yours are same x

Have seen 1415 around but not sure. Shhhh don't tell anyone but Agincourt bores me a bit as does that time period. Have you ever heard of Calvin Trillan? One of my favorite American writers. Been re-reading all I have and got a few 2nd hand for Xmas. Want to sink a few pints (or bottles of wine) with him and Bill Bryson - heaven.

Been a lot of books about JFK and Jackie and Camelot and the assassination due yo it being 50 but I have tried a few and well nothing new in any of them - most just expanding a different conspiracy .....tad boring and yeah I already knew he liked a bit of crumpet.....yawn.

Anyhoos off to make brunch before we attend a wedding of 2 of senior boys friends.....party on xx

Nicho...I saw where you asked Didge for list of fiction or non fiction war books....do you have any particular time period/s or just in general? I have a contact at another library who used to deal with a lot with lists about military and/or military writing/biographies/literature etc... and I will ask her to send me some lists they have done in the past and I will try and either put them up here or to you in a PM.

Have a good day

cass,thank you for your interest. I am interested in second world war non-fiction,and the Vietnam war.[ I have some personal interest in that one]. in the last 20 yrs I must have read hundreds of books.Some I have not read as they are to expensive for me now!

nicko wrote:cass,thank you for your interest. I am interested in second world war non-fiction,and the Vietnam war.[ I have some personal interest in that one]. in the last 20 yrs I must have read hundreds of books.Some I have not read as they are to expensive for me now!

I understand totally...very rarely do I buy a new book...do you belong to your local library? If so try asking if they do inter-library loans for books they do not have in their system/your county. Most public libraries, even in the UK, participate in this system.

Basically you request an item that is not in your county/system and they will get it for you from another county/system, sometimes even the British Library. There may be a small charge of a couple of pounds, but compared to actually buying the book I think it is worth it.

Here are a few: I haven't read them all but have read a few or dipped in and out of

WW2
The Liberator - Alex Kershaw
With the Old Breed - E.B. Sledge
Miracle at Midway - Gordon W. Prange
Spies in the Sky - Taylor Downing
The Interrogator - Raymond F. Toliver
Operation Mincemeat and Agent Zigzag - Ben Macintyre
The Stalingrad Trilogy  - David Glantz
No Silent Night - Leo Barron

Vietnam
Vietnam: A History - Stanley Karnow
Vietnam: John Prados
The Last Valley - Martin Windrow (this is excellent)
Embers of War - Fredrik Logevall

Personally my favs are French History from 16th century onwards
The Tudors onwards
The Third Reich/WW2 European Theatre
Social History of US/Europe between the wars
Russian History Catherine The Great onwards

Enjoy. And no problems, I am a librarian...I live for this stuff. Remember
Librarians Do It In The Stacks  

thanks cass,i'll work my way through em,

i had never read a war book and then someone gave me a sven hassell book i left it alone till i had nothing to read and now i have all his books and have read quite a few history books on the war 39 to 45 the knights of bushido was interesting i was amazed the japs were not done for more war crimes

jadeloue wrote:i had never read a war book and then someone gave me a sven hassell book i left it alone till i had nothing to read and now i have all his books and have read quite a few history books on the war 39 to 45 the knights of bushido was interesting i was amazed the jap
s were not done for more war crimes

Quite simply jade because the Japanese leadership knew where the gold was kept/buried from the countries they invaded and the Americans, specifically Macarthur, needed Emperor Hirohito - at least the idea of him - to make the transition to a democracy easier. They threw Tojo and other military leaders and politicians under the bus as a sop to world opinion and then carried on. The allies did the same with the Nazis. They wanted Germany's and Japan's technology ideas and backing to go after Stalin and the communists and to turn the Japanese against Mao and China.

Google international tribunals of the east and west. Wiki gives a quite good background and then look at the sources/bibliography at the end and take it from there.