Best historical germany biographies according to redditors

We found 350 Reddit comments discussing the best historical germany biographies. We ranked the 105 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.

Next page

Top Reddit comments about Historical Germany Biographies:

u/bitter_cynical_angry · 61 pointsr/wikipedia

It's a little known fact that in the 18th and 19th centuries guano used to be a critical strategic resource, as it was an extremely good fertilizer. You could use saltpeter to get the same effect, but of course saltpeter was used to make gunpower, and saltpeter mines were quite rare, with the British owning the largest natural deposits in India.

Any natural guano deposits were hotly contested by countries all over the world. The Chincha Islands in the South Pacific just off the west coast of Peru were a particularly rich source, and some political friction between Spain and Peru led to the Chincha Islands War (1864-1866), a fight over the precious guano deposits. Spain lost and was forced to retreat, but it was almost moot, as the deposits on the island were mostly exhausted only 10 years later. Since these were some of the biggest in the world, their exhaustion led to an acute shortage of fertilizer that was desperately needed to feed Europe's rapidly growing population.

When Peru, Chile, and Bolivia discovered that they were sitting on top of the single largest natural deposit of nitrates on earth in the Atacama desert (now known mostly for being the driest place on earth, and therefore well suited for very large optical telescopes and NASA testing of Moon and Mars rovers), it was only natural that they should all fight a war over who would be able to control it. This was called the Guano War (1879-1884). A truce was eventually signed but it left hard feelings all around that are still political considerations today in those countries.

In the meantime, however, Germany was watching the whole fertilizer/nitrate situation and realized that if they got into a war, like the one everyone could feel slowly building in Europe around the turn of the century, all the enemy would have to do would be to blockade them (by defeating their historically weak navy and/or taking their historically weak colonies), and they would very quickly run out of fertilizer to grow food with and nitrates to make gunpowder. They started looking for a way to make artificial nitrates, and after a long and fascinating process during which they more or less invented modern industrial engineering, they came up with the Haber-Bosch Process. Haber invented it, Bosch industrialized it. The factory Bosch built was so critical to German industry that it was estimated that if Germany hadn't had it, World War 1 would have ended two years earlier because the Germans would have ran out of powder and explosives. The Allies had gone through the war mostly on British natural sources of nitrates, and bickered over the factory after the end of the war because everyone knew how important it and its technology was for the future.

And so to make a long story somewhat short, Bosch built an even bigger nitrate plant deep in the heart of Germany, which became the single most heavily defended target against aerial attack in World War 2, and he formed the now-infamous IG Farben which is known for, among other things, funding the Nazi party and producing Zyklon B.

All this and much more I learned from an amazingly interesting book called The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler.

u/MaxIsTheDog4u · 58 pointsr/history

That book
https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Soldier-Guy-Sajer/dp/1574882864


Man...what an amazing book...thanks for brining back the memories. I do not recall the parts about gernades. But his personal account of his experiences on the Eastern Front...wow...

u/methshin · 51 pointsr/AskHistorians

One should also consider that Patton and Montgomery were two great Generals, couple that leadership with superior training and equipment, and you have a recipe for one sided battles.

Rommel had been quoted saying the following regarding the Italian infantry in Africa

> The Italian command was, for the most part, not equal to the task of carrying on war in the desert, where the requirement was lightning decision followed by immediate action. The training of the Italian infantryman fell far short of the standard required by modern warfare. … Particularly harmful was the all pervading differentiation between officer and man

Source: The Rommel Papers, Ch. 11: The Initiative Passes
http://www.amazon.ca/Rommel-Papers-B-h-Liddell-Hart/dp/0306801574

While I'm at it, great book. Truly offers insight into the brilliance of Erwin, worth the read for anyone interested.

u/AreUCryptofascist · 33 pointsr/politics
u/TheyDidItFirst · 28 pointsr/todayilearned

If you're interested in the Double Cross system then I'd definitely recommend Deceiving Hitler: Double-Cross and Deception in World War II by Terry Crowdy. The writing is a little dry but the stories are usually interesting enough to make up for it. If you're interested in other western front covert operations we read some other pretty fascinating books, especially:

  • Flames in the Field: The Story of Four SOE Agents in Occupied France - covers the Special Operations Executive, which was an organization that was supposed to sabotage the Axis war machine behind enemy lines (it wasn't very successful) while specifically relating the story of 4 female agents
  • Saboteurs: The Nazi Raid on America - a really interesting story about a group of Germans who managed to infiltrate America via submarine but never managed to fulfill their goal of sabotage because the utter incompetence of the FBI (seriously, they acted like idiots) was matched only by the incompetence of the Germans. Also interesting from a modern perspective because some of the agents were tried and executed by a paranoid American justice system.
  • The Killing of Reinhard Heydrich: The SS 'Butcher of Prague' - I actually hadn't heard of Heydrich before the course but he was a major force within the Nazi Party (he helped formulate the "final solution") who was assassinated while head of Czechoslovakia by members of the Czechoslovakian resistance with the support of the British. It was the highest profile assassination of the western theater (perhaps its only match in the entire war was the assassination of the Japanese general Yamamoto). The book is really well written and the assassination itself is a pretty tragic tale.

    sorry about all the bullet points.
u/jsu152 · 18 pointsr/ColorizedHistory

Hans von Luck was a busy man during WW2. He was in most of the major campaigns and battles of the war. On D-Day, he commanded a regiment in the 21st Panzer Division which was on the east side of the Orne river (the flank of the British side). When Pegasus bridge was taken (an incredible story by itself), it was his tanks that tried to retake it. His autobiography is a must read for WW2 buffs.

u/pdnick · 17 pointsr/todayilearned
u/[deleted] · 17 pointsr/history

According to Hans von Luck, who worked with/under Rommel, basically the assassination was to end the war with the West/negotiate for peace, and then persuade the Allies to fight the USSR together to defeat communism.


https://www.amazon.com/Panzer-Commander-Memoirs-Colonel-Library/dp/0440208025

u/Khelek7 · 17 pointsr/askscience

Because the hyper-availability of conventional fertilizer is a problem.

Conventional fertilizer placed on bare/tilled ground has a high runoff rate, this ends up in the rivers and lakes. The hyper-available nitrogen (and phosphorus and potassium i.e. NPK) is then available to other plants, namely bluegreen algae. This creates a oxygen deficient that destroys fish and other aquatic life. Its what has killed the Chesapeake bay here on the east coast, and damaged other river systems as well.

"Natural" fertilizers that are also spray applied have the same problems.

Natural fertilizers that are more organic mass in nature (looking at you cow shit) have a lower runoff potential, causing less damage to the adjacent water bodies.

It is of course not just this simple. There remains some issues where once the naturally occurring nitrogen is used up, that fields require conventional fertilizer to grow anything. The use of heavy duty fertilizer, without regard to crop rotation also increases the incident of mass mono-culture farming and other practices that degrade soil conditions.


Now if you talking about your back yard garden... there may not be much of a difference, though some heirloom varieties may not do well in the conventional fertilizer after a few cycles because they are adapted for a more complex soil profile, one that pure NPK spray will not provide.

Some recommended reading: The Alchemy of Air by Thomas Hagar
https://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Air-Jewish-Scientific-Discovery/dp/0307351793

u/E2TheCustodian · 17 pointsr/whatsthatbook

That has to be the Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler story. Maybe this book?

u/SpecialCake · 17 pointsr/AskHistorians

Franz Stigler is perhaps best known for his antics involving escorting a damaged American B-17 to safety.

However, in his amazing account of the war detailed in the biographical book of his war experience ( [A Higher Call] ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0425252868?pc_redir=1405330637&robot_redir=1) ) we learn that he was a seemingly invincible German ace fighter pilot. He flew in missions from nearly the beginning of the war to the very end, wherein he finds himself among an elite unit of German aces flying the ME-262 jet fighter.

Stigler was credited with a few HUNDRED kills. Was he the most successful fighter pilot in all of recorded history? No.

That title belongs to another German ace by the name of Erich Hartmann with 352 credited kills.

Both men survived the war and many decades afterwards, dying eventually of old age. They seemed to be absolutely invincible in the skies over Germany.

u/SrslyTaken · 14 pointsr/AdviceAnimals

Implications everywhere in your response. Erwin Rommel also fought much of the war in Europe.

Rommel certainly knew the Nazi regime was anti-semitic, he sent a letter to Nazi High Command in 1937 telling them "This business with the Jews has got to stop" and in 1940 he personally asked Hitler to reinstate Jewish soldiers and officers who had been fired a request that went nowhere. Its clear when you read the Rommel Papers (mostly his own papers) and interviews with his trusted allies and family he did not know until quite late in the war that the regime was genocidal.
Rommel also ignored Order 15 which stated no prisoners are to be taken during the North Africa campaign. Many other German Generals made no outward indication of anti-semitism either (Von Stauffenberg, anyone?).
So no, the general consensus is that Rommel was one of the genuine "heros" of WWII, and someone to be admired.

u/Engineer3227 · 13 pointsr/CombatFootage

In one autobiography I read written by Panzer Commander Colonel Hans von Luck (the book: http://www.amazon.com/Panzer-Commander-Memoirs-Colonel-Libary/dp/0440208025) he says at one point he spotted a convoy of allied tanks moving in the distance and at the time he was standing near a deployment of Flak 88s. He ordered the Flak 88 crews to direct their fire on the tanks but the crews refused saying that they were only anti-aircraft crews and weren't going to engage tanks. He pulled his pistol, aimed it at them, and said they either engage the tanks or he would shoot them for disobeying an order. They ended up engaging the tanks from long range and took out several of them.

