A portal into the Third Reich.

August 5, 2008 5:35 AM

What are your all-time favorite books on World War II and the Third Reich?

One of the most engaging--and chilling--books I've read recently is The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, a lengthy, detailed and wide-ranging portrait of the era of Hitler and Goering.

I'm looking for similar books in this vein. What are your favorite tomes on Hitler, Germany and the Third Reich? Or on the Second World War in general?

posted by Gordion Knott to society & culture (26 comments total)

The Nazi Doctors is incredible.
posted by symbollocks at 6:08 AM on August 5 [1 favorite]

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich is exciting and compelling and mostly wrong in its analysis.

I suggest a translation of Joachim C. Feist's Hitler, Albert Seaton's the Russo-German War 1941-1945, Enemy at the Gates (admittedly problematic but still great) Erich Von Manstein's Lost Victories, Heinz Gderian's Panzer Leader, Adolf Galland's the First and the Last and Russell F. Weigley's Eisenhower's Lieutenant's.

There is simply no substitute for Gordon W. Prange's at Dawn We Slept.

MeFi mail me for more on specific areas.
posted by Ironmouth at 6:19 AM on August 5

I haven't read it but Winston Churchill received his Nobel Prize in Literature mainly for The Second World War.
posted by PenDevil at 6:30 AM on August 5

And for books on the Soviet/German bit of the war, I suggest Glantz.

When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler (1995) ISBN 0-7006-0717-X
Stumbling Colossus: The Red Army on the Eve of World War (1998) ISBN 0-7006-0879-6
Colossus Reborn: The Red Army at War, 1941-1943 (2005) ISBN 0-7006-1353-6

For Midway, I have heard good things about Shattered Sword, but I haven't read it yet.
posted by Comrade_robot at 6:32 AM on August 5

There's so many.

For WWII from an American point of view, can't beat The Winds of War and War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk.

For Third Reich / Holocaust specifically, try Ordinary Men by Christopher R. Browning (but in the same vein, avoid Hitler's Willing Executioners by Daniel J. Goldhagen - he's biased, doesn't get it, IMO).

And it you're of a certain bent, you'll really like The Iron Dream by Norman Spinrad.
posted by Rash at 6:34 AM on August 5

Rick Atkinson's Pulitzer Prize-winning An Army at Dawn: The War in Africa, 1942-1943 is a good account of the American army's invasion of North Africa; The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 is the second book in the Liberation Trilogy. As you can tell by the trilogy's title, it's focused on the American part of the European Theater, so I'd balance it with an accounts of the Eastern Front and the early war years.

I liked Antony Beevor's Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943 and The Fall of Berlin 1945.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:54 AM on August 5

Also check out Michael Burleigh's outstanding The Third Reich: A New History.
posted by BobbyVan at 6:59 AM on August 5

Not a book, but a lengthy essay by Lee Sandlin, available online: Losing the War. The part about the Berserker Rage might be familiar -- it was on This American Life.
posted by Rash at 7:09 AM on August 5 [2 favorites]

Great thread, thanks! Lots of new reading material for me.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 7:14 AM on August 5

As I mentioned in this thread, Robert Leckie's "Delivered from Evil" is an excellent one-volume history. It's entertaining, well-written, and it intersperses mini-bioagraphies of the major players with the historical events.
posted by grumblebee at 7:21 AM on August 5

The Forgotten Soldier, by Guy Sajer, describes life on the Russian Front by a conscript in the Wehrmacht.
posted by KokuRyu at 7:37 AM on August 5 [1 favorite]

"Inside the Third Reich". There are probably much better books, but Speer's made a pretty early and vivid impact on me.
posted by RavinDave at 7:42 AM on August 5 [1 favorite]

Seconding Speer's autobiography.

My favourite book about the war was "Most Secret War" by Dr. RV Jones. He was Assistant Director of Intelligence (Science) in the British Air Ministry. His recounting of the Battle of the Beams is amazing.
posted by salmacis at 7:54 AM on August 5

Or on the Second World War in general?

Catch 22. Howlingly funny, scathingly bitter, remarkable personality characterizations. You've probably read it but if you haven't, do so.

