Back in the early 2000's, I completed a multi-year undertaking, which was to build a list and read (in many cases, re-read), what was a mix of mostly non-fiction and some fictional books, about the Second World War.
These books were read in (mostly) chronological order, about the various battles, threading topics, and key figures, within the overall wider topic of the overall Second World War's timeline.
The biographies of the key figures mixed into the overall timeline, were read in their specific place in the timeline, when that person was at their "peak performance", or in some cases, their demise, within the War.
Several books on threading topics (European politics, homefronts, technologies, etc.) that didn't quite fit into one specific point in time, will also be found sprinkled throughout the list.
This timeline and reading list were built, and the books were all read, a little over 15-20 years ago now, so all of the reviews will be based on memory, and thus the book reviews will be VERY brief.
Since I already read these books on the entire topic, I'm afraid that I myself no longer plan to read any more World War II related books, even as new ones have since emerged. After spending so much time covering it, I decided it was time to move onward, onto other lists and timelines, on other topics. The "Big Topic" who's list and timeline I am currently reading about is the course of Westward Expansion in the US, from 1790-1910.
But I'm certain that other OBers interested in this topic will appreciate recommendations of books that were missed in my list below, or were published after. Please recommend any valuable omissions or additions!
Feel free to add in your own thoughts on these books, if you've already read them yourselves, and expand upon my short reviews.
If the full list is too long for your interests, you can shorten it, by just considering the books that are in boldface print. Or even better yet, just grab the first book in the list, and get reading!
FOCUS: Sources, Making The Timeline, Overall Guidance
1. World War II - Time Life Book Series (30+ books, see below)
2. The Second World War - John Keegan
3. World War II Day by Day - A Dorling-Kindersley book (many contributing editors)
4. Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II - Chris Bishop (ed)
5. Atlas of the Second World War - John Keegan (ed.)
6. Battles and Battlescenes of World War Two - David G. Chandler
FOCUS: Pre-Cursors, Setting the Stage
Germany: 2000 Years - Kurt F. Reinhardt
Dreams and Delusions: The Drama of German History - Fritz Stern
War Letters - Andrew Carroll
The Book of War - John Keegan
Prelude to War - Time Life Series Book 1 - Robert T. Elson
Closing With The Enemy - Michael Doubler
FOCUS: 1939
The Nazis - Time Life Series Book 21 - Robert Edwin Herzstein
Blitzkrieg - Time Life Series Book 2 - Robert Wernick
FOCUS: 1940
The Battle of the Atlantic - Time Life Series Book 5 - Barrie Pitt
Battles for Scandanavia - Time Life Series Book 28 - John R. Elting
Italy At War - Time Life Series Book 33 - Henry Adams
The Battle of Britain - Time Life Series Book 3 - Leonard Mosley
Panzer Battles - Maj. Gen. FW von Mellenthin
The German Army 1939-1945 - Osprey Men At Arms Series - Nigel Thomas
The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich - William Shirer
FOCUS: 1941
Russia Besieged - Time Life Series Book 6 - Nicholas Bethell
Clash of Titans - Walter J. Boyne
Barbarossa - Alan Clark
Panzer Leader - General Heinz Guderian
Attacks - Erwin Rommel
The Rising Sun - Time Life Series Book 4 - Arthur Zich
At Dawn We Slept - Gordon W. Prange
From Here to Eternity - James Jones
The Rising Sun - John Toland
The Secret War - Time Life Series Book 29 - Francis Russel
The Painted Bird - Jerzy Kosinski
FOCUS: 1942
The Rommel Papers - B.H. Liddell-Hart (ed.)
