Books - Second World War - Memoirs
and Biography
Germany
 Hitler: Dictator or Puppet? Andrew Norman. An attempt to analyse Hitler's mental health using the evidence of his actions, known beliefs, quotes and eyewitness accounts of his behaviour. Includes some good material on the sources of Hitler's ideas, and the way they were put into effect during the Second World War. [read full review] |
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 Erich von Manstein - Hitler's Master Strategist, Benoit Lemay. Focuses on Manstein's wartime career, from the planning for the invasions on Poland and France to his time on the Eastern Front. This is an objective account, acknowledging both Manstein's great ability as a general and his involvement in the massive war crimes committed in Russia, with his knowledge, and on occasion encouragement. [read full review] |
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 Doctor Goebbels, Roger Manvell and Heinrich Fraenkel. A detailed biography of the infamous Nazi propagandist stripping away the layers of mythology he created around his own life when he was in power to produce a portrait of a capable, hard working monster, who held views as extreme as any of his Nazi colleagues, and played a major part in ensuring that they were put into action. [read full review] |
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 I was Hitler's Chauffeur, Erich Kempka. One of a series of memoirs written by Hitler's domestic staff, this account focuses on the last days of the Third Reich, and the descent into chaos and delusion in the Berlin bunker, ending with Kempka's role in the disposal of Hitler's corpse. Despite some flaws this is an invaluable eyewitness account from the heart of power in the Third Reich, and as such is of great value. [read full review] |
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 Escape, Evasion and Revenge, Marc H. Stevens. The remarkable story of a young Jewish refugee from Germany, Georg Franz Hein, who in September 1939 took the identity of a dead class mate and joined the RAF, becoming a bomber pilot. As Peter Stevens he was shot down over Germany, and spent four years in POW camps, knowing that if the Germans discovered his true identity he would almost certainly be shot. Despite this he made several attempts to escape, succeeding twice for short periods. [read full review] |
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Soviet Union
 Panzer Destroyer - Memoirs of a Red Army Tank Commander, Vasiliy Krysov. The memoirs of a Soviet tank and self-propelled gun commander who fought at Stalingrad, Kursk and during the long Soviet offensives that followed, ending the war in East Prussia, and who was lucky to survive for so long, losing his crew and his commanding officer, and being wounded four times. Provides a memorable picture of life in the Red Army during some of the titanic battles on the Eastern Front. [read full review] |
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United Kingdom
 Six of Monty's Men, Adrian Steward. Six short biographies of six of Montgomery's key subordinates in North Africa, Italy and Normandy (Harding, Leese, de Guingand, Horrocks, Richardson and Roberts), which between them tell the story of all three campaigns, as well as casting an interesting light on Montgomery's abilities and character. [read full review] |
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 The Alexander Memoirs, 1940-1945, Field Marshal Earl Alexander of Tunis. The memoir's of Britain's most experienced commander of the Second World War, a man who led troops at Dunkirk, in North Africa, Burma, Sicily and Italy. 'Alex' is almost too modest, focusing much more on his subordinate's achievements than on his own, but his memoirs are still an invaluable source for some of the most important campaigns of the war. [read full review] |
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 Donald Dean VC, the Memoirs of a Volunteer and Territorial from Two World Wars, ed. Terry Crowdy. The memoirs of a very impressive man, a Victoria Cross winning soldier during the First World War and a senior commander with the Pioneers during the Second World War. The account of the second part of his career is of particular interest, partly because it covers part of the army that is rarely mentioned but that played a crucial part in the Allied victory and partly because of Dean's own attitude to the multi-racial and multi-cultural units under his command. [read full review] |
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 Wavell - Soldier and Statesman, Victoria Schofield. A major biography of a heavy-weight figure, Commander-in-Chief in the Middle East in 1940-41, in the Far East during the early Japanese victories, and Viceroy of India at a crucial period in the run-up to independence. Schofield paints a picture of a hard working, capable but modest commander, who often did a good job with very limited resources, but who was never really appreciated by Churchill. [read full review] |
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 Orde Wingate, A Man of Genius, Trevor Royle. A well balanced biography of one of the most fascinating but exasperating British military leaders of the Second World War, tracing his career from his inter-war days in the Sudan, through the formation of the Special Night Squads in Palestine in 1938 to the wartime conquest of Abyssinia and the famous Chindit raids in Burma. [read full review] |
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Darkness before the Dawn, Sgt. J.N. Farrow. This is the wartime diary of Sgt. J.N. Farrow, a prisoner of war in Changi for four years from the fall of Singapore to the end of the war. The book in provides an invaluable insight into the life of a P.O.W. in the Far East. [see more] |
