Europe Books - Page 4

Malta Spitfire Aces (Aircraft of the Aces)

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The siege of Malta during World War 2 is one of the great epics of aerial warfare. In 1942, it was described alternately as both a 'fighter pilot's paradise' and 'the most bombed place on earth'. During the peak of the Axis efforts against Malta, it suffered 154 consecutive days and nights of bombing, 100 nights more that London suffered during the Blitz.

The destruction of Axis convoys by Malta-based aircraft proved to be one of the decisive factors in the defeat of Rommel's forces in North Africa. This vital position would have been lost if it had not been for the successful defence of the island by a handful of greatly outnumbered Royal Air Force fighter squadrons. In the brutal and unforgiving air war over Malta only the very best fighter pilots succeeded, and all too often that was no guarantee of living another day. This book details the heroic story of the Spitfire Aces based on Malta. Drawn from an international team of Australians, British, Canadians, New Zealanders, Rhodesians and South Africans these pilots fought against extreme deprivation, physical hardships and overwhelming odds in one of the most crucial and decisive air battles of World War II.

Berlin Diaries, 1940-1945

Marie Vassiltchikov

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

An Elegant Scrounger 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Following the collapse of the Romanov Empire (Russia), the Hapsburg Empire (Austria) and the Hohenzollern Empire (Germany) in the wake of World War I, Europe was overrun by aristocratic refugees. Some of them had family fortunes commensurate with their impressive titles, others did not.

One of these impoverished, but well-educated young aristocrats was Princess Marie Vassiltchikov, who was in her early 20s when she and her sister moved to Germany hunting for jobs. Both found employment despite their non-German status, but it was tenuous for young anti-Communist Russians, especially when Stalin agreed to a non-agression pact with Hitler and happily carved up Poland and the Baltic states, including Lithuania in which Marie and her family had taken refuge from the Bolsheviks.

Yes, she is aristocratic. Yes, she is beautiful and yes, she is generally broke, cold and hungry. Her looks and her family connections provide a safety net of sorts, and as food supplies shrink Marie's diary begins to resemble an extended food quest, typical of anybody who's hungry. She manages to acquire a modest, but apparently elegant wardrobe and admits to gorging herself at parties when the opportunity arises.

Like any beautiful, young woman, she comments on the young men (many of whom are also aristocrats) and how attractive they are (or aren't.) Sometimes her blueblood works for her. Sometimes it works against her. During 1944, for example, the official SS journal (DAS SCHWARZE KORPS/THE BLACK CORPS) rails against "blaublutige Schweinehunde and Verrater"/ "blue-blooded piggish-dogs and traitors" who'd conspired to assassinate Hitler. Yet, the leader of the dreaded SS, Heinrich Himmler, continued to revel in his tenuous connection with the royal family of Bavaria, one of whom was his god-father.

These were dangerous times for bluebloods like Marie and she survived. Not only that, she left some great descriptions of the inner workings of the Third Reich, the July 20th plot and impact of strategic bombing by the Allies.

She doesn't moralize or engage in self pity. She copes, eats when she can, and finds shelter wherever its available. She uses the connections she has and she survives.

Her diaries are straightforward accounts of a critical period in world history. She is not a model 21st century progressive, but neither were most of those who conspired to murder Hitler at his East Prussian headquarters in 1944. Some were unregenerate Monarchists and Prussian Junkers intent on regaining lost status and privileges.

Her diaries and her situation are difficult for a lot of contemporary American readers to fully understand. A Princess, after all, should be wealthy as well as beautiful. The "People's Princess" (HRH Diana Spencer)is the archetypical blueblood for most Americans. While Princess Marie had the requisite elegant good looks, she lacked the money and power most of us expect royals to have.

We forget, or never realized, that Europe during the 1920s and 1930s included lots of people with very impressive titles, good educations and aristocratic bearing, but little or no money. Being a Princess from an empire which no longer existed might get you invited to parties, especially if you're beautiful, but it didn't pay rent or put schnitzel (even the schnitzel made from dead donkeys) on the table.