The War In The Desert - Time Life Series Book 7 - Richard Collier
The Desert War 1940-1943 - Alan Moorehead
Miracle at Midway - Gordon W. Prange
War in the Outposts - Time Life Series Book 24 - Simon Rigge
The Thin Red Line - James Jones
Into the Valley: Marines At Guadalcanal - John Hersey
Guadalcanal - Richard B. Frank
Guadalcanal Diary - Richard Tregaskis
The Commandos - Time Life Series Book 31 - Russell Miller
Enemy at the Gates - William Craig
Stalingrad - Anthony Beevor
Meeting the Fox - Orr Kelly
Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon
FOCUS: 1943
Partisans and Guerrillas - Time Life Series Book 12 - Ronald H. Bailey
Red Army Resurgent - Time Life Series Book 20 - John Shaw
Zhukov: From Moscow to Berlin - Georgi Zhukov
Kursk 1943 - Osprey Campaign Series - Mark Healy
The Battle of Kursk - Glantz and House
The Home Front: USA - Time Life Series Book 8 - Ronald H. Bailey
The Forgotten Soldier - Guy Sajer
Infantry Aces - Franz Kurowski
The Mediterranean - Time Life Series Book 27 - A.B.C. Whipple
The US Army in World War II (2) - The Mediterranean - Osprey Men At Arms Series - Mark R Henry
The Neutrals - Time Life Series Book 35 - Denis J. Fodor
The Italian Campaign - Time Life Series Book 11 - Robert Wallace
Backwater War: Allied Campaign in Italy - Edwin Hoyt
Bouganville: The Forgotten Campaign - Harry A. Gailey
China-Burma-India - Time Life Series Book 9 - Don Moser
Tarawa: Story of A Battle - Robert Sherrod
War Under the Pacific - Time Life Series Book 23 - Keith Wheeler
FOCUS: 1944
The Battle of Anzio - T.R. Fehrenbach
Bloody River - Martin Blumenson
The Texas 36th Division: A History - Bruce L. Brager
Monte Cassino - David Hapgood & David Richardson
Hell's Gate - Battle of the Cherkassky Pocket - Douglas E. Nash
Prisoners of War - Time Life Series Book 30 - Ronald H. Bailey
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
Ghost Front - Charles Whiting
Normandy 1944 -Osprey Campaign Series - Stephen Badsey
The Longest Day - Cornelius Ryan
D-Day - Stephen Ambrose
The Second Front - Time Life Series Book 13 - Ronald H. Bailey
Band Of Brothers - Stephen Ambrose
Beyond Valor - Patrick O'Donnell
The US Army in World War II (3) - Northwest Europe - Osprey Men At Arms Series - Mark R Henry
The Victors - Stephen Ambrose
The Resistance - Time Life Series Book 17 - Russell Miller
Live Free or Die! - John Harris
Das Reich - Max Hastings
The Air War In Europe - Time Life Series Book 16 - Ronald H. Bailey
The Wild Blue - Stephen Ambrose
Clash of Wings - Walter J. Boyne
Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
The Home Front: Germany - Time Life Series Book 32 - Charles Whiting
The Soviet Juggernaut - Time Life Series Book 25 - Earl F. Ziemke
Six Armies In Normandy - John Keegan
Japan At War - Time Life Series Book 26 - Editor of Time Life Books (?)
The Clay Pigeons of St. Lo - Glover S. Johns, Jr.
The Normandy Campaign - Victor Brooks
A Bridge Too Far - Cornelius Ryan
A Bridge Too Far - Stephen Badsey (Osprey Campaign Book)
A Dark And Bloody Ground, Battle of Hurtgen Forest - Edward G. Miller
The Naked And The Dead - Norman Mailer
The Big War - Anton Myrer
Island Fighting - Time Life Series Book 10 - Rafael Steinberg
Leyte - Samuel Eliot Morison
Return to the Phillipines - Time Life Series Book 15 - Rafael Steinberg
Los Alamos - Joseph Kanon
Citizen Soldiers - Stephen Ambrose
The GI Offensive In Europe - Peter R. Mansoor
A Soldiers Story - Omar N. Bradley
A Time For Trumpets - Charles B. McDonald
Company Commander - Charles B. McDonald
The Battle of the Bulge - Time Life Series Book 18 - William Goolrick, Ogden Tanner
A Blood-Dimmed Tide - Gerald Astor
Red Storm On The Reich - Christopher Duffy
FOCUS: 1945
The Road To Tokyo - Time Life Series Book 19 - Franklin M. Davis, Jr.