I don't remember exactly where this happened but I seem to remember it was somewhere near Normandy after the allied landings.

EDIT I didn't mean to imply that the flak 88 crews thought the guns would be ineffective. I read the books like 8-10 years ago and always remembered that part. I figured it was because they didn't want to become tank targets but as someone else pointed out it was because the crew's point was that they only took orders from Luftwaffe commanders.

u/Lord_Ciar · 13 pointsr/UkrainianConflict

When it gets warm the snow and ice melt and roads and fields become hard to use. The winter is actually easier to prepare and execute an offensive. The spring is terrible, but great for defending the conquered territory.

Manstein, in his book "lost victories" fought the Soviets in exactly the same weather and in exactly the same places. He talks about it extensively. For anyone interested in the militairy paramaters in this conflict, this is very interesting reading.

Additionally: Leclerc tanks may be one of the best tanks in the world. That's quite a powerful addition to Polish defence. Surely, an expensive one without a doubt.

u/ghostsarememories · 11 pointsr/chemistry

First thing I'd recommend is a blog; More specifically, Derek Lowe's Things I won't work with. Read from the oldest to the newest. It's whimsical, funny, scary and fantastic.

Hager - The Alchemy of Air: About the Haber-Bosch process.

Coffey - Cathedrals of Science - Personalities and Rivalries That Made Modern Chemistry

TOC

  1. The Ionists: Arrhenius and Nernst
  2. Physical Chemistry in America: Lewis and Langmuir
  3. The Third Law and Nitrogen: Haber and Nernst
  4. Chemists at War: Haber, Nernst, Langmuir, and Lewis
  5. The Lewis-Langmuir Theory: Lewis, Langmuir, and Harkins
  6. Science and the Nazis: Nernst and Haber
  7. Nobel Prizes: Lewis and Langmuir
  8. Nuclear Chemistry: Lewis, Urey, and Seaborg
  9. The Secret of Life: Pauling, Wrinch, and Langmuir
  10. Pathological Science: Langmuir
  11. Lewis’s Last Days 293

    Scerri - The Periodic Table - Its Story and Its Significance

    Kean - The Disappearing Spoon And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements 2010

    Le Couteur, Burreson - Napoleon's Button (Haven't read it but it gets recommended a bit)

    Jaffe - Crucibles - The Story Of Chemistry (haven't read this either but it seems to fit the biography bill)

    TOC

  12. Bernard Trevisan (1406-1490)
  13. Theoplirastus Paracelsus (1493-1541)
  14. Joseph Priestley (1733-1804)
  15. Henry Cavendish (1731-1810)
  16. Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794)
  17. John Dalton (1766-1844)
  18. John Jacob Berzelius (1779-1848)
  19. Friedrich Woehler (1800-1882)
  20. Dmitri Ivanovitch Mendeleeff (1834-1907)
  21. Svante Arrhenius (1859-1927)
  22. Marie Sklodowska Curie (1867-1934)
  23. Joseph John Thomson (1856-1940)
  24. Henry Gwyn Jeffreys Moseley (1887-1915)
  25. Irving Langmuir (1881- )
  26. Ernest Orlando Lawrence (1901- )
  27. Men Who Harnessed Nuclear Energy

    Edit: There is also Ignition! John D. Clarke (link to bad quality pdf) which contains the following paragraph...

    > Chlorine trifluoride, ClF3 , or "CTF" as the engineers insist on calling it...is also quite probably the most vigorous fluorinating agent in existence - much more vigorous than fluorine itself...All this sounds fairly academic and innocuous, but when it is translated into the problem of handling the stuff, the results are horrendous. It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that's the least of the problem. It is hypergolic with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water - with which it reacts explosively. It can be kept in some of the ordinary structural metals - steel, copper, aluminum, etc. - because of the formation of a thin film of insoluble metal fluoride which protects the bulk of the metal, just as the invisible coat of oxide on aluminum keeps it from burning up in the atmosphere. If, however, this coat is melted or scrubbed off, and has no chance to reform, the operator is confronted with the problem of coping with a metal-fluorine fire. For dealing with this situation, I have always recommended a good pair of running shoes

u/bantha121 · 11 pointsr/todayilearned

Regarding the part about not shooting down the victorious plane, if you get the chance, you should definitely read A Higher Call. It's a great book about the Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler incident, where Brown was flying a severely damaged B-17, and Stigler was ordered to shoot him down, but he didn't, and they met 40 years later and died a few months apart.

u/ic2ofblue · 10 pointsr/todayilearned

Two amazing books called The Alchemy of Air and The Demon Under The Microscope talk about how late 1800s/early 1900s Germany was able to come to power by reling on its universities working closely with large Germany industries through research and development. Germany didn't have to many abundant resources besides coal and with that they did incredible things. They were also late to game in terms of colonization and trading companies, which they had to overcome when they were somewhat isolated from the world during WWI and II.

If you are an eningeer or scientist I highly recommend these books. Thomas Hager is an incredible writer.

u/innocent_bystander · 10 pointsr/history

Very interesting original report of a POW interrogation that details the weeks after the Normandy invasion for a SS PzG division from the perspective of one of the division staff officers. Summary in the article and the entire actual report is provided as well.

EDIT: This intel report covers a similar time frame, location, and scope as one of the memoirs I have, Panzer Commander from Hanz Von Luck. It's a good read if you haven't gone through it, and want to get into additional first hand experience at a similar level on the same battlefield.

u/BritainOpPlsNerf · 9 pointsr/ShitWehraboosSay

Tigers in the Mud written by Otto Carius, a Tiger commander during WWII -- still sells like hotcakes today. Written by a man who described Himmler as his friend. Let it sink in.

Lost Victories Manstein's memoirs, a hot pile of dump that consists of excuse-making and blame-deflecting. Still a hot read, though most know its flaws now.

Franz fucking Halder helped the US Army form its history of WWII.

There's a load more, but I'm not here to shill (today at least AYYY).

The claim that history is written by the victors is especially bullshit in the immediate post-war era; first off the US Army did not want to be 'defeated by victory' and spent an ample amount of time studying the enemy methods and documents - this put a lot of German ideas in the air during the discussions and formation of historiography. More importantly, the 'Iron Curtain' fell across Europe shortly after the end of WWII which meant that for 50-odd years we had minimal to nonexistant exposure to Soviet sources about their own war effort. It meant that, for lack of sources, we had to rely on German primary and secondary studies of their Eastern Front. They had a complete monopoly on how we could view the Russian front of WWII. These effects are only slowly unraveling now, and we're starting to see some real improvements to the historiography on that subject. However, much of Russia's war documents remain classified, unlike the Germans (total defeat means total disclosure) so its going to be a long, uphill battle to get all the facts out.

Never before, to my knowledge, had a defeated enemy been allowed to be so vocal on the events of the war as he saw it.

u/Crunchtopher · 9 pointsr/todayilearned

After a bit of research: A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II https://www.amazon.com/dp/0425255735/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_lJJwub0FAWJEN

u/Martaway · 8 pointsr/Warthunder

You really dont know what you're talking about

Many German commanders did that to survey the battlefield and other targets. The russians didnt and would drive right by German tanks without seeing a thing

https://www.amazon.com/Tigers-Mud-Commander-Stackpole-Military/dp/0811729117

u/wintermutex · 8 pointsr/UkrainianConflict

I've been reading this memoir by a German WW2 soldier (ethnically French):
http://www.amazon.com/The-Forgotten-Soldier-Guy-Sajer/dp/1574882864

He actually claims that his unit received a lot of hospitality in Ukraine(including friendly women). There was no such luck in Russia. It might be that some Ukrainians didn't suffer too much from the German conquest.

u/DarkStar5758 · 7 pointsr/todayilearned

His book from WWI is Infantry Attacks and he never got a chance to edit his journals from WWII into its intended sequel but they were published by his son as The Rommel Papers.

u/Albino_Yeti · 6 pointsr/CombatFootage

Gotta plug a book I just finished, A Higher Call.
https://www.amazon.com/Higher-Call-Incredible-Chivalry-War-Torn/dp/0425255735/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485022791&sr=8-1&keywords=higher+call

It's about a German fighter pilot and an American bomber crew, it's the best WW2 book I've ever read.

u/julianremo · 6 pointsr/europe

You were responsible for either appeasing, empowering or financing fascism and leninism.
And don't let other redditors be fooled, the Western powers threw even Western countries under the bus, like that one time British bankers did anything in their power to protect the noble independence of central bankers, applying their “gentlemanly” rules and so appeasing the Nazis one last time.

http://holocaustonline.org/bank-for-international-settlements-bis/
http://holocaustonline.org/bank-of-england/
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/how-six-months-before-the-second-world-war-britain-gave-hitler-9-million-in-gold-that-belonged-to-another-country
http://www.globalresearch.ca/profits-ber-alles-american-corporations-and-hitler/4607
//www.amazon.com/Who-Financed-Hitler-Funding-1919-1933/dp/0671760831
http://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-Secret-Bankers-Neutrality-Holocaust/dp/080652121X?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaFklTLNy8c
http://www.amazon.com/Wall-Street-Bolshevik-Revolution-Capitalists/dp/190557035X

Downvote all you like, this doesn't erase the support and finance the fascists received from western bankers and governments until he proved to be a wild card.

u/Fimbul-vinter · 6 pointsr/history

I read a lot of historical fiction, hope thats allowed to recommend:

The book that made the greatest impression on me with regards to the frontlines in WW2 was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forgotten_Soldier. It is a fantastic story seen by the footsoldier. I really, really, REALLY dont want to be on the receiving end of artillery fire after reading this book.