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Popski's Private Army, Vladimir Peniakoff. A fascinating autobiography from the commander of one of the more successful of the small "private armies" that evolved during the fighting in North Africa. After operating behind enemy lines in the desert, Popski took his men to Italy, and we follow them all the way from the first landings at Taranto to his triumphal entry into Venice. [see more] |
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 Love and Sand, Howard M. Layton. The autobiography of a RAF Navigator who took part in the campaign in East Africa and the evacuation from Greece, flew on the Trans-Africa ferry route and fought in the El Alamein campaign. Layton weaves his military experiences into the wider story of his life, taking us from pre-war Coventry, through North Africa, and on to his post-war life in America [see more] |
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United States
 Dear Miss Em: General Eichelberger's War in the Pacific, 1942-45. A collection of the wartime letters sent by General Eichenberger to his wife, edited by Jay Luvaas, and which provides an invaluable insight into the workings of the high command in the south west Pacific, and a revealing look at General MacArthur from someone who worked closely with him. |
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Panzers on the Eastern Front, Erhard Raus, ed. Peter Tsouras. A series of accounts of German successes on the Eastern Front written for the US military by General Erhard Raus during the 1950s. A very valuable historical source, well presented by the editor, and of great value for anyone with an interest in the fighting on the Eastern Front. [read full review] 
Goering: The Rise and Fall of the Notorious Nazi Leader, Roger Manvell and Heinrich Fraenkel. A very high quality biography of Hermann Goering, the 'second man' of the Third Reich. Best known as head of the Luftwaffe, Goering played a wider role in the rise of the Nazis to power and was a major figure in Nazi Germany until the failures of the Luftwaffe to protect against Allied bombers undermined his position. [read full review] 
Eastern Inferno, The Journals of a German Panzerjäger on the Eastern Front, 1941-1943, Hans Roth. The remarkable journals of Hans Roth, who fought with an anti-tank unit attached to a German infantry division on the Eastern Front from 1941 until his death some time in 1944. Roth took part in the initial invasion, the battle for Kiev and the shattering retreat from Stalingrad, before disappearing during the destruction of Army Group Centre in 1944. [read full review] 
Return Flights in War and Peace, the Flying Memoirs of Squadron Leader John Rowland, DSO, DFC. The memoirs of an RAF pilot who started with war in Army Co-Operation before joining Bomber Command, where he flew 50 missions, ending the war as a flight leader. Covers the experiences of a Bomber Command pilot in the second half of the war, when targets became rather more varied than earlier [read full review] 
Armoured Guardsmen: A War Diary, June 1944-April 1945, Robert Boscawen. The diary of a tank commander and squadron commander, written during the campaign in north-western Europe in 1944-1945, with later comments also provided by the same author. A compelling read that mixes moments of great humour with accounts of some very fierce combat, and the casualties that went with it. [read full review] 
Fighting Brigadier: The Life of Brigadier James Hill DSO MC, Peter Harcerode. Partly a biography of Hill (an important figure in the creation of the Parachute Regiment) and partly a history of the units he commanded in North Africa, Normandy, during the Battle of the Bulge, in the crossing of the Rhine and finally in the advance to the Baltic. [read full review] 
'A Very Fine Commander': The Memoirs of General Sir Horatius Murray, ed. John Donovan. Interesting autobiography of a lesser known British general of the Second World War, tracing his career as he moved from staff posts at home to combat in North Africa, Sicily, Normandy, Italy and Austria and his post-war career that saw him serve in Palestine and Korea and rise to high rank within NATO. [read full review] 
Monty and Patton: Two Paths to Victory, Michael Reynolds. Twin biographies of two of the best known Allied generals of the Second World War, looking at how their early careers moulded their later commands, the difficult relationship between the two men and their individual styles of command. [read full review] 
Memories of The Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers WWII, Sylvester Till. A short but very readable memoir of one of the millions of soldiers whose lives were disrupted by the Second World War. Till spent most of his war in Iraq, serving with one of the essential support units that kept the army working. As a result we see more of the daily life of the soldier overseas. [see more]
Churchill's Wit, The Definitive Collection, ed. Richard M. Langworth. A wide ranging collection of Churchill's wittiest comments, including extracts from his speeches and published works, as well as impromptu quips, all fully referenced and if required set in context. Also included is a good selection of quotes often incorrectly attributed to Churchill, with the correct attribution. [read full review]
The Art of Leadership, Field Marshal The Viscount Montgomery of Alamein. This is a revised edition of Monty's classic work on leadership including a chapter comparing Churchill and Eisenhower that was excluded from the original work. Of interest both for Montgomery's thoughts on what made a good leader and for the insight it gives us into his attitudes towards some of his wartime contemporaries. [read full review]
Letters from my Son: A Texas Boy's Journey to the RAF, Dolcie Suggs Ehlinger & Karen Guelfo Ehlinger. Biography of Early Willson Jr, an American volunteer in the RAF, told through his letters to his parents stretching over a fifteen year period, and ending just before his tragic death in a flying accident in Wales in 1941. [read full review]