Seconding KokoRyu on 'The Forgotten Soldier' by Guy Sajer --- what a story! Yeah, WW2 wasn't a beach party for Americans but it was nothing like the total war waged by Germany upon Russia and then the Russian response. Unreal.
posted by dancestoblue at 7:57 AM on August 5

It's different than most books here but: Human Smoke by Nicholas Baker.
posted by stratastar at 8:10 AM on August 5

Cornelius Ryan's The Last Battle, concerning the final push towards Berlin and the resulting battle. It's chock full of first-hand stories and anecdotes like the last dogfight (betwen two spotter planes) and an American tank troop that crossed the Elbe by simply joining the end of a retreating German convoy. It also has more chilling segments like the Russian revenge on Berlin.
posted by outlier at 8:19 AM on August 5

What We Knew: Terror, Mass Murder and Everyday Life in Nazi Germany is an excellent collection of oral histories from people living in Germany at the time.

If you're open to primary sources/literature written during the period, I can't recommend The Diary of Anne Frank and Das Gesamtwerk by Wolfgang Borchert enough [second link auf Deutsch].
posted by mynameisluka at 8:40 AM on August 5

Shattered Sword is interesting but should be read after Prange's Miracle at Midway.

Citino's Death of the Wehrmacht is a good read to find out what exactly happened to Germany on the battlefield in 1942.

Christopher Duffy's Red Storm on the Reich to learn about what exactly happened to Germany on the battlefield in 1945.

Fritz's Frontsoldaten was an interesting worm's eye view of the war.

Sydnor's Soldiers of Destruction for a historical review of one SS division's evolution from police unit to warfighting force.

Atlas of World War II Battle Plans is an excellent review of the major campaigns. You really can't understand the war without seeing the ebb & flow of the campaigns mapped out.

This is no doubt controversial, but I found Hitler's War by the embattled and somewhat discredited David Irving to be utterly fascinating history. The movie Downfall is largely based, apparently, on Irving's seminal work.

Churchill's 6 volume series is MUST reading, with the proviso that history is written by the victors and all that. Irving's multivolume Churchill exposés are an interesting counterpoint to the hagiography surrounding the great man.
posted by yort at 8:40 AM on August 5

Eastern Approaches is not just one of my favorite WWII books, but one of my favorite books ever. For real-life heroism and adventure, it does not get any better than this.
posted by charlesv at 8:49 AM on August 5

Albert Speer: His Battle With Truth by Gitta Sereny, is a very interesting counterpoint to Inside the Third Reich.
posted by Kiwi at 8:52 AM on August 5

I forgot about David Glanz. Really technical, but invaluable. I agree that Prange's Midway book is also invaluable. Sajer's the Forgotten Soldier should be forgotten. It has been proven to be false and made up. The author never served.

Churchill, is, um, unreliable. You can't ask a major world-figure participant to write a history. An autobiography, yes, but history, no.
posted by Ironmouth at 9:03 AM on August 5

Snyder's Encyclopedia of the Third Reich.
posted by meehawl at 9:30 AM on August 5

Can't believe no one's mentioned Victor Klemperer's diary (Vol. 1, Vol. 2). Unsparing description of life in the Third Reich by a Jewish inhabitant of Dresden (his description of the bombing raid is unforgettable).
posted by languagehat at 10:10 AM on August 5

The two-volume Library of America set Reporting World War II (1, 2). Included in those volumes are Bill Mauldin's Up Front and John Hersey's Hiroshima, both of which are also recommended.
posted by Prospero at 11:08 AM on August 5

Seconding Beevor's Stalingrad. And as a child I really enjoyed the Reader's Digest book on WWII - gives a factual overview of all the theatres, which you could then follow up with more in depth books.
posted by djgh at 11:45 AM on August 5

For stuff on the Third Reich, John Toland's Adolf Hitler is as complete a biography as you'd want to read on the SOB who made it all possible and how he did it.

To get up close and personal with the guys in the foxholes in the European War, read Stephen Ambrose's Citizen Soldier. I hated getting to the last page; I didn't want it to end. I finally had a halfway decent understanding of what my grandfather went through.

A personal favorite is about the Blitz in London: Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain by Tim Clayton and Phil Craig.

For the U.S.'s entrance into the war, I was utterly captivated by Stanley Weintraub's Long Day's Journey Into War. Fantastic book.

For the war with Japan, try Toland's The Rising Sun. Also, don't miss Walter Lord's Incredible Victory: The Battle of Midway.
posted by bryon at 9:02 PM on August 5