Great video. Osprey books are great starting books. Got to enjoy what your reading. Looking forward to more videos.
@MagiciansApprentice1
3 ай бұрын
I was thinking about this last night; and glad you recommended the Ospreys - details, maps and pictures. But one point I hate are WW2 podcasters merely using secondary sources that fit their slant on the narrative, rather than going back to the primary sources. So your next talk on this theme will be interesting. Especially, if you get to grips with finding things in the National Archives on-line eg- battle diaries.
@WW2TV
3 ай бұрын
Which is why I bring on the experts who have done that leg-work
@USAFCCF
3 ай бұрын
You are so right about Sand & Steel! I am enjoying it but there is so much to think about. I am looking forward to hearing your advice and guidance on how to research using primary sources.
@KOMET2006
2 ай бұрын
When it comes to World War II, I like to read both non-fiction and fiction books on the subject. (I confess to being partial about the air war aspect of the conflict.) I've been a student of World War II since my pre-teen days in the mid-1970s. I read the non-fiction books to broaden my knowledge about a campaign and the people who participated in it. The novels on the war I enjoy reading to get more of a broader human view. For instance, the Cazalet Chronicle series of historical novels by Elizabeth Jane Howard - several of which are set in the UK between 1939 and 1945.
@garymackey850
3 ай бұрын
Next on my shelf is John Bruning's Race of Aces....(just ordered his Starvation Island this past morning)
@tonetriv
3 ай бұрын
Marc Milner sparked my interest in the Canadian and 12th$$ battles on D+1. David O'Keefe compelled me to read more about Dieppe. WW2TV is, among other things, one giant unending book review. Live, too. With the authors!
@thingme9941
2 күн бұрын
Not Just Ordinary Blokes by J G M Holms. A New Zealand perspective on WW2 from those that served. Accompanied by scores and scores of photos.
@DDB168
3 ай бұрын
Great advice Woody. 👍
@davidk7324
3 ай бұрын
Thank you Paul. This was helpful to me. From the standpoint of an author's style, pace, and communication skill, I find listening to your author guests extremely helpful. IME your guests who speak clearly, descriptively, and economically are writers I like to read. A small sample size to be sure, but I have not regretted any book purchases since I've been part of this community.
@tonetriv
3 ай бұрын
I missed this! Watching it now, 4 hours later... .
@rondav41
2 ай бұрын
damn Paul, excellent presentation non scripted. Thank you.
@seandail1
2 ай бұрын
Wonderful advice. I especially liked the readability vs detail discussion.
@mjinnh2112
2 ай бұрын
Wikipedia can be great and the bibliographies are often really fruitful.
@martinmcbeth6578
3 ай бұрын
For me it's author, author, and author. I knew from researching Judith M. Heimann that she was one of only a few people who could understand the scribbling handwriting of Tom Harrisson. She had imbibed all his writing from bird watching to jungle warfare to works of anthropology. That made purchasing "The Airmen and the Headhunters" and "The Most Offending Soul Alive" an absolute no-brainer. Or, it can be simple. I heard a black American economist say "why should government look after people that won't look after themselves?" That simple phrase led me to "The Vision of the Anointed" and "Basic Economics" (634 pages without a single graph). That author, Thomas Sowell, changed my life! Books - who needs 'em. LOL Great video, Paul.
@garyaugust1953
2 ай бұрын
Great topic, Paul. From my point of view, the intellectual gain from either geo political viewpoints or indeed individual or battlefield accounts or operations can only come from selected literature. Again, in my opinion, to truly understand WW2, you have to read and understand the geo political consequences of WW1, not specifically from a singular point of view. In order to understand how the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP) grew, indoctrinated and propagated a nation to encompass total war. As you rightly state, the type of reading is paramount to understanding the subject. 'Lighter' formats will engage, but maybe not give the greater context to their individual topic. William Shirers history of Nazi Germany is a tortuous read in reality, but educationally gives an insight into the nationalistic intrepidations, the predatory nature of politics and the subservience of a population to propaganda. Soz this is long, but the show highlights how important books are in whatever format.
