Books about Generals of World War II?

[caspian]

Hey guys,

I've been watching the World at War series and I'm really interested in more in-depth reading about the World War II period. Particularly the Generals from Monty to Rommel to Zhukov(sp?). Can you guys recommend some books? And if there's an English book about Erwin Rommel the Desert Fox, please let me know.

Thanks.

[PanzerJaeger]

There are... so many!

A simple Amazon search on any of the major commanders of the time will yield plenty of good material.

Apart from the typical and often generic biographies that abound, I find the writings of the commanders themselves particularly fascinating. Although such memoirs should always be taken as opinion - and often legacy-building, they offer a great insight into the minds of the men who actually took part in the battles.

On the German side, the Cold War provided quite a market for the ideas of those who had fought the Russians first-hand.

Panzer Leader by Guderian and Lost Victories by Manstein are essential readings, as well as Kesselring's self-titled Memoirs. Lesser known but equally compelling are Panzer Battles by Mellenthin and Panzer Operations by Raus. It is very interesting to read their differing views on major battles and operations and on each other.

Unfortunately Rommel was forced to commit suicide before the war's end. However, many of his writings during the war were found and published in The Rommel Papers, a great read. Also of note is his intra-war period book Attacks about his experiences in WW1. While of course not directly covering the period you're interested in, it is fascinating to read about the lessons Rommel took from WW1 in the context of his operations during WW2. Ronald Lewin's Rommel as Military Commander is one of the best Rommel biographies I've read, for its detailed battle accounts and excellent maps.

For the Allies, Patton wrote the highly compelling War as I Knew It, Ike wrote the less compelling but very informative Crusade in Europe, and Bradley wrote A Soldier's Story - which I would not recommend to someone just getting into WW2 research. Monty's memoirs are also pretty entertaining, if for nothing else than the pure comedic value and his mastery of spin.

Overall, I have found most German memoirs are far more oriented towards the actual fighting of battles, including the relevant strategy and tactics they employed. Most are obviously not very interested in a deep analysis of National Socialism or their respective roles in it, except to blame Hitler for various military failings - sometimes rightfully and sometimes not so much. The Allied commanders, on the other hand, are far more interested in the geopolitical side of the equation - and securing their place in the victory.

I hesitate to mention any memoirs from the Russian side as they tend to be the most inaccurate of the group, but Marshal Zhukov’s Greatest Victories is pretty decent. However, it should be read in tandem with Zhukov’s Greatest Defeat: The Red Army’s Epic Defeat in Operation Mars 1942 for some perspective.

There have been literally thousands of books written about the various commanders during WW2, including many more memoirs out there from all sides, including the Pacific - which I didn't even touch on. Amazon reviews are pretty accurate about the quality, as well.

[Strike For The South]

Just watch this. All you need to know.

[Miyamoto_Musashi]

desmond young's biography Rommel includes a brief selection of the rommel papers

heinz werner schmidt's book With Rommel in the desert, interesting account by rommel's personal aide.

Arthur Bryant's books "Turn of the tide" and "Triumpth in the west" is based on the war diaries of field marshal viscount alanbrooke

Montgomery's books "Memoirs" and "From normandy to the baltic" interesting account from the british side.

winston churchil's history of world war 2

liddel hart "The other side of the hill" gives various accounts of the german generals

[KarlXII]

Rommel, the Desert Fox by Brigadier Desmond Young is a fairly medium sized book about the entire life of Erwin Rommel, from his childhood, his World War 1 service, his meeting with Hitler, his campaigns, his death, and the aftermath. It was written, I believe, in 47-56, so Young got accounts from Rommels staff, personal friends, and his wife. Very nice book about this man, Rommel.

[Veho Nex]

I believe Rommel also wrote a book called The tank in attack

There are also some great college essays on generals from WW2, if you look for which universities offer a Dr in WW2 you can find some great reading.

[Sarmatian]

I believe Rommel also wrote a book called The tank in attack

There are also some great college essays on generals from WW2, if you look for which universities offer a Dr in WW2 you can find some great reading.

That book was never published, iirc. He never finished it. His most famous work is Infantry Attacks (Infanterie greift an)

[KrooK]

Vladislav Anders "Without last chapter"

[KarlXII]

Vladislav Anders "Without last chapter"

Why would we read a book without a last chapter?

[RabidGibbon]

Defeat into Victory is the memoirs of Field Marshall Slim on the war in Burma and well worth reading. It's well written and not as horrendously self serving as most generals memoirs tend to be.

It provides a good background to the Commonwealths war in Burma.

I read it after reading Slim: The Standard Bearer and Slim: Master of War and was glad I did because in his memoirs Slim tended to gloss over those bits that were uncomplimentry to other officers (Like when his superiors would try to remove him and were in turn removed) as well as taking the blame for some of his subordinates errors.

[KrooK]

No - book written by Vladislav Anders
title "Without last chapter"

[KarlXII]

No - book written by Vladislav Anders
title "Without last chapter"

Swing and a miss.

[anweRU]

"Red Army Tank Commanders: The Armored Guards" is an interesting book on the six Soviet generals who commanded the six tank armies during WW2. Some were there from the beginning to the end, Katukov (1st) and Kravchenko (6th) for example. Others commanded their respective armies during their peak performances, such as Rotmistrov (5th) at Kursk.

I am a big fan of tank warfare, and the German masters were my favorites for two decades until I read this book five years ago. Kravchenko is my favorite now, and I doubt any tank commander & force can ever surpass him and his 6th Guards Tank Army. They fought in terrain no other tank unit would have fought, and covered the longest distance (both travel & fighting) of any tank unit in the war. Moscow to Vienna & Prague, all the way to Pt. Arthur on the Pacific coast.