books to read before you die

[Tom Houlihan]

Actually, I was rather hoping that 'Hitler's words of wisdom' was written sarcastically.

Then again, if someone can read MK, once, and understand it, they're either a genius or a madman. Where do we draw the line?

[Reb]

Tom

Sort of reminds me of the producers: "The Fuhrer was a kind man - he loved animals!"

Yeah, everybody has their quirks - but Adolf was generally a swell fellow - look at all he did for Germany!

cheers
Reb

[phylo_roadking]

Even MUSSOLINI stood out by making the trains run on time, apparently the NSDAP cudn't manage that one!

[Dragunov]

hmm, reminds me, i had my hair cut today (goodness me, where did my head go?) and at the barber shop was a magazine with an article about how Hitler is the laughing stock of the media now. think of all the movies like The Producers, The Great Dictator and whatever that i missed (more than 4) and add to that that there is a site displaying pictures of cats that 'look like Hitler'. any opinions?

[Dirlewanger]

Hmmmm back to books, A highly recommended novel about American POWs in a Stalag "Harts War" by John Katzenbach. Excellently written and researched, great plot.

[Paulus II]

I would add 'Die Verratene Armee' by Heinrich Gerlach, translated in English as 'The Forsaken Army'.
Though I find Gerlach not to have been a great novelist his account of Stalingrad is one of the few accounts of that battle that really got the cold and desperation through to me.

[panzerschreck1]

Ps Nacht Jaeger! almost forgot!


Ps1>>><<<Nachtjaeger

[phylo_roadking]

Well, things were baaaaad in post-war Germany....how expensive was bogroll?

[Imad]

Hello
I rather like Omar Bradley's "A Soldier's Story". The humbleness of the man and his earthy Midwesternness make pleasant reading. Some of his comments (esp. about the Falaise gap) need to be taken with a grain of salt, but the book is sure worth reading.

[Spiegelsaal]

I'm glad to know of some more good books that I can add to my ever-growing waiting list.

I definitely agree about Forgotten Soldier, it's in my top ten of all books, and in my top 3 war memoirs.


I'll mention a book because I never hear anyone talking about it. Nazi Seizure of Power by William Allen. It was required reading for a college course, but I found it really fascinating. Someone on Amazon described it better than I can, so I'll quote them "This is a good book to read in explaining how a democratic society became totalitarian in a span of six months. THe author Allen explains it using the small town of Northeim in Hanover. Northeim was a typical town that weathered the turmoil of the twenties and thirties. In 1932, 66% percent of the population voted for the Nazis. In 1933, the Nazis took over the town administration and basically wiped out any opposition by the SPD or Nationalists. This book explains how the Nazis did it on a small scale. Initial violence, concentration camps, firing of those who held opposite political views, and police raids silenced the opposition. They were so silenced that the town did not get back its freedom till 1945.

This is a fairly long book and centered more toward the academic audience. However it gives a great view of how Germany changed overnight when Hindenburg selected Hitler to be his Chancellor. Democracy died a quick death, even at the local level. A great read for those trying to understand the Nazis."

One thing that the description leaves out that I liked a lot is that the book introduces you to several local characters and allows you to observe how their mindset and loyalty alters as their country experiences political change. It's not the most thrilling read in the world, but it really helped me to answer some questions I had always had about "how did well-meaning, rational people fall prey to Nazi ideology?" So, check it out, you'll like it.

[Uli]

I'm glad to know of some more good books that I can add to my ever-growing waiting list.

I definitely agree about Forgotten Soldier, it's in my top ten of all books, and in my top 3 war memoirs.


I'll mention a book because I never hear anyone talking about it. Nazi Seizure of Power by William Allen. It was required reading for a college course, but I found it really fascinating. Someone on Amazon described it better than I can, so I'll quote them "This is a good book to read in explaining how a democratic society became totalitarian in a span of six months. THe author Allen explains it using the small town of Northeim in Hanover. Northeim was a typical town that weathered the turmoil of the twenties and thirties. In 1932, 66% percent of the population voted for the Nazis. In 1933, the Nazis took over the town administration and basically wiped out any opposition by the SPD or Nationalists. This book explains how the Nazis did it on a small scale. Initial violence, concentration camps, firing of those who held opposite political views, and police raids silenced the opposition. They were so silenced that the town did not get back its freedom till 1945.

This is a fairly long book and centered more toward the academic audience. However it gives a great view of how Germany changed overnight when Hindenburg selected Hitler to be his Chancellor. Democracy died a quick death, even at the local level. A great read for those trying to understand the Nazis."

One thing that the description leaves out that I liked a lot is that the book introduces you to several local characters and allows you to observe how their mindset and loyalty alters as their country experiences political change. It's not the most thrilling read in the world, but it really helped me to answer some questions I had always had about "how did well-meaning, rational people fall prey to Nazi ideology?" So, check it out, you'll like it.

The key is, 66 percent of the town's voters opted for Nazis. The question isn't, "How did the Nazis take charge?" but, rather, "Why did average Germans seek this particular brand of change when they did, and who was behind the social chaos which drove the everyday German to rebel from Allied-imposed order so?"

If the established order within a contemporary garden-variety American university so discomfits you--and indeed so many of us (William F. Buckley, for instance)--imagine how the average German felt about the same people who were seeking to violently overturn the delicate order of his country some 80 years ago.

Without revolution in Russia and the westward propagation of communism in the wake of the First World War, there likely would've been no call for Nazi influence in Germany: For unlike, say, the U.S., Britain, France, and the former USSR, Germany wasn't exactly a country frequently prone to invade, conquer, or colonize others, nor incite revolt either within or beyond her borders. In the nearly seventy years since the Second World War, German troops have seldom--indeed very rarely--stepped beyond their borders. With the passage of time, it increasingly appears that German aggression--like that seen during the war--is an anomaly rather than a rule. The same can't be said for numerous other countries worldwide. What, indeed, so moved ordinary Germans to such boldness or assertiveness that they placed Hitler in the seat of national power?

Your book appears a very interesting read. Hopefully, the author treats the subject with the full attention it deserves.

[Spiegelsaal]

I'd like to read a book about, and hopefully written by a German night-fighter pilot. I watched a documentary about these guys which interviewed a few of them, it was interesting and very moving. Does anyone know if such a book exists?

[Commissar D, the Evil]

Try "Schnaufer: Ace of Diamonds" by Peter Hinchliffe. It wasn't written by Schnaufer, unfortunately, but it is a good book and his biography.

Best,
~D, the EviL

[Cott Tiger]

Moderators,

May I ask where my post from last week has gone?

Regards,

André

[haen2]

An almost forgotten VERY well written book is "0.8/15" Trilogy, by Hans helmu Kirst.
It also has been filmed, and gives one a good insight of the inner workings of an army.The german version is the best, the dutch version only so so, but the English version is very well translated.
It is in essence an anti war book, but keeps you spellbound from a to z.
HN