History Books > Anthony Beevor History Books

Advantages: A fascinating insight in the death throes of the Third Reich
Disadvantages: Disturbing reading at times

INTRODUCTION I have previously read Stalingrad by the author Antony Beevor, and found it disturbing and yet compelling reading and this was how I ended up reading Berlin. Stalingrad covers the World War Two siege of the Soviet city of Stalingrad from both sides in great detail, and Berlin is in a similar vein. The excellent documentary series The World At War only hints at what is detailed in this book in the episode "Nemesis", so anyone who watched ...
...find what they want here. HISTORICAL CONTEXT World War Two started in 1939 with the invasion of Poland and Czechoslovakia by Germany under the Nazi rule of Adolf Hitler, drawing Europe into conflict. However, the ideological enemies the Soviet Union and Germany had a secret pact of non-aggression which divided Poland once the Nazis invaded, and Soviet leader Stalin was confident that they would keep out of matters. He didn't predict Operation Barbarossa ... Read review

Advantages: A gripping and extraordinary episode in history
Disadvantages: You need a good interest in WW2

...combatants and civillians. Stalingrad was perhaps the most important turning point of the second World War. Hitler's mad obsession with capturing the city named after his Soviet rival eventually cost the Germans the 250,000 men of the Sixth Army. Their remaining forces never recovered their balance and were soon in a rapid retreat all along the Eastern front. The first section of 'Stalingrad' deals with launch of the invasion of the Soviet Union. ...
...knew the Soviet counter-attack at Stalingrad destroyed the Roumanian 'satellite' armies fighting with the Germans in Russia I'd never really read much about it. Beevor takes time to dwell on the Roumanians and how they felt about the Germans and the war. So I felt I learnt new things from 'Stalingrad' throughout. The accounts of life in Stalingrad during the campaign are vivid and haunting. Red Army troops are boated in over the Volga river. This ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent account of unprecidented war trial
Disadvantages: Can be hard reading at times

INTRODUCTION After the fall of the Third Reich, the Allies of the United Kingdom, France, The United States and Russia were left with the issue of bringing the Nazi leaders to justice. Whatever they decided would set a precedent; no trial in history had previously been conducted for the top brass of a criminal regime. They understood the importance of any decision they made, as it would hold the key to how war criminals once defeated would ...
...of this ground breaking trial. It is hard to read these kinds of things objectively; for example, my own father served in the British 8th Army during the war, and I would have been a fair way up the regime's hit list, so I can't claim to be in any way neutral. However, I have tried hard to read this book looking from both sides of the trial. It is a great credit to the book that it enables you to do this to a fair degree. Perhaps more fairly that ... Read review

Advantages: Compelling true story, well written.
Disadvantages: None

Highly detailed account of the wartime experiences of a group of soldiers from the 101st Airborne's Easy Company. The book's very accessible style (it even includes maps at the front) and its highly compelling subject matter combine to make this an extremely worthwhile read. The inclusion of photographs in the book helps to remind the reader that this is a TRUE story, rather than just a TV show (which was also excellent). Especially striking is the ...
...though I won't elaborate as it would spoil the book if you haven't read it (or seen the TV series). Personally, I couldn't put this book down. The shattering, heart-rending journey these men go through over the course of 307 pages makes this book (for me) the ultimate page-turner. It left me with a sense of gratitude at the sacrifices and hardships these men went through, whilst feeling inspired that they still retained their friendship and humanity. ... Read review

Advantages: A good read
Disadvantages: none

Operation certain death is written by Damien Lewis and was published in 2004 and is the inside story of the SAS's greatest battles. Damien Lewis is an award winning author and filmmaker whose documentaries have appeared on the BBC, Channel 4 and a host of other networks. Operation certain death is the real life story of eleven Irish Ranger soldiers who where taken hostage in sierra Leone in 1999 by the west side boys after a routine mission to the ...
...a battle plan code named Operation Barras in which they would drop into the middle of the rebel village and all hell would break. This was also a joint operation with the Paratrooper Company 1 Para whose mission was to take out the neighboring rebel village Magbeni and their heavy artillery in case they use them on the SAS during the rescue of the Irish Rangers. This mission was considered to be extremely dangerous and very unlike the SAS who use ... Read review