Book Recommendations

[Dubbo]

Given the subject matter that surrounds this hobby of ours I figured we should start a book/author recommendation thread.

You can recommend any books I guess but I figure aviation or war would be a good starting point. You are welcome to review said book or you can tell us why it was good. (Or not)

I'll start

"The Heroes" by Ronald McKie

Non-fiction account of Operations Jaywick & Rimau. Written as a novel, it tells firstly of the mixed Aussie and Brit comamndo raid in Sep 1943 on Singapore Harbour using kayaks and limpet mines - Operation Jaywick. Against incredible odds the raid was successful.

12 months later, using different equipment and planned as a larger operation, Rimau was launched and was a terrible failure. None of the commandoes from Operation Rimau survived and it was only years later (in 1960) when the author was researching the book was their fate confirmed.

He was able to piece together the information from interviews with surviving members from Jaywick (6 of those raiders were killed on the 2nd op) and a Japanese interpreter who was stationed at Singapore where the captured members of Rimau were imprisoned.

A real eye-opening read.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/020718 ... e&n=283155

Jensenpark has my copy and I'd be willing to loan it out but I must get it back at some point as it is no longer in print

[delta7]

I have done several reviews over at airwarfare - see here

http://www.airwarfare.com/phpBB2/viewfo ... ee875e4b4a

hope this helps

[Cold_Gambler]

I found Lindbergh's war-time diary very interesting; first his involvement with the America First Committee, then with the aircraft manufacturing industry, and finally doing testing and flying of the P-38 and Corsair in the Pacific.

For fiction I highly recommend "Round the Bend" by Nevile Shute.

[Dubbo]

I have done several reviews over at airwarfare - see here

http://www.airwarfare.com/phpBB2/viewfo ... ee875e4b4a

hope this helps

Indeed it does help. (I see you are well-read) Your reviews are very good too. You should, if it ain't too much trouble, bring them over to this thread to help build volume

[Dubbo]

I found Lindbergh's war-time diary very interesting; first his involvement with the America First Committee, then with the aircraft manufacturing industry, and finally doing testing and flying of the P-38 and Corsair in the Pacific.

For fiction I highly recommend "Round the Bend" by Nevile Shute.

Nevile Shute. A great writer indeed.(And a really interesting bloke aside) A misplaced pommie who came to Australia and liked it so much he stayed. "Round the Bend" was the flying one, right?

[Cold_Gambler]

I found Lindbergh's war-time diary very interesting; first his involvement with the America First Committee, then with the aircraft manufacturing industry, and finally doing testing and flying of the P-38 and Corsair in the Pacific.

For fiction I highly recommend "Round the Bend" by Nevile Shute.

Nevile Shute. A great writer indeed.(And a really interesting bloke aside) A misplaced pommie who came to Australia and liked it so much he stayed. "Round the Bend" was the flying one, right?

Yep, that's the one; of course then... nope must not spoil :wink:

[JensenPark]

I have lots of great books of Dubbo's.

Most will be on e=bay pretty soon if you want them...

Actually, I was going to suggest to our kind moderator (ok, the ogre) if he could do a sticky of everyone's recommened (and not recommended) books.

[B16Enk]

I have lots of great books of Dubbo's.

Most will be on e=bay pretty soon if you want them...

Actually, I was going to suggest to our kind moderator (ok, the ogre) if he could do a sticky of everyone's recommened (and not recommended) books.

Good idea, post away and I'll either copy the reviews/recommendations to a new sticky thread or tidy this one up

You guys are aware that you can create stickies yourselves?

And indeed moderate this forum?

[JensenPark]

I have lots of great books of Dubbo's.

Most will be on e=bay pretty soon if you want them...

Actually, I was going to suggest to our kind moderator (ok, the ogre) if he could do a sticky of everyone's recommened (and not recommended) books.

Good idea, post away and I'll either copy the reviews/recommendations to a new sticky thread or tidy this one up

You guys are aware that you can create stickies yourselves?

And indeed moderate this forum?

we are aware of this but are too lazy to do anything about it...in fact I'm dictating this to my secretary to type in...

(actually, how do you do it?)

