THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP discussion

Books covering the Eastern Front of WW2 are usually one of my favourite areas of reading. One book that I really enjoyed was; "In Deadly Combat" by Gottlob Herbert Bidermann.

by Gottlob Herbert Bidermann

I'd be interested to hear what books other members consider their favourites covering the Russian Front.

Russia at War by Alexander Werth is a great read. He was a Russian born journalist and war correspondent, working for a British newspaper. He was in Russia for most of the war and witnessed it first hand.

Nice post Steve, thanks for the information on the book. I saw that he published another book on Russia during WW2 that I was interested in before:

by Alexander Werth

How did you find his writing and did he go into great detail about the battles and campaigns or more of a general account of Russia during the war?

Another good book that I'm sure many here have also read and enjoyed was; "Stalingrad" by Antony Beevor.


by Antony Beevor

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Nice post Steve, thanks for the information on the book. I saw that he published another book on Russia during WW2 that I was interested in before:

The book is brilliantly written Rick, the kind of book that is hard to put down. It's more of an overview type of book without the detail of say a David Glantz, but does give you excellent descriptions of the fighting at Stalingrad, Moscow, the siege of Leningrad etc. It also includes lesser known battles such as the battle of Budapest, the Crimea and the Soviet advances into Romania, Bulgaria and eventually Germany. Highly recommended.

Steve wrote: "'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Nice post Steve, thanks for the information on the book. I saw that he published another book on Russia during WW2 that I was interested in before:

The book is brilliantly wr..."

Steve thanks for highlighting this I've added to my TBR and will look to buy a copy.

The best ones I know of are

Russia Besieged

Red Army Resurgent

The Soviet Juggernaut

The're part of this MASSIVE Time-Life series of books on EVERY aspect World War II. This series is undoubtedly the best one of that nature.

Thanks for the information on the Time-Life series of books Jerome.

I think I may also have to search out for a copy of "Russia at War" as well :)


by Alexander Werth

Yep, just ordered a nice second hand HB edition. Let me know if you decide to get a copy Geevee, maybe a future buddy read :)

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "I think I may also have to search out for a copy of "Russia at War" as well :)


[bookcover:Russia at War: 19411945] by Alexander Werth

Yep, just ordered a nice second hand HB edition. Let m..."

Just don't let it sit on your bookshelf for too long -)

I'll try not to Steve! All the reviews that I have read all seem to indicate, like you mentioned, that it's a pretty good account. Thanks for posting the details about the book, hopefully others here may also be interested in reading a copy.

Another classic book covering one battle on the Eastern Front is of course; "Enemy at the Gates". I think this may have even been the book that got me interested in the Russian Front along with "The Forgotten Soldier". Did others enjoy these books?

by William Craig

by Guy Sajer

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Another classic book covering one battle on the Eastern Front is of course; "Enemy at the Gates". I think this may have even been the book that got me interested in the Russian Front along with "Th..."

There was a copy of "The Forgotton Soldier" in the used bookshop I was browsing in a few days ago. I'm just weary of reading it due to the controversy about the authenticity of the book. What's your opinion?

It's a good story but you are right about the controversy about its accuracy and authenticity. When I first read it back in the 1980's I felt it was a great story but I didn't think much about how the author could remember so much detail about conversations he had during the war, etc. That is why I consider "In Deadly Combat" a much better first-hand account of a soldiers experience on the Russian Front. It will be interesting to hear what other readers think about “The Forgotten Soldier”.

by Gottlob Herbert Bidermann

Has anyone else read the series of books by Michael Jones covering different battles on the Russian Front:

by Michael Jones

by Michael Jones

by Michael Jones

This is his latest book:

by Michael Jones

I read these two volumes in the mid 1980's and I wonder if anyone else has read them and what they thought:

and by John Erickson

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "I read these two volumes in the mid 1980's and I wonder if anyone else has read them and what they thought:

and by John Erickson"

Rick I bought the Road to Berlin when first published. I struggled with it in places but think this may have been due my age. I think I would find it a far more enjoyable and satisfying read, as I now understand far better the German and Russian formations and their military organisation, plus both sides strategic plans and other influences on the campaign.

