Book suggestions - Page 2

Dan D · 11-19-14, 12:17 PM

Brilliant book this, it is a novel though:

"The Stalin Organ" by Gert Ledig, more here: http://dannyreviews.com/h/Stalin_Organ.html ,

"1942, at the Eastern Front. Soldiers crouch in horrible holes in the ground, mingling with corpses. Tunneled beneath a radio mast, German soldiers await the order to blow themselves up. Russian tanks, struggling to break through enemy lines, bog down in a swamp, while a German runner, bearing messages from headquarters to the front, scrambles desperately from shelter to shelter as he tries to avoid getting caught in the action. Through it all, Russian artillery—the crude but devastatingly effective multiple rocket launcher known to the Germans as the Stalin Organ and to the Russians as Katyusha—rains death upon the struggling troops.

Comparable to such masterpieces of war literature as Ernst Jünger's Storm of Steel and Erich Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, The Stalin Front is a harrowing, almost photographic, description of violence and devastation, one that brings home the unforgiving reality of total war."
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...#other_reviews

Sample excerpt, the book starts with this:

"The Lance-Corporal couldn't turn in his grave, because he didn't have one. Some three versts from Podrova, forty versts south of Leningrad, he had been caught in a salvo of rockets, been thrown up in the air, and with severed hands and head dangling, been impaled on the skeletal branches of what once had been a tree.

The NCO, who was writhing on the ground with a piece of shrapnel in his belly, had no idea what was keeping his machine-gunner. It didn't occur to him to look up. He had his hands full with himself."

****
I agree that it is comparable to e.g. "All Quiet on the Western Front" as IMO it leaves a similar strong Impression on the Reader. Story is told from the perspective of both Germans and "Russians" (Soviet) alike. The author served in the Battle of Leningrad in 1942. This novel essentially reflects his experiences during that battle.

gordonmull · 11-19-14, 08:23 PM

Fair amount of suggestions there, I'm more into land forces' (infantry, tanker's) experiences. Jim, I had thought of a search on Amazon but I figured I'd ask here first, given the ever so slight bastion of knowledge on WWII

. Settled on either Black EdelWeiss by Johann Voss or Red Army Tank Commander: At War in a T-34 on the Eastern Front by Vasiley Bryukhov.

It's not a book, but just to share for anyone who's not come across it, Pte Tom Barker's memoirs are a good read. He served with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in North Africa, then Crete. http://www.warlinks.com/memories/barker/index.php

kranz · 11-20-14, 05:29 AM

don't read soviet commanders' memoirs. Most of them are like:
Day 1: we killed 100 fascists.
Day 2: we killed 1000 fascists.
Day 3: we killed 100 000 fascists.
Day 4: Retreat.

ikalugin · 11-20-14, 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kranz

don't read soviet commanders' memoirs. Most of them are like:
Day 1: we killed 100 fascists.
Day 2: we killed 1000 fascists.
Day 3: we killed 100 000 fascists.
Day 4: Retreat.

I guess retreating got us to Berlin, huh?

ikalugin · 11-20-14, 05:56 AM

However, if you insist I would sum up German memoirs the same way Koshkin did:
(can be found here in Russian, original is not mine: http://armor.kiev.ua/humor/txt/ger.php)

Dmitry Markov · 11-20-14, 06:16 AM

I don't know if these books are translated - but those are masterpieces:

series of Artem Drabkin books with interviews of veterans ("T-34 in action" is translated and is present on amazon as kindle edition)

All these books names are beginning with " Ya dralsya na ..." (I fought in a ...) and then a name of combat arm : artillery, fighter planes, bombers, Il-2's, tanks and so on...

The other great source for first-hand memories is Drabkin's project iremember.ru - maybe it might be even more useful for those who don't speak russian. There are hundreds of recollections all sorted by combat arms. You can use google translate (with care of course ;-)

PS. iremember.ru HAS English version! Didn't notice a small icon in the corner :-) So please don't use google translate on that ;-)
This site is absolutely "must read" for anyone interested in first-hand memories from Soviet side WWII Eastern Front. Those grannies aren't bound these days with secrets or ideology they just tell their stories and you can see everybody had different experience - that makes it very valuable.

Best Regards!

kranz · 11-20-14, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ikalugin

I guess retreating got us to Berlin, huh?

American supplies and sacrificing a tremendous amount of people got you to Berlin.
Nothing else.

ikalugin · 11-20-14, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kranz

American supplies and sacrificing a tremendous amount of people got you to Berlin.
Nothing else.

So overstating the importance of Lend Lease and the Soviet irrecoverable losses? I see. I guess Soviet army fighting better on the operational level by the 3rd period of the war has nothing to do with it. I suggest reading this though:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...u&client=opera
(not even Russian)

That article should be interesting to the OP (and contributors to this thread), as it provides the overview for the development of the Eastern Front histories and criticism of a number of historical works.

gordonmull · 11-20-14, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dmitry Markov

The other great source for first-hand memories is Drabkin's project iremember.ru - maybe it might be even more useful for those who don't speak russian. There are hundreds of recollections all sorted by combat arms. You can use google translate (with care of course ;-)

What a goldmine of information! Thanks.

