Book Club of War

  The Psychiatrist – John West   This is a truly gripping book.  It weaves together brilliant research, a deep understanding of World War 2 and a half-told memoir into a fantastic fact-based novel.  Inspired by a true story. Eric West wanted to put World War 2 behind him.  So why, After a lifetime of helping and healing others, did psychiatrist, Dr Eric West, decide to revisit the scenes of his worst nightmares? He never wanted to talk about the debacle at Dunkirk.  he never wanted to relive the retreat from Cassel in 1940 and his capture at the hands of the occupying German forces. He wanted to blank out the horror of that journey to the POW camp deep in the heart of Easter Europe and the subsequent four years of his life where, along with other Dunkirk veterans, he was incarcerated and brutally used as a forced slave labourer for the Third Reich. He never spoke about his Long march Home in the winter of 1945.  In ‘The Psychiatrist’ the autho...

  As the interest in World War 2 continues to flower.   People begin to realise it is far more than battles and tactics and some of the more fascinating stories are the personal stories, the individuals from all nations and how they contributed to this worldwide conflict. In Moro Warrior, the author, Thomas McKenna has captured a truly remarkable story of a Philippine Chieftain, an American School Master, and the remarkable story of resistance fighters in the Pacific. Remarkable is a great word to use with this book.    It is a story of friendship, of tragedy, of differing cultures.     Though it is a story of war it is far more than that, it captures at its heart the human nature of war and how friendships are developed. The author has obviously undertaken immense detailed research and that is reflected in the passionate writing that weaves a stunning story from start to finish.   What I really loved was that this is a narrative history, not onl...

  A confession, as an adult I have never read a graphic novel or book.   As a child these would be known as comics. This graphic memoir/book is NOT a comic.  It is a story of a journey.  With The English GI – A World War II Graphic memoir of a Yorkshire Schoolboy’ Adventures in the United States and Europe the author Jonathan Sandler expertly tells the story of his grandfather Bernard Sandler, and his journey from Leeds to America to Europe and back again. This is an adventure story, a love story, a story of a journey of finding yourself. It is emotional, it is exciting, and it really grips you. “Stranded in New York, Bernard must grow up quickly. He discovers the pleasures of Broadway and Jazz and is finding his independence when the United States declares war in 1941. Bernard is drafted into the US Army, joining the 26 th Yankee Division. He returns to Europe to serve on the front line alongside General Patton’s Third Army". The format works really well and ...

  The understanding of the role women played in World War 2 is as important as any other aspect of the war.   Without women the “war effort” would have ground to a halt and potentially the war could have been lost. In Women in the War author Lucy Fisher has gathered a number of personal stories of the role women played.     Each chapter tells a different personal story of lives, of plans, of their families and friends and of their futures. What this book does brilliant is tell their story.   Not just of the myriad of roles women fulfilled within the war from Pilot to wireless operator to Land girl to factory worker.    These are 10 very personal stories.   It talks about their everyday, their fights for equality, what they sacrificed and how they were treat.   I loved this book. These amazing women and their stories have been captured brilliantly by the author.     She has really brought them to life in a poignant thought-prov...

  One of the many interesting discussions I have been involved in of late has been about the writing and recording of combat experiences and how reliable or not those accounts are. Some of the first books we all read on the wars is those of soldiers, sailors and airmen and their personal experiences, their involvement in war, what they saw and felt.   We get drawn in by the excitement, heroism, action, and outcomes. A lot of time we have read these in isolation without being able to share with others that have our interest and without understanding the wider context. In some ways that comes with age and experience. Social Media has enabled people from all over the world to come together and discuss all aspects of war and the question of “Reconstructing and Recording combat experiences in World War 1 and Second World War” keeps coming to the fore. As we understand more, we start to question the evidence in front of us. We start to understand how these accounts are written a...

  I have had a problem. I have struggled for a while to read or review any books. The war and atrocities in Ukraine have really had me asking questions of myself and why I have this interest in all things related to conflict. I have had to understand why I do what I do, why I read these books, why I undertake the research I do and what all that means. Its taken time for me to understand what it is. The conclusion I have come to and finally squared it away in my mind is that yes, I study war and conflict, but I do not celebrate them. War is bad on all levels from the loss and destruction it causes to the impact on countries and those that live each day wondering what happens next. I study it because I want to understand the whys and the how’s. I want to understand the past so I can understand the now and the future. War is driven by men with egos, men who stop caring about people but only about their ideology. There is so much more to war and conflict than death and destruct...

  This is the second of my book reviews on the German soldiers’ experiences in World War II. Erhard Steinigers autobiography ‘Radio Operator on the Eastern Front’ takes you on a journey from Conscription through Barbarossa to the battle of Leningrad and finally to being a prisoner of the Soviets. Steiniger’s reflections saw him serve in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Russia as a signaler in the 151 st Infantry Regiment.   As a signaler he had to be at the forefront of the battle with the soldiers and this is very much a first-hand account of what that experience was like.    The horrors of war on the Eastern Front are really drawn out. This book is exceptional well written and translated.   The autobiography does not glorify war but shows what war was like for a soldier on the ground right at the forefront of a battle.   The life and horrors that were experienced.     The over 110 illustrations and photographs throughout the book...