Liberation - Time Life Series Book 14 - Martin Blumenson
Good Soldiers, History of 353rd Regiment, 89th Division - R.P. Matthews
Ghost Soldiers - Hampton Sides
Iwo Jima - Richard Newcomb
Flags of Our Fathers - James Bradley
Letters from Iwo Jima - Kakehashi Kumiko
Flyboys - James Bradley
Tales by Japanese Soldiers - Kazuo Tamayama & John Nunneley
West Wall - Charles Whiting
Across The Rhine - Time Life Series Book 22 - Franklin M. Davis, Jr.
Frontsoldaten - Stephen G. Fritz
The Deadly Brotherhood - John C. McManus
Okinawa 1945 - Simon Foster
Operation Iceberg - Gerald Astor
Brave Men - Ernie Pyle
The Fall Of Berlin - Anthony Beevor
Victory in Europe - Time Life Series Book 36 - Gerald Simons
No End Save Victory - Robert Cowley (ed.)
Reporting World War II - Samuel Hynes (ed.)
Bombers Over Japan - Time Life Series Book 34 - Keith Wheeler
Once An Eagle - Anton Myrer
The Purple Plain - H.E. Bates
The Fall of Japan - Time Life Series Book 37 - Keith Wheeler
FOCUS: Aftermaths, Reconstruction, Legacy
The Aftermath: Europe - Time Life Series Book 38 - Douglas Botting
The Aftermath: Asia - Time Life Series Book 39 - Charles Osborne
The Good War - Studs Terkel
Whistle - James Jones
The Reader - Bernhard Schlink
The Good German - Joseph Kanon
German Boy - Wolfgang W.E. Samuel
Accompanying Documentaries and/or Popular Movies Watched (Not in order)
Wow, not sure I can actually pull this complete list off. It's literally going to be in the hundreds of items long, when done completely. Here is a short list, to start. I'll add more as time goes by, and memory returns
BBC History of World War II
Das Boot
Frank Capra's Why We Fight
Hope And Glory
From Here To Eternity
Pearl Harbor
Midway (70's)
The War - Ken Burns
The World At War (BBC)
The Longest Day
Saving Private Ryan
Band of Brothers
The Thin Red Line
U-571
Memphis Belle
Enemy At The Gates
The Pianist
Patton
When The Trumpets Fade
Battle of the Bulge
Schindler's List
Life Is Beautiful
Casablanca
Enigma
Windtalkers
Hart's War
Tora Tora Tora
The Heavy Water War
The Guns of Navarone
Force 10 From Navarone
Bridge Over The River Kwai
The Dirty Dozen
The Desert Fox
The Big Red One
A Bridge Too Far
Cross of Iron
Victory
The Sands of Iwo Jima
Stalag 17
Farewell To The King
Stalingrad
Downfall
The Battle of Britain
Night Of The Generals
Sophie's Choice
Come And See
The Winds of War
War And Remembrance
Kelly's Heroes
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
The Great Escape
Anzio
Where Eagles Dare
The Sound of Music
Saints And Soldiers
Empire of the Sun
The Second World War In Color
Jakob The Liar
Captain Correli And His Mandolin
Conspiracy
The Good German
1941))
and then later on, and more recently....
Australia
Colditz
Defiance
Red Tails
Valkryie
Atonement
The Pacific
Kokoda
Hacksaw Ridge
Inglorious Basterds
Imitation Game
Monuments Men
Unbroken
Fury
Dunkirk
The Book Thief
Midway (2019)
Babylon Berlin
The Forgotten Battle
The Liberator (Animated)
The Bombardment
These books were read in (mostly) chronological order, about the various battles, threading topics, and key figures, within the overall wider topic of the overall Second World War's timeline.
