Who was the best WWII author?

[Toronto_Matt]

Best book about the Third Reich has to be "Inside the Third Reich" by Speer...

Couldn't put the book down

[willcpfc]

David Irving??!! That many votes......

Oh dear lol

[PANZER332]

David Irving??!! That many votes......

Oh dear lol

Well I voted irving all day way , at least my history knowledge is not base in hollywood movies lol.............

[PANZER332]

Well I voted irving all the way , at least my history knowledge is not base in hollywood movies

[PANZER332]

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[Mark C. Yerger]

David Irving??!! That many votes......

Oh dear lol

very much in agreement, and add my LOL as well

Seems the consensus is a mix of local for the masses book store type titles
(), first person account repetitive war stories (), and bargain table texts, some of which are less than the "original work" of the authors (as well as punctuated by a significant amount of "stretched "truth" ).

But to each their own.

[PANZER332]

very much in agreement, and add my LOL as well

Seems the consensus is a mix of local for the masses book store type titles
(), first person account repetitive war stories (), and bargain table texts, some of which are less than the "original work" of the authors (as well as punctuated by a significant amount of "stretched "truth" ).

But to each their own.

Go History Channel !!!!!!!!!!!

[Mark C. Yerger]

Go History Channel !!!!!!!!!!!

I'll never forget hearing "Senior Platoon Leader Hausser"

I watch the SS topics there with no sound and music on to see who I recognize in films (tons of KC holders they miss, so no commentary).

Saves me the aggravation of hearing idiot Charles Sydnor's comments and the flash underneath him about his only (30 year old) superficial mistake ridden "Totenkopf" book

[Obergruppen2]

I personally like Paul Carell, " Hitler moves East", " Scorched Earth", " Stalingrad ", " Operation Barabarossa ", " Inavasion They're Coming ", " The Desert Fox "

[Seigfried]

Ian Kershaw's bio on Der Fuhrer (Hubris & Nemesis) and Michael Burleigh's book on the Third Reich. Both excellent in my eyes. I used to like Hugh Trevor Roper but heard that he'd been somewhat discredited of late. I can't believe that none of these authors have been mentioned yet.

Also liked Guy Sajer's The Forgotten Soldier (not sure if fact/fiction but a great read), Ambrose is woeful and isn't Sven Hassell fictitious (although I enjoyed his books as a teenager!).

[jerry c.]

i'm half way thru "hitler's war" right now, and i think its excellent.

many fascinating details and quotes. i've read all the other major works on the subject and i think this may be the best.

i haven't seen anything thus far that i find fault with.

i think its the way that he phrases certain passages that gets everybody's panties in a knot.

[Tim Schreiner]

Can't wait for David Irving's new book on Himmler!

[jerry c.]

agreed. i hope its soon. .. and also the reprint of the goebbels bio is on my list.

[jerry c.]

Ian Kershaw's bio on Der Fuhrer (Hubris & Nemesis) and Michael Burleigh's book on the Third Reich. Both excellent in my eyes. I used to like Hugh Trevor Roper but heard that he'd been somewhat discredited of late. I can't believe that none of these authors have been mentioned yet.

Also liked Guy Sajer's The Forgotten Soldier (not sure if fact/fiction but a great read), Ambrose is woeful and isn't Sven Hassell fictitious (although I enjoyed his books as a teenager!).

i think that its been concluded that "the forgotten soldier" is indeed factual.

the official historian of the grossdeutschland division gave his approval... if my memory is correct.

[pasoleati]

Ian Kershaw's bio on Der Fuhrer (Hubris & Nemesis) and Michael Burleigh's book on the Third Reich. Both excellent in my eyes.

I tried to tread Burleigh but failed after a few dozen pages as his utterly politically biased style became unbearable. The same about Kershaw, though to a bit lesser degree.

I find it most interesting that genuine soldiers like Sir Basil Liddell Hart and J. F. C. Fuller have written general WW2 histories far above the later attempts of people like Max Hastings, Andrew Roberts etc. As one Finnish military historian has noted, the historiography of WW2 has been perversed by political agendas as usually the more time passes of an event, the more objective and neutral the accounting gets. In case of WW2, normalization of its historiography proceeded well until the late 1970s/early 1980s, but beginning from the early 1990s has become more and more politicised and double standardized.