[Old Crow]

Also, for those of you who are interested in the 'birth' of the US combat army in WWII, An Army at Dawn by Rick Atkinson is an excellent book which shows both the dynamics and processes (political, organisational and military) involved in the establishment of the force that was destined to travel from North Africa to the heart of Germany.

I'll second Cardinal on this one. I read it about a year ago and I couldn't put it down. Atkinson also wrote The Long Grey Line, another nice read. An Army At Dawn is apparently the first of a trilogy about WW2 and I can't wait for the others.

[SKUNKY]

I recently finished Stephen Walker's Shockwave: Countdown to Hiroshima. This is one of those books which I'm having a rather difficult time getting out of my mind..

It begins with the testing of the first atomic bomb in New Mexico to the horrific aftermath of the dropping of Little Boy on the city of Hiroshima. This book reads like a novel and is hard to put down. We see every detail unfold from the perspective of the American scientists and military to surviving Japanese eyewitnesses..I felt like I was riding along on Enola Gay as the hours, minutes and seconds counted down, and then -terrifyingly- I felt as though I was observing the unimaginable horror of it all from the eyes of a Japanese.

It's absolutely mind-blowing to know that today's nuclear weapons make Little Boy and Fat Man relative firecrackers.

This book is as close as I ever want to get to witnessing a "nuclear event", and most sincerely hope and pray that the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the last human beings to ever experience such a thing.

I highly recommend this book to all historians of WW II..

[Aircrafty]

Tram, I have read hundreds of non fiction books on WWII and imo the best in each category are:

Aviation autobiography: "The Big Show" by Pierre Clostermann. To me it is easily the best written and most exciting WWII aviation book - despite him being a French guy

Tank autobiography: "Flame Thrower" by Andrew Wilson. He commanded a Churchill 'Crocodile' flame thrower tank from D-Day onwards.

Commander Autobiography: "On to Berlin" by General James Gavin. 'Jumping Jim' commanded the 82nd Airborne and was among the better US Generals.

Three genuine guys that cared little about politics and were just interested in keeping to the truth.

[Captain Eddie]

"Richthofen-Beyond the Legand of the Red Baron" by Peter Kilduff is an excellent book, goes well beyond others in information and detail. I highly recommend it!

[timbo]

Just read "Going Solo" by Roald Dahl. Not an author I would normally pick up for an adult read but it was very good. Takes him though initially working in Africa just before the war, though flight training to fighting in North Africa and Greece.

[1250ships]

One of the best books about World War II military aviation is Fire in the Sky: Air War in the South Pacific by Eric Bergerud. His previous book on land warfare in the same theater, Touched with Fire is also excellent. Both are out in paperback.

As discussed in another thread Shattered Sword is a fantastic look at the Battle of Midway from the Japanese perspective.

The best single volume account of the Guadalcanal campaign is Guadalcanal by Richard Franks.

[easy8]

A great book is "1942, The Year That Tried Men's Souls", by Winston Groom, who also wrote "Forest Gump". Excellent account of the difficult early years of the war for the allies, touches a bit on Hitler and the ETO, but mainly keeps focus on the Pacific. Great mix of air, land and sea battles, with a very interesting review of the Battle of Midway and the role the TBMs (Zero Fodder) and the SBDs played in the victory.

easy8

[Nimrod48]

This book might take a bit of searching for it is titled Churchill`s secret agent (ISBN 0-907854-02-8).
It is the true account of Josephine Butler (codename Jay Bee) she was the only female member of his elite "secret circle" not even the War Office or MI 5 knew of its existence.
Her exploits behind enemy lines left me spellbound.

[Tram]

Thanks for all the reccomendations guys..

I will probably pick up a few..

I posted then and then found a good book on my shelf I've been meaning to read..

[jim]

HI Folks, just thought I would pass this on, I have just finished rereading the book by James Megellas called All The Way To Berlin. He was the 82nd Airbornes most decorated officer. Wow he was one tough man. His book is superb from start to finish . I think that all you military chaps should read it. In fact I would bet that most of you already have. Looking at the front of the copy I have from the library I was delighted to see that this book has been borrowed many many times so his exploits must be well known.
I hate to borrow a really good book about those that fought so hard for us only to find that it has just sat on the shelves unread for years at a time.

Another good book I have read recently is called G Company's war. This is written by Bruce E Egger and Lee Otts. It is written in the form of a diary and really gives the impression of what it was like to live through the battles to drive on onto the German heartland. The grim trudge through dreadfull weather conditions, the constant steady loss of friends. it makes for heavy reading , tells it like it was. Both these books have left a deep impression on me. Boy have I had an easy life!

Now where did I put those two books on Patton.