Very best books

I'm going to take a bit of liberty here as one of my titles is not actually WW2. These may not be the objectively best books on WW2 but they are the three titles that had the biggest impact on my interest in military history.


Purchased this as a preteen at the now defunct World's Biggest Bookstore in Toronto. Great artwork, good info and it opened my eyes to the wide number of countries and forces involved in the conflict. It has sent me down many interesting and rewarding rabbit trails.


This was the first "adult' military history book I read. Interesting, long, detailed and still a good read years later



Though I'm here on WW2 my main area of interest is the interwar years and particularly the Spanish Civil War. This is the book that introduced me to that conflict and also to the man who, after all these years, is still my favourite author and someone I admire (as if my forum name doesn't make it blindingly obvious ). He had his faults as we all do but he fought for what he believed in to the very end and was willing to put his life on the line for what he saw as a better world.

 

I'm a huge Orwell fan as well. His writings are even more appropriate now:

 

I like the little backstories they included with the illustrations, like "This private has swapped out his raincoat for a non issue Air Force poncho." etc

 

I'm also a huge Orwell fan, have read most of his books and own copies of several of them. On the other hand somebody has said on Homage that it is a great book on war but not necessarily on SCW. I read the Finnish edition some 45 years ago, , cannot remember noticing glaring errors but might well read it before I read Hugh Thomas' The SCW.

Juha

 

OK, here's my three.

Firstly, The Wages of Destruction by Adam Tooze. This is really quite a mind-blowing book on what a viral Ponzi scheme tied together with bits of string the Nazi economy was, and how a lot of their strategic decisions were based on keeping the show on the road, rather than on their ideological world view. If you really want to understand how and why the war progressed, this book is essential.



Secondly, Britain's War Machine by David Edgerton. This book is another eye-opener, in that it shows how the UK was a much stronger power during WW2 than the mythology suggests. Edgerton also shows that the British war economy was actually remarkably efficient, and was possibly the most efficient of any nation. The main question this throws up of course is how and why it was all squandered in the post-war era.



Thirdly British Tank Production and the War Economy by Benjamin Coombs. This is easily the best overview of the subject of British tanks during WW2, and far better than David Fletcher's or Peter Beale's grudging efforts. It's the best place to start on the subject, although rather pricey.