[B16Enk]

I have lots of great books of Dubbo's.

Most will be on e=bay pretty soon if you want them...

Actually, I was going to suggest to our kind moderator (ok, the ogre) if he could do a sticky of everyone's recommened (and not recommended) books.

Good idea, post away and I'll either copy the reviews/recommendations to a new sticky thread or tidy this one up

You guys are aware that you can create stickies yourselves?

And indeed moderate this forum?

we are aware of this but are too lazy to do anything about it...in fact I'm dictating this to my secretary to type in...

(actually, how do you do it?)

When creating a thread you have an option to make a sticky....not to be confused with Saitek adverts...

It is one of the choices, along with 'Poll'.

You can also edit the first post in a thread, and change it to a sticky that way

[Dubbo]

Hint taken....

So one of the books I just recently finished, courtesy of Jensenpark, was "The Last Battle" by Peter Henn. He was a 109 pilot who began flying sorties in Sicily in 1943 until almost the end of the war. Poor title I know, but quite the interesting little book. He describes the problems the 109s had against allied machines (P-47 & 38s) and the problems the Luftwaffe had with supply and upper command. Different from "The First and the Last" (Galland) and "Blonde Knight of Germany" (Hartmann) in that he was unknown and speaks about the war as it immediately touched him and the guys around him, it is a much narrower view than in either of the other books (Both of which are very good reads)

The only critisism is that some of the dialogue and descriptions seem a bit wooden but I think that has more to do with the translation than the writing. (In fact the translator didn't bother with a number of german words so I had to look them up on Babelfish afterwards)

What struck me the most was that he wasn't really successful as a fighter pilot. As far as I could tell, he never shot anyone down and, something a lot of us can relate to, he crashed quite a few aircraft.

One & one half thumbs up.

[Dubbo]

Seeing as most of the non-fiction books have been reviewed by B16Enk, I thought I'd go over to the fiction stuff.

One of the most interesting authors I have discovered in the last 2 years is a fellow by the name of Alan Furst. (As recommended to Blairgowrie in another thread)

I guess he could be described as a historical espionage writer. All his books I have read take place in war-torn Europe and involve life in occupied countries. They really are something a bit different and really give an impression of what it was like to be living in those countries at the time. (Plus the cover art on this run is very cool)

Highly recommended. :thumbup:

http://www.alanfurst.net/main.htm

Here is his latest.

From Alan Furst, whom the New York Times calls "America’s preeminent spy novelist," comes an epic story of romantic love, love of country, and love of freedom—the story of a secret war, fought in elegant hotel bars and first-class railway cars, in the mountains of Spain and the back alleys of Berlin. It is an inspiring, thrilling saga of everyday people, forced by their heart’s passion to fight in the war against tyranny.

By 1938, hundreds of Italian intellectuals, lawyers and journalists, university professors and scientists, had escaped Mussolini’s fascist government and fled to Paris. There, amidst the struggles of émigré life, they founded an Italian resistance, with an underground press that smuggled news and encouragement back to Italy. Fighting fascism with typewriters, they produced five hundred and twelve clandestine newspapers. The Foreign Correspondent is their story.

[DoubleTap]

I have a feeling many of you have probably read most of these, but here ya' go:

Non-Fiction:

Stuka Pilot

Very interesting autobiography of fantastic Stuka pilot and fanatical Nazi Hans-Ulrich Rudel who managed to survive flying the Stuka for the duration of the war, even on the eastern front. Of particular note for me was a description of a mission in Russia where Rudel fought off some Russian fighters who seemed reluctant to engage his dive bombers.

http://www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=0887402526

Once They Were Eagles: The Men of the Black Sheep Squadron

"For 84 days during World War II Marine Fighting Squadron 214 ranged over the South Pacific led by a hard-drinking but gifted pilot and tactician named Gregg "Pappy" Boyington. The "Black Sheep," though well known at the time, have received only scant mention in military history (there was a highly fictional TV series in the 1970s). Walton was the 214's intelligence officer, knew all the principals personally, and recently contacted or interviewed the surviving 34 (out of 5l); vignettes of these make up the second half of the work. The first half, a unit history, is rather sketchy and anecdotal but vividly re-creates conditions under which the South Pacific war was fought; Walton's personal recollections and documents (in appendixes) are welcome."

