I´ve been interested in WW2 military history since my childhood. I read books on all subjects about WW2. Well, in the last weeks I´ve realized that I do not have enough time to even try to get a specialized knowledge about all of WW2.
Now I decided that I want to concentrate on one particular battle of the Western Front (Arnhem) and the Eastern Front (Berlin).
I tried to search this forum for books on either of the two battles. But I got far too many hits to know which of them is a really important book. I hope you don´t flame me for being a little lazy and not continuing to search...
Can you guys suggest really good literature on these two battles to me?
Thanks a lot in forward,
GJ
Der Gott, der Eisen wachsen ließ wollte keine Knechte!
as stated several times: for Berlin 1945 there is not better single Volume than Wolfgnag Venghaus' Berlin 1945: Die Zeit Vom 16. April Bis 2. Mai U.A. Die Ausbruchsversuche an Der Weidendammer Brucke Eine Dokumentation in Berichten, Bildern Und Bemerkungen, ISBN 3000021191 (3-00-002119-1)
It Never Snows In September by Robert Kershaw is a very good book about Arhhem. It sees the battle from the German side. Amazon has many copies for sale at cheap prices.
Also, Operation Market Garden Then & Now vol 1 & 2 , however these two volumes are quite expensive.
There is a new book that is getting good reviews, Bloody Streets-The Soviet Assault On Berlin by Stephan Hamilton. With Our Backs To Berlin by Tony Le Tissier is very good. It recounts the Battle Of Berlin through the accounts of German soldiers who fought there. And another book by Le Tissier has a bearing on the Berlin battle and that is Slaughter At Halbe.
Uncle Joe wrote:Hucks, how is Hamilton´s book supposedly getting good reviews as the publisher is still listing it as "not yet published"?
What I meant to say was that it appears to be a good book judging by what the various stockists are saying, and also from what has been said on this forum. Apologies for any confusion caused.
Here are some BoB books for you. . .there are many more, but they quickly become overly nuanced. In other words, there are books that focus on the Latvian, French, and Nordland units fighting in Berlin, or quite a few that deal with the occupants of Hitler's bunker.
Altner, Helmut, Berlin Dance of Death (Hevertown, PA: Casemate, 2002) Excellent first person account of the fighting from the German perspective in English. Much detail on fighting in the U-Bahn tunnels, fratricide, and general chaos of the battle.
Beevor, Antony, The Fall of Berlin 1945 (New York: Viking, 2002) It's a Penguin Classic, what more can be said (actually allot, but I'm sure the pros and cons of his book have been debated elsewhere in this forum).
Chuikov, Marshal Vasili I., The Fall of Berlin (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1967) Dated, full of Soviet era propaganda, but it's in English and if you read it carefuly you will find interesting information about the problems of Soviet planning, and execution for the battle.
Eberle, Henrik and Matthias Uhl, The Hitler Book: The Secret Dossier Prepared for Stalin from the Interrogations of Hitler’s Personal Aides (New York: PublicAffairs, 2005) Not specifically about the battle of Berlin, but an outstanding piece of history in its own right. Stalin, it must be said, was a bit of an admirer of Hitler (No joke. His private collection of Hitler memorabilia went on a traveling road show to museums around the world a number of years ago). This book was a special commission for Stalin about Hitler and the book is a focused on the last days in Berlin. This was not meant to be read by anyone other than Stalin, so you do not find the typical rhetoric.
Ramm, Gerald, Gott Mit Uns: Kriegserlebnisse aus Brandenburg und Berlin (Woltersdorf/Schleuse, Germany: Verlag Gerald Raum, 2001) Compilation of excellent first person accounts in German. He has a sequel called Odefront.
Ryan, Cornelius, The Last Battle (New York: Pocket Books, 1985) Classic, though dated. Gives you probably the best strategic level overview in print, though Beevor is on par or exceeds this book in many ways.
Schultz-Naumann, Joachim, The Last Thirty Days: The War Diary of the German High Command from April to May 1945 (New York: Madison Books, 1995) This is a German view from the OKW war diaries. Very good account of all the fighting in and around Berlin. Mainly at the operational level, not much "street fighting" detail though.
Thorwald, Juergen, Flight in the Winter: Russia Conquers—January to May 1945 (New York: Pantheon Books Inc, 1951) Dated, but excellent account in German of the final 4 months of the war to include Berlin.
Tieke, Wilhelm, Das Ende Zwischen Oder und Elbe: Der Kampf um Berlin 1945 (Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag, 1995) Excellent account of the battle, both inside and outside Berlin. Much detail from the German perspective.
Tissier, Tony Le, Zhukov at the Oder: The Decisive Battle for Berlin (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996) I believe this the single best book on the first 4 days of the battle, primarily from the Soviet perspective, though it has allot of German tactical detail as well. From the Soviet perspective, the battle of Berlin was a single campaign. From the German perspective, it was a part of arguably three distinct actions Oderfront, Berlin, and the relief attempts of the city that incluides the 9th Army breakout. Tissier covers one of those only- the Oderfront - in this book.
