Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
|
|
|
Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 18, 2013 - 09:51pm PT
|
World War 2.
Not something too ponderous or overly detailed, something that is a good read.
|
|
Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
|
|
|
Jan 18, 2013 - 10:06pm PT
|
Sorry, I like detailed books.
|
|
Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Jan 18, 2013 - 10:07pm PT
|
General history, yeah. I'd like to read about how the major countries saw the war. Things like the politics of why the US got into it. Why the Russians were our allies and then they weren't. What the hell were the Japanese thinking?
|
|
zBrown
Ice climber
chingadero de chula vista
|
|
|
Jan 18, 2013 - 10:16pm PT
|
I admit to not having read it, but Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation gets rave reviews, in fact, I'm gonna get a copy.
|
|
bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
|
|
|
Jan 18, 2013 - 10:24pm PT
|
A good, readable book is a personal thing. Depends who you are and what you seek. What interests you.
Everybody is different, and that's a good thing.
|
|
TGT
Social climber
So Cal
|
|
|
Jan 18, 2013 - 10:25pm PT
|
With The Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa, EB Sledge
Neptune's Inferno, James D. Hornfisher
Flyboys, James Bradley
All of Ambrose
|
|
bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
|
|
|
Jan 18, 2013 - 10:27pm PT
|
WWII history is problemmatic in that any history that does justice to that war will be almost by necessity ponderous and encyclopedic. The run-up to the war, the many, many theaters, the ancillary stuff you never hear about like the 1937 invasion of China by Japan, sh#t just Pearl Harbor alone is worth several beefy books. I actually cannot think of one single book that attempts to capture it all. I read up on WWII but it took several books to cover the whole epic planetary mess. I've read The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich, all of Ambrose's stuff (5 books hefty books altoghter), two Oppenheimer biographies, John Hershey's incredible Hiroshima, Max Hasting's Inferno, on and on.
A World at Arms By Gerhard Weinberg (1994) runs about 1200 or 1300 pages, and is widely regarded as the definative single history of the global conflict. At 1200 pages it ain't the swift read you may have been looking for, but for a book that weighs more than a wall rack it's a page-turner. This would be a great question for Kerwin (klk); he's usally up on this stuff and it's been many years since I went through my WWII phase.
I actually found Viet Nam provided the most amazing reading. Michaekl Herr's Dispatches and Sheehan's A Bright Shining Lie and the best two "war reads" I've run across, period.
Good luck!
|
|
TGT
Social climber
So Cal
|
|
|
Jan 18, 2013 - 10:40pm PT
|
You might try a class
http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=810
A really interesting dual read on the second Iraq war is to read The March Up and Generation Kill back to back.
All most all the same events and time line covered from two radically different backgrounds and perspectives, one book written by a retired Marine Maj. Gen. and a retired Sgt. and the other by a Rolling Stone reporter that got tossed into a point recon platoon.
|
|
Jorroh
climber
|
|
|
Jan 18, 2013 - 10:55pm PT
|
Unfortunately WW2 is a big subject that requires a bit of time to understand in much depth, do yourself a favor and read the three volume, 1500 page series...A History of the Third Reich....by Richard Evans (penguin).
It incorporates a lot of new understanding and information that wasn't available to Shirer (The rise and fall..was written in 1960?), and is really considered the definitive non-academic source nowadays.
|
|
FRUMY
Trad climber
SHERMAN OAKS,CA
|
|
|
Jan 18, 2013 - 10:57pm PT
|
"With the old breed"
|
|
climbski2
Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
|
|
|
Jan 18, 2013 - 10:59pm PT
|
And no Birds Sang by Farley Mowat, the guy who wrote Never Cry Wolf.
Exactly what you are asking for. Great memior of Mowats time spent in the Canadian Infantry. He saw action in Sicily. There is also some desperate climbing involved. True Story
Not a huge book, not dense scholarly reading at all, Good reading, lots of information just gets to you easily.. Emotional, from hilarious to grieving, I found it hard to put down.
|
|
Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
|
|
|
Jan 18, 2013 - 11:12pm PT
|
One I liked was "Monty: The Battles of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery" by Nigel Hamilton, because I was curious about the guy.
It's not about the entire war, but it lasts through the war and gives one perspective. It's the highlights from the 3 volume version, so hopefully not too ponderous.
http://www.amazon.com/Monty-Nigel-Hamilton/dp/0340646926
|
|
rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
|
|
|
Jan 18, 2013 - 11:25pm PT
|
The Second World War......John Keegan
|
|
Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
|
|
|
Jan 18, 2013 - 11:30pm PT
|
...Why the Russians were our allies and then they weren't...
That one's not too hard.
At the beginning of the war we had a common enemy, Germany. But Germany crumbled and the Soviets were in a position to overrun Europe. We invaded at Normandy and met them in Berlin. Germany would have fallen whether or not we invaded, but the map of Europe would be very different had we not.
|
|
Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
|
|
|
Jan 18, 2013 - 11:32pm PT
|
If you want the truth, and can handle it, read Thunder On The Dnepr. It was written after the fall of the USSR and the authors had access to previously secret files. It is very detailed in its revelations about how the Russians played the Krauts like a bunch of Three Card Monte suckers. Why do you think they're the best chess players of all time?
|
|
sharperblue
Mountain climber
oakland, california
|
|
|
Jan 18, 2013 - 11:35pm PT
|
"the Forgotten Soldier"
unforgettable
|
|
Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
|
|
|
Jan 18, 2013 - 11:36pm PT
|
Yes Reilly I know that book. Another real charmer is Armageddon Ost, I actually did not finish that one. Too brutal.
But to the OP, are you interested in the Pacific War or the war in Europe?
|
|
guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
|
|
|
Jan 18, 2013 - 11:41pm PT
|
Mark, I highly recommend Jeff Shaara and his WW2 Trilogy, actually four books. Historical fiction at its best.
The Rising Tide
No Less Than Victory
The Steel Wave
The Final Storm
He has also written excellent books on WW1, the Civil War and The Mexican Revolution.
His father, Michael Shaara, was awarded the Pulitzer prize for his wonderful novel, "The Killer Angels," centered around the Civil War.
|
|
Da-Veed
Big Wall climber
Bend Oregon
|
|
|
Jan 19, 2013 - 12:11am PT
|
With the Old Breed. Honest and brutal.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!