looking for books on WW2 eastern front

[didymus]

Most of the books on WW2 here focus on the US-UK contributions on Allied victiry and, due to the Cold War pretty much ignore the fact that the USSR was even an Ally at all.

Any recommendations?

 

[PoliSciProf]

I am also a WWII buff since my dad landed on Omaha beach 6 days after D-Day and my father-in-law was at Iwo Jima. There is a huge literature on the Eastern Front. Try these:

Russia’s War: A History of the Soviet Effort by Richard Overy
Barbarossa by Alan Clark
War of the Century: When Hitler Fought Stalin
Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege by Antony Beevor
Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad by William Craig
The Battle for Kursk by David Glantz and Jonathan House

 

[johnnyc176]

Most of the books on WW2 here focus on the US-UK contributions on Allied victiry and, due to the Cold War pretty much ignore the fact that the USSR was even an Ally at all.

Any recommendations?

Most books where?

The last book mentioned by PoliSciProf (all good recommendations) is by David Glantz an American military history writer whose focus is the Soviet Union in WW2.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Glantz

All the other writers he mentions are either British or American I believe. Now whether the bookstores/libraries where ever ‘here’ is carries them might be another story.

 

[jc4751]

Most of the books on WW2 here focus on the US-UK contributions on Allied victiry and, due to the Cold War pretty much ignore the fact that the USSR was even an Ally at all.

Any recommendations?

I’d also mention The Road to Stalingrad and The Road to Berlin by John Erickson, though they are definitely not a casual read.

There are a number of Osprey books on the subject, which give some insight into the tactical aspects of the war, as well.

While it’s in video form on Youtube, the Unknown War was a series on the Eastern Front in WW2 and was produced with a great deal of information and assistance from the Soviets, back around 1980 or so.

 

[DaveBj]

There are also quite a few TV documentaries that have migrated to YouTube. You can do a general search (like “world war ii Russia” or “world war ii eastern front”), or you can search on the names of specific actions (“operation Barbarossa,” “Kursk,” “siege of Leningrad,” etc.). Happy hunting!

 

[Tenofovir]

Most of the books on WW2 here focus on the US-UK contributions on Allied victiry and, due to the Cold War pretty much ignore the fact that the USSR was even an Ally at all.

Any recommendations?

amazon.com/Rising-44-Battle-Norman-Davies/dp/0143035401/ref=la_B000AQ4KQO_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407338048&sr=1-5

Norman Davies writes good historical works. In the above case the British, South Africans, Canadians and Australians/New Zealanders contributed quite a bit. US contribution was very small.

 

[DaveBj]

amazon.com/Rising-44-Battle-Norman-Davies/dp/0143035401/ref=la_B000AQ4KQO_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407338048&sr=1-5

Norman Davies writes good historical works. In the above case the British, South Africans, Canadians and Australians/New Zealanders contributed quite a bit. US contribution was very small.

The U.S. merchant marine sailors who died in the process of transporting millions of tons of military cargo from the U.S. East Coast to Murmansk might dispute that last statement.

 

[didymus]

Thanks for all the recommendations, I decided to go with Russia’s War: A History of the Soviet Effort and Barbarossa. That should keep me busy for awhile.

 

[edwest2]

Good books on what went on in the Eastern Front from the Russian point of view were scarce due our ally becoming an enemy right before the last shots of World War II were fired. Also, access to Russian/Soviet archives was limited due to ideological differences. After the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990’s, scholars would soon get some breaks, including some Russian scholars, as some access was granted to some researchers/writers.

amazon.com/Endgame-Stalingrad-December-February-Studies/dp/0700619550/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0ZCXH7ZQPR5T5X0R7SEB

Peace,
Ed