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081310 ... e&n=283155

Strategy - Lidell Hart

I was at a wedding of my wife's co-worker and sat next to a neighbor of theirs who engaged me in conversation, thus saving me from unbelievable boredom. We got onto the subject of books and military history, and he discussed and reccomended Hart's Strategy. Was so glad he did. Found the book enjoyable and enlightening. I subsequently kept Hart's concept of the "indirect approach" in mind while playing different wargames, including sims, and found it quite useful, although requiring patience, which is not my strong suit.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/045201 ... e&n=283155

The Forgotten Soldier

Biography of a French/German who joins the Wermacht and discovers war is hell, particularly on the eastern front. Harrowing depictions of the Russian fighting, from the cold vastness of its plains to what its like to be attacked by T-34's without adequete armor to back you up. THe description of the attempt to flee on foot across a river as the Russians advance is chilling.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/157488 ... e&n=283155

War of the Rats

While told as a narrative tale in large part, I believe the book keeps very much to the historical record (the movie took some liberties). Good description of the battle of Stalingrad at ground level while it focuses on the battle of snipers taking place amid the larger whirlwind of destruction. The end part depicting the cut off German soldiers as they await their fate almost makes you sorry for the bastards.

FICTION

Winds of War and War and Rememberance - Herman Wouk

They can seem at first to read like melodramas, but hang in there. The novels do a very good job of making the Second World War accessible in all its horror, heroism and tragedy by viewing it through various characters eyes. While focusing on an American Naval family, it encompasses a number of characters, including an Ernie Pyle-style British correspondent. It also interweaves very evocative descriptions of various parts of the war. The description of the battle of Midway alone was worth reading the second book.

[Waldo.Pepper]

Good books in this thread.

I have far too many to recommend... besides my current reading list (is hopelessly esoteric -- 1944 manuals and such) I think they wouldn't really interest you all that much. I think this stuff would really only be interesting to me. My wife cannot believe the stuff on my night table/office.

I did recently finish Before the Fall.. about the historical development of the A-Bomb - (from Marie Curie onward!) which was very well researched, and quite literate.

Squadron of Deception arrived in the mail last week and I am looking forward to tucking into it as soon as possible.

[Dubbo]

Len Deighton - "Bomber"

I just finished this one & "Wow!"

Deighton does some good work and this is no exception. Based on a fictional bomber squadron and a raid on a fictional town near the Dutch border, the book spans a single 24 hour period on the 31st June 1943.

The cast of characters both primary and secondary is huge and the scope of what takes place is simply amazing. He focuses on the RAF Lancaster squadron, the small town of Altgarten, a Ju88 nightfighter squadron, & a German radar station who's commander is from Altgarten.

I was laughing out loud at some points and cursing at some characters in others. Interestingly enough, the book does a fine job of splitting your loyalties and you find yourself rooting for each side in turn. And the pacing is great. Once the narrative had the Lancasters taking off for their mission, I was unable to put the book down until the end, some 6 hours later. You have no idea who's going to live or die or when it will take place, which I guess would reflect real life quite well.

There have been other books that have portrayed the stress of being a bomber pilot and the horror of being a victim of carpet bombing and have done them quite well. This does a great job of combining both.

I have also recently finished "Goodbye Mickey Mouse" by Deighton which I can also recommend. He does his work well.

[Blairgowrie]

It seems my library does have a couple of Alan Furst books so I will give him a whirl. Thanks Dubbo.

[Dubbo]

And let us know how you like it.

[delta7]

Here are my favourite 3 books - reviews copied from my posts at airwarfare

1)

Book : First Light

Author : Geoffrey Wellum

Pages : 338

Photos : 39

Published : 2002

This is my favourite biography of an RAF pilot in WW2. It describes Geoffrey Wellum’s career from his induction at seventeen, through his training, his active service of two full tours; including the Battle of Britain, over 100 fighter sweeps over France and then Malta.

