Customer Reviews

The World War II Bookshelf: 50 Must-Read Books: Fifty Must-Read Books

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WW2, according to some estimates is arguably the most wrote-about subject ever. (Jesus Christ and Napoleon being good bets as well.) For the average person, or heck the historian, the hundreds of books one finds even in the local bookstore beg the question, "So what's worth my money, and what's bogus?" Mr. Dunnigan attempts to answer this question with a short list of fifty books, covering the strategic aspects of WW2. The work includes popular history as well as scholarly books; the author's view being if you want to study the war, you're going to have to plod through some primary source material. I'm not normally a huge fan of Mr. Dunnigan. IMHO, he tends to dismiss inconvenient details in presenting his thesis. But overall, the choices and evaluations of the author are pretty good- not much to critique here. With two exceptions: he touts his previous works, "Dirty Little Secrets of WWII" and "The Pacific War Encyclopedia" in an appendix. Well, issues of ego aside, neither of these works is authoritative enough in my mind for inclusion in a list like this. That aside, this is a great reference for anyone to start independent research in what is probably the most significant event, ever.

In "The World War II Bookshelf: Fifty Must Read Books", James F. Dunnigan tackles the demanding task of assembling a list of the best books on the enormously complex subject of World War II.

If you took all the literature pertaining to World War II and placed it all in one spot, you would be swimming in an ocean of books. I am speaking of military and social histories, military strategies and campaigns, armaments and technologies, intelligence and spying, biographies and personal memoirs, and historiographies. Multiply these by both Allied and Axis powers and you had better get out your life jacket. In addition, there are still more books being published each year as new archival material becomes available to researchers and writers.

Hurrah! for Dunnigan, who has taken the valiant yet dangerous plunge into the deep sea of World War II books in order to give us his 50 must read books. Dunnigan divides his book into five chapters wherein he offers readers a selection of books that cover the war from many, but not all angles. A clear synopsis follows each recommendation that describes what the reader can expect from the book. His reviews cover issues like military campaigns and strategies for fighting the war on the ground, atop and beneath the oceans, and in the air. These reviews allow readers to make a more informative decision as to what World War II books they may wish to purchase.

Dunnigan's list covers some of the best books on this global epic. I was delighted to see that a couple of my favorites made his list: "A World at Arms", by Gerhard Weinberg, as well as Winston Churchill's "The Second World War". Gerhard Weinberg's book is a marvel of research and writing; it provides an incredible amount of detail - in a single volume. When it comes to World War II, it is difficult to imagine anyone writing a more superior account than Winston Churchill did. Churchill was intrigued by all things military. The fact that he lived and lead his country during that time made him one of the greatest military leaders of the war. It also gave Churchill a clear and expert understanding of the intricacies of war. While both titles are works of tremendous importance, they tend to be quite complex - especially "The Second World War" which was published in six volumes.

Dunnigan' list is very useful for those wishing to build a formidable library on World War II. I own most of the books and enjoy reading and using them for research. Some of these gems are hard to come by - you may have to buy some of them used, but most are readily available. In his first chapter, "The Big Picture," Dunnigan presents us with a selection of books for general reading on World War II. His list contains some of the best World War II books, but I think that to better enjoy them, new readers of World War II history need to begin with even more general reading. With this in mind, I would recommend James L. Stokesbury's "A Short History of World War II," "A War to be Won: Fighting the Second World War," by Williamson Murray and Allan R. Millett, and "The Story of World War II," by Donald L. Miller. All three books are excellent entry-level reading that may be considered before diving into Dunnigan's list.

I am partial to World War II memoirs - who better can describe the horrors of war, but the men who did the fighting. Therefore, I recommend, along with George S. Patton's gripping "War As I Knew It," one of my favorite memoirs that was written by a common soldier, entitled "With the Old Breed," by E.B. Sledge. Sledge wrote about the brutality of war and those who fought in it - his description of the fears and stench of death are startling.

Apart from these additions, I say congratulations are in order for James F. Dunnigan's superb and very readable book, "The World War II Bookshelf: Fifty Must Read Books". The book is an absolute winner and is prominently placed on my World War II bookshelf. I salute you.

I found that this book was not only helpful in narrowing down the choices of the many books about WWII, but also in informing the reader. However Dunnigan can tend to write very lengthy summaries of each book, which can sometimes be a turn-off. I love history, but I also love English, and because of this, I noticed the greatest number of grammar mistakes and type-o's in any one book I've ever read. These can sometimes be a nuisance, for you may have to re-read sentences to make sense of them. He can also go from scholarly sounding to tired/lacking sounding. But he can also be humorous in some of his definitions and witty comments. Though I did have some frustrations while reading this book, I found it to be a helpful and educational guide to the 50 must read texts on WWII.

I'm giving this book four stars. I'm using it, so that is in itself a recommendation. However, there are problems. I wouldn't have put "Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses" so high in his list. Important it may be, but with so little text, mostly just tables of statistics, I'd put it lower, an adjunct for those want to peruse such statistical tables. Some of recommendations are out of print and are unobtainable only used, and even then at very high prices. Lastly, and most importantly to me, personal accounts are left out, by design. Such personal accounts have been among the most memorable books I have read about World War II. Use the list in conjunction with other lists or other sources of recommendations.

If you are a lifelong student of World War Two or just starting out- this is the book for you. It is author James Dunnigan's take on the 50 books you must be familiar with to have a deep understanding of that gigantic conflict.His book deals with both the general and the specific.He examines big scale accounts of the war when dealing with Gerhard L. Weinberg's classic A World at Arms as well as more intricate subjects such as code breaking and soldier morale.(His description of The American Soldier by S.A Stouffer and others is fascinating. This study looks at survey's done by the military during the war to "get a handle " on the new army made up of mainly draftees. I was unaware of this and I am looking forward to reading it) Dunnigan's necessary reads include the Western, Eastern and Asian Fronts.The war on land, sea and air are all represented.He gets inside the head of famous commanders by discussing War as I knew it by George S. Patton and Crusade in Europe by Dwight Eisenhower.I learned much from Dunnigan's work- but no one book can include all aspects of the conflict and there are some minor flaws. The role of Ultra code breaking was critical to Allied victory but there are too many books on that topic in this work. An inside view of battles through the eyes of common soldiers is not really included.Hitler was not the only major figure in this World War-but a good biography of him(Kershaw for example) is needed. John Keegan is mentioned in this book but his fine overview of WW2 is not nor is his Six Armies in Normandy.The Holocaust is a key part of the Second World War and a book on that topic is needed in any must read bookshelf. (It could be an overview by Martin Gilbert or a specific monograph such as Christopher Browing's Ordinary Men) Over all this is a very interesting book that reminds us that there is so little time and so much to read and understand. Mr. Dunnigan helps us on that quest.