# WW II Books ?



## Arclight (Jan 6, 2011)

Any selective tips on where I might find WWII fiction or non-fic' books ?

Thx
Arc


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## Tip10 (Apr 16, 2009)

There was a thread around here a while back that might be of interest -- let me go see if I can find it.

Try this thread: http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=392.0


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## Arclight (Jan 6, 2011)

Tip10 said:


> There was a thread around here a while back that might be of interest -- let me go see if I can find it.
> 
> Try this thread: http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=392.0


TY!


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Just finished _A Dawn Like Thunder_ in the Kindleboards Quasi-Official Book Game Klub.

Non-fictional account of Torpedo Squadron Eight which flew off the U.S.S. Hornet during the Battle of Midway and from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. Lots of "I didn't know that" stuff for history buffs - some a bit controversial.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

I also read and endorse Dawn Like Thunder.  Other good ones included Death Traps, by Belton Cooper, and Iron Men and Tin Fish by Anthony Newpower.  Air War Europa by EricHammel is a great reference, though not a cover to cover read. Hammel has a similar ly exhaustive book about the Pacific air war whose title escapes me right now.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Almost forgot!  Their Finest Hour, by Churchill is only 99 cents on Kindle for now.


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## nelmsm (Dec 24, 2009)

I read "With the Old Breed" by E.B. Sledge after HBO ran "The Pacific".  I consider it one of the better WWII non-fiction books I've ever read.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

I'm currently enjoying the Billy Boyle World War II mysteries.  Billy Boyle is a young Boston policeman newly-promoted from patrol officer to detective at the start of World War II.  When he gets drafted in early 1942, his parents arrange for him to get a cushy job on the staff of an obscure general who is married to a distant relative.  Unfortunately for him, the obscure general is Dwight Eisenhower, who wants a relative he can trust to be his personal investigator to handle touchy situations that he doesn't want to become big items in the newspapers.  I'm partway through the series, which combines detective stories and spy stuff, and is very well-informed and historically accurate.


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## libbyfh (Feb 11, 2010)

I love the Philip Kerr mysteries that are set in Nazi Germany. His PI is Bernie Gunther who goes along to get along, which may sound harsh, but they're great reading. In fact I just finished

And loved it.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)




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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

libbyfh said:


> I love the Philip Kerr mysteries that are set in Nazi Germany. His PI is Bernie Gunther who goes along to get along, which may sound harsh, but they're great reading. In fact I just finished
> 
> And loved it.


I was interested in this when you posted it (hadn't heard of these before), but OUCH at $12.99! I am a frugal soul who resents even paying $9.99 for fiction! Small-minded of me, I know.


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## TWErvin2 (Aug 7, 2010)

I just recently finished *Iron Coffins*: A Personal Account Of The German U-boat Battles Of World War II  and would higly recommend it.

Flyboys is another read I'd highly recommend.


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## libbyfh (Feb 11, 2010)

Re: Philip Kerr, I suppose the library is always an option...

Another WW 2 thriller I loved was RESTLESS by WIlliam Boyd. Espionage, but very different than what you'd expect. 

Unfortunately, that is even higher... (sigh...)


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Great account of a USMC "war dog" unit in WWII:



Unfortunately not on Kindle but a fascinating read:


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## Strapped-4-Cache (Dec 1, 2010)

TWErvin2 said:


> I just recently finished *Iron Coffins*: A Personal Account Of The German U-boat Battles Of World War II  and would higly recommend it.
> 
> Flyboys is another read I'd highly recommend.


I'll second the vote for Flyboys. As noted in an earlier post, there's a bunch of the, "Huh, I didn't know that!" kind of stuff in there.


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## Steve Silkin (Sep 15, 2010)

"apartment in athens" by glenway wescott, on the nazi occupation of greece. great novel. you deduce at the end, and via wescott's biography, that it's based on a true story.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

I just read this a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it.

*Unbroken*: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by _Laura Hillenbrand_


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## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

For great, historical, and very entertaining WWII reading you can't beat: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=cornelius+ryan&x=0&y=0


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## Bigal-sa (Mar 27, 2010)

Not sure what kind of WW2 books you're looking for, but you may want to look at Nevil Shute's book list for stories about everyday people and how the war affected them.


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## brian70 (Mar 26, 2010)

nelmsm said:


> I read "With the Old Breed" by E.B. Sledge after HBO ran "The Pacific". I consider it one of the better WWII non-fiction books I've ever read.


I second that.


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## marshacanham (Jul 30, 2010)

After watching the mini series Band of Brothers, I bought the book...and it was terrific, engrossing, and made watching the mini series a second time a must.

Along with Winds of War, another of my favorites was Mila 18, Leon Uris. Heart-wrenching and gritty.

M


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## Five String (Jun 6, 2010)

Ghost Mountain Boys by James Campbell. About a campaign early in WWII to take Buna, New Guinea from the Japanese. Harrowing, eye-opening, frightening, really good. 

Any of the Stephen Ambrose books about WWII are good. I've read several of them. They're so good I can't remember the names of any of them. Just kidding, they were good.


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## Five String (Jun 6, 2010)

Actually, another one comes to mind, by Studs Terkel, called the Good War. He covers a lot of aspects of the war not usually mentioned in the standard rah-rah histories, like people who really wanted to fight but the government thought they were communists, or the strikes by blacks in the south.


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## Basilius (Feb 20, 2010)

marshacanham said:


> After watching the mini series Band of Brothers, I bought the book...and it was terrific, engrossing, and made watching the mini series a second time a must.


Dick Winters, one of the original Band of Brothers, passed away today. RIP.

Another book I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned so far is Unbroken. I'm about 1/4 through the audio version of it, and it's absolutely stunning. It's a memoir of an airman in the Pacific and all the trials and hardships that duty entailed. Quite well written, and if you like Edward Herrmann's voice, the audio is very well produced.


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## marcjrcaron (10 mo ago)

Arclight said:


> Any selective tips on where I might find WWII fiction or non-fic' books ?
> 
> Thx
> Arc


ADOLF UNCLASSIFIED: Unpublished Stories And Photos: Caron, Marc Jr: 9781778095726: Amazon.com: Books


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## NickD (Jan 6, 2022)

Try this:- World War II Books 

Goodreads is connected to Amazon.


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