The biographies of the key figures mixed into the overall timeline, were read in their specific place in the timeline, when that person was at their "peak performance", or in some cases, their demise, within the War.
Several books on threading topics (European politics, homefronts, technologies, etc.) that didn't quite fit into one specific point in time, will also be found sprinkled throughout the list.
This timeline and reading list were built, and the books were all read, a little over 15-20 years ago now, so all of the reviews will be based on memory, and thus the book reviews will be VERY brief.
Since I already read these books on the entire topic, I'm afraid that I myself no longer plan to read any more World War II related books, even as new ones have since emerged. After spending so much time covering it, I decided it was time to move onward, onto other lists and timelines, on other topics. The "Big Topic" who's list and timeline I am currently reading about is the course of Westward Expansion in the US, from 1790-1910.
But I'm certain that other OBers interested in this topic will appreciate recommendations of books that were missed in my list below, or were published after. Please recommend any valuable omissions or additions!
Feel free to add in your own thoughts on these books, if you've already read them yourselves, and expand upon my short reviews.
If the full list is too long for your interests, you can shorten it, by just considering the books that are in boldface print. Or even better yet, just grab the first book in the list, and get reading!
FOCUS: Sources, Making The Timeline, Overall Guidance
1. World War II - Time Life Book Series (30+ books, see below)
2. The Second World War - John Keegan
3. World War II Day by Day - A Dorling-Kindersley book (many contributing editors)
4. Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II - Chris Bishop (ed)
5. Atlas of the Second World War - John Keegan (ed.)
6. Battles and Battlescenes of World War Two - David G. Chandler
FOCUS: Pre-Cursors, Setting the Stage
Germany: 2000 Years - Kurt F. Reinhardt
Dreams and Delusions: The Drama of German History - Fritz Stern
War Letters - Andrew Carroll
The Book of War - John Keegan
Prelude to War - Time Life Series Book 1 - Robert T. Elson
Closing With The Enemy - Michael Doubler
FOCUS: 1939
The Nazis - Time Life Series Book 21 - Robert Edwin Herzstein
Blitzkrieg - Time Life Series Book 2 - Robert Wernick
FOCUS: 1940
The Battle of the Atlantic - Time Life Series Book 5 - Barrie Pitt
Battles for Scandanavia - Time Life Series Book 28 - John R. Elting
Italy At War - Time Life Series Book 33 - Henry Adams
The Battle of Britain - Time Life Series Book 3 - Leonard Mosley
Panzer Battles - Maj. Gen. FW von Mellenthin
The German Army 1939-1945 - Osprey Men At Arms Series - Nigel Thomas
The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich - William Shirer
FOCUS: 1941
Russia Besieged - Time Life Series Book 6 - Nicholas Bethell
Clash of Titans - Walter J. Boyne
Barbarossa - Alan Clark
Panzer Leader - General Heinz Guderian
Attacks - Erwin Rommel
The Rising Sun - Time Life Series Book 4 - Arthur Zich
At Dawn We Slept - Gordon W. Prange
From Here to Eternity - James Jones
The Rising Sun - John Toland
The Secret War - Time Life Series Book 29 - Francis Russel
The Painted Bird - Jerzy Kosinski
FOCUS: 1942
The Rommel Papers - B.H. Liddell-Hart (ed.)