  I must admit that I have read very little from a German point of view on World War II.  W e sometimes forget that there are personal human stories from the German side of the war. Screams of the Drowning in lots of ways is an astonishing book.    This is a first-person account, a story of how a young German soldier, Hans Feckler, aged just 17, was conscripted and experienced some of the worst horrors and bloodshed of the World War II.   The book takes you from Hans Fecklers youth and how it was curtailed, through his training and early experiences, to him being badly wounded and then involved in the little-known sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff where he was one of only 1,252 from over 10000 that survived, to his escape from the Russian occupation zone and an almost 200 mile walk back home.     This story is a must read for anyone interested in the Eastern Front in World War II.   It is a strikingly honest account; the story isn’t about g...

  I have a confession, as an 8 year, I was taken to Finningley Airshow by my Mum.   The highlight of the whole day was seeing the Lancaster Bomber in flight.   I had never seen something so mesmorising and utterly beautiful.    The slow grace in which it flew with its bomb doors open, down the runway and away.    The noise of those 4 Rolls Royce Merlin engines will live with me forever.     Even now 45 years later seeing and hearing a Lanc takes me back to that moment with my Mum open mouthed in awe of that day. John Nichol has written a book that takes me back to being that 8 year old.   The book tells the inspiring, passionate and profoundly moving story of the legendary Avro Lancaster, the heroic crews who flew her, the men and women who kept her flying and stories of taking the fight to the heart of Germany. The writing in the book is outstanding.   The author not only tells you the story of the Lancaster but tells stor...

  The brilliant thing with this book is how easy it is to read.    A really beautiful flow of words with a plot that is easy to follow. Out of the Desert: Danger Close… is book one in the wings of victory series.   It starts in 1940 in Egypt and follows the story of a young ambitious Royal Air Force pilot Peter Denhay who is posted to an operational bomber squadron at the start of a major Italian offensive into Egypt. This is a story of relationships, of suspicion that there is a double agent operating in their midst, of intelligence and of the XXI squadron and their battles though Egypt, Create and mainland Greece. The intensity of the last air battle leaves you breathless, you live the fight through these brilliant characters. The author Tom Walker has written a brilliant part one to the series.   His writing is detailed but with a real pace in the story.   He has captured a real part of history that is well researched and woven a fantastic fictiona...

  The fantastic thing I find about reading books on war is the surprising stories.   The ones that capture you.   The human side of war but intertwined with daring operations that might not be that well known. Foursquare: The Last Parachutist does not disappoint.   This is a story of the authors family, a story of a grandfather and grandson.    This is a story about bravery, about resourcefulness, about loss, about patriotism and about resistance in Czechoslovakia. This is a story of a Czech family, cousins that came to England to fight the war.   To contribute, to make a difference in freeing their country and Europe from the Nazis. In 1938 Jaroslav and Josef Bublik came to England and became part of the Czech intelligence service.    Both tied through family and both to play a significant contribution to the war.   Jaroslav trained parachutist to go back into their country whilst Josef was one of the first to be dropped.   T...

  When a book grabs you within the first 20 pages and you cannot put it down you know your onto a winner. In SAS Ghost Patrol the author Damien Lewis guides the reader through a breath taking, daring do, true story adventure of bravery, ingenuity, courage, and tragedy. This is the story of Captain Herbert Cecil Brook M.C and his ultra-secret deception force.   They are to attempt one of the most audacious top-secret raids of 2 World War.   The force was to drive 100s miles without support to bluff their way into Nazi stronghold.   This raid was a desperate attempt to change the tide of axis victories in the desert. This is a story of mavericks, of brave men on a suicidal mission, of deceit and the stuff that legends are made off. In Damien Lewis writing you do not get time to breath.    The fast-paced action and the constant urge to know what happens next keeps the pages turning. The research is masterful drawing you into each soldier’s story. ...

  Books of World War 2 fiction sometimes get frowned upon.   I have read quotes such as “Why write fiction when the facts are so fascinating” “World War 2 books of fiction do not have the intrigue and suspense of the non-fiction books”. ‘When Darkness Comes’ dispels all those myths and so much more. This is a story of three lives intertwined within the World War 2, based in Paris in 1942.   This story is about hope, about courage, about conviction, about love and about the humanity of helping other people. Together these three people hide Jewish refugees, giving them new identities and leading them to safety.    They appear almost invincible in their efforts, overcoming obstacles, defying danger until an innocent old man, walking his dog, notices something out of the ordinary, a coincidental action that has far reaching consequences. The author John Anthony Miller has created a power force of a book in ‘When Darkness Comes’.   The writing is well rese...