Quote:

That article should be interesting to the OP (and contributors to this thread), as it provides the overview for the development of the Eastern Front histories and criticism of a number of historical works.

I'll have a read of that soon, I'm a bit brain dead tonight

scorpiondown · 11-23-14, 06:36 PM

My favorite is "The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer.
Read it numerous times

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

Excellent First person account

Eichhörnchen · 11-24-14, 03:08 PM

I read a book years ago about a desperate escape from a post-war soviet prison camp and the subsequent journey (during which, in this true story, the escapees even believe they encountered a Yeti.) I was sure the book was called The Journey, and that a film of it had recently been made. Clearly I was mistaken, for when I search for this title, all I get is the rather cheesy-looking film below.

Does anyone know what the book/film title is? It's a great PoW yarn, if nothing else...

Dread Knot · 11-24-14, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eichhornchen

I read a book years ago about a desperate escape from a post-war soviet prison camp and the subsequent journey (during which, in this true story, the escapees even believe they encountered a Yeti.) I was sure the book was called The Journey, and that a film of it had recently been made. Clearly I was mistaken, for when I search for this title, all I get is the rather cheesy-looking film below.

Does anyone know what the book/film title is? It's a great PoW yarn, if nothing else...

The book you are thinking of was likely The Long Walk (1956), the memoir by former Polish POW Sławomir Rawicz, who escaped from a Soviet Gulag and walked 4,000 miles to freedom in World War II.

A movie based on it starring Ed Harris and directed by Peter Weir called The Way Back was made in 2010.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Way_Back

Eichhörnchen · 11-24-14, 03:24 PM

That's the one! That's it! Thanks everso, pal: I'd like to see that...

Eichhörnchen · 10-12-16, 01:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eichhörnchen

That's the one! That's it! Thanks everso, pal: I'd like to see that...

I found the dvd last week and we watched it on Saturday. Great film (Colin Farrell is in it, too) but there was no encounter with the Yeti.

jayni · 10-21-16, 04:52 PM

I would recommend Willi Heinrich's trilogy: Cross of Iron, Crack of Doom and Mark of Shame. Although these are fiction works they give an insight into the life of a German soldier.
You might also want to look at David Robbins War Of the Rats (Stalingrad) and his novel on the Kursk battle.

11-19-14, 12:17 PM	#16
Dan D Grey Wolf Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: 9th Flotilla Posts: 839 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Brilliant book this, it is a novel though: "The Stalin Organ" by Gert Ledig, more here: http://dannyreviews.com/h/Stalin_Organ.html , "1942, at the Eastern Front. Soldiers crouch in horrible holes in the ground, mingling with corpses. Tunneled beneath a radio mast, German soldiers await the order to blow themselves up. Russian tanks, struggling to break through enemy lines, bog down in a swamp, while a German runner, bearing messages from headquarters to the front, scrambles desperately from shelter to shelter as he tries to avoid getting caught in the action. Through it all, Russian artillery—the crude but devastatingly effective multiple rocket launcher known to the Germans as the Stalin Organ and to the Russians as Katyusha—rains death upon the struggling troops. Comparable to such masterpieces of war literature as Ernst Jünger's Storm of Steel and Erich Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, The Stalin Front is a harrowing, almost photographic, description of violence and devastation, one that brings home the unforgiving reality of total war." http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...#other_reviews Sample excerpt, the book starts with this: "The Lance-Corporal couldn't turn in his grave, because he didn't have one. Some three versts from Podrova, forty versts south of Leningrad, he had been caught in a salvo of rockets, been thrown up in the air, and with severed hands and head dangling, been impaled on the skeletal branches of what once had been a tree. The NCO, who was writhing on the ground with a piece of shrapnel in his belly, had no idea what was keeping his machine-gunner. It didn't occur to him to look up. He had his hands full with himself." **** I agree that it is comparable to e.g. "All Quiet on the Western Front" as IMO it leaves a similar strong Impression on the Reader. Story is told from the perspective of both Germans and "Russians" (Soviet) alike. The author served in the Battle of Leningrad in 1942. This novel essentially reflects his experiences during that battle. __________________

