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WWII history
Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 12:32 am
by Konrad
Hey, I just finished John Tolland's "Rising Sun". Fascinating stuff even though it just breaks your heart. What would you Flames of War geeks recomend as a good WW2 historical reading?
Re: WWII history
Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 1:04 am
by The Other Dave
It's hard to beat "The 'Good' War" by Studs Terkel.
Re: WWII history
Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 2:50 pm
by job
Novels: Kurt Vonegut, Slaughterhouse-five. Joseph Heller, Catch-22. James Jones, The Thin Red Line. Norman Mailer, The Naked and the Dead.
History: Anthony Beevor, Stalingrad. (Specific, but still a good read with a far more balanced view. Beevor, who speaks and reads German and Russian, uses accounts on both sides to paint a picture of the war, but still with all the stereotypical British historiography.)
Documentaries: BBC's The World at War: 1939-1945. (The best documentary made by far. Interviews with not just ordinary people who lived the events, but also key officials, generals and people who eye-witnessed the great people of the age. Great narration by Laurence Oliver and also great footage of the events. The problem is it has been recently digitally remastered and re-released, so you can't find it on youtube any longer.)
Re: WWII history
Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2011 2:49 pm
by Moyashimaru
Jeremy Clarkson of "Top Gear" fame hosted a documentary on the Victoria Cross, highlighting the actions of Commonwealth soldiers during WW2 (Youtube's got some of it at least). The mention of Clarkson's name might raise an eyebrow, but he manages to convey the absolute balls needed to get one of these chunks of worthless metal pinned to your chest. If History teachers had a bit more Jeremy Clarkson, there would be much less of this "History is boring" moaning that makes me tear my hair out.
(apologies for not recommending reading material. Oh, wait: Seek out some Ernie Pyle.)
http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources ... ain-waskow