A very different book is this https://www.amazon.com/Panzer-Commander-Memoirs-Colonel-Library/dp/0440208025.

Here you experience the war from a senior officers point of view. It mostly works on a division/batallion level. Instead of describing the horrors in detail, it often just states "we took heavy losses". Still it takes you from Germany to France to Russia to Africa to France to Germany to Russia to Germany, so you get to experience the war in many different places, stages, viewpoints (attacker, defender, prisoner) and times.

Edit: If you are interested in Alexander the great and want action packed historical fiction, do this one: https://www.amazon.com/God-War-Story-Alexander-Great/dp/1409135942

u/plymer968 · 6 pointsr/Warthunder

I just started the book, A Higher Call, this afternoon.

u/DarthContinent · 6 pointsr/AbandonedPorn

I've watched lots of documentaries, read books on Russian vs German tank combat, and played World Of Tanks (free-to-play WW2 tank combat game) that's about it.

Tigers In The Mud is a good read where the author (who at the height of his career became a Tiger tank commander) describes how the Russian T-34s were basically no match against German armor often due to both poor visibility out of the turret and lack of training.

The SU-152 if I remember right had issues including the shells being so huge that it took two crewmen to heft them and reload the gun. That in addition to the fixed turret made them a bit less nimble compared to the German armor with their electrically-powered turret traverse.

Bottom line, the Russians seemed to be able to churn out more armored units than they had capable crews for, so for that they suffered, but in the end their numerical superiority outpaced the Germans (already hampered by the "teething" issues of their armor, e.g. adding more and more armor and bigger main guns without commensurate increases in the engine and especially transmission / final drive).

u/dhpye · 5 pointsr/history

Hans von Luck was Rommel's favorite junior officer. While he was no Nazi, he was from a strong Prussian military background, and he fought from the invasion of Poland through to 1945. His autobiographical book offers a somewhat rare perspective on good soldiering on the Axis side.





u/MajorMonkyjuice · 5 pointsr/Warthunder

I won't pretend to support the actions of axis soldiers, just the same as I wouldn't support the actions of soldiers in muddled conflicts like we have going on today, however I respect the courage and stalwart determination of soldiers no matter which country they fight for, or for what political/religious ideology they fight for.


It's with that sense of respect in mind, that I find bringing stories to light, from both sides of any conflict, is beneficial, and why I detest people who dismiss those stories and soldiers because "they were our enemy and they did horrible things".
War is horrible by definition, horrible things are bound to happen, and even worse things are bound to happen when religion is thrown in, as shown with Japan's involvement in WWII, but that doesn't make the stories or the soldiers any less impressive, or detract from the insane amount of courage it would have taken for ANY soldier to fight on those fronts, in those conditions, and with those tools.


In the same way I can absolutely respect and be amazed by the courage shown by the soldiers during the raid of St. Nazaire, I can also be equally amazed and impressed by the courage and fighting spirit (and oftentimes surprising humility) of the German soldiers during their conflicts, such as some of the stories of Hanz Von Luck (very interesting book, I suggest finding a copy), it's for those reasons that I think you should reconsider dismissing an entire army of its right to have its stories told simply because you don't like the thought of them having killed allies in past conflicts.

u/rambo77 · 5 pointsr/WorldofTanks

To read about the effect of an artillery barrage and air support:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tigers-Normandy-Wolfgang-Schneider/dp/0811710297

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tigers-Mud-Commander-Stackpole-Military/dp/0811729117/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369443808&sr=1-1&keywords=tigers+in+the+mud



http://www.battlefieldhistorian.com/tiger_i_flipped_.asp

When naval guns, high caliber Russian artillery, IL-2s, Typhoons, even freaking heavy bombers throwing bombs/rockets/projectiles at you, you are dead. Tigers were not armored very well on the top by the way- no tank is. Especially the Western Allies had the tendency to pull back and ask for artillery/air support when they ran into some problems.

And if you want numbers, there are books about the Tigers with all 1400 listed. Look them up.

u/R1CHARDCRANIUM · 5 pointsr/news

Yes, that is the one. Here is the book I was referring to.

u/Chordak · 4 pointsr/HistoryPorn

Any time I see Rostov-on-Don printed somewhere in the caption of a given photograph, I start looking for my friend Gunter!

I recommend this book to anybody intrigued by such photos.

u/superbaconturkey · 4 pointsr/ChemicalEngineering
u/ThatsWhatILikeAboutU · 4 pointsr/OldSchoolCool

Yes ... I highly recommend the Book "A Higher Call" by Adam Makos (essentially a "Double Biography" telling these 2 mens' life stories and how they intertwine) I have given it as a gift to several friends who like history or aviation. Link to A Higher Call Book on Amazon

u/otciii · 4 pointsr/MilitaryPorn
u/dentistshatehim · 4 pointsr/history

I totally messed up the name. The Forgotten Soldier.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forgotten_Soldier

https://www.amazon.ca/Forgotten-Soldier-Guy-Sajer/dp/1574882864

Brutal book as far as describing the misery these soldiers endured. Well written.

u/yellowking · 4 pointsr/IAmA

This is of genuine historical value. Publish it pseudononymously, like Black Edelweiss: A Memoir of Combat and Conscience by a Soldier of the Waffen-SS.

My wife is German and a native speaker; her father was conscripted into the Luftwaffe at age 15 near the end of the war. If you're interested in translating it, let us know.

u/ObdurateSloth · 3 pointsr/europe

Reminded me of this book, the "Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer. Absolutely terrific book which seems to be similar to the one you posted, except this one is about a German soldier on Eastern Front. I have read lot of books (especially soldier memoirs) and this is definitely in the top 3.

​

Edit: By the way I just remembered that a Finnish movie is based on the book you posted. I just watched it few months ago, great movie.

u/Toxirine · 3 pointsr/AskHistorians

Tigers in the mud is the first hand account of Otto Carius and his experiences, mostly revolving around his usage of the Tiger tank. It is no foot solder, how ever, but he was one of the big tank aces during the war and he did survive through it.

Black Edelweiss is the biography of a young german Waffen-SS soldier. It is written by a Johan Voss, which is a pseudonym so I can't comment on it's credibility. How ever I have not seen any reviews that dismiss it as fiction as of yet.

Hope that was helpful.

u/prof_hobart · 3 pointsr/history

The book A Woman In Berlin has quite a lot about this, and is a very interesting, if depressing, read.

u/daxxruckus · 3 pointsr/audiobooks

If you like miltary history or WWII at all, A Higher Call was the best book I got on Audible. Absolutely amazing.

http://www.amazon.com/Higher-Call-Incredible-Chivalry-War-Torn/dp/0425255735

u/deceasedhusband · 3 pointsr/travel

There's a good book (probably many) that talks a lot about BASF in that time period.

The Alchemy of Air

http://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Air-Jewish-Scientific-Discovery/dp/0307351793

u/C12H23 · 3 pointsr/AskWomen

If you liked that I'd recommend The Alchemy of Air. It's about the history of fertilizer and nitrogen, or more specifically the Haber-Bosch Process and how it's discovery in the early 1900s allowed for the mass-production of fixed nitrogen/ammonia, and how that one discovery has completely reshaped the world, from wars to agriculture to population growth, etc, etc.


http://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Air-Jewish-Scientific-Discovery/dp/0307351793

u/darrylmacstone · 3 pointsr/booksuggestions

German Boy: A Child in War is still the best book I have ever read. Read it in high school and again in recent years, and I was moved enough as a high schooler to begin a mail correspondence with the author, who still lives in the US. He was very kind and seemed to care a great deal about his letters from a young man he never knew. One of the most enlightening experiences I've been a part of and something I've never forget.

u/Sznajberg · 3 pointsr/politics

>Is that authoritarian and fascist?