  Who does not like to read stories of spying, intrigue, deception and of intelligence operations so subtle that those being spied upon didn’t even know it was happening? In The Walls Have Ears, the author, Dr Helen Fry uncovers the fascinating world of MI6 operations during 2 World War and how “bugging operations” and “interrogation techniques” glean information from prisoners that it could be argued shortened the war. This book concentrates on the leadership of one man, Thomas Kendrick, whose story itself is fascinating and the impact on the work he did setting up the listening and bugging M-Rooms.    It is full of detailed analysis of the operations, the individuals involved and the conversations that were heard. The British war time intelligence operations were remarkable in many ways and there is still much that is not known about what, when why and how and the impact it had.   Dr Helen Fry has undertaken meticulous research into released files and infor...

  Though people have heard of the Holocaust and atrocities against the Jewish people in the 2 World War, and they have heard of Auschwitz, Dachau, Treblinka etc not many people will know or understand what happened and the consequences prior to the holocaust happening and the suffering of the Jewish people in Germany and Austria. In Kristallnacht, the author Martin Gilbert draws on personal correspondence with over 50 eyewitnesses and on vivid newspaper and diplomatic reports to produce a meticulously researched and utterly compelling account of a night that set the tone of the atrocities suffered by Jewish people at the hands of the Nazis. For those that do not know, Kristallnacht – the night of broken glass – saw the destruction in a single night of more than a thousand synagogues, the ransacking of tens of 1000s of Jewish shops and homes, and more than 30,000 Jewish men rounded up and taken to concentration camps.   It started the systematic eradication of a people who ...

  Here is the thing, the war in Afghanistan was and is very real.   A war of our time and with social media and 24-hour news you can have all the information you could ever need.   But what that does not give you is the reality of what is required, to be a part of that war on many levels. Apache by Ed Macy is one man’s story, a story of a man who thought his career was over through injury, who seized another opportunity to serve in the Army Air Corps flying one of the most technically advanced helicopters in the world.  The author takes you through what is needed to be the best of the best and to fly the Westland Apache AH MK1 from training and testing and all the anxiety that entails to the brutality and stress of making decisions in a war environment culminating in an astonishing mission.   For those that have not read the book I will not spoil that. This is a book about reality.  This is not a chest out, banging, I am a warrior type of boo...

Monty and Rommel: Parallel Lives is a fascinating book in many ways. I must admit I have a bit of a thing for Monty or to give him his full title:   Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC, DL.  Having read his autobiography, and yes some of it you must step back from, I find him a complex interesting person who lived an interesting live. Of Rommel or General Field Marshall Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel I know less but an intriguing character all the same.  In this book Peter Caddick-Adams draws together the comparative biographies, into one book of each of these key generals from 2 World War.   The author explores the lives of both Monty and Rommel from their upbringing and experiences in The Great War, to their personal development in the interwar years and their impact in 2 World War.  The parallel lives they lead and their differing and similar philosophies.  These two m...

  Hay-on-Wye - A books lovers hell (in the nicest possible way) Where to start.  I had an opportunity to visit Hay-on-Wye, the home of books.  For those that do not know Hay, it is a small town in Wales but right on the border with England.   In the 1960s it established itself as the UKs book capital and holds a famous annual book festival.   The town has over 20 book shops and various other places you can buy books.  You can literally buy books on any and every subject there is. That’s where the problem starts. As an avid reader, and yes, I read books on a wide range of subjects apart from military history, this trip was going to be a treat, a proper day of browsing, thinking, and wandering.  The mistake I made was not sticking to the plan I set for myself. I knew I was in trouble immediately I stepped into the first shop.   I counted 17 shelves of books on 2 World War and add the 15 shelves on 1 World War and you can see where ...

  Above Us, The Stars tells of the stories of the airmen of 10 Squadron Bomber Command, flying Halifax Bombers in the Second World War.  It tells the stories of those that flew, those that made it back, and those that made the ultimate sacrifice whilst undertaking missions over German and the constant fear of death that comes with these missions.  It also gives a new perspective about how those missions impacted upon civilians in Germany and how that affected the airmen. It tells not only of the missions themselves but brilliantly captures the human stories behind the aircraft, of how families coped and intertwines those family stories with the story of Flt Sgt John Clyde DFM,  a 20-year-old wireless operator and how it affected him and his family. Jane Gulliford Lowes beautifully captures the atmosphere and feeling of what these brave airmen and their families had to deal with throughout the war.   The book gives you a real feel o...

  Sicily '43 was this week released in paperback and does not disappoint.  The author James Holland captures not only the detail of the operation and gets inside the planning, preparation an execution but interweaves the stories of great leaders and soldiers on the ground, never letting one have more importance than the other.   The book  allows you to follow the operation through its brilliant story telling balancing excellent detail with the excitement of battles on the ground and the human stories that they involve. Using his extensive experience, first and second hand accounts and brilliant research the author captures the pace of war, at times the frustration of leadership and the shear hair raising feats that took place across these battles.  He does not shy away from showing the horror and desperation of war throughout the book. James Holland conversational writing, married with an eye for detail and the human element of...