I liked Marie and her diaries and found a number of interesting insights and facts I didn't know about this period in history. If you keep in mind the totality of circumstances which formed her perceptions, her diaries can provide some interesting and unique insights into this tumultuous period of history.

I recommend the diaries and gave it five stars.

Editorial Review:

The secret diaries of a twenty-three-year-old White Russian princess who worked in the German Foreign Office from 1940 to 1944 and then as a nurse, these pages give us a unique picture of wartime life in that sector of German society from which the 20th of July Plot -- the conspiracy to kill Hitler -- was born.

Enigma: The Battle for the Code

Hugh Sebag-Montefiore

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Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

ACCLAIM FOR ENIGMA

“CRACKING STUFF…VIVID AND HITHERTO UNKNOWN DETAILS.” –Sunday Times (London)

“IN A CROWD OF BOOKS DEALING WITH THE ALLIED BREAKING OF THE WORLD WAR II CIPHER MACHINE ENIGMA, HUGH SEBAG-MONTEFIORE HAS SCORED A SCOOP.” –Washington Post

Winston Churchill called the cracking of the German Enigma Code “the secret weapon that won the war.” Now, for the first time, noted British journalist Hugh-Sebag-Montefiore reveals the complete story of the breaking of the code by the Allies—the breaking that played a crucial role in the outcome of World War II.

This fascinating account relates the never-before-told, hair-raising stories of the heroic British and American sailors, spies, and secret agents who faced death in order to capture vital codebooks from sinking ships and snatch them from under the noses of Nazi officials. Sebag-Montefiore also relates new details about the genesis of the code, little-known facts about how the Poles first cracked the Luftwaffe’s version of the code (and then passed it along to the British), and the feverish activities at Bletchley Park, Based in part on documents recently unearthed from American and British archives—including previously confidential government files—and in part on unforgettable, firsthand accounts of surviving witnesses, Enigma unearths the stunning truth about the brilliant piece of decryption that changed history.

The Longest Winter: The Battle of the Bulge and the Epic Story of WWII's Most Decorated Platoon

Alex Kershaw

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Total reviews: 56 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

On the morning of December 16, 1944, eighteen men of the Intelligence and Reconnaissance platoon attached to the 99th Infantry Division found themselves directly in the path of the main thrust of Hitler's massive Ardennes offensive. Despite being vastly outnumbered, they were told to hold their position "at all costs." Throughout the day, the platoon repulsed three large German assaults in a fierce day-long battle, killing hundreds of German soldiers. Only when they had run out of ammunition did they surrender to the enemy. But their long winter was just beginning. As POWs, the platoon experienced an ordeal far worse than combat-surviving in wretched German POW camps. Yet miraculously the men of the platoon survived-all of them-and returned home after the war. More than thirty years later, when President Carter recognized the platoon's "extraordinary heroism" and the U.S. Army approved combat medals for all eighteen men, they became America's most decorated platoon of World War II. With the same vivid and dramatic prose that made The Bedford Boys a national bestseller, Alex Kershaw brings to life the story of these little-known heroes-an epic tale of courage, duty, and survival in World War II and one of the most inspiring episodes in American history. The Longest Winter is an intensely human story about young men who find themselves in frightening wartime situations, who fight back instinctively, survive stoically, and live heroically.

Wolfram von Richthofen: Master of the German Air War (Modern War Studies)