It can be authoritarian and not fascist. You know. Fascism has lots of economics tied to it (not always, like José Antonio's Falangists were sorta Trans-class Syndicalist and anti-capitalist, but after the '36-39 war Franco said fuck that and they did as most fascists do. Beak unions, get rid of workers rights, give massive tax subsidies and tax cuts for the wealthy... Like Benny said, he likes to call it Corporatism, stuff that antifa certainly doesn't promote. You can say they're authoritarian for rioting for a troll (though even there I suspect there were some folks in black hoodies who were WAY too organized at the beginning of the protest, lots of agent provocateurish stuff... though now, Mimesis, kids do it 'cause they saw it on in Berkeley...)

​

You don't have to believe me about the fascism and $$$ go to your library and read ; Palmiro Togliatti, Lectures on Fascism (New York: International Publishers, 1976) Daniel Guerin, Fascism and Big Business (New York: Monad Press/Pathfinder Press, 1973); James Pool and Suzanne Pool, Who Financed Hitler (New York: Dial Press, 1978)

u/HelloGunnit · 3 pointsr/il2sturmovik

While not written by a pilot, A Higher Call is based mostly on interviews with Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler. The majority of the book seemed to focus on Stigler discussing his career in 109s and later in 262s. I enjoyed it very much.

u/greenleader84 · 3 pointsr/Steel_Division

A 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 there 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.

https://www.amazon.com/Panzer-Commander-Memoirs-Colonel-Library/dp/0440208025

u/Feuersturm-CA · 3 pointsr/history

Most of my knowledge regarding the matter is European, so I'm going to give a list of my favorites regarding the European / African front.

To get the German perspective of the war, I'd recommend:

  • Panzer Commander - Hans von Luck - One of my favorites

  • Panzer Leader - Heinz Guderian - He developed Blitzkrieg tactics

  • The Rommel Papers - Erwin Rommel - Written by my favorite German Field Marshal up until his forced suicide by Hitler. Good read of the Western and African theaters of war. Also a good book to read if you're interested in what German command was doing on the lead up to D-Day.

    I have a few battle-specific books I enjoy too:

  • Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege 1942-1943 - You really don't know the brutality of Stalingrad till you've read this book. You'll see it in a whole new light I think.

  • Berlin: Downfall 1945 - Battle of Berlin at the end of the war, another good book.

    Now if you want to play games, Hearts of Iron series is great (someone recommended the Darkest Hour release of the game. Allows you to play historical missions based on historical troop layouts, or play the entire war as a nation. Historical events are incorporated into the game. While you'll rarely get a 100% accurate game as it is abstracted, it is an excellent way to see what challenges faced the nations of the time. You could play as Russia from 1936 and prepare yourself for the eventual German invasion. Or maybe you decide to play as Germany, and not invade Russia. But will Russia invade you when they are stronger? Will warn you: It does not have a learning curve. As with almost all Paradox Interactive games, it is a learning cliff.
u/Tyrfaust · 3 pointsr/PropagandaPosters

Initially, there were Wehrmacht foreign units (The Free Arabian Legion and Tiger Army were originally Wehrmacht formations) but all non-German fighting forces were later transferred to SS command. The fact that the Waffen-SS had MANY non-German units was actually something that appealed to some, since it felt more like the "crusade against bolshevism" that the party touted so heavily. Johann Voß, who served with the 6.SS Nord in Finland and France, even specifically mentions that he volunteered for the Waffen-SS BECAUSE it had many non-Germans despite being a German himself in his amazing memoir Black Edelweiß.

u/AntediluvianEmpire · 3 pointsr/todayilearned

You can't hit what you can't see and considering most of these flew at night and shooting at them only revealed your position, so as to get you bombed by it.

Source: Blood Red Snow

u/AmbitionOfPhilipJFry · 3 pointsr/todayilearned

I understand about the tanks. Our tanks, mainly the Sherman, was a death-trap. Their shells couldn't pierce German armour and the only time their armour held up against German tank shells was when they hit on an angle. This book talks about how after a tank advance, about half the tanks would be completely disabled and another quarter damaged. They'd literally power-wash the dead crew out, patch-weld plate over the holes, and force a new crew into tank. The author was a mechanic in the 3rd Armoured Division.

Ball-turrets, worse? Man.

Although, I think the worst first-hand account of World War 2 I've read was from a French-Nazi who was on the Eastern front during Operation Barbarossa. For example: they'd have to build fires under car engines to get it started because motor oil would freeze up, completely locked. Endless zergling-like hordes of Russians who would overrun Nazi positions after their company machineguns overheated and rifles ran out of ammunition. How he survived, he has no idea and, from the stories in the book, neither do I.

u/wtf_ever · 3 pointsr/reddit.com

If you're into reading about badasses, you might enjoy Agent Zigzag.

True story of Eddie Chapman - a womanizing safecracker turned nazi spy turned English double agent. Fascinating.

u/Layin-Scunion · 3 pointsr/wwiipics

I've read "With the Old Breed" and I agree it is a fantastic book. I'm mostly read on pilot memoirs though but I've read a few infantry accounts. No problem about telling you some good reads:

  • Red Star Against the Swastika was probably the most interesting memoir I've ever read. Having the perspective of an IL-2 pilot that survived the war is a unique one and the only book I know of that's out there. His experiences were heart wrenching. It has criticism of being not well written. That is not the case. It was translated from Russian so that is why it reads as it does.

  • Gabby Gabreski's book was a very well written book. Very detailed accounts of his sorties and points that you don't see very often in a pilot memoir. This is mostly because he kept a detailed diary throughout his life. Going from A P-47 pilot over Europe to flying an F-86 over Korea (and scoring an Ace against 5 MiGs) was as well, a unique pilot perspective. Great man and great leader.

  • Forgotten Soldier was a very sobering book. Not much to say really. You just have to read it to really understand. It does have some criticisms of glossing over war crimes committed by his unit and fabricating stories but it was still a great read regardless.

  • Samurai! by Saburo Sakai was an awesome account and one of my favorites. Very interesting that he taught himself and other pilots to make unconventional side-slipping attacks on TBFs and SBDs. His aircraft would slide sideways during his attacks to throw off the rear gunners. He swore by it because out of all the attacks he made, he was rarely hit.

  • Baa Baa Black Sheep follows Pappy Boyington and his unit through the Pacific. The guy was hilariously courageous or stupid depending on your opinion. He would lead combat sorties half drunk from the night before. Telling officers over him he didn't like that they were assholes. He had no issues being insubordinate but he was so good at what he did, the officers over him couldn't do much about it. His unit was producing destroyed Japanese aircraft at a rate that surrounding units weren't even coming close to.

    Just a few of my favorites. I'm personally akin to reading about "guys who were there". But that's just my preference.
u/MrBuddles · 3 pointsr/AskHistorians

I read The Forgotten Soldier a while back, so my memory is a bit rusty but it is the autobiography of a soldier who served in the Grossdeutschland Panzergrenadier division, which was considered an elite Wehrmacht division.

Some notes about the book

  1. The listed author "Guy Sajer" is actually a pseudonym, he was actually part French/German and lived in Alsace when he was drafted.

  2. There have also been some critiques about it's authenticity, but I believe the most recent consensus is that the changes were either for privacy or unintentional errors, and that the majority of the events and perspective is accurate.

  3. I don't believe the author ever wrote of himself as being an ardent Nazi but, if I recall correctly, early in the war he seemed to have a bit of teenage enthusiasm about joining the army. The book does get pretty depressing, and it demonstrates a lot of the logistic issues that are often overlooked in war.
u/LaoBa · 3 pointsr/AskHistorians

the Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sayer has excellent descriptions of the experiences of a German soldier in training and combat.

u/just-the-doctor1 · 3 pointsr/socialism

If you haven’t read it already “A Higher Call” is a great book about an encounter with a b-17 and a me-109. Told in both the perspectives of the U.S. pilot and German pilot. Very good read

u/Indemnity4 · 2 pointsr/chemistry

Here is an easy to read popular science novel about chemistry in the period of WW1-WW2
The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler.

u/idre · 2 pointsr/explainlikeimfive

I'd like to add that apart from having factual history lessons (down to details of some operations), we visited many sites and watched all documentaries (it was important for our teachers that we connect faces and personalities with the names, to understand that they were humans, to see how lovely Hitler treated his dog, what a family man Goebbels was etc. To see how propaganda and charm were used..). It involved many projects, visits (to bunkers, concentration camps, memorials etc.), discussions with contemporary witnesses.


Then, we analyzed the famous speeches for rhetorics, and in German classes, we read war literature (either from that time or about the time). It basically accompanied us throughout secondary school, not just in history classes but also German, arts, social sciences, everywhere! We had started reading war literature at the age of 10-12, though there it was mostly youth literature (still very descriptive and shocking, but with protagonists in our age, so it was easier to identify yourself with). Later, literature got more factual or encrypted.


