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Many group members have mentioned collections of World War II books that made a huge difference for them.

One of these sets is the Time Life Series.

The World War II set is one of the longest sets by Time-Life (39 books) and it remains one of the most popular. Each book chronicles one specific aspect of World War II and in all they are probably one of the most thorough sets around.

The books are hardcover and have a large picture on the binding, but the title doesn't appear on either cover.

Source:

Here is a listing of all of the books from Leggman's Time Life Library.

Across the Rhine
by Franklin M. Davis

Battles for Scandinavia
by John Robert Elting

Blitzkrieg
by Robert Wernick

Bombers Over Japan
by Keith Wheeler

China, Burma, India
by Don Moser

Island Fighting
by Rafael Steinberg

Italy at War
by Henry Hitch Adams

Japan at War
by Gerald Simons

Liberation
by Martin Blumenson

Partisans and Guerrillas
by Ronald H. Bailey

Prelude to War
by Robert T. Elson

Prisoners of War
by Ronald H. Bailey

Red Army Resurgent
by John Shaw

Return to the Phillippines
by Rafael Steinberg

Russia Besieged
by Nicholas Bethell

The Aftermath: Asia
The Aftermath: Europe
both by Douglas Botting

The Air War in Europe
by Ronald H. Bailey

The Battle of Britain
by Leonard Mosley

The Battle of the Atlantic
by Barrie Pitt

The Battle of the Bulge
by William K. Goolrick

The Commandos
by Russell Miller

The Fall of Japan
The Home Front: Germany
both by Charles Whiting

The Home Front: U.S.A
by Ronald H. Bailey

The Italian Campaign
by Robert Wallace

The Mediteranean
by A. B. C. Whipple

The Nazis
by Robert Edwin Herzstein

The Neutrals
by Denis J. Fodor

The Resistance
by Russell Miller

The Rising Sun
by Arthur Zich

The Road to Tokyo
by Keith Wheeler

The Second Front
by Douglas Botting

The Secret War
by Francis Russell

The Soviet Juggernaut
by Earl F. Ziemke

The War in the Desert
by Richard Collier

Victory in Europe
War in the Outposts
by Simon Rigge

War Under the Pacific
by Keith Wheeler

Note: I will be adding all of the citations: in progress

Across the Rhine by Franklin M. Davis

by Time-Life Books (no photo available)

Review:

This is information about the author:



This is from military history on line:

A Path Across the Rhine: The Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen, March 1945
by Allen Parfitt

In March 1945 as Allied armies advanced into Germany, an ordinary bridge in an unimportant place suddenly became famous. This article will discuss how that happened, and the significance of the Bridge at Remagen.

World leaders are not modest men--or women. To climb to the top of political affairs in any country almost demands an outsized ego. This was particularly true during the Second World War. Franklin Roosevelt was very self-confident. Churchill was famously full of himself. Stalin was an egomaniac who plastered his picture on every wall in the Soviet Union, and his name on half the cities. Mussolini thought he was an incarnation of the ancient Romans, and DeGaulle was noted for his arrogance, even when his sole visible assets were a couple of aides and a big nose. But Adolf Hitler surpassed them all. During his meteoric rise to power, he decided that he was the world's leading expert on everything. There is a funny passage in Putzi Hanfstaengl's memoir where Hitler lectures him on art, indifferent to the fact that Putzi was a professional art dealer. Not so amusing to those who served under him was Hitler's discovery that he was the greatest war-leader of all time. His belief in his military ability was so strong as to be axiomatic. He knew he was always right, and did not trouble to solicit opinions from, say, experienced generals on the scene; he knew from his lair hundreds of miles away exactly what needed to be done. This is a very fortunate circumstance for the world. It must never be forgotten that Hitler, his henchmen, and his allies, bad men every one, came shockingly close to something that usually exists only in James Bond movies and comic books: world domination. The fact that we are singing the Star Spangled Banner and not the Horst Wessel Song before ball games was made possible only by the valor of our armed services, the good judgment of our leaders, a little luck and a long series of egregious military errors Hitler made in the name of his genius.