The War In The Desert - Time Life Series Book 7 - Richard Collier
The Desert War 1940-1943 - Alan Moorehead
Miracle at Midway - Gordon W. Prange
War in the Outposts - Time Life Series Book 24 - Simon Rigge
The Thin Red Line - James Jones
Into the Valley: Marines At Guadalcanal - John Hersey
Guadalcanal - Richard B. Frank
Guadalcanal Diary - Richard Tregaskis
The Commandos - Time Life Series Book 31 - Russell Miller
Enemy at the Gates - William Craig
Stalingrad - Anthony Beevor
Meeting the Fox - Orr Kelly
Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon
FOCUS: 1943
Partisans and Guerrillas - Time Life Series Book 12 - Ronald H. Bailey
Red Army Resurgent - Time Life Series Book 20 - John Shaw
Zhukov: From Moscow to Berlin - Georgi Zhukov
Kursk 1943 - Osprey Campaign Series - Mark Healy
The Battle of Kursk - Glantz and House
The Home Front: USA - Time Life Series Book 8 - Ronald H. Bailey
The Forgotten Soldier - Guy Sajer
Infantry Aces - Franz Kurowski
The Mediterranean - Time Life Series Book 27 - A.B.C. Whipple
The US Army in World War II (2) - The Mediterranean - Osprey Men At Arms Series - Mark R Henry
The Neutrals - Time Life Series Book 35 - Denis J. Fodor
The Italian Campaign - Time Life Series Book 11 - Robert Wallace
Backwater War: Allied Campaign in Italy - Edwin Hoyt
Bouganville: The Forgotten Campaign - Harry A. Gailey
China-Burma-India - Time Life Series Book 9 - Don Moser
Tarawa: Story of A Battle - Robert Sherrod
War Under the Pacific - Time Life Series Book 23 - Keith Wheeler
FOCUS: 1944
The Battle of Anzio - T.R. Fehrenbach
Bloody River - Martin Blumenson
The Texas 36th Division: A History - Bruce L. Brager
Monte Cassino - David Hapgood & David Richardson
Hell's Gate - Battle of the Cherkassky Pocket - Douglas E. Nash
Prisoners of War - Time Life Series Book 30 - Ronald H. Bailey
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
Ghost Front - Charles Whiting
Normandy 1944 -Osprey Campaign Series - Stephen Badsey
The Longest Day - Cornelius Ryan
D-Day - Stephen Ambrose
The Second Front - Time Life Series Book 13 - Ronald H. Bailey
Band Of Brothers - Stephen Ambrose
Beyond Valor - Patrick O'Donnell
The US Army in World War II (3) - Northwest Europe - Osprey Men At Arms Series - Mark R Henry
The Victors - Stephen Ambrose
The Resistance - Time Life Series Book 17 - Russell Miller
Live Free or Die! - John Harris
Das Reich - Max Hastings
The Air War In Europe - Time Life Series Book 16 - Ronald H. Bailey
The Wild Blue - Stephen Ambrose
Clash of Wings - Walter J. Boyne
Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
The Home Front: Germany - Time Life Series Book 32 - Charles Whiting
The Soviet Juggernaut - Time Life Series Book 25 - Earl F. Ziemke
Six Armies In Normandy - John Keegan
Japan At War - Time Life Series Book 26 - Editor of Time Life Books (?)
The Clay Pigeons of St. Lo - Glover S. Johns, Jr.
The Normandy Campaign - Victor Brooks
A Bridge Too Far - Cornelius Ryan
A Bridge Too Far - Stephen Badsey (Osprey Campaign Book)
A Dark And Bloody Ground, Battle of Hurtgen Forest - Edward G. Miller
The Naked And The Dead - Norman Mailer
The Big War - Anton Myrer
Island Fighting - Time Life Series Book 10 - Rafael Steinberg
Leyte - Samuel Eliot Morison
Return to the Phillipines - Time Life Series Book 15 - Rafael Steinberg
Los Alamos - Joseph Kanon
Citizen Soldiers - Stephen Ambrose
The GI Offensive In Europe - Peter R. Mansoor
A Soldiers Story - Omar N. Bradley
A Time For Trumpets - Charles B. McDonald
Company Commander - Charles B. McDonald
The Battle of the Bulge - Time Life Series Book 18 - William Goolrick, Ogden Tanner
A Blood-Dimmed Tide - Gerald Astor
Red Storm On The Reich - Christopher Duffy
FOCUS: 1945
The Road To Tokyo - Time Life Series Book 19 - Franklin M. Davis, Jr.
