The Battle for North Africa by
John Strawson is a campaign history he tries to stay focused on the experiences of the average soldier. Along the way are a few unusual opinions of the high commanders like that Wavell should be considered a great captain.
Just started
Bomber Boys Fighting Back by
Patrick Bishop. He starts off with a brief discussion of the differing perceptions of Bomber Command versus Fighter Command. It'll be interesting to see where it goes.
A friend recently gave me
Alamo in the Ardennes, by
John McManus. It covers the initial defense along the Bastogne axis during the Battle of the Bulge from the American perspective.
Message edited by its author, Oct 30, 2009, 7:21am.
Hi Kunikov, thanks for tipping folks off to that! Always glad to hear when those specialty books return to print.
The Curtain Falls: Last Days of the Third Reich (1945) by Count Folke Bernadotte
This fascinating memoir of Count Bernadotte's key role in the events surrounding the "last days of the Third Reich" is a fascinating read. Detailing his meetings with key players such as Heinrich Himmler, Walter Schellenberg, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, and Joachim von Ribbentrop amongst others; one of the most important humanitarian missions of the war became political as Himmler sought Bernadotte to act as intermediary in a proposal of peace between Germany and the Western Allies, excluding capitulation to the Russians.
I read the First American Edition, published in 1945, but it was recently reprinted as
Last Days of the Reich: The Diary of Count Folke Bernadotte, October 1944-May 1945 by Frontline Books in 2009, including "a Preface by his two sons, and an Introduction by a leading Swedish author discussing Count Bernadotte's wartime record and his post-war assassination."
The 1945 edition of course makes no mention of the postwar Felix Kersten and "White Buses" controversies.
Message edited by its author, Nov 1, 2009, 7:12pm.
Churchill at War 1940-45 by Sir Charles Watson a recent reprint of the medical doctors experiences taking care of Churchill. Lots on different personalities British, American and Russian including all the big ones. An introduction by Watson's offspring tries to deflect the criticism put forward by Martin Gilbert and others about its accuracy. Pointing out that the "diary" that doesn't actually exist was more of a literary device than anything else. Recommended and currently available cheap from chapters in Canada.
World War II US Cavalry Units: Pacific Theater, another short, sweet Osprey; one of Gordon Rottman's more crisply written efforts. Why do I like this one or why might you? It describes "The Last Cavalry Charge" by the Philippine Scouts (26th CAV), as well as operations of the now dismounted cavalry outfits in both the Southwest Pacific and China-Burma-India theaters, which are favorites of mine. (see more under my SWPA and CBI tags). Speaking of CBI, I discovered new info on the 124th CAV, the follow-on force for Merrill's Marauders, that famous hardluck outfit.
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