Well, I added a book on codes just yesterday, and here I am adding another one today.

Visions From a Foxhole: A Rifleman in Patton's Ghost Corps by William Foley, is a memoir written by an infantryman who joined the 94th Infantry Division on January 25, 1945. Foley was fresh from the United States and had no idea what he had gotten in to. During his first week, his battalion suffered 60% casualties and he saw almost constant combat from then until the end of the war.

Foley tells it like it was. After all, in how many memoirs do you read the author relate he killed POWs in cold blood?

The link above is to a review of the book.

Foley was a budding artist during the war and was encouraged by his company commander. Some of his artwork from the war can be seen on a Web site offering his work for sale.  These scenes were often drawn by Foley in his fox hole on the front line.

UPDATE:  Sadly, William Foley died in April, 2020. The Web site above is no longer there. But visit his Wikipedia page, which does have links to other pages on him, one with some of his WW II drawings, and his book, Visions From a Foxhole.

For a complete history of the 94th, read Patton's Pawns.

Well, how lucky can I get. I've read three great WW II books in a row.

This one is "PT 105" and it describes how a young lawyer went into the Navy expecting to spend the war in Naval Intelligence, but then volunteers for PT boat training to escape the boredom of torpedo school.  Bad move! The young man, the author, ends up in the Solomon Islands undergoing more hair-raising experiences than he had bargained for. I gave it 5 stars and recommended it to all. The above is a link to the book's page and my review.

If you are not interested in becoming an expert on World War II, but would appreciate a fine book covering some of the important actions, then I suggest The Ninety Days: Five Battles That Changed the World.  This links to the book and my review.

I was somewhat hesitant about starting a single book covering five important battles, which individually have scores of entire books written about them, but I was pleasantly surprised. I really appreciated the numerous maps, covering each campaign, which the author included.
 

If you have read enough about  World War II, then you know about the German spies landed by submarines, whose mission was to destroy American war plants and critical infrastructure. Fortunately, two of them turned themselves in to the FBI and the others were caught and executed.

But did you know about the numerous other plans to bring the war to American cities, plans using German and Italian military forces? No way, you say? Well, just for instance, did you know that in the late 1930s, a German four-engine plane flew non-stop from Berlin to New York in 25 hours and returned in just 19 hours? Before the war German developed 'airliners' that could easily be converted to war use.  Luftwaffe raids on American east coast cities were possible. Why weren't they staged? The answer to that and numerous other plans developed by the Germans and Italians are explained in Target America: Hitler's Plan to Attack the United States.  The link is also to my review.

Well, it's been almost a year since I posted a recommendation of a WW II book.  So I'd like to add A Mighty Fortress: Lead Bomber Over Europe by Charles Alling. The author flew B-17s during the latter stages of the war in Europe. The link is to the book's page here and my review.

We're all familiar with the quotations by other authors or reviewers from the media found on a book's cover. But there must be something special about a book which merits a review by a former President of the United States.

Well, here is another.... The Jungle War by Gerald Astor.  Written in the same style as Stephan Ambrose's books, it even has a dust cover quote from Ambrose praising one of the author's earlier books. This book covers the China-Burma-India theater of war from all aspects, even the Japanese.  The link is to the book's page and my review.

Clipped Wings: The Rise and Fall of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) of World War II by Molly Merryman is a pretty interesting read as well!

Evelyn Waugh, a celebrated British author, wrote several fictional and semi-fictional works based on his WW II experience in the military. These books lampooned the British attitute toward war. I found them very enjoyable.

However, if you want to read about true events that mirror the "British style" of war Waugh poked fun of in his fictional works, then I suggest you read From Suez to Singapore by Cecil Brown, and Fiasco: the Breakout of the German Battleships by John Potter.  However, these books are hard to find, unless you're willing to buy them through Amazon.

The book titles link to the book pages here on PBS, which also contain my reviews.

Well, I have another one.  I just finished reading A Higher Call. It is an international best seller, and an engrossing read. This is a story many of you may already be familiar with. The central story covers the day a dedicated German fighter pilot, and ace, helped a severely damaged B-17 and its crew to safely leave Germany and return to their base. There is even a Wikipedia page about it.  However, that story is only a small part of the book. Much of the book covers others, on both sides, many of them dying or severely injured during the war. It describes the hardships they endured, and how the war affected their families.

As usual, the link to the book page also goes to a short review I posted there.  As of today, there are 45 members requesting it, but I'm keeping my copy.

Here is another book on WW II which I think is good revisionist history. It's not for your average reader, as it deals only with top level strategy, and is full of numbers (troop totals, casualties, tanks, planes, length of defensive lines, etc.).

Hitler's War

Time for a good revisionist history on the liberation of Paris in 1944.

The Blood of Free Men

Go to the book's page for my review.

I'm not sure I'd rate the book Operation Storm as one of the 'great' books of World War II, but it is a fascinating one.  It is about a largely unknown tale of the war in the Pacific. And, as I state in my review (see the link), if you are looking for a different WW II book to read, this might be it.

If you are interested, and maybe even if you aren't, in the secret aspects of World War II, you need to read this book. I even regard it as an eye opener regarding so many aspects of the secret 'dealings' even I was unaware of. I thought I had read most of what took place on the "secret side" of World War II, but this book proved me wrong. Every chapter had more than one surprise for me. I found myself saying "You're kidding!" much too often.

Roosevelt's Secret War: FDR and World War II Espionage

Thomas,

Thanks for letting us know about this book. It sounds absolutely fascinating.  I've been reading several books recently about the secret activities during WWII  and I am finding the revelations riviting.