Liberation - Time Life Series Book 14 - Martin Blumenson
Good Soldiers, History of 353rd Regiment, 89th Division - R.P. Matthews
Ghost Soldiers - Hampton Sides
Iwo Jima - Richard Newcomb
Flags of Our Fathers - James Bradley
Letters from Iwo Jima - Kakehashi Kumiko
Flyboys - James Bradley
Tales by Japanese Soldiers - Kazuo Tamayama & John Nunneley
West Wall - Charles Whiting
Across The Rhine - Time Life Series Book 22 - Franklin M. Davis, Jr.
Frontsoldaten - Stephen G. Fritz
The Deadly Brotherhood - John C. McManus
Okinawa 1945 - Simon Foster
Operation Iceberg - Gerald Astor
Brave Men - Ernie Pyle
The Fall Of Berlin - Anthony Beevor
Victory in Europe - Time Life Series Book 36 - Gerald Simons
No End Save Victory - Robert Cowley (ed.)
Reporting World War II - Samuel Hynes (ed.)
Bombers Over Japan - Time Life Series Book 34 - Keith Wheeler
Once An Eagle - Anton Myrer
The Purple Plain - H.E. Bates
The Fall of Japan - Time Life Series Book 37 - Keith Wheeler
FOCUS: Aftermaths, Reconstruction, Legacy
The Aftermath: Europe - Time Life Series Book 38 - Douglas Botting
The Aftermath: Asia - Time Life Series Book 39 - Charles Osborne
The Good War - Studs Terkel
Whistle - James Jones
The Reader - Bernhard Schlink
The Good German - Joseph Kanon
German Boy - Wolfgang W.E. Samuel
Accompanying Documentaries and/or Popular Movies Watched (Not in order)
Wow, not sure I can actually pull this complete list off. It's literally going to be in the hundreds of items long, when done completely. Here is a short list, to start. I'll add more as time goes by, and memory returns
BBC History of World War II
Das Boot
Frank Capra's Why We Fight
Hope And Glory
From Here To Eternity
Pearl Harbor
Midway (70's)
The War - Ken Burns
The World At War (BBC)
The Longest Day
Saving Private Ryan
Band of Brothers
The Thin Red Line
U-571
Memphis Belle
Enemy At The Gates
The Pianist
Patton
When The Trumpets Fade
Battle of the Bulge
Schindler's List
Life Is Beautiful
Casablanca
Enigma
Windtalkers
Hart's War
Tora Tora Tora
The Heavy Water War
The Guns of Navarone
Force 10 From Navarone
Bridge Over The River Kwai
The Dirty Dozen
The Desert Fox
The Big Red One
A Bridge Too Far
Cross of Iron
Victory
The Sands of Iwo Jima
Stalag 17
Farewell To The King
Stalingrad
Downfall
The Battle of Britain
Night Of The Generals
Sophie's Choice
Come And See
The Winds of War
War And Remembrance
Kelly's Heroes
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
The Great Escape
Anzio
Where Eagles Dare
The Sound of Music
Saints And Soldiers
Empire of the Sun
The Second World War In Color
Jakob The Liar
Captain Correli And His Mandolin
Conspiracy
The Good German
1941
))and then later on, and more recently....
Australia
Colditz
Defiance
Red Tails
Valkryie
Atonement
The Pacific
Kokoda
Hacksaw Ridge
Inglorious Basterds
Imitation Game
Monuments Men
Unbroken
Fury
Dunkirk
The Book Thief
Midway (2019)
Babylon Berlin
The Forgotten Battle
The Liberator (Animated)
The Bombardment
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