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cpdeyoung -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (5/31/2012 2:37:29 AM)
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I read two books on the Second World War recently. The first was 'The Storm of War" by Andrew Roberts. This would not be my first pick for a WW2 history, but it does have a feature that might appeal to a war gamer. The author has, as one of his foci a discussion of where the Axis might have made decisions that would have brought them victory. Certainly all of these decision points are familiar to most readers of this forum, but another opinion is interesting. Roberts is careful to show the dark side of the Axis and Soviets, and is careful to show where the West is subject to examination on moral issues also. I think he slips into error, but these are slippery areas. It is not a bad book, but I think there are better.
The second is "The End" by Ian Kershaw. It is fun to start a book where the first two words are "The End". Kershaw deals with the war in Europe from July 1944, just after the attempt on Hitler's life. This is probably not your favorite part of the Second World War, but this book is well worth reading. Kershaw wants to explore why the German nation fought on despite there being no real chance of victory. He shows how horrible the last year of the war was for everyone, but especially Germany, and examines the mechanisms that allowed the battle to continue. I thought his analysis excellent and really, really appreciated this book. Not a military history as such, although it has enough military structure to make the analysis explicable. I highly recommend this book. It is so nice to see a book which is well organized and cogent. If you decide to read this, or have already read it I would like to know what you think of it.
Chuck
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