I remember having to read the autobiography of the Kommandant in Auschwitz (Rudolf Höss) at the age of 16 and how truly shocking this was.

u/Jayrod413 · 2 pointsr/BattlefieldV

His book is a good read considering the lack of first hand accounts from a German's perspective. For being one of Germany's most highly decorated and deadliest tank aces, the man lived a pretty quiet life after the war. He ran a pharmacy for almost the rest of his life until he died in 2015.

https://www.amazon.com/Tigers-Mud-Commander-Stackpole-Military/dp/0811729117

This is the only English translation I know of his book

u/Gorthol · 2 pointsr/CombatFootage

It is a great book and its still in print. That's not really a great description of the book though. Its about a Waffen SS infantryman who fought most of the war in Finland and was captured by American troops in the Winter of '45. He makes the point that not all SS units participated in war crimes and that his unit fought honorably, and he joined the SS to be with the elite rather than for racial ideology.

(http://www.amazon.com/Black-Edelweiss-Conscience-Soldier-Waffen-SS/dp/0966638980/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394503269&sr=1-1&keywords=black+edelweiss)

u/Gargilius · 2 pointsr/politics

Read Rudolph Hoess' memoirs when you have a minute. Concentration camps were meant, or so he says in the beginning, as a tool to rehabilitate the enemies of the state, really, it was all for their own good, to bring them back as productive members of society.

Then, there was a kind of feature creep that took place. (...and the guy keeps whining about incompetent subordinates, logistics issues, and inconsistent directive from upper management; yep, more training would have helped, that's for sure.)

u/Dongo666 · 2 pointsr/tanks

I read half of Panzer Commander by Colonel Hans Van Luck.

You might like it more than I did.

https://www.amazon.com/Panzer-Commander-Memoirs-Colonel-Library/dp/0440208025

u/OccamsAxeWound · 2 pointsr/books
u/the_nun · 2 pointsr/AskHistorians

Not my area, but I read Forgotten Soldier in high school and it blew my mind. It's a personal account of war on the Eastern Front from a Wehrmacht perspective... extremely accessible and a good read.

u/Blackadder53 · 2 pointsr/books

I read The Forgotten Solider. It's about a French kid in the German army on the Eastern Front. Interesting read but there is some doubt as to its' authenticity.

u/lobogato · 2 pointsr/worldnews

Hitler and Stalin Parallel lives

Unfortunately it isnt a free source, although I am sure you could find a PDF of it online. Anyway it is very cheap and can be bought for around $5 and it is well worth a purchase. It will give you vast insight into not only Hitler but also Stalin.

u/Praetor80 · 2 pointsr/Documentaries

What is the feeling in Finland about the Germans and the assistance they gave your country in its defense from Russia?

Thousands of young German men died in Finland, and they really felt betrayed when you abandoned them later in the war when it was opportune.

Would really suggest you read: http://www.amazon.ca/Black-Edelweiss-Conscience-Soldier-Waffen-Ss/dp/0966638980

u/gabeteli · 2 pointsr/Military

Read the memoir of German fighter pilot Franz Stigler, A Higher Call by Adam Makos.

u/Friar-Buck · 2 pointsr/OzoneOfftopic

If he likes WWII nonfiction, I would recommend A Higher Call and The Hiding Place. I also liked this book on submarine Cold War espionage called Blind Man's Bluff.

u/LostMaterial0 · 2 pointsr/badhistory

So I've been reading https://www.amazon.com/Panzer-Commander-Memoirs-Colonel-Library/dp/0440208025 and found that this author (A colonel that knew Rommel personally quite well) claimed that the July 20, 1944 plot to kill hitler, and after that germany would seek to befriend the western allies to defeat Russia and agree to de-nazify to an extent.

Idk if "lesser known" but that was certainly interesting to me. at a glance I dont see any kind of mention of that motive on wikipedia

u/uid_0 · 2 pointsr/ww2

"Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer is a pretty good read. It's not specifically about the eastern front, but it gives you a very good perspective about what life was like for a Wehrmacht solder.

u/jonewer · 2 pointsr/AskHistorians

Reading his own works would be a good place to start

Start with Infantry Attacks and The Rommel Papers

You can also read With Rommel in the Desert which was written by one of his batmen.

From the other side The Desert War Is a good account by what we would now call an imbedded journalist with the British Empire's 8th Army.

There have been quite a few threads about Rommel both here and on r/badhistory where there's generally a "Good guy Rommel" anti-circlejerk attitude. This thread being but one of many. I'll copy over my comment from that thread

> The Good Guy Rommel thing goes back to ww2 itself. It suited both the Nazis and the western allies to create a myth about Rommel. For the Nazis, it was an obvious propaganda op and the western allies saw in him a reason to explain their failings. Sure, it nothing to do with your rubbish commanders and bad tanks, its all because of GGR!

> After the war its necessary to rehabilitate Germany as an ally of the west, so we create the Clean Heer myth with GGR as its poster boy and dump all the bad stuff on the SS.

Overall, its important to remember that Rommel was a Nazi General. He was very fortunate to have earned his reputation fighting in theatres in which military law and civilisation were not completely abandoned (France) or in North Africa, where there were no untermensch or juden to be persecuted and exterminated.

If he had been sent to the east, there is no reason to suppose that he would not have become involved in war crimes to same extent as other generals such as Manstein.

u/robo2na · 2 pointsr/suggestmeabook

"Death Dealer: The Memoirs of the SS Kommandant at Auschwitz" by, Rudolf Höss
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Dealer-Memoirs-Kommandant-Auschwitz/dp/0306806983

u/sofa_king_awesome · 2 pointsr/GermanWW2photos

Just finished Black Edelweiss not long ago. So this picture is extra interesting! It follows some SS GJ in the Lapland war & later their combat on the Western Front. Although, I'd assume the stuff against the American fighting units was toned down since he wrote it as a German POW in an American camp, still very interesting. Thanks for the upload.

u/spuri0us · 2 pointsr/HistoryPorn

Hans Von Luck wrote Panzer Commander not Panzer Leader

see here

And his wiki article

Its a great book, from someone who leaded from the ground.

He was at El Alamein, Kasserine Pass, Poland, Belgium, Normandy on D-Day, and the Ost Front.

EDIT: He was with the 3rd panzer army during operation barbarossa and at the personal request of Rommel, with the afrika korps in North Africa.

u/julianfri · 2 pointsr/chemistry

The Alchemy of Air is a fascinating book on the history of the Haber Process, and as geeky as it is: the beginning of the synthetic chemicals business is well detailed in Mauve and so is Napoleon's Buttons and anything by Joe Schwartz.

u/ajmarks · 2 pointsr/Judaism

Jewish stuff aside, I'm currently in the middle of The Alchemy of Air about the Haber-Bosch process for fixing nitrogen and In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, about the Essex disaster, which inspired Moby Dick.

u/Tascar · 2 pointsr/WWII

For a well paced German perspective on the battle for Poland, France and Russia, check out Von Mamstein's memoirs. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0760320543?pc_redir=1404151296&robot_redir=1

u/MrPozor · 1 pointr/books
u/wabbit_killa · 1 pointr/suggestmeabook

The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer is an incredible read. There is controversy about the validity of some of his claims. However, it is one of the most intense books on WW2 I have ever read.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Forgotten-Soldier-Guy-Sajer/dp/1574882864/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411555970&sr=8-1&keywords=forgotten+soldier

u/victorfabius · 1 pointr/todayilearned

"A Higher Call" by Adam Makos and Larry Alexander

You can find the book on Amazon with the following link, or (As I highly recommend) check out a copy from your local library. It's available as an audiobook as well, if that's more your thing. A good read/listen.

Link is to the Amazon Kindle edition.

https://www.amazon.com/Higher-Call-Incredible-Chivalry-War-Torn-ebook/dp/B0095ZQ36G/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1

u/ee4m · 1 pointr/JordanPeterson

>What is your definition of fascism?

Funding by capitalists https://www.amazon.com/Who-Financed-Hitler-Funding-1919-1933/dp/0671760831

>Yet, beyond this diversity, all these fascist regimes had two characteristics in common:

> (1) In the circumstances, they were all willing to manage the government and society in such a way as not to call the fundamental principles of capitalism into question, specifically private capitalist property, including that of modern monopoly capitalism. That is why I call these different forms of fascism particular ways of managing capitalism and not political forms that challenge the latter’s legitimacy, even if “capitalism” or “plutocracies” were subject to long diatribes in the rhetoric of fascist speeches. The lie that hides the true nature of these speeches appears as soon as one examines the “alternative” proposed by these various forms of fascism, which are always silent concerning the main point—private capitalist property. It remains the case that the fascist choice is not the only response to the challenges confronting the political management of a capitalist society. It is only in certain conjunctures of violent and deep crisis that the fascist solution appears to be the best one for dominant capital, or sometimes even the only possible one. The analysis must, then, focus on these crises.