@dave3156
3 ай бұрын
Woody your channel has done a great job of assisting in my reading--what authors and subjects. It's nice to get a preview of the author--if he can put a good presentation on, chances are his writing will also be interesting i.e., John McManus or Martin K. A. Morgan. Thx!!!!
@Caratacus1
3 ай бұрын
FWIW I'll offer a caveat on the first point - and it's nothing personal. However if you're only reading authors who align to your worldview then you're looking for Affirmation not Information. In my History degree we had to research all sides. So I've done unpleasant Historians with agendas like Irving. The Idea was that you see if your thesis can survive testing from whatever source. Then hopefully you can shoot them down in your analysis. It's a great way to train your brain and sometimes you can actually learn something new. Irving was an outlier back in my day but it seems to be getting harder to find Historians that aren't bringing in (often sponsored) agendas to their work. They also increasingly self-censor to avoid any potential loss in sales. However, actual research is honest research and I'm glad I did mine long before History became so politicised. It's very difficult to make any progress with a topic if people are only prepared to sit in their comfortable bubble. Something to look out for and just my 2p 🙂 [Edit]: Now I only read History for pleasure but can still offer a case in point. I often don't agree with the views of Max Hastings although I'm sure he's a nice enough bloke. However I recently picked up his Pedestal book and thoroughly enjoyed it and learnt lots of new things. It's worth checking out the other side of the hill even if you're just here for entertainment.
@FlytheW11216
Ай бұрын
There’s a lot of great advice packed into this one! Starting small is a great reminder that you don’t need to start with the thickest book on a topic. I’ve done this before, and became completely overwhelmed by the amount of information in the book.
@csbkota
2 ай бұрын
I read for enjoyment and learning both. And here learning is also an enjoyment; I mean if a subject catches my eyes and I don't know anyzhing about it, at default I will read a book about it. So for example I read the book on Spanish civil war from Hugh Thomas: it was a slog, so full of details that I couldn't read more than one, or two chapters in a sitting, and sometimes I needed a few days break between sesshions, it was so dense, and to wrap your head around it was no small feat; but at the end it was a remarkable journey and learnt a lot from it, not just about the civil war, but about Spain, the spanish society etc., and it was a delight, an enjoymrnt.
@davidlavigne207
3 ай бұрын
I started reading about history from around the age of 8 years old, my first history book was a youth edition about the USS Nautilus sailing under the North Pole. The first WW2 history was also a youth edition about the Eagle Squadron that fought with the RAF during the Battle of Britain. I was 10 years old, and had just watched the film that came out in 1969. I was hooked, and have read voraciously about military history, and WW2 history especially ever since. The level of detail became more important as my level of sophistication and understanding grew, but I also appreciated books like the Osprey series as well. Being a war gamer, I often looked for a good game in which to better understand a campaign or battle which I read about. Enjoyed your thoughts on the subject Woody.
@dixiedean2003
2 ай бұрын
Some sound advice here on how to start thinking what to read. I tend to look at when the book was written. For a particular event or campaign then I'd try and find something written by participants or contemporaries and then something more modern. You then get both the flavour of the event and the more rounded perspective. In light of this, something I always worry about is the way many older and long out of print books are becoming rarer and harder to find, and thus more expensive.
@richardbinkhuysen5224
3 ай бұрын
I suggest reading the German diaries and local civil reports during a certain Battle to form a objectieve opinion instead of just following blindly known history as most Allied units where not familiar with the terrain where they were at a certain time. Many areas are completely changed after 80 years, so try to get maps and German plans of the area as even trenches are most likely hard to find.
@KevinJones-yh2jb
3 ай бұрын
Thanks Woody, some great recommendations today, brilliant as always
@azeclecticdog
3 ай бұрын
Loved those quotes!