James S. Corum

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Luftwaffe commander Wolfram von Richthofen was a brilliant master of the tactical and operational air war and one of the key catalysts in the resurrection of Germany's air force. Long overshadowed in history by his cousin, World War I's famous "Red Baron," von Richthofen served in seven major air campaigns from 1936 to 1944, and as senior air commander he was always at the center of the action.For this first full-length biography of von Richthofen, James Corum has mined the field marshal's extensive diaries, which provide a detailed record of military campaigns, tactical and operational problems, interactions with other commanders, and his assessment of methods and weaponry. He has also drawn on interviews with former Luftwaffe members and on his unparalleled access to von Richthofen family papers and photos.Corum reveals how, before World War II, von Richthofen played a central role in developing and building the Luftwaffe and such famous aircraft as the Me 109 fighter and He 111 bomber. He then delivered tactical and operational successes in the Spanish Civil War, where he established the close air support tactics that became an essential trademark of the German blitzkrieg. As commander of the Special Air Division in the invasion of Poland, he demonstrated the effectiveness of massed airpower and in 1940 helped produce a dramatic German victory in France by providing close air support for Von Kleist's panzer divisions as they raced to the English Channel. Later he also led the Luftwaffe's Second Air Fleet against the Allied landings in Sicily, Salerno, and Anzio.Providing a fully rounded portrait, Corum also cites von Richthofen's signal defeats in the Battle of Britain and around Stalingrad; depicts his arrogant and ruthless tendencies; and reveals his loyal but naive belief in Hitler.Cutting through the myths that have grown around von Richthofen's life, Corum's study fills a major gap in the literature and offers new insight into German military culture, Hitler's strategic thinking, and their impact on the German way of war.

MICHAEL WITTMANN AND THE WAFFEN SS TIGER COMMANDERS OF THE LEIBSTANDARTE IN WWII, Vol. 2 (Stackpole Military History)

Patrick Agte

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

MICHAEL WITTMANN AND THE WAFFEN SS TIGER COMMANDERS OF THE LEIBSTANDARTE IN WWII, Vol. 2 (Stackpole Military History) 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Great book. Read Vol I first. You wouldn't want to put the book down. Great story about Michael Wittmann, a true German war hero, and his many panzer comrads in WW II.

Editorial Review:

Michael Wittmann was by far the most famous tank ace on any side in World War II, destroying 138 enemy tanks and 132 anti-tank guns with his Tiger. This classic of armoured warfare is both combat biography and unit history, as Patrick Agte focuses on the life and career of Wittmann but also includes his fellow Tiger commanders in the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. Volume Two follows Michael Wittmann and his unit into Normandy to defend against the Allied invasion. A week after D-Day, Wittmann achieved his greatest success. On June 13, 1944, near Villers Bocage, the panzer ace and his crew attacked a British armoured unit, single-handedly destroying more than a dozen tanks and preventing an enemy breakthrough. The exploit made Wittmann a national hero in Germany and a legend in the annals of war. He was killed two months later while attempting to repulse an Allied assault.

Panzer Divisions: The Eastern Front 1941-43 (Battle Orders)

Pier Battistelli

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

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On June 22, 1941 when Germany attacked the Soviet Union, her Panzer divisions were to play a major role in this titanic struggle. At its peak, 19 out of the 21 existing Panzer Divisions were deployed against the Soviets. Although overwhelmed by Soviet numbers, the superior skill and capability of the German Panzer divisions meant that in three months the Germans, with the Panzers as their spearhead had advanced deep into Soviet territory, inflicting terrible losses on the Soviets. However, after these initial successes the German offensive began to falter, culminating in the disastrous defeat at Kursk.

In this book, the organizational history of the Panzer divisions is covered, from the early successes of 1941 through to the dramatic re-organization of the Panzer Divisions and the introduction of revised Blitzkrieg tactics as the war began to turn and the Panzer divisions experienced their first taste of defeat. Pier Paolo Battistellii examines the impact of the introduction of the Panther tank shortly before the final failure at Kursk, and goes on to explain the evolution of German armored doctrine, tactics and the command system, providing a detailed overview of the major combat actions of the Panzer Divisions on the Eastern Front.