Leslie

Hitler's Last Offensive by Peter Elstob was a surprising find, especially as it was published in 1971. It was not only an easy read, but a compelling one too. I learned much more about the American Battle of the Bulge than I had known before, and I've read many books on that battle. What also is surprising is the author is British, but gives full credit to the individual American soldiers, and many of their higher level commanders, who stopped the German onslaught. Some areas of the book might be termed "revisionist history" as it conflicts with some of the 'myths' we believe about the battle.  As usual, the link above goes to my review of the book.

John Costello does a great job of compiling historical facts found in numerous other books I've read in his Days of Infamy.  In addition, he also provides historical data which I was unaware of. If you want to know the truth behind the World War II American military disasters at Pearl Harbor and in the Philippines, then read this book. I might add it is well cited, as the author quotes from numerous unclassified and recently declassified documents to prove that a coverup, to protect numerous high-level individuals our parents saw as heroes, was started in late 1941 and was continued for decades. The link above is to my review of the book. 

I've read a number of books on the different aspects of the Battle for North Africa, even some complete histories. But if you only want to read just one, then I'd recommend War Without Hate by John Bierman and Colin Smith. The link is to the book's page and my review.

It's been several months since I 've recommended a book, but I'd like to add The Fighting First : The Untold Story of the Big Red One on D-Day. As usual, the link goes to that book's page and a review I wrote.

The true value of this book is the great detail the author gives to what happened to the men of that division on June 6, 1944. I don't believe I've read any other book which tells as complete a story of the division that day as this one does. What makes it even better is the author provides information on the rest of the division's history in World War II.

There are true tales from real life which are weirder than a Hollywood screenwriter's drunken fantasy. And Boarding Party is one of them. When you are losing an average of ten ships a week to German submarines in the Indian Ocean, sometimes even the wildest idea has some merit. This book tells the story of an event the British government kept secret for 35 years after World War II. The out-of-shape civilians who participated in this 'raid' couldn't even tell their wives where they went for two weeks.

The story of this raid into the port of Goa, a colony of neutral Portugal, was made into a movie called The Sea Wolves. Of course, Hollywood had to add its own drama to it. Why? I have no idea, but I did enjoy the 1980 movie years ago.

It's been awhile since I recommended a book here, but I just finished reading The Few by Alex Kershaw. It is about "the American 'Knights of the Air' who risked everything to fight in the Battle of Britain." I really enjoyed it, it's a easy read, and learned a lot from it. So imagine my surprise when I went to add it to my bookcases on World War II and just happened to notice another copy already there. I do not remember reading this book before, but I must have read it long before joining PBS, as it was not on my "Books I Read" list.

As always, the book title links to my review.

As a former USMC officer who studied Marine Corps history even before joining "The Big, Bright, Green Pleasure Machine" in 1969, I thought I knew most of the Corps' history. I was wrong. Coral and Brass is the autobiography of LtGen Holland M. Smith, who commanded the Marines in the Pacific during the bloody path across the Central Pacific in World War II. This is the story of the man, whose name seldom appears in fighting histories of the Corps, but who fought to create the principles of amphibious warfare beginning in the 1930s, and continued to fight for the Corps, against outdated military traditions, from Guadalcanal to Iwo Jima.

When reading books on World War II, most of the really good ones are about a unit, a battle, a campaign or a great leader. Seldom do you find one which is about a low ranking individual. American Nightingale is about a young Jewish girl from Poland who immigrated to the United States and was almost turned back at Ellis Island. She was taught by her father that freedom is the right to work long hours for a few cents without having to worry about being killed.

Enduring prejudice and experiencing kindness, she grew up with a dream of becoming an nurse, a career most Jewish girls didn't opt for, especially during the Depression of the 1930s. Her desire to help others who needed care actually led to her being criticized for "spending too much time with her patients" during her nursing school days.

Her need to care for those who were suffering led her to quit a good paying job to join the U.S. Army Nursing Corps in World War II. She then fought to be sent overseas. A letter she wrote to the Army's Stars and Stripes newspaper, just a few days before her death, touched the hearts of thousands of battle-hardened American soldiers and millions of civilians back in the U.S, catapulting her to national fame. Eventually, the U.S.S. Frances Slanger, the Navy's largest and newest hospital ship, was commissioned in her honor.

If you are looking for a light-hearted and entertaining story of World War II, where there is no fighting---except against the terrain---I suggest you read Hell Is So Green by William Diebold. Without ever taking parachute training, Diebold---a transport pilot---ended up being the "Search and Rescue" guy who jumped---at first alone---into jungles and mountains to find, provide medical care for, and lead out downed airmen whose planes went down when flying over the Himalayas.

If you are interested in deception in war, here is a book you should read. It's about the two thousand men who served, at one time or another, in the U.S. Army's 23rd Headquarters Special Troops during World War II. Their achievements are in the negative.... by this I mean the large numbers of American and British soldiers who didn't die due to the 23rd's efforts. 

The link above is to the unit's Wikipedia page. The link below is to the book's page on PBS and my review.

Secret Soldiers by Philip Gerard

If you are into World War II history, then you know of the successes and failures of Operation Market-Garden  during the Fall of 1944. What you may not be aware of are the actions of the combined, national Jedburgh teams which jumped with the three airborne divisions to coordinate the cooperation of the Dutch resistance in that operation. This book does an excellent job filling in that gap.

Abundance of Valor: Resistance, Survival, and Liberation: 1944-45