[quote=Allan from Fallbrook]John: Thanks, I got the link. I actually own the book and have read it a couple of times before. On the ETO side of WWII, I really liked the Cornelius Ryan books, such as “A Bridge Too Far” and “The Longest Day”.
Some of the newer stuff, such as Antony Beevor’s books on Stalingrad and the fall of Berlin, feature information gleaned from the Soviet archives that hasn’t previously been seen before.
The Soviet perspective is interesting because it stands at direct odds with our (America’s) view of both WWII and the ensuing Cold War. When you see events through Russian eyes, it’s easy to see how they viewed Churchill and FDR as being willing to let the Red Army sustain horrific casualties while the British and Americans dawdled when it came to invading Fortress Europe.
I recently read a really good book on Operation Citadel (“Zitadelle”), which was about the final German push in the Kursk pocket in summer 1943. It is really amazing how resilient the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS were after the brutal losses they suffered in 1941 and 1942.
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I thought that you may have read it. I should get the other books and read them too. History is fascinating to me.
We were very fortunate in WW2 that Hitler insisted on running the war rather then leave it up to his Generals. For instance, Hitler thought like a European so rather the slaughter the 300k or so at Dunkirk he let them go thinking England would sue for peace. His Generals would have gone ahead and finished the job and the war could have turned out different.
Hitler however would have been easier to deal with then Stalin so I sort of wished that they would have defeated Russia even if it meant us having to use the Atom Bomb on Berlin at some point.
Stalin was probably the most evil man of the 20th Century. He made Hitler look like a boy scout. There is special place in Hell for him.