Of course, by 1945 it had all gone wrong. The Thousand Year Reich was caught like a watermelon in a giant vise between strong and vengeful enemies advancing from the east and the west. It did not occur to Hitler, of course, that any of his orders or decisions had been mistaken. His explanation for the bad military situation was simple: his generals and his soldiers had let him down. It is ironic that, having decided to conquer the world by force of arms, Hitler never had much confidence in his military. Everyone else, especially his enemies, feared and respected the Wehrmacht and its extremely professional generals. Hitler saw them as lazy cowards. One of the characteristics of his military thinking is that he hated, hated, hated, hated, to give up one square meter of territory where German boots had trod. He was convinced that if he could just bribe, cajole, or, better yet, threaten his soldiers sufficiently to hold all the ground they had captured, they could miraculously save the day. He had already lost an army at Stalingrad, another in Tunisia, and a third in France to these principles, but as the war situation grew worse for Nazi Germany, the more stubbornly he clung to every city, field, mountain, and hamlet. And his armies just kept retreating! His already low opinion of his soldiers took another drop on July 20, 1944 when several of his officers, led by Count Claus von Stauffenberg narrowly failed to blow him up with a bomb planted under his conference table. Not surprisingly, Hitler took this very personally, and the stream of no-retreat orders, defend-to-the-last-man orders and general interference with what his soldiers were trying to do rose to a new high.

Hitler loved to look at military situation maps. One of the iconic photographs of the war shows him bent over a huge map wearing his overcoat and military flathat, considering his next stroke of genius as eager aides wait for the word from the Fuhrer. After the failure of the Ardennes offensive at the end of 1944 and the beginning of 1945, his maps did not look so good. His veteran commander in the west, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, wanted to withdraw and consolidate his battered forces behind the Rhine River. Typically, Hitler looked at the map, saw how much territory would have to be given up, and ordained that the Wehrmacht would defend the "Westwall" a collection of fixed defenses on the German border, mostly left over from the beginning of the war as an answer to the Maginot Line. These defenses had a great reputation among the Allies, one overwrought attacker, Lt. Colonel Wallace Cheves, describing them as "strongest net of fortifications ever constructed by the human race". However they had been largely dismantled after the success of the blitzkrieg in 1940, and although they had been refurbished to some extent, the lack of weapons, materials, and time meant that this defensive system, often called the "Seigfried Line", was not that formidable. Hitler forbad the construction of defenses behind the Rhine so that his troops would not be tempted to retreat to them. This policy was not changed until February, and by that time the Westwall was falling apart. Now, at last, Hitler began to think about defending the Rhine. Of course, this could not be done. Military amateurs like Hitler tend to overestimate the defensive possibilities of river lines. We shall call a couple of witnesses. The first is Britain's finest World War II general, Field Marshal Viscount William Slim. Contemplating the forcing of the Irriwady River in Burma against desperate Japanese resistance in his memoirs, he said, "I drew comfort too, at this time from quite another thought. I had, more than once, in two great wars, taken part in the forcing of a river obstacle, and I had on every occasion found it less difficult and less costly than expected. I had also read some military history and, although I cudgeled my brains, I could not bring to mind a single instance when a river had been successfully held against determined assault. As the time grew near for the crossings, I hugged this thought to me. Historically, the odds were in my favor.". The second is Frederick the Great: "You can defend a river that lies behind an army, but it has yet to be shown how a river in front of armies can successfully be held. As many times as you take up a position behind a river to keep the enemy from crossing it, that often you will be duped, because sooner or later the enemy, forced to display cunning, finds a suitable moment for stealing his crossing......If you divide your army to occupy the most likely places for a crossing, you risk being beaten in detail; if your forces are concentrated, the least that can happen to you is a withdrawal in confusion to select another post." Nevertheless, although it was inevitable that the Allies would force the Rhine at some place and time, the place and time of their crossing was significant. If the Wehrmacht could have obtained just a little respite, they might have lengthened the war quite a bit. And even more significantly, Russian armies might have advanced much deeper into Germany than they did. Churchill was desperate to move as far east as possible. Although the Yalta agreements had broadly outlined the shape of postwar Europe, the devil, in the person of Joe Stalin, was in the details, and Churchill could foresee that Britain and America were going to have a tough time rousting the Russians out of any territory they were holding when the rotten edifice of Nazi Germany came crashing down. The sad story of postwar Poland and Czechoslovakia was proof of these apprehensions.

