('Imminent reads' list -- proto-Nazi edition)
Encyclopedia Of German Tanks Of World War Twohttp://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-German-Tanks-World-Self-Propelled/dp/1854095188/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372209833&sr=1-1&keywords=Encyclopedia+of+German+Tanks+of+World+War+II"1,000 illustrations!* A complete illustrated directory is finally available that shows and describes nearly 300 types of German battle tanks, armored cars, self-propelled guns, and semi-tracked vehicles manufactured and put into service from 1933 to 1945. Only recently have the records of the manufacturers been made public, so never before could you know just how many of each model were available, along with accurate dates of their production and mobilization.
*will probably just keep this out on the coffee table and jack off to it rather than read it in full ala a typical book
A Frozen Hell: The Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939-1940http://www.amazon.com/Frozen-Hell-Russo-Finnish-Winter-1939-1940/dp/1565122496/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372210253&sr=1-1&keywords=A+Frozen+Hell%3A+The+Russo-Finnish+Winter+War+1939-40"In 1939, tiny Finland waged a war --the kind of war that spawns legends--against the mighty Soviet Union, and yet their epic struggle has been largely ignored. Guerrillas on skis, heroic single-handed attacks on tanks, unfathomable endurance, and the charismatic leadership of one of this century's true military geniuses --these are the elements of both the Finnish victory and a gripping tale of war"
Panzer Aceshttp://www.amazon.com/Panzer-Aces-Franz-Kurowski/dp/0345448847/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372210574&sr=1-3&keywords=panzer+aces"Panzer Aces chronicles the battles of six decorated officers who helped create the legend. Based on extensive research, these gripping narratives of Normandy, the bloody campaigns in Italy, the ferocious combat at Kursk --the greatest armored battle in the history of war-- and many others, offer resounding evidence of how the armored tank, in German hands, became the twentieth century's single most important development in land fighting."
The Red Army Handbook: 1939-1945http://www.amazon.com/Red-Army-Handbook-1939-1945/dp/0750917407/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372210815&sr=1-1&keywords=Red+Army+Handbook+1939-1945Stalin's Red Army entered the war as a relatively untried fighting force. In 1941, with the launch of Operation "Barbarossa", it joined battle with Hitler's army --the most powerful in history-- and after a desperate war of attrition over four years it beat the Nazis into defeat on the Eastern Front. Although the Red Army won lasting fame and glory in 1945 by eclipsing the military might of the Nazis, there is currently a glaring lack of published material available about it. This book fills the gap.
The chapters which follow describe infantry, armor and mechanized forces, cavalry, airborne and Special Forces and artillery, and take a detailed look at the combat arms from an organizational viewpoint. Soviet infantry weapons, Soviet armored vehicles and artillery, and support equipment are outlined, including a technical overview of the equipment, including data charts.
German Battle Tactics on the Russian Front, 1941-1945http://www.amazon.com/German-Battle-Tactics-Russian-1941-1945/dp/0887405827/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372210943&sr=8-1&keywords=German+Battle+Tactics+on+the+Russian+Front%2C+1941-1945"The amazing tenacity and cohesion of the German Army in Russia from 1941-1945, fighting against overwhelming odds but refusing to disintegrate, has fascinated readers for decades. But most of the available sources concentrate on the maneuvers of armies and Panzer corps, leaving the divisions, regiments, and individual soldiers in the background. This fact has obscured the skillful use of tactics employed by the German soldiers at the divisional level and below. Until now, this information has been sequestered in manuscript reports in various archives. In German Battle Tactics on the Eastern Front, 1941-1945, Professor Steven H. Newton has retrieved, retranslated, and annotated the detailed tactical accounts of combat in Russia that German officers provided their American captors after the war. In this collection of ten essays, the Chief of Staff of the XXXXI Panzer Corps describes the final furious dash toward Moscow."
Infanterie Aceshttp://www.amazon.com/Infanterie-Aces-Franz-Kurowski/dp/0921991223/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372211003&sr=8-1&keywords=Infanterie+Aces"Hard cover, 9"x6", 525 pages, 130 photographs, 16 maps. Details the combat experiences of 8 German infantry soldiers: 2 Waffen SS; 1 paratrooper; and, 5 regular army. Each soldier receives a separate chapter with an additional chapter on infantry tactics. It was the hard-fighting infantry that was the backbone of the German armed forces. This book features lots of exciting accounts of small-unit actions"
Panzer Leaderhttp://www.amazon.com/Panzer-Leader-Heinz-Guderian/dp/0306811014/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372211231&sr=1-1&keywords=panzer+leader"The 50th-anniversary edition of the German general's legendary memoir. When published in 1952, Panzer Leader quickly became a best seller, but over the half-decade that followed, it also established itself as a classic, lauded by Stephen Ambrose as "a mesmerizing read." A dramatic first-person account by the father of modern tank warfare, it is also a searing group portrait of the Third Reich's leading personalities as they turned imminent victory into agonizing defeat."
Panzer Commanderhttp://www.amazon.com/Panzer-Commander-Memoirs-Colonel-Hans/dp/0440208025/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372211267&sr=1-1&keywords=panzer+commanderA stunning look at World War II from the other side...
From the turret of a German tank, Colonel Hans von Luck commanded Rommel's 7th and then 21st Panzer Division. El Alamein, Kasserine Pass, Poland, Belgium, Normandy on D-Day, the disastrous Russian front--von Luck fought in all those places with some of the best soldiers in the world --German soldiers. Awarded the German Cross in Gold and the Knight's Cross, von Luck writes as an officer and a gentleman. Told with the vivid detail of an impassioned eyewitness, his rare and moving memoir has become a classic in the literature of World War II, a first-person chronicle of the glory--and the inevitable tragedy--of a superb soldier fighting Hitler's war.
Panzer Battles: A Study of the Employment of Armor in the Second World Warhttp://www.amazon.com/Panzer-Battles-Study-Employment-Second/dp/0345321588/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372211489&sr=1-1&keywords=Panzer+Battles%3A+A+Study+of+the+Employment+of+Armor+in+the+Second+World+War"When Sam Donaldson interviewed General Norman Schwarzkopf in his quarters in the Gulf, PANZER BATTLES was one of the books on his desk. A model military history, this is one of the few close looks we will ever have of the tactics, the planning, and the operations of tank warfare from a participant.
It was the decisive victories of the German Panzer divisions in North Africa in World War II that taught the Allies the importance of an integrated combat team consisting of tanks, infantry, and artillery. PANZER BATTLES is a vivid account of the major campaigns of that war, especially the legendary desert battles fought by Rommel, who found the desert to be the perfect terrain in which to wage almost purely theoretical armored warfare with large-scale tank formations."
Tangentially Nazi-related material:
Devil's Guardhttp://www.amazon.com/DEVILS-GUARD-George-R-Elford/dp/0440120144/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372212142&sr=1-1&keywords=devil%27s+guardA former Waffen SS soldier's experiences enlisting in the French Foreign Legion and fighting in Indochina. There's some question as to whether any of its contents is genuine, but it should be entertaining all the same.