It was one of the first series of books covering the war in English from the Russian perspective although I got slightly annoyed when he kept on referring to the Grossdeutschland Division as a Waffen SS formation. You might find this interesting but I bought both volumes when I was working in London in 1984 and use to read them during my lunch breaks and after work. They are big volumes but I kept them and luged them all the way back to Australia.

I have a 1st edition HB of Road to Berlin and periodically think I should buy the sister volume, but only if I can find it in a First HB at a sensible price.

Your luggage would certainly have weighed something with both those volumes.

Plus more, some great old book shops in London back then :)



by Leon Degrelle

Geevee wrote: "I have a 1st edition HB of Road to Berlin and periodically think I should buy the sister volume, but only if I can find it in a First HB at a sensible price.

Your luggage would certainly have we..."

I think you need to find the first volume Geevee :)

Here is a title covering the Italain forces on the Russian Front during WW2:

by Hope Hamilton

And this book covers the Spanish volunteers of the Blue Division:

Hitler's Spanish Legion: The Blue Division in Russia by Gerald R Kleinfeld

Rick the first one looks very interesting and I liked your review telling me what I'd not get too. Did you ever discover a history that covers the combat history for them. Thanks and added to my TBR.

Hi Geevee, I haven't found a decent book in English covering the Italian Alpine Corp on the Russian Front. However something close is this novel written by a soldier who served in that unit based on his experiences:

by Eugenio Corti

It was surprisingly good!

This has good reviews here and on another site

And here's his other book by David Stahel

Hi Geevee,

Thanks for that, I've got his book on Kiev but not the first book on Operation Barbarossa, I will have to check it out :)

I might mention some good books on the Winter War in Finland in this thread as well. I have all of these yet to read would you believe it!

by Henrik O. Lunde

by Robert Edwards

by William R. Trotter

by Bair Irincheev

Here is one on my tbr by Gunther K. Koschorrek
and one on Finland by William R. Trotter

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "It's a good story but you are right about the controversy about its accuracy and authenticity. When I first read it back in the 1980's I felt it was a great story but I didn't think much about how ..."

I have that sitting in my bookshelf waiting to be read :)

I'll be interested to hear what you think of; "Blood Red Snow: The Memoirs of a German Soldier on the Eastern Front" once you've had a chance to read it Michael.

I can't help myself, I have to mention this book here, I love the pictures in this book covering this beast of war, in case anyone else is interested:

by Jean Restayn

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Another classic book covering one battle on the Eastern Front is of course; "Enemy at the Gates". I think this may have even been the book that got me interested in the Russian Front along with "Th..."

Rick, those are essential eastern front reading, both are favorites of mine, along with

To be honest Mike I have never read "The Tigers Are Burning", but I understand that for many years it was considered a classic of Eastern Front books. It sounds like an enjoyable read.

Here is a book that I enjoyed but has received mixed reviews. It was the first book that I had read on Konigsberg so it was very interesting in that regard. I think the main issue with most readers was not enough detail on the actual battle for the city itself. Has anyone else read this book and has any comments?

by Isabel Denny

The following two books offer more detailed acocunts of the fighting on the Eastern Front in the last months of the war:

by Prit Buttar

by Krisztian Ungvary

by John Mosier


This might be good. I haven't read it, though.

Thanks Jerome :)

Here are a few books that I have but am yet to read that may interest others:

by Howard Grier
Description:
This work analyzes German naval strategy from 1944 to 1945 and its role in shaping the war on land in the Baltic. The first six chapters provide an operational history of warfare on the northern sector of the eastern front and give evidence of the navy s demands that the Baltic coast be protected in order to preserve U-boat training areas. The next three chapters look at possible reasons for Hitler's defense of the Baltic coast, concluding that the most likely reason was Hitler's belief in Donitz's ability to turn the tide of war with his new submarines. A final chapter discusses Donitz's personal and ideological relationship with Hitler, his influence in shaping overall strategy, and the reason Hitler selected the admiral as his successor rather than a general or Nazi Party official. With Grier's thorough examination of Hitler's strategic motives and the reasons behind his decision to defend coastal sectors in the Baltic late in the war, readers are offered an important new interpretation of events for their consideration.

by William Lubbeck
Description:
This is the remarkable story of a German soldier who fought throughout World War II, rising from conscript private to captain of a heavy weapons company on the Eastern Front.