_____________, Race for the Reichstag () Arguably the best single volume book of the tactical street fighting in Berlin. You will not get much detail on the fighting around or outside the city, but this book coupled with Ryan's should satisfy all your Berlin needs. Tissier blends both Soviet and German sources seamlessly in the book. Two issues. First, there is no critical analysis, it is from my perspective an outstanding narrative. Second, the German material is almost exclusively taken from Tieke's book, though Tissier doesn't cite him anywhere.
_____________, With Our Backs to Berlin: The German Army in Retreat 1945 (England: Sutton Publishing Ltd, 2001) Excellent compilation of first person accounts, though it will serve you well if you already had some background.
_____________, Slaughter at Halbe: The Destruction of Hitler’s 9th Army, April 1945 (England: Sutton Publishing Ltd, 2005) Mediocre coverage of the breakout of the 9th Army, htough I think this is the only book in English that covers this aspect of the battle of Berlin.
Venghaus, Wolfgang, Berlin 1945: Die Zeit vom 16. April bis 2. Mai: Eine Dokumentation in Berichten, Bildern und Bemerkungen (Netphen: Venghaus, ?) As others have said, this is an outstanding compilation of first person accounts. However, the author does not synthesize them at all. They are stand alone. If you do not have a good understanding of the battle already, you may become lost quickly in all the action. Still, very interesting tidbits are found in this book that you will not find anywhere.
You need to bookmark this page and wait for the next two books that will be published (next year I think).
I was fortunate to meet Scott Revell three weeks back when he visited me here in the Netherlands and I had a quick preview, just one word for it AWESOME.
OUT OF THEIR COMFORT ZONE - A combat history of Flak Kampfgruppe 'von Svoboda' - Arnhem Sept. 1944. (S. Revell)
Cott Tiger wrote:I thoroughly enjoyed Cornelius Ryan’s A Bridge Too Far regarding the Battle of Arnhem and the whole operation (Market Garden).
It was a long time ago since I read it, but I remember it being well researched and that it read very easily. In fact I couldn’t put it down.
The maps weren’t brilliant in it though, if I remember correctly.
Regards,
André
Thanks for all of your replies!!!!
I can only agree with you - Ryan´s book is really good! Indeed his other book "Die letzte Schlacht/The Final Battle" about the Battle of Berlin was the first book I ever read in my whole life. I was nine or ten years old back then...
Der Gott, der Eisen wachsen ließ wollte keine Knechte!
Read Ryan's A Bridge Too Far and Kershaw's It Never Snows in September back-to-back. It is a wonderful experience. You get the Allied and Axis versions of the battle and they compliment one another tremendously. In fact, if you read just these two, you will have a magnificent understanding of the Arnhem Campaign.
Once you have read the above, I recommend jumping to John Frost's memoir, A Drop Too Many. Although it deals with Frost's entire war experience, since he was the senior British commander at the bridge, I think it is required reading for any serious student of the battle. Same goes for Urquhart's Arnhem, which is available in many formats.
After the above you are kind of on your own. I found Middlebrook's Arnhem: 1944 a little difficult to get through -- which is surprising because Middlebrook's bomber command histories are some of my favorite books of all time. If I am remembering correctly, I think Middlebrooks' account dwelled a little too much on the various tactical engagements instead of the bigger picture for my liking.
A less well known, but book I liked, is Harcleone's Arnhem: Tragedy of Errors.
After that . . . boy . . . you could read until Hell freezes over and still not have read everything on the subject. Hope this helps.
Richard Schoutissen wrote:You need to bookmark this page and wait for the next two books that will be published (next year I think).
I was fortunate to meet Scott Revell three weeks back when he visited me here in the Netherlands and I had a quick preview, just one word for it AWESOME.
OUT OF THEIR COMFORT ZONE - A combat history of Flak Kampfgruppe 'von Svoboda' - Arnhem Sept. 1944. (S. Revell)
KAMPFGRUPPE 'KNAUST' (B. Gerritsen & S. Revell)
Richard
Richard...the money is in the mail....thanks for the nice comments. Yes the two boos mentioned above will be published and will be available Sept. 2009.
GJ - most of the books to get you started regarding Arnhem have been mentioned. All the ones I would recommend have been listed and enough have been mentioned to keep you going and out of pocket until Sept 2009...which means you can buy my book!!!
I´ve seen that there is a "Campaign Series" book on Market-Garden published by Osprey. I am not sure if I should buy it. Does anyone of you guys have it and can you tell me if it´s worth the money?
Thanks and Prost form Bavaria
Der Gott, der Eisen wachsen ließ wollte keine Knechte!
Well it depends. If you are starting out and need basic information about Market Garden then this is ok. There are a couple of little errors but overall it is ok. If you know nothing about Op MG then this is the book for you. However if you know a bit more then look at some of the other suggestions in this post.
For those of you who are also interested: I´ve bought two new books that I found helpful learning more about Market Garden:
G. G. Norton´s "The Red Devil´s" which covers the whole history of the Red Devils including the Falkland´s War but has a good chapter about Market Garden
Micheal Reynold´s "Sons Of The Reich" - a book about the II. SS Panzer Korps which has a separate chapter on the Arnhem/Nijmegen operations
David Bennett´s "A Magnificent Disaster: The Failure of the Market Garden, the Arnhem Operation, September 1944"
Now I gotta go and
Der Gott, der Eisen wachsen ließ wollte keine Knechte!
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