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Recommended Reading
 Abandon
Ship!
The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, the Navy's Greatest Sea Disaster
Richard F. Newcomb
Harper Collins
5 stars
First published in 1958, this important book has been re-released with
an introduction and afterword by Peter Maas. Every American should know this
tragic story, not just the bizarre circumstances that left the ship's sailors
stranded in the water for days, but the cowardly behavior of U.S. Navy officials
who made the ship's captain a scapegoat. Newcomb's original investigation is
damning enough, and Maas adds new developments in the case from recent years.
The fact that Captain Charles McVay was driven to commit suicide before his
good name could be restored must be one of the most disgraceful episodes in
this country's military history.
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 Blood,
Tears and Folly
An Objective Look at World War II
Len Deighton
Castle Books
3 stars
Deighton tackles the many misconceptions that thrive about the war, examines
the many mistakes made by both sides and ponders what might have happened if
important decisions had been made differently.
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 Citizen
Soldiers
The U.S. Army From the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of
Germany
Stephen E. Ambrose
Simon & Schuster
3 stars
Ambrose gives us the grunt's-eye view of the war in Europe after D-Day. The
conditions endured, and the innovative solutions to problems devised by American
GIs are explored in detail.
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 Day
of Infamy
Walter Lord
Henry Holt and Sons
4 stars
Probably still the best book about the attack on Pearl Harbor. First published
in 1957, it doesn't toss conspiracy theories about, it just relives the event,
moving from person to person. And since it was published only 16 years after
the event, memories were still relatively fresh and the level of detail is good.
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The Death of Hitler
The Full Story With New Evidence from Secret Russian Archives
Ada Petrova and Peter Watson
W.W. Norton & Company
4 stars
This book pieces together the grim events in Hitler's bunker during the waning
days of World War II, traces the long search for clues about what happened to
Hitler's body, and finds strong evidence that the Soviets knew where it was
all along. It even includes photos of a jawbone and skull the Soviets identified
as Hitler's and kept in a secret file for decades. Why did they keep it secret?
Typical reason -- to cover up some bureaucrat's mistake. This is a gripping
and convincing book.
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 Dirty
Little Secrets of World War II
James F. Dunnigan and Albert A. Nofi
Quill
3 stars
This book's title is something of a misnomer. The phrase "dirty little secrets"
led me to expect a book about the cloak-and-dagger side of the war, something
totally different from what the book actually contains: hundreds of fascinating
statistics, anecdotes and little-known facts. "Interesting Tidbits of World
War II" would be more accurate, if not as sexy. Here's an example: "At the end
of World War II, Britain had 19 percent of its total male population, plus 2
percent of its total female population, under arms, in contrast to the United
States, where the corresponding figures were 14 percent and less than 0.1 percent."
OK, interesting enough, but that is a statistic, not a dirty little secret.
Anyway, I recommend the book as a statistical reference. Just understand what
you are buying.
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 Great
American Bombers of World War II
William H. Ness, Frederick A. Johnsen and Chester Marshall
MBI
2.5 stars
Three books in one present detailed histories of the B-17, B-24 and B-29. The
editing is a little uneven in places, but any military aircraft enthusiast will
enjoy this book, especially the hundreds of excellent photographs.
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 Hitler's
Willing Executioners
Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust
Daniel Jonah Goldhagen
Vintage Books
4 stars
If you want to understand the factors that enabled the Holocaust to happen,
this book is a must. It's not light reading. It's based on a doctoral dissertation,
and reads like it. But all the fifty-cent words can't obscure the book's powerful
message: widespread ethnic hatred is to blame for what happened in Germany,
and hardly anybody involved was "just following orders." German citizens cheerfully
volunteered to take part in the murderous campaign against the Jews -- and some
officers even gave their men the choice whether or not to participate.
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 Iwo
Jima: Legacy of Valor
Bill D. Ross
Vintage
5 stars
A comprehensive description of the long, bloody struggle for Iwo Jima, written
by a man who was there. Once you've read this book, you don't need to read any
others about this battle. Details from the Japanese side round the book out.
Full of photographs taken during the battle. Disturbing combat scenes. The level
of detail accomplished by the author is impressive.
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 They
Drew Fire
Combat Artists of World War II
Brian Lanker and Nicole Newnham
TV Books, LLC
4 stars
This is fascinating stuff! The book is full of artwork depicting combat and
military life, done by U.S. soldiers employed as combat artists. These artists
really captured every dimension of war -- the fear, the gore, the hardships,
brutal conditions, and even the occasional lighter moment. Pencil drawings,
charcoal, watercolor, oil paintings are all included.
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 Unexplained
Mysteries of World War II
William B. Breuer
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
3 stars
An enjoyable book full of interesting tidbits. Some of the individual vignettes
may be a little cheesy, but as a whole the book captures the complexity, scope
and mystery of one of the greatest events in world history.
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Vengeance
Hitler's Nuclear Weapon: Fact or Fiction?
Philip Henshall
Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd.
3 stars
This book argues that Nazi Germany's atomic bomb program was far more advanced
than generally believed, and the V-2 rocket was actually intended to be the
first nuclear-tipped ballistic missile. According to Henshall, the Germans were
very close to launching V-2s designed to spread radioactive material when they
struck their target -- but time ran out. He goes further to say that Germany
attempted to give radioactive material to Japan's atomic bomb program just before
the war ended. This led the Americans to believe Japan was close to using atomic
weapons, and that's the real reason the U.S. decided to use its own atomic bombs
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He doesn't quite prove his theory, but the book really
gets you thinking. This one is hard to find; it isn't stocked by Barnes &
Noble.
 Why
the Allies Won
Richard Overy
Norton
3 stars
When we look back at World War II, we're tempted to think that the victory of
the good guys was assured from the beginning. Richard Overy reminds that the
Axis could have won the war, and in the early days it looked they might, and
he explores why the Allies prevailed. According to Overy, it wasn't superior
economic power or better leadership or even luck, but something more fundamental
about the societies involved.
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Books for young readers
The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins
A World War II Soldier
Walter Dean Myers
Scholastic
3 stars
This fictional journal gives the reader a glimpse of a soldier's daily life
and follows the lead character through the invasion of Normandy and the aftermath.
It's a very readable book full of convincing detail and a great way to learn
about World War II.
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 The
Double V Campaign: African Americans and World War II
Michael L. Cooper
Lodestar Books
3 stars
This fascinating book pulls no punches as it describes the ugly side of American
society in the 1940s: racial prejudice and discrimination. But it shows us that
despite the treatment they received from whites, African-Americans were eager
to join in the war effort to prove what they could contribute. The book follows
the stories of black units at Pearl Harbor, at Normandy, in Italy and at Bougainville
and recounts how some units were unfairly branded as unfit for combat despite
doing their duty.
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