I blame all the people in the BoB rewatchSince its the Holidays and as such, we've all got some free time/disposable income how about a rec post on some of our favorite WWII/War-themed books
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It’s 506 PIR from a different point of view, with lots of testimony from Ed Shames and a very easy read. It satisfies my own personal curiosity for what Camp Toccoa was like for those not in Easy Company, not members of the Church of Dick Winters, with no Jolly Old St. Luz etc etc. Gardner and Day have a very informative, very easy to read, history of the Third Battalion here.
This is Sloan’s sequel to Brotherhood of Heroes and follows the Marines introduced in that book, along with introducing some new men. And yes, Burgin, Sledge, and Snafu are still mentioned in the narrative.
Look, this is one of the most lauded war memoirs of all time, so I almost don’t feel like I have to rec it. However, for those who may have missed it, just read it. Now. Manchester is an amazing historian in his own right, so reading his memoir after having read his other history books, just made my historian crush even greater. Anyone who is interested in the PTO needs to read this memoir.
One thing that makes me truly sad about all WWII mini-series and movies is the lack of back-story on the nurses. Monahan and Neidel-Greenlee collected testimony from U.S. Army nurses and complied all the accounts into this book. It touches more on the North African/Italy and European theaters than the PTO, since most people know of/or have read the books on the “Angels of Bataan.” Monahan and Neidel-Greenlee also talk about the duty of the nurse in terms of American social history, an occupation that was looked down upon for young unmarried women. A service that was rarely rewarded with medals and is often not recognized for the female vets who served on the frontlines, this book shows their history. I highly recommend this, as it tells the history of the nurses, the war, and American social mores all in one volume.
For some odd reason, survey courses and history books like to ignore how Greece got screwed over by the Nazis and the Allies in World War II. Mazower is one of the few historians who writes about Greece during and after this time period. The fact that the blame for the famine which killed thousands of Greeks rests equally on the shoulders of the Allies probably explains why it’s not so often mentioned in History Channel programs. Mazower’s book is one of my favorites, and I also recommend his After the War Was Over: Reconstructing the Family, Nation, and State in Greece, 1943-1960.
The term “fascism” gets thrown around. A lot. And pretty much always incorrectly. There has only been one truly “successful” fascist movement and that was in Italy. The Nazis were not Fascists. Fascism never had an official racist component to it until Hitler put the pressure on Mussolini in the 1940s. Fascism started in the 1920s. Payne’s work explains fascism, how it’s an idea historians are still struggling to define, and identifies the other Fascist-like movements which popped up around the world after Mussolini marched on Rome.
I could go on for ages with books about the atomic bomb and the Holocaust, but I’ll leave you with just two more.
This book is brutal. It will most likely make you physically ill. It is all sorts and every kind of triggery. That being said, I firmly believe that this book is one that should be read by everyone.
There are many books on the Holocaust, there are many memoirs. Langer’s work goes into both the psychology of traumatic memory while also collecting testimonies from various Holocaust survivors. The testimony is based off interviews, which might throw some people out of the narrative, but Langer’s book is one of the most valuable when discussing memory, testimony, and the Holocaust. This is a book that will appeal to any public historians out there.
I have ton more recs, but I’ll leave these here now.
Nurse stories are kind of amazing. My favourite nurses book is The Other ANZACs by Peter Rees, which is about the ANZAC nurses who volunteered to go to war in WWI in their own words - it was all written from diaries and letters and it is so good. Books don't usually make me cry, but there was something about this one that even had me feeling choked up after only a dozen pages or so. And the way they talk about the boys they had to look after and the way the government pretty much left them hanging out to dry after the war, ugh. This book.
Rees' book is on my to-read list. Nurse stories really are amazing and I'm glad that more books are being published on the subjects. I mean, the nurses in Operation Torch landed on the beach with the soldiers. And then had to make a hospital with no running water, lights, etc, all while facing down sniper fire. And that's just one example.
Tonight We Die As Men: The Untold Story of Third Battalion 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment from Toccoa to D-Day by Ian Gardner and Roger Day.
It’s 506 PIR from a different point of view, with lots of testimony from Ed Shames and a very easy read. It satisfies my own personal curiosity for what Camp Toccoa was like for those not in Easy Company, not members of the Church of Dick Winters, with no Jolly Old St. Luz etc etc. Gardner and Day have a very informative, very easy to read, history of the Third Battalion here.
The Ultimate Battle: Okinawa 1945- The Last Epic Struggle of World War II by Bill Sloan.
This is Sloan’s sequel to Brotherhood of Heroes and follows the Marines introduced in that book, along with introducing some new men. And yes, Burgin, Sledge, and Snafu are still mentioned in the narrative.
Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War by William Manchester.
Look, this is one of the most lauded war memoirs of all time, so I almost don’t feel like I have to rec it. However, for those who may have missed it, just read it. Now. Manchester is an amazing historian in his own right, so reading his memoir after having read his other history books, just made my historian crush even greater. Anyone who is interested in the PTO needs to read this memoir.
And If I Perish: Frontline U.S. Army Nurses in World War II by Evelyn M. Monahan and Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee.
One thing that makes me truly sad about all WWII mini-series and movies is the lack of back-story on the nurses. Monahan and Neidel-Greenlee collected testimony from U.S. Army nurses and complied all the accounts into this book. It touches more on the North African/Italy and European theaters than the PTO, since most people know of/or have read the books on the “Angels of Bataan.” Monahan and Neidel-Greenlee also talk about the duty of the nurse in terms of American social history, an occupation that was looked down upon for young unmarried women. A service that was rarely rewarded with medals and is often not recognized for the female vets who served on the frontlines, this book shows their history. I highly recommend this, as it tells the history of the nurses, the war, and American social mores all in one volume.
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For some odd reason, survey courses and history books like to ignore how Greece got screwed over by the Nazis and the Allies in World War II. Mazower is one of the few historians who writes about Greece during and after this time period. The fact that the blame for the famine which killed thousands of Greeks rests equally on the shoulders of the Allies probably explains why it’s not so often mentioned in History Channel programs. Mazower’s book is one of my favorites, and I also recommend his After the War Was Over: Reconstructing the Family, Nation, and State in Greece, 1943-1960.
A History of Fascism 1914-1945 by Stanley G. Payne.
The term “fascism” gets thrown around. A lot. And pretty much always incorrectly. There has only been one truly “successful” fascist movement and that was in Italy. The Nazis were not Fascists. Fascism never had an official racist component to it until Hitler put the pressure on Mussolini in the 1940s. Fascism started in the 1920s. Payne’s work explains fascism, how it’s an idea historians are still struggling to define, and identifies the other Fascist-like movements which popped up around the world after Mussolini marched on Rome.
I could go on for ages with books about the atomic bomb and the Holocaust, but I’ll leave you with just two more.
The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang.
This book is brutal. It will most likely make you physically ill. It is all sorts and every kind of triggery. That being said, I firmly believe that this book is one that should be read by everyone.
Holocaust Testimonies: The Ruins of Memory by Lawrence L. Langer.
There are many books on the Holocaust, there are many memoirs. Langer’s work goes into both the psychology of traumatic memory while also collecting testimonies from various Holocaust survivors. The testimony is based off interviews, which might throw some people out of the narrative, but Langer’s book is one of the most valuable when discussing memory, testimony, and the Holocaust. This is a book that will appeal to any public historians out there.
I have ton more recs, but I’ll leave these here now.
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