WWII books you say.
Here's a selection on my bookshelf I recommend.
D-Day and the battle for Normandy - Antony Beevor
A well written book about the Normandy landings ending with the Falaise Gap battle.
Operation Overlord - Max Hastings
Another good book written about the battle for Normandy.
Berlin and the downfall - Antony Beevor
A grim and vivid account of the Battle for Berlin
A BRIDGE TOO FAR - Cornelius Ryan
The best book written about Operation Market Garden
THE BATTLE FOR SINGAPORE - Peter Thompson
A rare take on the Battle of Singapore quite interesting to read about battles involving the Japanese.
ABSOLUTE WAR - Chris Bellamy
An excellent book on the total war between Hitler and Stalin, I highly recommend this.
Rising 44 - Norman Davis
This book explores the rising in Warsaw in 1944 and the fallout of the great Alliance.
Panzer Leader - Heinz Guderian
The man who invented 'Blitzkrieg' a MUST read.
Stalingrad - Antony Beevor
An excellent account of the battle for Stalingrad.
Knight's Cross (A life of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel) - David Fraser
A great book about Rommel, best I've read.
The Lost Battle, Crete 1941 - Callum, MacDonald
An excellent account of Students' creation of his Parachute division and its baptism of fire.
The Crucible of War Vol I, Vol II, Vol III, - Barrie Pitt
A great narrative of the British war in North Africa from the Italian attack in 1940 to El Alamein.
Armor Battles of the Waffen -SS, 1943-45 - Fey
An excellent selection of AAR's of small scale actions on the eastern front.
Napoleonic wars
1812, Napoleon's fatal March on Moscow - Adam Zamoyski
The best book I've read set during the Napoleonic wars and a gruesome account of the difficulties the
Grand Amrie had in Russia.
The Peninsular War 1807 - 1814, A concise Military History - Michael Glover
An excellent account of difficulties Napoleon's generals had with the supply and defense of Spain, the guerilla warfare in the countryside also of Wellington's advance from Portugal.
Napoleon as Military Commander - James Marshall- Cornwall
A scholarly study of Napoleon's military career, complete with maps, pictures of battle etc.
Napoleon's Wars - Charles Esdaile
If you going to read a book on Napoleon read this. A well written book on Napoleon's life and wars, I highly recommend this.
The middle ages
Conquest, The English Kingdom of France in the Hundred Years War- Juliet Barker
A interesting book about King Henry V's invasion of France in 1417.
Agincourt - Juliet Barker
A stimulating account of this bloody day that changed history.
Ancient Rome
In The Name of Rome - Adrian Goldsworthy
An excellent book about the generals who built the Roman empire and their political careers.
Cesar - Adrian Goldsworthy
This is an extraordinary biography about the man who 'came, saw and conquered'.
Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic - Tom Holland
An excellent introduction to the frequent political chaos in Rome's backstabbing political system.
Ancient Greece
The Peloponnesian War - Thucydides
Thucydides, who commanded armies in ancient Greece wrote a commentary of the war, becoming the first military historian.
It's a difficult read because of the direct translation from the ancient Greece text it was originally written in, but well worth it.
I recommend
A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Sparta Fought the Peloponnesian War by Victor Davis Hanson as back up which is written in a modern format and easier to read. Both bring to life the nastiness of this, then, the first guerrilla war and genocide.
Pre World War I.
Crimea - Trevor Royal
A gripping book about the diplomatic efforts to avoid war running up to the conflict in 1854 and the bloody campaign.
Happy reading