In 1916, during the First World War, the incredible demands of the Western Front began to outstrip the ability of the German rail system to supply it. Erich Ludendorff, the de facto warlord of Germany, requested that additional rail links to the west be constructed. Accordingly, in 1916 work was begun on a two track railroad bridge across the Rhine River at Remagen, a modest town between Bonn and Koblentz. In spite of material shortages and labor shortages caused by the war, work went on steadily, and by 1918 the bridge was almost complete. It was a handsome and functional structure, with two heavy stone towers at each end. The bridge was not designed to carry traffic from the existing railway in the area, which wound its leisurely way up the valley of the Ahr River, twisting, bending, and passing through every little hamlet before reaching Aldenahr, some 20 km from the Rhine, then curving south toward the larger valley of the Mosel. It was to be the Rhine crossing of a high speed military railway which would be built straight across the higher slopes of the Ahr Valley, across the Eifel Hills, and west toward the front. When the Bridge was completed and dedicated in 1918, and named after Ludendorff, a great deal of work had also been done on the railroad. Bridges, tunnels, and retaining walls had been constructed, and it remained only to lay the rails. But things had not gone well for the German army, and in November Ludendorff abruptly told the civilians in the government whom he had been ignoring for years that they needed to negotiate a cease fire immediately. With a mixture of patriotism and naiveté' they did so, and the Great War was over. Work stopped immediately on the railway, and was never resumed. Today the work that was done can still be seen, especially above the village of Dernau. Some of the tunnels were used by farmers, some were expanded to create a bunker for the Bonn Government to use as a fallout shelter during the Cold War, and at least one was used during World War Two to construct components for the V-2. But there was neither the need nor the money for the railway in the years immediately after the World War One, and such a railway was forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles, which also provided for French occupation of the Rhineland. So the Ludendorff Bridge was a white elephant from its completion, built to serve a cause that was already lost and a rail line that was never constructed. Weary German soldiers tramped across the bridge on their way home, still wondering how they could have lost the war. For several years most of the traffic on the bridge was on the wooden footbridge that paralleled the double rail line. But the Ludendorff Bridge was connected to the Ahr Valley railroad, and as Germany rebuilt and rearmed, and the bridge became a useful rail link across the Rhine, with several trains a day puffing across its tracks. The rail line came from the west, turned north near the town of Sinzig and crossed the 350 meters of the Ludendorff Bridge. There was a rail line running up the east bank of the Rhine that actually passed under the bridge, but in order to connect to this line after crossing the bridge, trains had to pass through a 400 meter tunnel curving through a huge hill towering over the river called the Erpeler Ley. Then the trains could continue north toward Bonn. Because of the way the Rhine curves, the Ludendorff Bridge, which was built to carry east-west traffic, ran almost straight north and south.

Remainder of article and all sources:

Other books about the above:

byKen Hechler (no photo)

Review:

The incredible story of the capture of the Ludendorff Bridge, a strategic bridge crossing the Rhine river at the town of Remagen. This updated volume contains bandw photos of American and German troops, artillery and aerial shots of the Rhine, and the Ludendorff Bridge before its ultimate destruction.