Tail-End Charlies: The Last Battles of the Bomber War, 1944--45

John Nichol, Tony Rennell

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Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Night after night they stifled their fears and flew through flak and packs of enemy fighters to drop the bombs that would demolish the Third Reich. The airmen of the United States 8th Army Air ForceAmerican and British Bomber Command were among the greatest heroes of the Second World War, defying Hitler in the darkest early days of the war and taking the battle to the German homeland when no one else would.
Toward the end of the conflict, too, they continued to sacrifice their lives to shatter an enemy sworn never to surrender. Blasted out of the sky in an instant or bailing out from burning aircraft to drop helplessly into hostile hands, they would die in their tens of thousands to ensure the enemy’s defeat. Especially vulnerable were the “tail-end Charlies”---for the Americans, which meant two things: the gunners who flew countless missions in a plexiglass bubble at the back of the bomber, and the last bomber in the formation who ended up flying through the most hell, and for the British, the rear-gunners who flew operations in a Plexiglas bubble at the back of the bomber.
Following their groundbreaking revelations about the ordeals suffered by Allied prisoners of war in their bestselling book, The Last Escape, John Nichol and Tony Rennell tell the astonishing and deeply moving story of the controversial last battles in the skies of Germany through the eyes of the forgotten heroes who fought them.

 

“This is the best account that has been written of the heroic American and British bomber crews . . . the best of its kind.”
---George McGovern

 

“Rivaling the best of Stephen Ambrose’s work, Tail-End Charlies gives a breathtakingly intimate look at the lives, loves, and deaths of the brave airmen of the greatest generation. This fascinating book is as valuable for its stories of joyous life on the ground as it is for its sobering tales of death in the air. You see the whole picture of the war here from the eyes of the strong young men who fought it.”
---Walter J. Boyne, bestselling author of Beyond the Wild Blue
 
“Adds new dimensions to the saga of the air war in Europe. The eyewitness accounts, reported within the context of the battle against Nazi Germany, provide a sense of the ordeals, the terror, the gore, and the heroism of ordinary men thrust into the savagery of aerial combat.”
---Gerald Astor, author of The Mighty Eighth

Inside Hitler's Greece: The Experience of Occupation, 1941-44

Mark Mazower

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Idiosyncratic narrative 3 out of 5 stars.
16 of 31 people found this review helpful.

It has long been traditional amongst certain kinds of disconnected intellectual to maintain that the Greek communists were romantic heroes. Much as it is pleasant to create illusions and myths that accord with one's own political prejudices, the slenderest acquaintance with the primary sources makes it completely impossible to believe in this one. We have been unable to conclude otherwise than that, when they were not totally useless, perfidious, and parasitic they were unspeakably barbaric. Now that the cold war is over, there is no longer any vested interest in pretending otherwise. Mr. Mazower's narrative is idiosyncratic and biased.
EAM/ELAS was nothing but a carnivorous plant. EAM/ELAS was planted on Greek soil by the Communist party of Greece (KKE) and the Oxbridge types of SOE. EAM/ELAS was fertilized with British gold sovereigns, and was fed with the corpses of the Greek people who systematically, and very often in a barbarous way, its thugs murdered.

Editorial Review:

This gripping and richly illustrated account of wartime Greece explores the impact of the Nazi Occupation upon the lives and values of ordinary people. The first full account of the experience of occupation, it offers a vividly human picture of resistance fighters and black marketeers, teenage German conscripts and Gestapo officers, Jews and starving villagers.

Crusades In Europe

Dwight D. Eisenhower

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Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Eisenheimer 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

For a "general" that never saw combat, this guy sure gets the lions share for "winning" the war in the ETO. I think he was too busy philandering and sucking up to his fellow politicians to direct the war in a competent manner. Patton, Terrible Terry Allen, the grunt at the front, those were the guys, the ones who actually got shot at, that won the war. Eisenhower was, as MacArthur said, a "great clerk".

Editorial Review:

Five-star General Dwight D. Eisenhower was arguably the single most important military figure of World War II. For many historians, his memoirs of this eventful period of U.S. history have become the single most important record of the war. Crusade in Europe tells the complete story of the war as Eisenhower planned and lived it. Through his eyes, the enormous scope and drama of the war -- strategy, battles, moments of fateful decision -- become fully illuminated in all their fateful glory.

Yet this is also a warm and richly human account. Ike recalls the long months of waiting, planning, and working toward victory in Europe. His personal record of the tense first hours after he had issued the order to attack -- and there was no turning back -- leaves no doubt of Eisenhower's travail and reveals this great man in ways that no biographer has ever surpassed.