I recently read Unbroken, a story about survival in a Japanese POW camp during WW2 and really enjoyed the book. I'm eager to read another book from about that time.

What other WW2 books would you recommend I read? I'm sure there are plenty to pick from.

I got given 'Tin Can Soldiers' for Christmas from my wife. I haven't gotten a chance to read it but it looks pretty good.

Of course I asked for 'World War Z' but my handwriting is bad and the 'Z' was read as a '2'.

You need to check out the History board....

Ditto on the history board. And if that's "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors," it's an incredible story.

Recently finished Helmet for my Pillow (Robert Leckie book that was used as basis for the HBO show The Pacific), very good book.

Am currently reading With the Old Breed, the book by EB Sledge also featured in The Pacific.

Shattered Sword - the Battle of Midway and how it went awry for the Japanese

Midway - written by a couple of the actual Jap participants in the battle, had some information that turned out to be incorrect as pointed out in Shattered Sword but an interesting read because of who the writers were.

"With the Old Breed" is good and you can't go wrong with anything by Stephen Ambrose. I also liked "Flyboys" by James Bradley and "The Bedford Boys" by Alex Kershaw is another good read.

Agree with the ones above. I am currently reading Unbroken as well and it is very good. You may enjoy Shadow Divers which is a very good story about discovering an unknown U boat. Lots of WWII history.

+1 for anything by Stephen Ambrose, starting with Pegasus Bridge & Band of Brothers.

"Battle" by John Toland - great account of the Battle of the Bulge.

"A Bridge Too Far" by Cornelius Ryan, who also wrote "The Longest Day" among others - topic is Operation Market Garden.

"With the Old Breed" - mentioned above. First hand account of what Sledge personally experienced, unbelievable stuff.

Last of the breed. Amazing book.

For historical fiction, try Das Boot. It's excellent.

Not too hijack it but any recommendations on Korean War books? Or on theaters besides Europe or Pacific Islands (specifically arctic warfare)?

Haven't seen "To hell and back" by Audie Murphy mentioned. That's a fairly quick and very good ready.

As for Korea, the only book that comes to mind is M*A*S*H by Richard Hooker.

With the Old Breed is excellent

Another one I've enjoyed (fiction) is Battle Cry by Leon Uris

Check out "Serenade to the Big Bird" by Bert Stiles.

Another great one is "Those Devils In Bag gy Pants", but it's hard to find. I was able to order it off of Amazon.

Ditto those mentioned previously, and I would add the following:

Sea Of Thunder
Hell Hawks
Goodbye Darkness (by William Manchester, great read)
A Dawn Like Thunder
Strong Men Armed
Ghost Soldiers

And my personal favorite - the first two books of a trilogy being written by Rick Atkinson:
An Army At Dawn
The Day Of Battle


*edit because the word B A G G Y apparently is a no-no*

[This message has been edited by rbtexan (edited 1/19/2011 11:15a).]

An afterthought.

Another book worth reading is "Admiral Of The Hills/Chester W. Nimitz" by Dede Casad & Frank Driscoll.

I find it pretty cool that CINCPAC was from Fredericksburg, TX.

Another book that's on my list is a biography of Admiral Halsey, called "The Fighting Sailor", about, uh, naval combat tactics.

Maybe you know of this book???

Some argue that the author's conclusions are all wrong though and that Halsey acted stupidly.

We'll see...


[This message has been edited by Goose (edited 1/19/2011 2:03p).]

Jeff Shaara's trilogy is great:

The Rising Tide
The Steel Wave
No Less Than Victory

While considered fiction, it's based on actual events and people in the European Theater.

You can't go wrong with "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" - autobio of Greg "Pappy" Boyington.

My all-time favorite was "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" - the story of the Doolittle Raid in early 1942. I'm afraid it may be out of print since its been a long time since I've seen a copy.

Some of my favorite books besides the ones I previously mentioned are :

Steel My Soldiers Hearts by David Hackworth - a book about Col. Hackworth taking over and leading an infantry division in the Vietnam war.

The Coldest War by James Bradley - One of the few Korean War books that I have read and it is really well written.

Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell - One of the best books I have ever read. I couldn't put this book down once I started.

The Ship That Held the Line by Lisle Rose - This is about the U.S.S. Hornet which was an early aircraft carrier in the Pacific theater of WWII. A good read about a part of the war which doesn't get the attention it deserves.

In the Company of Soldiers by Rick Atkinson - This is written by an embedded reporter in the war in Iraq around 2003. A good look at the difficulties faced by our soldiers today.

Not a war book per se, but "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" by Richard Rhodes is one of the best books I've ever read, and it covers a very important WWII story.

^^^

I'd second that. Actually read anything you can find by that guy.

"The Steel Wave" is brilliant. I need to read the rest of the series.