11-20-14, 05:56 AM	#20
ikalugin Ocean Warrior Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Moscow, Russia Posts: 3,212 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	However, if you insist I would sum up German memoirs the same way Koshkin did: (can be found here in Russian, original is not mine: http://armor.kiev.ua/humor/txt/ger.php) - We lost because of Hitler. Hitler was a fool. German soldier - best Soldier. German commander - like Friedrich the Great but without the vices. - Russians buried us under their corpses. Russians were too numerous. Russian soldier - is a beast, he eats that could not run from it, sleeps while standing like a horse, and sneaks around. Author numerous times witnessed how whole armies sneaked through the front line, nothing was giving away their presence - normal artillery preparation, aerial bombardment and then suddenly there is an entire Russian Tank Army in your rear. - SS was sometimes taking it too far. I mean, they should have been content with the regular marauding, mass executions by firing squads and occasional rape, without which the German Soldier would suffer from over abundance of energy and jolly spirit. Most of population on the new territories would have accepted us then. - Russians had T34. It is unfair. We didn't have such tank. - Russians had too many anti tank guns. Every soldier had an anti tank gun, they would hide with those in small crevices, in the tall grass, in the tree roots. - Russians had way too many Mongolians. Mongolians backed up by commissars are a scary thing. - Russians had commissars. Commissars are scary. Most commissars were Jews. We killed our Jews, Himler was a fool, we would have won with Jewish commissars (comment from Ika - this should not be viewed offensive for the Jewish). - Russians were using an unfair move - they would pretend that they were surrendering and then would shoot us in the back. Once a whole Russian Tank Corps would kill in this way a German Heavy Tank Battalion. - Russians were killing German Troops. This was unfair, as everyone knows that it is only allowed for Germans to kill Russians, not the other way round. - Allies betrayed us. British and Americans that is.

11-20-14, 06:16 AM	#21
Dmitry Markov Officer Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Moscow, Russian Federation Posts: 236 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I don't know if these books are translated - but those are masterpieces: series of Artem Drabkin books with interviews of veterans ("T-34 in action" is translated and is present on amazon as kindle edition) All these books names are beginning with " Ya dralsya na ..." (I fought in a ...) and then a name of combat arm : artillery, fighter planes, bombers, Il-2's, tanks and so on... The other great source for first-hand memories is Drabkin's project iremember.ru - maybe it might be even more useful for those who don't speak russian. There are hundreds of recollections all sorted by combat arms. You can use google translate (with care of course ;-) PS. iremember.ru HAS English version! Didn't notice a small icon in the corner :-) So please don't use google translate on that ;-) This site is absolutely "must read" for anyone interested in first-hand memories from Soviet side WWII Eastern Front. Those grannies aren't bound these days with secrets or ideology they just tell their stories and you can see everybody had different experience - that makes it very valuable. Best Regards! __________________ Большому кораблю - большая торпеда! Last edited by Dmitry Markov; 11-20-14 at 06:27 AM.

11-24-14, 03:08 PM	#26
Eichhörnchen Starte das Auto Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: The Fens Posts: 17,409 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	The Journey I read a book years ago about a desperate escape from a post-war soviet prison camp and the subsequent journey (during which, in this true story, the escapees even believe they encountered a Yeti.) I was sure the book was called The Journey, and that a film of it had recently been made. Clearly I was mistaken, for when I search for this title, all I get is the rather cheesy-looking film below. Does anyone know what the book/film title is? It's a great PoW yarn, if nothing else...

10-21-16, 04:52 PM	#30
jayni Seaman Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Walnut Creek Ca. Posts: 38 Downloads: 25 Uploads: 0	I would recommend Willi Heinrich's trilogy: Cross of Iron, Crack of Doom and Mark of Shame. Although these are fiction works they give an insight into the life of a German soldier. You might also want to look at David Robbins War Of the Rats (Stalingrad) and his novel on the Kursk battle. __________________ Jessica Wabbit

11-19-14, 08:23 PM	#17
gordonmull Lieutenant Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Scotland Posts: 269 Downloads: 20 Uploads: 0	Fair amount of suggestions there, I'm more into land forces' (infantry, tanker's) experiences. Jim, I had thought of a search on Amazon but I figured I'd ask here first, given the ever so slight bastion of knowledge on WWII . Settled on either Black EdelWeiss by Johann Voss or Red Army Tank Commander: At War in a T-34 on the Eastern Front by Vasiley Bryukhov. It's not a book, but just to share for anyone who's not come across it, Pte Tom Barker's memoirs are a good read. He served with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in North Africa, then Crete. http://www.warlinks.com/memories/barker/index.php

11-20-14, 05:29 AM	#18
kranz The Old Man Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Poland Posts: 1,430 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	don't read soviet commanders' memoirs. Most of them are like: Day 1: we killed 100 fascists. Day 2: we killed 1000 fascists. Day 3: we killed 100 000 fascists. Day 4: Retreat.

11-23-14, 06:36 PM	#25
scorpiondown Electrician's Mate Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: near Pittsburgh pa. and Daytona Posts: 131 Downloads: 107 Uploads: 0	My favorite is "The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer. Read it numerous times http://www.amazon.com/The-Forgotten-.../dp/1574882864 Excellent First person account

11-24-14, 03:24 PM	#28
Eichhörnchen Starte das Auto Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: The Fens Posts: 17,409 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	That's the one! That's it! Thanks everso, pal: I'd like to see that...