U-Boot book???

[Marc Garlasco]

Gents,

Just finished Knoke's "I Flew for the Fuhrer." Would make a great flick! Now I am reading Bidermann's "In Deadly Combat." How my great-uncle survived the Eastern Front I will never know, but I now understand why he became a baker!

So you are 2-2 on great recommendations! Next I want a U-boot book. Recs???

[Tiger 1]

Some U-Boat books that I've enjoyed are,

"The Killing Time, The U-Boat war 1914-18" by Edwyn A. Gray c.1972

"Raiders of the Deep" by Lowell Thomas c.1929

"The U-boat Offensive 1914-1945" by V.E. Tarrant c.1989

"The U-Boat Wars 1916-1945" by John Terraine c.1989

"U-Boat Command and the Battle of the Atlantic" by Jak P. Mallmann Showell c. 1989

These are just a few that come to mind as there are many good books about U-boats out there. In many ways it depends if you are looking for a a good read about the daily lives of u-boat men or if you're interested in a more technical aspect of u-boats. I have about 40 or so books about u-boats and there's something of interest in each one. It seems there's a new book or article about u-boats out every couple of months or so. Good luck!

Enjoy!

Tony

[Erich B.]

U-boat book

I think 'Iron Coffins' by Herbert Werner is one of the best first person accounts of life on a U-Boot!
Erich

"Shooting the War" by Otto Giese was a good read, also has excellent photos.
Fred

[paddywhack]

i thought das boot was quiet a good read by a guy who was in uboots during the war!! plus if you want you can be lazy and just watch the film!!!

[Marc Garlasco]

Thanks guys - plenty of summer reading for me!

[Gordon Williamson]

For first person narratives, Iron Coffins by Herbert Werner is a great read, but other U-Boat vets say it should be read "with a pinch of salt" and lots of them reckon a good deal of it is made up. Shooting the War is excellent. Otto Giese is a really nice guy. For those who don't know, he lives in the US (Pensacola)
One not to miss is "Hirschfeld, Secret Diary of a U-Boat". It was published under several titles, but a search under "Hirschfeld" should find it. Wolfgang Hirschfeld served on U-234 ( the one which was shipping Uranium to Japan when the war ended) and kept a secret diary ( keeping a diary was highly forbidden) so his recollections are backed up with notes made at the time, making it very accurate indeed. He is also a really good guy who has been known to send out a nice autographed photo if asked nicely. "Ali" Cremers U-333, Heinz Schaeffer's U-Boat 977 and Erich Topp's "Odyssey of a U-Boat Commander" are also first class if you are looking for personal stories as opposed to campaign histories etc.

There are some really good biographies out there too. Jordan Vause's "U-Boat Ace" ( about Lüth) and Tomothy Mulligan's "Lone Wolf" ( about Henke) are excellent.

For factual/historical/technical stuff you can't beat Jak Mallmann Showell whose books are all based on painstaking research but very highly readable too and always with great photos from the U-Boot Archiv.

[Brian C.]

I think 'Iron Coffins' by Herbert Werner is one of the best first person accounts of life on a U-Boot!
Erich

I enjoyed that one as well.