>(2) The fascist choice for managing a capitalist society in crisis is always based—by definition even—on the categorical rejection of “democracy.” Fascism always replaces the general principles on which the theories and practices of modern democracies are based—recognition of a diversity of opinions, recourse to electoral procedures to determine a majority, guarantee of the rights of the minority, etc.—with the opposed values of submission to the requirements of collective discipline and the authority of the supreme leader and his main agents. This reversal of values is then always accompanied by a return of backward-looking ideas, which are able to provide an apparent legitimacy to the procedures of submission that are implemented. The proclamation of the supposed necessity of returning to the (“medieval”) past, of submitting to the state religion or to some supposed characteristic of the “race” or the (ethnic) “nation” make up the panoply of ideological discourses deployed by the fascist powers.

(the above is what trump was up to in his campaigning).



https://monthlyreview.org/2014/09/01/the-return-of-fascism-in-contemporary-capitalism/



The question of capitalist “decay”; the meaning of Lenin’s definition of imperialism as “decaying capitalism”; the role of fascism as a phenomenon of an advanced stage of this process in the period of the general crisis of capitalism; and, in particular, the role of fascism as a retrograde factor in relation to the development of the productive forces.

The question of the “inevitability” of the victory of Communism over capitalism and fascism, and the correct understanding of this inevitability is not automatic, not mechanical, but dependent on the human factor.

It should be explained that the general aim of my book on fascism as to analyze fascism on the basis of the whole present stage of capitalist development, following and carrying forward Lenin’s analysis of imperialism to the present stage, and showing in what sense fascism represents an extreme phenomenon of this process of capitalism in decay, whose guiding laws were already analyzed by Lenin.

https://www.marxists.org/archive/dutt/articles/1935/question_of_fascism.htm

>Can you show me them being debunked?



Well for a start, the stats dont adjust for anything, like proximity, people that live boxed up together are more likely to commit crime, black people are more likely to be boxed up together, white working class are more spread out.

If white collar crime was treated like working class crime the prisons would be full of white people.

The most prolific mass murderers by far in america are elite wasps, murdering people in other countries.The largest financial crimes are perpetrated by white collar criminals, again this is wasps.

Lots more debunking here.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fuckthealtright/comments/6xhtog/alt_right_talking_points_debunked_race_and_crime/





The far right tell all sorts of lies, one of those is that Hitler was socialist. He murdered all the socialists in his party, another is scapegoating other races.


Dont trust right libertarian info any more than feminist info.

u/icepick62 · 1 pointr/MilitaryHistory

https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Victories-Memoirs-Hitlers-Brilliant/dp/0760320543
Very good book in my opinion, FM Erich von Manstein was Hitler's greatest strategist

u/roosterrugburn · 1 pointr/HistoryPorn

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Edelweiss-Conscience-Soldier-Waffen-SS/dp/0966638980

You should read this. It's about the SS mountain troops fighting in Finland, would've been close to the same areas as your grandfather.

u/ulsterjack · 1 pointr/OldSchoolCool

This photo is used as the cover to the book "German Boy" by Wolfgang Samuel. It's Samuel's autobiography of growing up in the final year of the Second World War and his eventual immigration to America. Without giving away too much, it's a fantastic story.

http://www.amazon.com/German-Boy-A-Child-War/dp/0767908244

u/NotFreeAdvice · 1 pointr/atheism

I am not totally sure what you are asking for actually exists in book form...which is odd, now that I think about it.

If it were me, I would think about magazines instead. And if you really want to push him, think about the following options:

  1. Science News, which is very similar to the front-matter of the leading scientific journal Science. This includes news from the past month, and some in-depth articles. It is much better written -- and written at a much higher level -- than Scientific American or Discover. For a very intelligent (and science-interested) high school student, this should pose little difficulty.
  2. The actual journal Science. This is weekly, which is nice. In addition to the news sections, this also includes editorials and actual science papers. While many of the actual papers will be beyond your son, he can still see what passes for presentation of data in the sciences, and that is cool.
  3. The actual journal Nature. This is also weekly, and is the british version of the journal Science. In my opinion, the news section is better written than Science, which is important as this is where your kid's reading will be mostly done. IN addition, Nature always has sections on careers and education, so that your son will be exposed to the more human elements of science. Finally, the end of nature always has a 1-page sci-fi story, and that is fun as well.
  4. If you must, you could try Scientific American or Discover, but if you really want to give your kid a cool gift, that is a challenge, go for one of the top three here. I would highly recommend Nature.

    If you insist on books...

    I see you already mentioned A Brief History of the Universe, which is an excellent book. However, I am not sure if you are going to get something that is more "in depth." Much of the "in depth" stuff is going to be pretty pop, without the rigorous foundation that are usually found in textbooks.

    If I had to recommend some books, here is what I would say:

  5. The selfish gene is one of the best "rigorous" pop-science books out there. Dawkins doesn't really go into the math, but other than that he doesn't shy away from the implications of the work.
  6. Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Dennett is a great book. While not strictly science, per se, it does outline good philosophical foundations for evolution. It is a dense read, but good.
  7. On the more mathematical side, you might try Godel, Escher, Bach, which is a book that explores the ramifications of recrusiveness and is an excellent (if dense) read.
  8. You could also consider books on the history of science -- which elucidate the importance of politics and people in the sciences. I would recommend any of the following: The Double Helix, A man on the moon, The making of the atomic bomb, Prometheans in the lab, The alchemy of air, or A most damnable invention. There are many others, but these came to mind first.

    Hope that helps! OH AND GO WITH THE SUBSCRIPTION TO NATURE

    edit: added the linksssss
u/globalism_sux · 1 pointr/conspiracy

>The basis for a lack of re litigation at the time of the trial could also be put on the fact that many allied commanders had been to and liberated camps- to claim those camps where "staged" was unlikely to sway them since they had personally viewed them and seen many victims
>
>Additionally there was the thousands of hours of film, the medical and scientific research records found at many camps, the money trail connected to people and organizations supplying the camps- there was simply a great deal of evidence that the camps existed and where not a hoax

I don't know anyone. ANYONE who claims that the camps were "staged" or "a hoax." Whose claims are you attempting to refute?

>https://www.amazon.com/Death-Dealer-Memoirs-Kommandant-Auschwitz/dp/0306806983
>
>I assume you are claiming these memoirs by hoess when you bring up his confession and it's lack of veracity

Not specifically, he did sign a confession that was delivered as part of the evidence at the IMT at Nuremberg. It stated that he had personally overseen the gas chamber executions of 2.5 million Jews. He was the first of the commandants of Auschwitz, and therefore this number confessed to was used to validate the original number claimed to have been murdered, around 4 million at Auschwitz alone.

The only problem... he got it wrong. Way wrong. The museum curators at Auschwitz even had a plaque changed when the story of 4 million gassings at Auschwitz was rubbished by historians in favor of something close to 1 million. Yet Hoess's confession is held out to this day by Holocaust promoters as definitive evidence of what the Nazis were involved in.

>Much of these memoirs are made from before and during the war and was corroborated by other Nazis, physical evidence, photographs and films
>
>Again, I feel that memoirsike these, and belonging to others in the high command show that it is likely a holocaust occurred similar to the narrative put forth, there was a simply not as compelling evidence on the denial side

Memoirs are papers compiled after the fact, in this case Hoess's memoirs were compiled while he was in jail.

>This goes to the heart of the issue, it requires so many Nazis lieing, in addition to a Jewish and European conspiracy for a "holohoax" to work as opposed to the available evidence of the camps
>
>Example: David Irving claimed that he viewed arial photos of ausheitz that do not show any crematorium, however in court he could not produce these photos and changed his story to that he was informed of those photos- this was a major issue in his narrative was having physical evidence in contravene of the narrative, but he did not actually posses them

Source? Again, I'm not aware of any skeptic who's taken seriously that denies there having been crematoria at Auschwitz.

>I don't purport to be a perfect historian, I just and very well read on the topic, I encourage you to read more of the available history

Oh, gosh, I don't know how, in my utter ignorance on this matter, that I'd ever keep up with you, O exalted one among amateur historians!

u/throwaway5544556622 · 1 pointr/conspiracy

The basis for a lack of re litigation at the time of the trial could also be put on the fact that many allied commanders had been to and liberated camps- to claim those camps where "staged" was unlikely to sway them since they had personally viewed them and seen many victims

Additionally there was the thousands of hours of film, the medical and scientific research records found at many camps, the money trail connected to people and organizations supplying the camps- there was simply a great deal of evidence that the camps existed and where not a hoax

https://www.amazon.com/Death-Dealer-Memoirs-Kommandant-Auschwitz/dp/0306806983

I assume you are claiming these memoirs by hoess when you bring up his confession and it's lack of veracity

Much of these memoirs are made from before and during the war and was corroborated by other Nazis, physical evidence, photographs and films

Again, I feel that memoirsike these, and belonging to others in the high command show that it is likely a holocaust occurred similar to the narrative put forth, there was a simply not as compelling evidence on the denial side

This goes to the heart of the issue, it requires so many Nazis lieing, in addition to a Jewish and European conspiracy for a "holohoax" to work as opposed to the available evidence of the camps

Example: David Irving claimed that he viewed arial photos of ausheitz that do not show any crematorium, however in court he could not produce these photos and changed his story to that he was informed of those photos- this was a major issue in his narrative was having physical evidence in contravene of the narrative, but he did not actually posses them

I don't purport to be a perfect historian, I just and very well read on the topic, I encourage you to read more of the available history

Edit: eichman did not really put forward any defense to his actions in the war, he maintained that he simply did not commit a crime based on the fact that genocide was not a crime

u/librarianhuddz · 1 pointr/WWIIplanes

I just found out that many of the bombers didn't have the Norden and just bombed when the Norden equipped leader did. If that plane was blown out of the sky....well then thing fell where they may. Also timing/movement/chaos caused errors even when the lead was undamaged. Read that in this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Higher-Call-Incredible-Chivalry-War-Torn/dp/0425255735

u/KapyongQ · 1 pointr/Bitcoin

Also,

there is a lot of uncertain information related to black gold funds.