Other books about the above:

by Steven J. Zaloga (no photo on goodreads)

About the Author:

Steven Zaloga is a senior analyst for Teal Group Corp., an aerospace consulting firm. His professional specialization is the commercial and technological aspects of the international trade in missiles, precision guided munitions, and unmanned aerial vehicles. He also serves as an adjunct staff member with the Institute for Defense Analyses, a federal think-tank.

Mr. Zaloga has published numerous books and articles on military technology and military history. His books have been translated into Japanese, German, Polish, Czech, Romanian, and Russian. He has been a special correspondent for "Jane's Intelligence Review" and is on the executive board of the "Journal of Slavic Military Studies". From 1987 through 1992, he was the writer/director for Video Ordnance Inc., preparing their TV series "Firepower" that aired on The Discovery Channel in the US.

Mr. Zaloga was born in 1952 and received his BA in history from Union College, Schenectady, NY. He received an MA in history from Columbia University specializing in modern East European history, and did graduate research and language study at Uniwersitet Jagiellonski in Krakow, Poland.

Photo of Mr. Zaloga



Publisher's Synopsis:

Following the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes, the Allies began steps for the final assault into Germany. The long-delayed US Army thrust over the Roer River, Operation Lumberjack, finally took place in February, placing the US Army along the Rhine. The Rhine represented the last major geographical barrier to the Allied advance into Germany. The plan was for Montgomery's 21st Army Group to leap the Rhine into the Ruhr in a carefully choreographed attack called Operation Plunder. In the event, fortune smiled on the US Army when the 9th Armored unexpectedly found that the Ludendorff bridge at Remagen had not yet been demolished by the Wehrmacht, leaving this one major crossing over the Rhine intact. An armored infantry team supported by the new Pershing tanks stormed the bridge, seized it in fierce fighting and disarmed the charges placed on it. They then held it against numerous counterattacks in which the Germans used conventional tactics and unconventional, including jet bombers, V-2 missiles, and frogmen.

Remagen was not the only impromptu Rhine crossing made by the US Army in central Germany but it was the most dramatic and hardest fought. The irrepressible George Patton, in spite of instructions to stay put, snuck an infantry division across the Rhine in the south, setting the stage for the race into Germany. After reinforcing their two major Rhine crossings, the US Army launched its late-March offensive, encircling Frankfurt, and setting the stage for the defeat of the Wehrmacht in the West. This is a gripping, authoritative account of a crucial battle during the last major set-piece operation of World War II (1939-1945).

Reviews:

One of many "outstanding coverages in-depth military holdings will welcome." -The Bookwatch

"If there is a 'Golden Age' currently in effect within our hobby, it is not limited to model kits. We are also seeing some of the best work being offered by some of the best authors, artists and publishers ever seen. This book is clearly one more reason why we are indeed in the 'Golden Age.'" -Frank De Sisto, missing-lynx.com

"Steven J. Zaloga is well known to most readers of military histories in general and armor in particular. His fluid writing style allows the reader to follow along with the events of the time and produces a most enjoyable reading experience. This is further enhanced by the excellent illustrations of Peter Dennis and a well chosen group of period photographs... I've read quite a few books in this series and to me, this is one of the best. It reads well...and holds one's interest from the first to the last page. An excellent book that I know you will enjoy and one that I highly recommend." -Scott Van Aken, modelingmadness.com

"Remagen 1945 recounts the capture of the bridge in the context of the Allied push to the Rhine and the subsequent encirclement of the Ruhr Pocket. In addition to the well-written text, there are excellent photographs, tables of organization, chronology, color maps, and three-dimensional bird’s-eye views. Of particular interest to readers of this magazine are the many fine photographs of armored vehicles and artillery pieces and the emphasis on armored operations." -Doug Bister, Military Trader Magazine

"In all this is a reference book that is a worthwhile addition to any reference library. Recommended." -Henk Meerdink, Armorama (September 2006)

Battles for Scandinavia

by John R. Elting (no photo available)



About the Author:

Colonel John R. Elting (USA Ret):
Master Historian

By Grace Elting Castle

Envision a young boy, not yet old enough to learn to read, sitting mesmerized by pictures of Napoleon and his white horse in the Child’s Book of Knowledge. That book, a gift from his parents, ignited the spark for a lifelong interest that has resulted in Colonel John R. Elting, (USA Ret.) becoming the world’s most recognized authority on the life and battles of France’s most renowned military figure.