William Lubbeck, age 19, was drafted into the Wehrmacht in August 1939. As a member of the 58th Infantry Division, he received his baptism of fire during the 1940 invasion of France. The following spring his division served on the left flank of Army Group North in Operation Barbarossa. After grueling marches admidst countless Russian bodies, burnt-out vehicles, and a great number of cheering Baltic civilians, Lubbeck's unit entered the outskirts of Leningrad, making the deepest penetration of any German formation.

The Germans suffered brutal hardships the following winter as they fought both Russian counterattacks and the brutal cold. The 58th Division was thrown back and forth across the front of Army Group North, from Novgorod to Demyansk, at one point fighting back Russian attacks on the ice of Lake Ilmen. Returning to the outskirts of Leningrad, the 58th was placed in support of the Spanish "Blue" Division. Relations between the allied formations soured at one point when the Spaniards used a Russian bath house for target practice, not realizing that Germans were relaxing inside.

A soldier who preferred to be close to the action, Lubbeck served as forward observer for his company, dueling with Russian snipers, partisans and full-scale assaults alike. His worries were not confined to his own safety, however, as news arrived of disasters in Germany, including the destruction of Hamburg where his girlfriend served as an Army nurse.

In September 1943, Lubbeck earned the Iron Cross First Class and wasassigned to officers' training school in Dresden. By the time he returned to Russia, Army Group North was in full-scale retreat. Now commanding his former heavy weapons company, Lubbeck alternated sharp counterattacks with inexorable withdrawal, from Riga to Memel on the Baltic. In April 1945 Lubbeck's company became stalled in a traffic jam and was nearly obliterated by a Russian barrage followed by air attacks.

In the last chaotic scramble from East Prussia, Lubbeck was able to evacuate on a newly minted German destroyer. He recounts how the ship arrived in the British zone off Denmark with all guns blazing against pursuing Russians. The following morning, May 8, 1945, he learned that the war was over.

After his release from British captivity, Lubbeck married his sweetheart, Anneliese, and in 1949 immigrated to the United States where he raised a successful family. With the assistance of David B. Hurt, he has drawn on his wartime notes and letters, Soldatbuch, regimental history and personal memories to recount his four years of frontline experience. Containing rare firsthand accounts of both triumph and disaster, At Leningrad's Gates provides a fascinating glimpse into the reality of combat on the Eastern Front.

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Here are a few boosk that I have but am yet to read that may interest others:

[bookcover:Hitler Donitz and the Baltic Sea: The Third Reich's Last Hope 19441945] by Howard Grier
Description:
Th..."


Lubbeck is one of the Wehrmacht soldiers featured in Leningrad.


byMichael Jones

I just finished Zhukov's Greatest Defeat: The Red Army's Epic Disaster in Operation Mars, 1942. It is about Operation Mars an the attempt the Soviets made to reduce the Rzhev Salient 200 KM from Moscow at about the same time at the Soviet Counter Offensive at Stalingrad. Pretty good, but it would be a little confusing to someone who had no knowledge of the war on the Eastern Front. The Soviet histories dismissed this operation as a spoiling attack to prevent the Germans from moving reinforcements to the Stalingrad front. However there were almost 700,000 men assigned to the offensive as well as 2500 tanks. Model was the German commander and he for the most part succesfully defended the salient.

I would also recommend David L. Robbins's novels about the eastern front

The End of War: A Novel of the Race for Berlin - told from both the Western and Soviet viewpoint, but mainly the Soviets

Last Citadel - the Battle of Kursk as told through the eyes of a Soviet Tank crew and a Spanish officer serving with the Germans

War Of The Rats - the sniper war at Stalingrad from both the German and Soviet point of view

Some good information there Happy, thanks for your views on David Glantz's book on 'Operation Mars' and your recommendation on David Robbins' novels.

I am sure quite a few folks here will appreciate your comments.

by David M. Glantz
Description:
One of the least known stories of World War II, Operation Mars was a military disaster on an epic scale. Designed to dislodge the German Army from its position west of Moscow, Mars cost the Soviets an estimated 335,000 dead, missing, and wounded men and over 1,600 tanks. But in Russian history books, it was a battle that never happened. It became instead another victim of Stalin's postwar censorship.
David Glantz now offers the first definitive account of this forgotten catastrophe, revealing the key players and detailing the major events of Operation Mars. Using neglected sources in both German and Russian archives, he reconstructs the historical context of Mars and reviews the entire operation from High Command to platoon level.

Orchestrated and led by Marshal Georgy Kostantinovich Zhukov, one of the Soviet Union's great military heroes, the twin operations Mars and Uranus formed the centerpiece of Soviet strategic efforts in the fall of 1942. Launched in tandem with Operation Uranus, the successful counteroffensive at Stalingrad, Mars proved a monumental setback. Fought in bad weather and on impossible terrain, the ambitious offensive faltered (despite spectacular initial success in some sectors). Zhukov kept sending in more troops and tanks only to see them decimated by the entrenched Germans.

Illuminating the painful progress of Operation Mars with vivid battle scenes and numerous maps and illustrations, Glantz presents Mars as a major failure of Zhukov's renowned command. Yet, both during and after the war, that failure was masked from public view by the successful Stalingrad operation, thus eliminating any stain from Zhukov's public image as a hero of the Great PatrioticWar.

For three grueling weeks, Operation Mars was one of the most tragic and agonizing episodes in Soviet military history. Glantz's reconstruction of that failed offensive fills a major gap in our knowledge of World War II, even as it raises important questions about the reputations of national military heroes.

I forgot to ask Happy how did you find the writing style of David Glantz?

Nicole, how are you getting along with Leningrad: State of Siege? What do you think of the descriptions and first-hand accounts of those trapped in the city and trying to stay alive and survive starvation?

by Michael Jones

Another great book on Leningrad is this account, considered a classic:

by Harrison E. Salisbury

I have these two titles yet to read as well:

by Anna Reid

by David M. Glantz

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Nicole, how are you getting along with Leningrad: State of Siege? What do you think of the descriptions and first-hand accounts of those trapped in the city and trying to stay alive and survive sta..."

I've been busy the last couple of days so haven't gotten much further in the book, but really enjoying what I've read so far. I'm at the part where Zhukov has just left so it is still only September and the full on siege hasn't started yet.

Slightly OT, I was talking to a guy in my office yesterday about the book and he knows a fellow who's grandmother was on the survivors of the Stalingrad siege.

Pretty amazing to find a living survivor of Stalingrad, I bet they have some horrific tales to tell as well!

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "I forgot to ask Happy how did you find the writing style of David Glantz?"

A little pendantic and bounces around without clear transitions sometimes so it can be a little hard to follow and sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees, but I think it was really well researched from both the German and Soviet sides. This operation was an early example of Stalin pitting his generals against each other. One credit to the book is there lots and lots of maps. One can really follow the battle. One confusing thing that he doesn't really explain is the Soviet Order of Battle and the fact that a Soviet Tank Corps and Mech Inf Corps are really division sized units, while a Rifle Corps is a Corps. I would give the book 4 4 1/2 stars

Thanks for the additional information Happy as I know a few readers have struggled with some of Glantz's books, I did with his Kursk account but like you mentioned his books are very well researched.

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Thanks for the additional information Happy as I know a few readers have struggled with some of Glantz's books, I did with his Kursk account but like you mentioned his books are very well researched."

He is definately not for the general/casual reader.

Here is another that I've read recently that I found interesting

Frontsoldaten

It is the story of the comman infantryman in the German Army. The main emphisis is on Russia, mainly because that is where most of them were. The author mainly uses the diary's and letters in his research and not current interviews with veterns. The reason he stated is that memories change over time and he wanted to get what they were thinking and feeling as it was happening.

Happy wrote: "'Aussie Rick' wrote: "I forgot to ask Happy how did you find the writing style of David Glantz?"

A little pendantic and bounces around without clear transitions sometimes so it can be a little har..."

Thanks for the helpful view Happy - I think for me I need to read him as although perhaps they may be difficult to follow the level of research many have highlighted suggest its worth the investment.