Best published books of 2007?

[Jason Pipes]

I'm curious to know what people consider to be some of the best books published in 2007 on the German military?

Some on my list so far:

Police Battalions of the Third Reich

The German Wehrmacht on All Fronts, 1939-1945: Images from Private Photo Albums, volume 1: Nebelwerfer, Panzer, Flak, Funker, Gebirgsjaeger

Konigsberg 1945: The Annihilation of Hitler's Fortress City

Slaughter at Halbe: Hitler's Ninth Army in the Spreewald Pocket, April 1945

Leaders of the SS & German Police, Volume I

In the Fire of the Eastern Front: The Experiences of a Dutch Waffen-SS Volunteer on the Eastern Front, 1941-45

[KG voss]

Hello,

Best book I read in 2007

Hitler & Dönitz and the Baltic sea (Howard Grier).
Awesome book ! Definitely show that Hitler had a strategy in 44-45. a lot of things make senses, show very well the politicals, economicals and military reasoning with the strategy appplied. Give Schörner it's due for it's brilliant retreat with AGN and how he was one of the few who could permit to disobey hitler's order.. In reading this book you'll be far from the stereotyp of Hitler as a deranged man who stubbornly ask for the defense of every foot of ground. You'll see Dönitz influence in shaping Hitler's strategy on the northern theater of operations.
Great book..

Other books read in 2007
- Death of the wehrmacht (Citino) really good too. recommended.
- German generals talk (liddell hart) disapointed, was expecting more from this book.
- Armageddon (hasting) very good
- Overlord (hasting) Very good though not the definitve one on the subject.
- Grenadier (Meyer)
- Hitler's general (corelli barnett)

[David N]

The Luftwaffe Over Germany, by Donald Caldwell and Richard Mueller

This book is an account of the German daylight air defense in World War II. This is the first comprehensive book on the subject. Donald Caldwell has written JG 26: Top Guns of the Luftwaffe. Richard Mueller is Professor of Military History at the United States Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. He has authored other books on the Luftwaffe.

[Uncle Joe]

Jason, how about putting reviews (even shortish ones) of the 6 books you listed on the forum?

[Yerger]

"The Face of Courage" by Florian Berger, covering all KC holders who also won the Close Combat Clasp in Gold.

Mark

[krichter33]

I agree with Mark. "The Face of Courage" was my favorite book to come out in 2007.

[Epaminondas]

Wages of Destruction

[Charlie645]

Didier Lodieu's "III. Pz. Korps at Kursk" is a fine combination of text and seldom seen photos. The english version has some minor translation problems, but overall this is a nice addition, covering what is perhaps the least known aspect of Operation Citadel.

[Lexxx]

Island of Fire by Jason Mark.

Amazing research, never before seen photographs, loads of maps and charts . . . what more could you want?

[pzrmeyer2]

Konigsberg 1945: The Annihilation of Hitler's Fortress City

Despite its quasi-originality in that it is a topic not oft covered in the English language, I found that book a disappointment. Much of it is simple fluff on what life may have been like in Konigsberg, which is basically just derived from anecdotal snippets on any German city during the 1920s/1930s. I also found the lack of any detail on the miltary operations or any citation of Otto Lasch's (the city' commandant) seminal work , So Fiel Konigsberg, surprising, given the title. The author relied upon basically the oft-cited memoirs of Countess Doenhoff and 2 diaries of civilians, one of whom was a German-Jewish boy, for her entire book.

Slaughter at Halbe: Hitler's Ninth Army in the Spreewald Pocket, April 1945

I enjoyed that one immensely, though to be picky it came out in 06, not 07. Having walked and ridden that battlefield area several times, that book was incredibly helpful in assiting me reconstruct the personal family history of my mother and Oma, who were caught up at the western edge of the kessel and were in the main axis of the 9th Army's failed breakout, the Potsdam Garrison's breakout and 12th Army's push towards Potsdam.

My choices would be Giles MacDonough's After the Reich, GW Crocker's Don't Tread On Me--a fantastic consice history of America's Wars and Warriors from Indian fights to the present) and the English translation of Jorg Friedrich's The Fire.

[Jason Pipes]

The author relied upon basically the oft-cited memoirs of Countess Doenhoff and 2 diaries of civilians, one of whom was a German-Jewish boy, for her entire book.

Aren't diaries considered primary source materials? What's wrong with referencing three particpant first person accounts from the city itself? Seems appropriate to me.

[panzermahn]

Hi,

I would say the best published book in 2007 was Giles Macdonogh's After the Reich: The brutal history of Allied Occupation.

I had this book and it's worth all your money to get it. In fact, this book was researched as scholarly as possible.

Regards
Panzermahn

[pzrmeyer2]

The author relied upon basically the oft-cited memoirs of Countess Doenhoff and 2 diaries of civilians, one of whom was a German-Jewish boy, for her entire book.

Aren't diaries considered primary source materials? What's wrong with referencing three particpant first person accounts from the city itself? Seems appropriate to me.

no, no they are very appropriate; But she only relies on those, one of whom was basically a child. I thought a book about the "Fall of the Fortress" would have a bit more detailed accounts from some actual participants in the battle, or at least more adult witnesses.

[Richard Hargreaves]

The author relied upon basically the oft-cited memoirs of Countess Doenhoff and 2 diaries of civilians, one of whom was a German-Jewish boy, for her entire book.

Aren't diaries considered primary source materials? What's wrong with referencing three particpant first person accounts from the city itself? Seems appropriate to me.

no, no they are very appropriate; But she only relies on those, one of whom was basically a child. I thought a book about the "Fall of the Fortress" would have a bit more detailed accounts from some actual participants in the battle, or at least more adult witnesses.

I think the publishers are to blame more than the author for choosing a misleading title. I expected a book about the 1945 fighting, but what I got was a history of Konigsberg between 1918 and 1945 - and a good one at that. But the fighting of 1945 only takes up a fraction of the book, sadly.

I'm (very) slowly working on a Konigsberg book myself which will be about the fall of the fortress city and solely look at 1944-1945.

And damn the publishers for the title. Means I can't use it for my Breslau project.

As for the best book of 2007, probably Death of the Wehrmacht by Citino, a really good overview of 1942 (which scuppers my plans for an almost identical book! )

[Richard Hargreaves]

Island of Fire by Jason Mark.

Amazing research, never before seen photographs, loads of maps and charts . . . what more could you want?

I was going to suggest it but it came out in 2006. So too Tooze's outstanding book on the Nazi economy.