If you want to go down that rabbit-hole, I suggest you look into the Black Eagle Trust, and Nixon and the M-fund.

I see this book deals with that topic (although I haven't read this yet) :

https://www.amazon.com/Nazi-Hydra-America-Suppressed-History/dp/0930852435

Many web-sites talk about these black gold funds, but caveat lector.

u/Veganpuncher · 1 pointr/AustralianPolitics

I was finally convinced by Alan Bullock's book. The parallels are just too similar to be coincidence.

u/CareCupisEmpty · 1 pointr/makemychoice

Tigers in the Mud was really interesting to read, cool to see WWII from a different perspective.

The Art of War is a good read as well. I like how it combines military strategy and Taoism.

Those are my favorite ones so far, but I read a lot more fiction than anything...

u/DeafDumbBlindKid · 1 pointr/engineering

The Alchemy of Air

It's the story of Nobel Prize winners Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, who together created the Haber-Bosch process to convert inorganic nitrogen into organic nitrogen, and then scaled up the process to magnificent industrial proportions. While this invention is responsible for the Green Revolution (organic nitrogen = fertilizer), it is also largely responsible for Hitler's ability to prosecute the Second World War from 1943 to 1945 (organic nitrogen = explosives, and food to feed a blockaded country).

This has almost nothing to do with your academic work. Read it any way. You won't be disappointed.

u/mackalack101 · 1 pointr/MilitaryPorn

That depends entirely on how you define "better tank" - if you compare the tanks at the tactical level - platoon or company level engagements - sure, Tigers usually came out ahead. However, that changed as the T-34's were upgraded to the T-34/85 with an improved gun that could penetrate the Tiger's armor, from farther than the earlier 76mm gun. And Soviet crews gained experience and better training as the war went on.

Additionally, if you examine the strategic effectiveness of the two tanks, that's when things start to weigh heavily in the T-34's favor. You have to look at it as a numbers game, basically. I'd roughly estimate that a T-34/85 (like the one pictured above), had probably 85% of the combat effectiveness of the Tiger 1. But when that T-34/85 costs only, say, 30-40% of the resources it takes to make a Tiger 1, then that math does NOT work in favor for a country with very limited industrial capacity like Germany.

And that's not to mention all of the horrific reliability and mobility problems that the Tiger 1 faced. It was under-powered and its drivetrain was critically overstressed, leading it to regularly break down and require many precious spare parts and man hours. You can have the best tank in the world, but if it can't get to the battlefield and fight, its just a big waste of fuel, parts, and manpower.

If you're interested in a first-person perspective on the Tiger vs the T-34, I highly recommend Tigers in the Mud by German tank ace Otto Carius.

u/bbatwork · 1 pointr/history

My personal recommendations:
My 30 year war by Onada Hiro:
This book was written by a Japanese lieutenant who refused to believe the war was over, and continued living in the jungles of the Philippines until the 70s.

https://www.amazon.com/No-Surrender-My-Thirty-Year-War/dp/1557506639/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493673294&sr=8-1&keywords=Hiroo+Onoda

Battleground Pacific by Sterling Mace. A first person account from a USMC rifleman who fought in the Pacific war. He is also a redditor.

https://www.amazon.com/Battleground-Pacific-Marine-Riflemans-Odyssey/dp/1250005051?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1250005051

And the Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer, a French man who fought for the Germans on the Eastern Front.

https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Soldier-Guy-Sajer/dp/1574882864/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493673668&sr=8-1&keywords=the+forgotten+soldier+by+guy+sajer

Happy reading!

u/Das_Doctor · 1 pointr/WorldofTanks

Just gonna take this opportunity to plug his book. It's a fascinating read and sheds light on what it was like to actually be in the tank during the war.

http://www.amazon.com/Tigers-Mud-Commander-Stackpole-Military/dp/0811729117

u/kevmo77 · 1 pointr/cigars

I don't have my + so don't use this recommendation for the contest, I just wanted to recommend this book: A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II. It's the true story of Luftwaffe ace that spared the escorted a heavily damaged American bomber out of Germany and what happened to the mean after the war. Amazing book. It's also often the subject of TIL threads.

u/LordCurlyFry · 1 pointr/WorldofTanks

For a more tactical point of view you have Heinz Guderian's treatise on armored warfare; Achtung - Panzer! In it, he crafts the very tactics that were employed in the war.

Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck is also quite good and may be more what you're looking for. Hans von Luck was a commander in Rommel's Panzer divisions at many points in the war including El Alamein, during D-Day, and on the eastern front.

u/dapcook · 1 pointr/appletv

Something to really look forward too, I'm half way through the book by Adam Makos called "A Higher Call" about a German fighter pilot and a B-17 Bomber crew. Most people who flew bombers in WW2 must have ad a death sentence or something. One of of the fascinating things I've learned is pilots in bombing squadrons all volunteered

https://www.amazon.com/Higher-Call-Incredible-Chivalry-War-Torn-ebook/dp/B0095ZQ36G/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Adam+Makos&qid=1572876521&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&sr=8-2

This author is amazing at telling stories that are captivating

u/Eviltower101 · 1 pointr/history

This is one Ive been meaning to read for a super long time. Its called Tigers in the Mud. Its about a commander of a Tiger tank. https://www.amazon.com/Tigers-Mud-Commander-Stackpole-Military/dp/0811729117

Its been a while but A Bridge Too Far gave some perspective on the individual soldiers. Its probably one of my favorite history books because it reads more like a story. He goes also does the big picture of the battle and then narrows it down to soldiers and their thoughts. He even throws in some jokes from the time. My favorite was when these paratroopers were talking cover in a cellar during an artillery barrage. There was one guy that made the joke "they're throwing everything at us but the kitchen stove." Then at that moment a shell hit the house and the kitchen stove actually fell through the floor in front of them. The guy followed up with "I knew the bastards were close but I didnt think they could hear us." Cornelius Ryan did an amazing job. I gotta get around to reading his other 2 books eventually. Just too lazy

u/leicanthrope · 1 pointr/guns

The author of this memoir talks about exactly that. He didn't start out as a sniper. He only received a scoped k98 once he returned from a formal sniper school a ways into the war.

u/PGT_FTW · 1 pointr/guns

Have you read The Killing of Reinhard Heydrich: The SS 'Butcher of Prague'? I had the great fortune of meeting Col. Jaroslav Šustr back in 1987 and again in 1988 before he died of brain cancer. Hearing his story firsthand was something I didn't fully appreciate until many years later. (he was married to my high school World Studies teacher...no joke!)

u/Nooshu · 1 pointr/videos

For those of you looking for a view of the Eastern Front from the German perspective I highly recommend The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer. It's quite a harrowing read at times, doesn't hold back on the blood and gore involved in war.

There are questions on how authentic some parts of the book are, even so it still well worth a read.

u/speak72 · 1 pointr/books
u/MRiley84 · 1 pointr/pics

The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer is an autobiography of a French-German soldier fighting on the eastern front. He thought they were the good guys, but it doesn't really mention the concentration camps since he wasn't anywhere near them.

u/dmt477 · 1 pointr/OldSchoolCool

It's a complex topic most don't bother to understand. Easier to categorise every German soldier including Waffen SS as "evil Nazi".

If you want to read some very interesting (and entertaining) first hand accounts of Waffen SS and what it was like to fight in their units, I recommend the following books (can be found and downloaded online):

u/Strait409 · 1 pointr/sabaton

I might have to disagree. That song told a tale of a noble deed in the midst of unimaginable horror, and while one could argue it is not exactly sunshine and rainbows, is not quite, well, sad.

The whole story is quite incredible, really. I highly recommend this book.

u/ownererz · 1 pointr/todayilearned

There was a book wrote about it,A higher Call.

The book was very well written and interesting: definitely worth a read!

u/gonyere · 1 pointr/todayilearned

There were many of these events, though they are largely forgotten. A Higher Call tells the amazing true story of a badly damaged american bomber which was escorted home by a german fighter pilot... the story was largely kept quiet during the war, before the pilots found each other years and years later. Its an amazing story :)

http://www.amazon.com/Higher-Call-Incredible-Chivalry-War-Torn/dp/0425252868/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381670921&sr=8-1&keywords=a+higher+call

u/TinyTinyDwarf · 1 pointr/Warthunder

Quote from the Pilot section about Franz Stigler.