The story is different, from the usual pilots profiled, in that Geoffrey was not an ace , although he is obviously a good pilot, being chosen as wingman by Brian Kingcombe his No 92 squadron CO. So the book is not full of kills but does describe very well the thoughts and fears of a pilot.

The first third of the book concentrates on his training and his fears that he will not be good enough to make the grade, it is 100 pages in before he flies a spitfire, but his descriptions of his training and flying are interesting and informative; throughout the book you sense his feelings of joy and sometimes terror in flight.

The rest of the book deals with his missions, including one thrilling chase of a Ju88 in near zero visability, and the pilots he met and flew with.

His writing style is fluid and easy and I guarantee that most will not put it down once they start. I got a real feeling of understanding and of almost being there with him during reading this book. I really recommend that anyone interested in pilot stories from this period should pick up a copy.

2)

Book The Big Show

Author : Pierre Clostermann

Pages : 345

Photos : 34

Published : 1951; new unabridged version 2004

This is arguably the best biography and story of a pilot in WW2.

Pierre Clostermann balances narration and description to give a full insight into this period , the pilots, aircraft and missions they flew.

With such an action packed career it takes only 28 pages to arrive at Biggin Hill ,just after the Battle of Britain, and from then on Pierre Closterman takes the reader through the highs and lows of fighter sweeps over France in Spitfires and then ground support missions in Tempests. In all nearly 400 missions including over 30 kills.

Pierre faithfully kept a diary throughout his career and the book has an intimacy that really grabs the reader.

He was studying for a degree in aeronautical engineering in America when war broke out and so is able to bring a fine engineering and analytical viewpoint to the aircraft he flew, and fought, however at no time does this get dry or boring; rather it offers added insight into his story.

This book really opened my eyes to the scale of loss of RAF pilots at the latter part of the war who flew Typhoons and Tempests in ground support missions and against the remaining pilots in the Luftwaffe. And especially to the bravery and courage all pilots must have had to show in the face of continuing losses and death of comrades.

A well balanced viewpoint and strong narration makes this a strong recommendation.

3)

Book: Alert In The West (I Fought You From the Skies)

Author : Willi Heilmann

Pages : 159

Photos: 16

Published 1955

I had never heard of Willi Heilmann, but picked up this book after reading Stigler’s recommendation from here http://www.naysayers.com/9jg52/9jg52.html and I am very glad I did.

When it arrived I was disappointed- only 159 pages? But these are packed with aerial combat.

The book covers a relatively short time period, from just after the Normandy Invasion until the end of the war, and, giving little background, plunges you straight into the pilot’s experiences flying with JG54 in FW190s; first in the A series and then the D9 variations.

The majority of the book is his descriptions of aerial combat, and tells the grim story of fighting, retreating and loss as an army degenerates in defeat. The action and pace is driven and relentless.

The author has strong opinions on his machine, how it matches up to his opponents and on the pilot’s fate as the experienced fliers are lost to be replaced increasingly with those straight out of training.

His views and experiences flying FW190s make an interesting comparison with some views expressed on the IL2 forums … .but I wont spoil this for you- go and buy the book and find out for yourself.!! I don’t think you will be disappointed.

[Dubbo]

I recently finished "The Big Show" and loved it. Haven't heard of the other 2 which is why this thread was a damn good idea. Got to see if I can hunt them up.

Nice cover pic on the Heilmann book.

[Dubbo]

Ok. Derek Robinson. Fiction yes, but damn good fiction.

Piece of Cake

Sep 1939. An RAF Hurricane Squadron (Hornet Squadron) with their new CO head over to France. This book is pretty much the benchmark for WW2 RAF fighter pilot fiction. Robinson has you laughing one minute and crying the next (If I were a crying man.....like Jensenpark is)

A key factor for me with Robinson is that you never know who, if anybody, is going to cop it next. Nor how. The character list is quite long but by the end of the book it has been whittled down. More than once I was heard to exclaim aloud "You bastard!" whilst reading it. Sometimes this was directed at the author, sometimes it was directed at a character.

It was made into a mini-series of the same name, and although they had to use Spitfires in the series instead of Hurricanes (due to availability of Hurricanes) the mini-series is a very good compliment to the book.