Yes, that’s "our" Col. John Elting---past president of our family association, long-time supporter of family projects, that man usually introduced at annual meetings as "the Elting family patriarch."

Such a "patriarch"! While many of us were exhausted after a stimulating October family meeting, our 88 year old Col. John rushed back to his Cornwall on Hudson, NY home to get his beloved wife Ann settled in, and then he was off to Egypt and Syria (modern Israel) to follow the trail of a Napoleonic campaign.

Once described in print as a man who could "map almost any battle (Civil War) from memory and spell out its action in minute-by-minute detail," Col. John has, with Ann by his side for the past 63 years, earned a flawless reputation as historian, writer and consultant. His accomplishments are too numerous to fully enumerate within the confines of our newsletter, so I’ll just offer samples:

After graduating from high school in Billings, MT he earned a B.A in zoology from Leland Stanford University where he was in the ROTC.

He soon began an extensive military career in the final days of the "horse soldier" that culminated with his retirement in 1968 after having earned the Bronze Star, three Commendation Ribbons, a Purple Heart and the Legion of Merit. In his early training, he had been taught military equitation and the functioning of horse-drawn field artillery, equipped with the famous Model 1897 ‘French 75�. "Like Napoleon’s gunners," he says, "I learned something about what horses could do and the problems of caring for them—knowledge unavailable to later motorized and mechanized artillerymen." During his career, he participated in numerous projects including being Deputy Chief, Intelligence Center, J2, Headquarters Far East Command. Though his career spanned World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam, he modestly points out that he "only had combat service in World War II."

An illustrious teaching career took him from Billings, MT High School where he taught biology and English, to Oregon State University to be the ROTC instructor. He earned an M.A in Secondary Education from Colorado State College of Education, and then it was on to such other prestigious campuses as the Armed Forces Information School and the U.S Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, NY, where as an associate professor he became a prolific and respected author.

When Life needed a historical consultant for their Civil War Centennial series of books, the USMA designated Col. John and he was soon deeply immersed in six special series: World War II, Third Reich, Classics of World War II, Echoes of Glory and the Collector’s Library of the Civil War.


Col. John’s vitae lists nearly 20 books of military history that he has edited, authored or co-authored with titles ranging from Military Uniforms in America: Years of Growth, 1796-1851 to The Battles of Saratoga and Battles for Scandinavia. His A Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars, published in 1964 was republished this past February.

While at West Point he and Ann happened to visit Washington’s Headquarters at Newburgh and noticed that one of the exhibits had been donated by a Paul Elting. Overhearing their comments about the Elting name, a receptionist suggested they visit New Paltz and they arrived to find the village celebrating Stone House Day! From that accidental discovery of Elting history, he went on to serve several years as president of the BEFA and now cites his most significant contribution to the association as "I kept a roof on the house! Place was in poor shape and deteriorating. With the help of Bob Lasher and David Wiese we took care of a whole range of essential repairs."

When asked what he believes to be his most significant contribution as an historian, Col. John responded, "Having been a professional soldier, with both staff and line experience, and having served during the final days of the ‘horse solder�, I have been able to bring a certain practical understanding to old wars---and have learned how to put this into effective wording."

