[Samurai]

Originally Posted by hserus

A more modern and superbly researched set of (warning : don't drop them on your foot they're heavy) books on WW2 - by Antony Beevor.

I don't run into that danger. I switched over to Kindle back in 2010.

Originally Posted by hserus

Though if you found Shirer tough going you'll find this guy even tougher to plow through

I was 15 then, I can handle much tougher subjects now.

[PVS]

World war 2 always intrigues and fascinates me. There are a couple of audio books that I listened to:
The Railway Man - https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Railw...ZZGE9E7YPYN2C&

This book is all about a British Railway engineer, who was captured during the fall of Singapore in 1942, and had a nightmarish experience working in the SIAM Death Railway.

Unbroken:;
https://www.audible.com/pd/Unbroken-...4Z1WSRS6BWJ64&

This one is the horrific account of a US pilot who spent 46 days on sea, only to be captured by the Japs, and subjected to horrific torture in one of the Japanese POW camps. After the surrender of Japan, he went back home, and struggled to get back to a normal course of life.

[hserus]

John Masters - otherwise known as the author of various "British officer in India" stories ranging from the Mutiny to World War II (one of which was made into Bhowani Junction starting Stewart Granger and Ava Gardner) also wrote the autobiographical The Road Past Mandalay about his stint with the Chindits in Burma. Book 2 of a three volume autobiography apparently, the first being Bugles and a Tiger which is mostly tales of a British army officers' life in 1930s India. Well worth a read.

Then there is Otto Skorzeny's memoir - you'll remember him as the German commando who rescued Mussolini from captivity by landing a Feiseler Storch light aircraft on a mountainside.

https://www.amazon.com/My-Commando-O.../dp/0887407188

[im_srini]

Hello fellow WW2 buffs, I came across this video & was surprised, if not taken aback, to see India 6th on the list of most dead in WW2 !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cgRwDkP6vk

Was this somewhere in Africa or South-East Asia (the only 2 regions in which I've heard sepoys fighting) ?

[hserus]

Originally Posted by im_srini

Hello fellow WW2 buffs, I came across this video & was surprised, if not taken aback, to see India 6th on the list of most dead in WW2 !

Was this somewhere in Africa or South-East Asia (the only 2 regions in which I've heard sepoys fighting) ?

Those of course and also Italy where they were deployed in Monte Cassino

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indi...g_World_War_II

Add the pioneer / mule corps battalions at Dunkirk.

[akshay380]

Originally Posted by im_srini

Hello fellow WW2 buffs, I came across this video & was surprised, if not taken aback, to see India 6th on the list of most dead in WW2!

Was this somewhere in Africa or South-East Asia (the only 2 regions in which I've heard sepoys fighting) ?

They have taken people dead from Bengal famine. About 21L. Total number of Indians dead from Military action is 90k to 1.20L. About 25L fought the war for the British.

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by akshay380

They have taken people dead from Bengal famine. About 21L. Total number of Indians dead from Military action is 90k to 1.20L. About 25L fought the war for the British.

Thanks akshay for this very interesting bit of memorabilia. The countries which lost the most (Russia, Germany, Poland, China.....) have maintained a reasonably low key stand on this tragic issue. Whereas those whose losses were relatively less seem to be among those who are doing the most saber-rattling today.

Gives weight to the lurking fear in many quarters that our planet has a global death-wish.

[ninjatalli]

A year back I had found about this book that detailed about the overwhelming role of drug-taking in the Third Reich. The author Ohler gathered information through logs of Hitler's personal doctor as well as other medical and supply logs.

Gives a very succulent viewpoint on the how and why certain decisions were taken that helped change the course of the war; especially the point of differences between Hitler and his generals.

Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany

[mayankk]

The Photographer of Mauthausen

Its a biographical depiction of one of the captives at Mathausen-Gusen camp. Apparently, he fought to save photographic evidence of the atrocities at the camp.

Very nicely done in gray, and suitably depressing.

Only with English subtitles, and a welcome addition to the WW2 list.

[doxinboy]

Originally Posted by mayankk

The Photographer of Mauthausen
Its a biographical depiction of one of the captives at Mathausen-Gusen camp.

Saw this on Netflix, thanks for the recommendation. Good addition to the holocaust survival history.

[PGA]

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articl...-all-time.html

Not all pertaining to WW2 but a pretty comprehensive list of war movies

[mayankk]

An interesting link popped up in my facebook feed:

https://m.warhistoryonline.com/histo...partisans.html

Not pasting the content as the details are quite long and the guys deserve a dekko for the work they've done compiling it.

[mmxylorider]

Catch-22 is streaming on Hulu (as an original series). Based on same named book by Joseph Heller, it's an satirical view on some aspects of the ETO during WW2. A nice watch (and better, if you've read the book)...

That said, and probably covered in earlier posts, some movies from other countries provide a very interesting perspective on WW2. Among my favorites are 'Das Boot' (German) and 'My Way' (Korean).

[mayankk]

There is a very detailed documentary series on Netflix about the nazis, but focused more on the supporting crew, Goering, Himmler, heydrich, Hess etc.
It's called Hitler's circle of evil.
Very engaging.

[shashanka]

While re-arranging the book-shelf at home I came across "Guilt Edged" by Merlin Minshall. Merlin Minshall, like Dusko Popov (Spy/Counterspy) is said to have been one of the inspirations behind Ian Fleming's creation of James Bond.

Len Deighton's foreword to the book sums up the extra-ordinary story of Merlin Minshall's WW2 espionage experiences- "His mother was a spy in World War I. Ian Fleming was his boss throughout the Second World War. Unwittingly sucked into the world of Nazi espionage during an innocent sailing trip, he was seduced by a lovely but lethal German agent and met Field Marshal Göring face to face. He was the first man to cross the Sahara on a motorcycle and while travelling through the Congo, he accidentally discovered a secret German army. But Romania set the scene for the height of espionage activity – when he single handedly pirated a ship from under Nazi eyes and blew up a vital link in German tanker communications. The man is Merlin Minshall and this is his unique story".

The detailed Wikipedia write-up on Minshall is fascinating in its details of the man's life, and the book itself -Guilt Edged - I found un-put-down-able!