The next book in the series was "Damn Good Show" and it follows one of the characters from the first book as he gets transferred to a bomber squadron of Wellingtons. Excellent as well.

The 3rd and final book in the series is "Good Clean Fight" which once again returns us to Hornet Squadron as they are transferred to fight against Rommel in 1942. As they cover the war from the air, Robinson introduces us to the men of an SAS patrol and a Luftwaffe intelligence officer who square off against each other across the desert. Once again it has all the Robinson trademarks.

Many thumbs up for all 3 books.

[Dubbo]

As I posted in the Knights of the Sky thread, Derek Robinson also did a fantastic job on the WW1 series he did. With all of his trademarks. Even though I grew up on "Biggles", this series was a real eye-opener. What it pointed out to me was that flying in this war was totally different from WW2. Savage & brilliant. :thumbright:

[Pooka]

Just finished "The Thousand Mile War" (I think that was the title) about the campaign for Aleutian Islands in WWII.

Unbelieveable the hardships those avaitors and grd troops endured. There were more casualties than any other battle, per capata. A sentence I liked, was something like this, No one will ever hear of this battle, had it been the Marine Corps, all would know of our struggle.

Great book, I can get a copy and send it if anyone is interested.

Pooka

[Dubbo]

Actually Pooka I'd take you up on that offer except that last time someone sent me something from the US, they had to send it twice. It cost more than the DVDs that were sent.

The book though sounds very interesting particularly since Zues-cat just made that little Aleutian Rufe campaign. There needs to be a good movie made about that part of the war I think.

[Pooka]

Its in paperback, PM me your address, see if I can get it your way.

dtk419@yahoo.com

Pooka

[Dubbo]

Douglas Reeman

Fiction once again. Now I was not all that interested in naval warfare but my boss loaned me a book called "The Last Raider" by this British chap, Douglas Reeman. It was a story about a WW1 German merchant raider and was a good tale, well-told. But I gave the book back to him and never gave it much more thought.....

Then he was cleaning up his place some 2 years later and he threw some old books my way. One of them was a novel called "The Destroyers", again by Douglas Reeman. This was a novel about a captain of a WW1-era destroyer being used in WW2 on operations that would border on suicidal. Once again, a great yarn, well written.

He had raised my interest in this navy thing. As it turns out the guy has written many, many novels ranging from WW1 through to Korea, mostly about the Royal Navy and the men and traditions that make up that institution. The guy is prolific. He has written over 60 novels (including a bunch under the pseudonym "Alexander Kent") and as a result, you can find a lot of the Reeman novels in 2nd-hand book stores for only a couple of dollars.

I just finished one called "H.M.S. Saracen" and it was really, really good. It was about a WW1 monitor ship that supported ANZAC troops at Gallipoli when she was brand new and about a raw officer who got his 1st posting aboard the brand new ship. By WW2 he had made captain and was posted back to the old monitor.

Reeman himself is an interesting bloke too. This is the blurb from his website.

"Acclaimed as 'the foremost naval writer of this century', Douglas Reeman was born in Thames Ditton, Surrey, England in 1924. With the outbreak of World War Two, and despite belonging to an army family, he joined the Royal Navy without hesitation at the age of sixteen. He saw service in the North Sea and Arctic, and the Atlantic and Mediterranean campaigns, beginning as a midshipman in destroyers and transferring later to motor torpedo boats, where he was twice mentioned in dispatches.

Following the war, he held a variety of jobs, including delivering yachts, selling marine engines, and walking the beat in London's East End as a uniformed policeman and in the plain-clothes Criminal Investigation Department. He returned to active service during the Korean War, and remained a naval reservist while working as a children's welfare officer for the London County Council, retaining that close contact with the navy which was to prove so invaluable.

In 1957, having published two short stories, Douglas wrote the fictionalized version of "his war" on the backs of L.C.C. nit notices, more for his own satisfaction than out of any hope of publication. That novel, A Prayer for the Ship, was published in 1958, and was the beginning of a remarkable career............"

More here http://www.bolithomaritimeproductions.com/Douglas%20Reeman%20Novels/default%20-%20DRNovels.html

Highly recommended :thumbright: