City Travel Guides > Books > World War II 1939-1945

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.Night
City Travel Guides > Books > World War II 1939-1945
by: Elie Wiesel

August 27, 1981
Night by Elie Wiesel is not only one of the definitve works on Holocaust literature, it is one of the most definitve works on humanity.
This is a factual record of Wiesel's experiences from 1941, when the author was 12 years old, dedicated to learning Talmud and thirsting to learn Kaballah, to his experiences after Jews were forced into ghettoes and then transported to the death camps.
Written in Yiddish in 1958 and translated into English in 1960.
It is a record of Wiesel's childhood in the death camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau. It is dedicated to the memory of Wiesel's parents and his little sister Tzipora who were cruelly murdered in the Nazi inferno.
The book is stark in it's record of everything seen by the author ... Read More:
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.Sisters In Arms: British Army Nurses Tell Their Story
City Travel Guides > Books > World War II 1939-1945
by: Nicola Tyrer

February 28, 2008
Finally a book that tells the story of the remarkable women nurses in WW2. From the first page the reader is immediately transported to the world that these women were part of. From their nursing training to the weird and wonderful details of their uniform.

If you think you know what nurses such as these did in WW2, then think again. The horrors they endured and the terrible situations they found themselves in will shock the reader and leave you with nothing but admiration for their spirit and bravery.

The book has plenty of quotes and paragraphs from the women themselves, and/or diary entries from that time. A few of the women are featured throughout the book, and the reader will find themselves taken vividly back to that time and ... Read More:
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.Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945
City Travel Guides > Books > World War II 1939-1945
by: Tony Judt

February 01, 2007
Most reviewers have understandably, and rightly, focussed on the grand themes and the author's interpretation of events and conflicting political philosophies. I read the book at least in part, however, simply to refresh my knowledge of basic historical facts about the postwar era, and I still hope to use it as reference material to meet that same end. What disappointed me, however, was to discover some very basic errors about rather trivial matters which must call into question the overall standard of research and the veracity of what is presented.

For example, on pages 482/3 we are told that the Eurovision Song Contest was first broadcast in 1970 and, in an uncomfortably lengthy rant about its shortcomings, that it was a 'hopelessly dated format' ... Read More:
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.Global Governance and the New Wars: The Merging of Development and Security
City Travel Guides > Books > World War II 1939-1945
by: Mark R. Duffield

June 01, 2001
Most reviewers have understandably, and rightly, focussed on the grand themes and the author's interpretation of events and conflicting political philosophies. I read the book at least in part, however, simply to refresh my knowledge of basic historical facts about the postwar era, and I still hope to use it as reference material to meet that same end. What disappointed me, however, was to discover some very basic errors about rather trivial matters which must call into question the overall standard of research and the veracity of what is presented.

For example, on pages 482/3 we are told that the Eurovision Song Contest was first broadcast in 1970 and, in an uncomfortably lengthy rant about its shortcomings, that it was a 'hopelessly dated format' ... Read More:
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.Nazism 1919-1945, Volume Three: Foreign Policy, War and Racial Extermination. A Documentary Reader (Exeter Studies in History): 3
City Travel Guides > Books > World War II 1939-1945
by: Jeremy Noakes

August 01, 2001
I was fortunate enough to study this text for my undergraduate degree, I am of German decent but ostensibly English. This text gives a documatary insight into the horror suffered by both Slavonic and Germanic peoples alike. If your looking for the entire documents look elsewhere here the authers present only the pertinent information. However do not presume that this leads in any way to a bias on the authers part, in my opinion they present the subject matter in an impartial light, which perhaps heightens the sense of the tragedy which is told within these pages. A word of caution, the description, particularly those provided by medical witnesses is graphic and not undistubing. I would give all of this series 5 stars however, personal opinion prefers documentary ... Read More:
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.Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland
City Travel Guides > Books > World War II 1939-1945
by: Christopher R. Browning

June 28, 2001
Amongst historians this book has quickly reached the status of a classic. But it deserves to have a much broader readership as the subject it tackles - that of how 'ordinary men' can end up doing morally repugnant deeds - has implications that go far beyond its historical context. There is a human tendency to categorise and blame groups of people because it is easier than facing the possibility that anyone is capable of horror. An example would be the claim that 'religion causes wars' - it places the burden on an external agency, on the 'other' rather than the fact that anyone can commit an atrocity.

This is what Browning's book illustrates beautifully; the gradual steps these ordinary men take on the path to atrocity. Browning refers to a number of psychological ... Read More:
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.The Second World War
City Travel Guides > Books > World War II 1939-1945
by: Sir Winston S. Churchill

January 03, 2002
Literary quality of Winston Churchill it's impossible to judge for me, as English, it's clear, isn't my mother tongue.
Only I can say Sir Winston, who had to know all facts about WW II, exposes in this book things that films of Hollywood, a main source of knowledge for people who not lived the war, never or almost have treated. Persia, the Balkans, Iraq, Greece, Gibraltar, inner problems in of British politics are episodes practically never seen in screen or even in other books.
Sir Winston had to be prudent, and I think his criteria about Spanish Civil War is debatable as the attitude of France and Britain of arms embargo to the Spanish Republic. He was divided between two opinions, but was mostly conservative and must of all he didn't wanted a communist party in ... Read More:
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.Beyond Band of Brothers
City Travel Guides > Books > World War II 1939-1945
by: Dick Winters, Cole C. Kingseed

May 06, 2008
It is so amazing of what not only Major Winters has done but the whole Battalion. I've read Stephen E Ambrose's Band of Brothers and have also got the DVD. Whether I'm watching the DVD or reading the book, if feels as though I'm there.

As Dick Winters says, if it wasn't for Captain Sobel being so nasty the lads wouldn't have bonded as well as they did.

Dick Winters is an inspiration.
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.Blood Red Snow Memoirs German
City Travel Guides > Books > World War II 1939-1945
by: G Koschorrek

March 31, 2006
I recently bought this book from Amazon.co.uk and I can say that it is well worth a read. I know that there are loads of memoirs out there from soliders fighting in the various allied armies, but I jumped at a chance to read a book from the frequently under-represented German persepctive.

The author writes very well and I felt that he was able to portray the sheer terror of fighting on the Eastern front very well. One engagement in the early part of the book really had me on the edge of my seat as I wondered how they would repel an attack frmo Soviet armour without any ATG's etc.

Great book, great author, great read.
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.The Origins of the Second World War
City Travel Guides > Books > World War II 1939-1945
by: A.J.P. Taylor

October 31, 1991
Fascinating book which broke down a lot of the myths I had learnt about the 2nd World War. However, it looks at the situation purely from a political point of view and covers little background as to: the economy, the public, the USA and the preparations for war.

If you're after a casual more rounded read I'd look elsewhere, but as a focused 'text book' this is pretty definitive.
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