>The things he experienced could easily fill a book

here it is (tho not just about him, it does give out alot of Franz's life in it)

Please, i beg you, read it, and if you have, Read it again. i've read mine 4 times in the past 2 months. please, just do. it's my favorite book, and as 16 who do nothing but play war thunder all day, reading a book, yet alone having a favorite one is something i rarely experience.

u/murk1n · 1 pointr/geopolitics

Probably not related towards Geopolitics but I'm loving this book "The Forgotten Soldier". I purchased it from the Andorid Playstore. So amazing. Shows you a perspective from the other side.

Here is a short summary that I copied from Amazon. Which the link is below.

"This book recounts the horror of World War II on the eastern front, as seen through the eyes of a teenaged German soldier. At first an exciting adventure, young Guy Sajer’s war becomes, as the German invasion falters in the icy vastness of the Ukraine, a simple, desperate struggle for survival against cold, hunger, and above all the terrifying Soviet artillery."

http://www.amazon.com/The-Forgotten-Soldier-Guy-Sajer/dp/1574882864

Edit: Seeing so many good recommendations. Looks like I'm going to be reading a lot. Thank you guys for the good recommendations.

u/PreviouslySaydrah · 1 pointr/politics

EPIC LENGTH WARNING

One way terrible things can happen is for many people to take on small pieces of responsibility for making an evil thing happen. This is all hypothetical and blind guessing with no research into how this hospital happens to be run, so don't take it as analysis, but as a thought exercise, let's say that the hospital is owned by a corporation and the Board of Directors tell the CEO that his job is on the line if he doesn't reduce costs.

Does the CEO say "dump patients?" Does the board say, "CEO, dump patients?" No. The CEO says "Our corporate goal is a XX% reduction in the costs of treating uninsured patients across our network of hospitals."

The CFO now analyzes which facilities have the highest costs and through a chain of intermediaries, tells this facility in Vegas, "YOUR goal is a greater percentage cost reduction, because your costs are overrunning by more than the other facilities' costs do. You are to get this done, period, and it comes directly from the CEO."

The hospital director knows his job is in danger, so he gathers the staff and says, "We need you all to impress upon your teams that the cost of treating uninsured patients must be reduced dramatically. We will reward teams that reduce their cost overruns for uninsured patients." Nowhere in that meeting does he give more than a token mention to the hospital's code of ethics or the Hippocratic oath -- of course, it's a hospital, if you asked him he'd say it went without saying, but the managers hear, correctly, "Forget ethics, we MUST meet this goal or this facility may be closed as too costly."

The department heads go back and tell their teams, "Anyone who is running up big bills for uninsured patients is in danger of being placed on a Performance Improvement Plan. You need to be more cost-conscious. We're spending too much. Find ways to cut costs."

Then in this environment, an uninsured schizophrenic walks in the door for the 17th time off his medication and self-harming again. They know he has family in Iowa. They know the last time he came in, he ran up $35,000 in costs that were denied by Medicaid and were never recovered and written off. Night nurse looks at night doctor looks at night orderly looks at custodial staff, and somehow it's decided that they'll put him on a bus to Iowa, because everyone just got an ass-chewing about costs and someone's going to lose a job if a $35,000 bill that will never be paid gets run up tonight, and then who's supposed to care even for the patients who can pay?

The night staff say, "It wasn't our fault. We just did what we had to do to keep our jobs to keep providing patient care."

The department heads say, "It wasn't our fault. We just told them to watch the costs. We didn't tell them to dump patients."

The director says, "It wasn't my fault. I expected our department heads to explain that the cost-cutting goal wasn't an excuse to violate our Code of Ethics here."

The CFO says, "It wasn't my fault. I just crunched numbers and told them what numbers to hit. I'm just the math guy. I don't make the decisions as to how you hit numbers."

The CEO says, "It wasn't my fault. I just set an ambitious goal to deliver shareholder value by reducing cost overruns throughout our network of care facilities. That's what I'm here for. I'm very disappointed that facility made the decision it did."

The BoD says, "It's not our fault. We invested our own money in this corporation. We just want value for money. All we asked is that the CEO do what we hired him for, and get this business growing by reducing costs."

The President says, "It's not my fault. I tried the public option, and I had to trade it away to get anything at all, because insurers wouldn't budge."

The insurer says, "It's not our fault. We pushed for a national insurance mandate so we can cover every patient. It'll be in effect soon. There may be some continued challenges in delivery of care in the meantime."

The voters say, "It's not our fault. This is all too complicated to understand, and there's nothing we can do about the influence of money in politics. We can't afford higher taxes--we need to save and scrimp already in case we ever need health care, so we don't end up in that position."

And nobody takes responsibility, because nobody made the whole decision, and the person who looked a patient in the eyes and gave him a bus ticket instead of care sleeps soundly thinking they're just a victim of the system--and unfortunately, they're right, because even with a nationwide nursing shortage, the quickest way to lose your job as a healthcare provider is to take personal responsibility for patient outcomes, because that creates costs and liabilities to the hospital.

References/suggested reading:

On Killing

Black Edelweiss

The Sociopath Next Door

Confidence Men

Note that none of these are about the health care industry and only one is about politics at all. They're just about how people work and what kinds of people can do bad things.

and for the record I don't have any connection to any of the authors or publishers or anything similar

u/Alwaysawake28 · 1 pointr/history

Hi u/Bm188 Two recommendations for you:

1: the forgotten soldier by Guy Sajer

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1574882864/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522746358&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=the+forgotten+soldier&dpPl=1&dpID=51OLqLHL9hL&ref=plSrch


A memoir from a german soldier and his war in Russia. A fascinating read that will cause a real itch regarding WW2 in the east, and a classic of WW2 literature.

2: Kokoda by Peter Fitzsimmons

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0733619622/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522746522&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=kokoda&dpPl=1&dpID=61fQaatVf8L&ref=plSrch

A great overview of what was probably the toughest fighting in WW2, Australian (and some American) fighting against the Japanese in Papua New Guinea.

I’ve read both, and strongly recommend both. Neither are dry or heavy reading.

u/Tastler · 1 pointr/hoggit

Fun Fact: Franz Stigler, a German WWII Pilot Ace, took a round with his Head and survived it. IIRC, the projectile went through the front window and HUD (its quite thick) of his BF109 and struck his head. There are pictures/ videos showing the indent mark on his head.

Source: A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II

I can absolutely recommend this book!

u/Chempolo · 0 pointsr/WWII

Yep. Hans Von Luck talks about this idea in good detail in Panzer Commander.

u/rubicon11 · 0 pointsr/IAmA

A Woman in Berlin is an 8 week autobiographical account of the author's experiences during the occupation of Berlin when the Soviets arrived. Absolutely gut wrenching.

u/dngrs · 0 pointsr/Romania

mie beletristica nu prea imi place asa ca merg cu ceva autobiografic scris chiar de soldati de pe vremea aia ex 1 2 3 4

u/Kirbyoto · 0 pointsr/GamerGhazi

You know, the funniest thing about this is that the initial impetus of this conversation was me saying that entertainment doesn't teach you anything. You then proceeded to get incredibly angry about this. And you're somehow deciding that the best way to respond to this is 4chan memes, reddit tags and capital letters, while completely failing to provide evidence that entertainment has taught you something. Like, is this really how you were intending to convince me that you're not a stupid idiot? Like when you were laughing at a well-respected author and veteran, you were like "yes, this will show that I am a good person and not an entitled baby".

So really, kind of curious at this point: why did you bother? All you did was make yourself look like a loud, angry 14 year old who can't deal with criticism. If you want you can post this conversation in /r/iamverysmart but I gotta warn you, dude, it's not exactly flattering for you.

u/Kingca · 0 pointsr/OldSchoolCool

Absolutely serious. You can go ahead and read any memoirs from soldiers who survived the Battle of Berlin. Stalin encouraged the Russians to exact revenge on Germany. He demanded they remember all the atrocities they saw committed unto dead Soviets during the push across Eastern Europe and into Germany, and then go pay back the Germans for that. That shit didn't happen in the west.

In all of these memoirs, they note how different the Americans were. They note how the Americans didn't rape like the Soviets, nor did they torture like the Soviets.

Since I know you're just gonna reply with something you painfully think to be witty, I'll search for you. Here's a favorite of mine, Blood Red Snow by Gunter Koschorrek. https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Red-Snow-Memoirs-Soldier/dp/0760321981

If you're gonna suck Nazi dick, at least read one fucking book written by your kkkomrades.

u/unruly_mattress · -6 pointsr/conspiracy

I'm sorry, you seem to be mixing up Hoess and Wisliceny. Anyway, if you enjoy so much material written by Hoess, I can recommend his memoirs:

http://www.amazon.com/Death-Dealer-Memoirs-Kommandant-Auschwitz/dp/0306806983