Today, one need only enter the name John R. Elting on an Internet search engine to learn of his importance in the world of military history and literature. Go to "books on tape.com" and you’ll find his 1988 book Swords Around A Throne available and described as "The definitive story of Napoleon’s Grand Armee by a master historian." Click on "amazon,com" and you’ll find 17 titles ready to be shipped. Go to "british-bookshop.com" and you’ll find Swords Around A Throne with such comments from distinguished historians as "A masterpiece; quite simply, John Elting’s fine book is the best I have ever read on this challenging subject," and "Elting is a master historian."

It was while surfing on the Internet that I found my favorite description of Col. John. In a March 1996 announcement of the Illinois convention of Miniature Wargamers, participants were invited to "come meet and hear this living treasure of military lore."

This talented gentleman is our family’s "living treasure". While the entire world has had the benefit of his incredible knowledge and contributions to history, we have had the added pleasure of his interest, friendship and continual sharing of ideas and information, as well as his interest and on-going support of the Bevier-Elting house and other association projects.

Not one to rest on his laurels, he is rushing to meet publication deadlines, the latest for his Napoleonic Uniforms, Volume III, and contemplating yet another book, perhaps on logistics!

____________________________________________________________________

Grace Elting Castle wrote:

Sadly, "our" Col. John left us in May 2000. We were blessed to have known this gentle man whose quick wit, ready sense of humor, "let's get to the heart of the matter" attitude, and insistence on the correctness of our endeavors, were guiding stars for these many years. Now his light will shine from our fond memories. -GEC

Source for the above write-up:



Photo:

Review: (cont'd)

Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ review done by a group member:

This is a great summary of WW2 in the Scandinavian theatre and, like all Time-Life Books, the photos are truly excellent. If this aspect of WW2 history is of interest to you, it's a great intro or summary. The book starts of with a good potted bio of Marshall Carl Gustav Mannerheim, the Finnish military commander and one of the truly oustanding generals of WW2 (and one of the greatest "defensive" generals of all time), covers the the 1939-40 Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland, then German invasions of Denmark and Norway. Again, with a very good overview of the fighting in Norway and the French-English intervention force.

There's another good summary on Sweden's position and Swedish neutrality, then very good coverage (perhaps the best I've read in English) of the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union, followed by the Lappland War between Finland and Germany. Also covers briefly the Soviet move into Arctic Norway as the Germans withdrew south. All in all, an excellent book

For those of you with a Kindle Amazon have Churchills history of WWII for a $1.99 au each book for 24 hours only.

The World War II Bookshelf: 50 Must Read Books

James F. Dunnigan

Synopsis

Renowned military analyst and author James F. Dunnigan presents a comprehensive survey of the fifty most important books written about the epic conflict of our times in The World War II Bookshelf. These books provide invaluable insight into the scope of the war, the theaters of operation (Europe, the Middle East, and Russia, and the Pacific), and new technology in the fields of communications, media, security, and special operations; they create a clear picture of the immense mobilization of U.S. Forces, the legendary leaders and everyday heroes, and the strategy and tactics employed in the largest, bloodiest, and most complex war ever fought.

The Digital Collections of the National World War II Museum - Oral Histories

World War II Liberation Trilogy is noteworthy:

by Rick Atkinson

Synopsis:

The definitive chronicle of the Allied triumph in Europe during World War II, Rick Atkinson's Liberation Trilogy is now together in one boxed set

From the War in North Africa to the Invasion of Normandy, the Liberation Trilogy recounts the hard fought battles that led to Allied victory in World War II. Pulitzer Prize-winning and New York Times bestselling author Rick Atkinson brings great drama and exquisite detail to the retelling of these battles and gives life to a cast of characters, from the Allied leaders to rifleman in combat. His accomplishment is monumental: the Liberation Trilogy is the most vividly told, brilliantly researched World War II narrative to date.

Blitzkreig

by Robert Wernick (no photo)

Synopsis:

An excellent and in-depth account of Blitzkrieg tactics and how they were employed against Poland, the Low Countries, and France.