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Hey everyone. I have a budding interest in World War II history, and coupled with the fact that I'm going to be studying abroad this summer (Austria, Germany, Italy), I thought it'd be especially rewarding to read up on the history and historical spots. I'm not interested in novels, but rather books that tell things from a historically accurate perspective. Something that can cover the beginning to the end from a fairly neutral perspective (nothing polarized nor heavily opinionated). My friend recommended me a couple books:

Citizen Soldiers and D-Day, both by Steven Ambrose.

If you folks have any suggestions, please list. Thanks ahead of time!

onetime2

Well, this suggestion doesn't quite fit your criteria as it's a fictional series but a remarkable number of facts are integrated into the stories. The author is W.E.B. Griffin and the series is called The Corps. It follows several Marines through WWII and then into Korea. There are real facts about the start of the OSS, coast watchers, resistance in the Phillipines, handling and cracking of the Japanese code, etc. I find the series absolutely addictive. Of course, it primarily focuses on the Pacific Theatre.

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Polyphobic

I know you don't want a novel but Band of Brothers is a good book.
Try and read Mein Kampf (sp?) to get an interesting read on hitler (albeit scary).
I believe Rise And Fall of The Third Reich was interesting. It's been a while.
Now I need to go out and get a WWII book. Been reading novels to long.

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Thanks for the suggestions so far. A book based around the Pacific theater ought to be interesting. A lot of what I've been recommended deals primarily with Europe, but I might get one called Overlord by Max Hastings. Keep the suggestions coming if anyone has any.

Polyphobic

A library card is a must. History books are expensive. I'm lucky that our libraries are excellent in colorado IMHO.

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Rodney

World War II was so many things, in so many places. A lot of amazing things hppened in out-of-the-way places, so no one ever heard much about them. But that didn't stop them from being amazing.

That said, I would recommend highly "The Thousand Mile War" by Brian Garfield, about the Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands. Yes, the Japanese actually invaded American soil, because the Aleutians -- part of Alaska -- definitely qualified. But the Aleutians, with terrible weather conditions and biting cold, are about the worst possible place to conduct a war. What actually went on, and what both sides had to do, is practically inconceivable by today's standards. This is a factual book, written with input from both sides, but it reads like a novel, and a gripping one at that. Highly, highly recommended.

If you're going to Europe, this isn't exactly what you had in mind. But when you asked for "the best," that's what I came up with. Another great one that's not about where you're going, from the Japanese side, is "Samurai," by Saburo Sakai, a war memoir by Japan's greatest fighter ace in WWII, and one of the very few Japanese pilots who made it through the entire war alive. It's a great read.

Jackebear

For any Canadian out there...the book "Canadians at War" is awesome. It is a book full of stories told but the people who lived through it. The "author" spent years travelling across the country collecting stories about "Canadians at home, in the air, in Europe, in Asia, in POW camps, after the war". You can open any page and read a different story. I just love it. I wonder if anyone in the States has come up with a similar book...I would love to read that as well.

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josh_s08

Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad by William Craig is a great book on the battle for stalingrad. It is a book of 5 years of research the author did on the battle, reading reports from the germans, russians, and everyone else involved. He also interviewed people that fought in the battle on both sides. The book reads somewhat like a novel, but gives the straight facts right out. It follows key players in the battle and other foot soldiers that were just basicaly grunts.

Here is the link to the amazon.com page selling it.

It was the base of the movie Enemy at the Gates.

MahlerIsGod

First, a must for everyone is John Keegan's The Second World War. A pretty comprehensive study of the entire war. Next, anything by John Lukacs (especially The Duel and Five Days In London: May 1940 are great books) and A.J.P Taylor are solid, solid choices. Personally, I thought Band of Brothers was a terrible book (the miniseries is so far and away greater and better than the book) and he is a awful author. I think you could find better scholarship and writing elsewhere.

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maleficent

The Forgotten Soldier, by Guy Sayer
This is a memoir of German teenaged soldier serving on the Eastern Front -- tis an unforgettable book.

Donald Burgett has a series of books, first person accounts of various battles during world war ii. I have always heard the war stories from friends parents, and parents friends, and other people who served, this book, takes the glamor out of those war stories.

While sentimental, and not of the war itself, I'd also read The Greatest Generation, by Tom Brokaw, makes you appreciate that generation.

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Strange Famous

The Order of Terror - Wolfgang Sofsky

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charms

For a great overview of the Pacific war, I recommend "Eagle Against the Sun" by Ronald Spector. It is more or less a straight historical account of the Pacific strategy, how it was developed, and how it played out.

For a better insight into one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific, I'd recommend "Utmost Savagery: The Three Days at Tarawa" by Col. Joseph Alexander. A very intricate and comprehensive account of the battle, right down to how the Japanese defensive bunkers were constructed and configured.

Those are both more historical books, but I enjoy memoirs. "Roll Me Over" by Raymond Gantter is a great one. A well-educated jazz musician who joined the grunts at age thirty, Ganter gives and honest and refreshingly frank account of his time with the infantry in Europe.

Lastly, one of my favorite books is "Goodbye, Darkness" by William Manchester. Thirty years later, a history professor goes back to the Pacific and retraces his time in the Marines island by island. It's a memoir, a history lesson, a travelogue, and a war story all in one. Manchester is honest and witty in the way only those old classically-educated professors can be.

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Thanks for all of the replies. Although he's been rebuked quite a bit, I got Ambrose's Citizen Soldiers. I appreciate all of your responses, but decided to start here for now. All of your suggestions have been written down and put in my wallet for future reference. Thanks again.

Fire

Studs Terkell wrote "the Good War" it is simply the best thing that I have ever read on WWII- its all eye witness accounts from people on every side- soldiers, kids, civilians- It is the definative book- and available in paperback- simply cannot rave enough on this one.....

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MPower

Ive got a good one called 'combat kill' which goes over how the various powers documented and verified their air kills.

YaWhateva

Pacific War: 1931-1945 by Saburo Ienaga is a good one. It may just seem like a normal WWII book to anyone who doesnt know much about Japanese society but if you know how censored Japan is to anything that lays any blame on them for WWII you will know how amazing this book. Almost all Japanese textbooks make noreference to WWII at all. And the ones that do mention it very briefly. And they refuse to mention anything about the many many Japanese civilians that the Japanese soldiers themselves murdered during the war or the other holocaust type tragedies that occured. This is a good book, if you can you should check it out.

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