@Hal_Jr
3 ай бұрын
27:15 Woody: Thank you for freeing me of the guilt I often feel regarding my reading queue! Your absolution will save me the need for therapy. In all seriousness, great show today.
@WW2TV
3 ай бұрын
You are welcome
@K-Nyne
3 ай бұрын
My method of seeing what books I'd like to read is ro see what authors come on WW2TV to talk about the topics I'm interested in :)
@WW2TV
3 ай бұрын
Sensible
@K-Nyne
3 ай бұрын
That way I'm ususally also getting the most recent and up-to-date books. Like right now I'm reading Stephen Fisher's Sword Beach
@EmsThaBreaks441
3 ай бұрын
Parshall is still writing his 1942 book?
@WW2TV
3 ай бұрын
Yep
@scottgrimwood8868
3 ай бұрын
Excellent recommendations. The only thing I would add is using some critical thinking to try and determine if the author is conveying fact, supposition, or fiction. I always look at the bibliography and references of a book to see the quality of the soures used. Of course, autobiographies and memoirs are the exception.
@hollands24
3 ай бұрын
My Uncle, Major General Graham Hollands name appears in the credits for Sand & Steel. I must find time to also read Snow & Steel. I really enjoy your channel, Thank you.
@WW2TV
3 ай бұрын
Thank you. I know Graham a little, but not seen him for a few years
@hollands24
3 ай бұрын
@@WW2TV Still lives in the Normandy area.
@steelepartridge6954
2 ай бұрын
Took a tour with him years back in Normandy. What a wonderful man.
@donrobertson4940
3 ай бұрын
The ladybird book of genocide ...
@WW2TV
3 ай бұрын
If that was supposed to be funny, well it wasn't
@normagraham149
3 ай бұрын
This show is so interesting! I keep missing your Woody Talks About Stuff shows live, need to fix my notifications. 😢 I can sit and read a memoir or a biography and be utterly enthralled, but the “battalion A moved to Hill 27” books tend to cause unscheduled naps. 🤤 (unless they’re by David O’Keefe. Those are riveting). For those sorts of books I usually depend on audiobooks.
@michaelgiannone5480
3 ай бұрын
Brilliant - as always. Maybe my book choices are suspect, but not my historian. Thanks much.
@marchuvfulz
3 ай бұрын
Very good video. Think the point about what level of analysis is of interest is very much worth emphasizing. Books about particular small unit or individual experiences are going to be very different from the "how the war was won/lost" strategic level.
@tonetriv
3 ай бұрын
Loved this, sorry I missed it live. I had to laugh a bit about American Paratrooper Helmets ... because I have it, I enjoyed it, iwas curious about why the M1C came AFTER the M2, which makes me a nerd, I guess. Loved the slides, agree distance vs. recent, just made that point to someone here yesterday. You what my most secret reading pleasure is? Game manuals for WW2 games by Avalon Hill. The melding of strategy and history and orders of battle and maps (I have a map fetish) is delicious. Loved the episode, thank you for removing guilt from unread or partially read books. And yes, the promise of reading them all in our last years beckons strongly. It's oneof my motivations for trying to stay healthy. Too many books, too little time.
@stephenm.fochuk7795
3 ай бұрын
A good overview, Woody, between primers, general and the specific types. And it is also hard to differentiate between the popular historians who tend to jump around topics for whatever the are reason(s); usually it's the all mighty dollar versus the academic works or those with a one sided view or an agenda. One thing that I have come to learn with that "new" ground breaking book is to check the sources used and not used. As you know, it takes a very long time to get to know "a" subject and if they are missing some of the obvious sources, well, leave it on the shelf.
@steveholmes4918
3 ай бұрын
Enjoyed this Paul, and now know that I am not the only one who opens a new book and smells the printed page!!!!
@willierobertson862
3 ай бұрын
Some useful insights, I tend to graze through topics depending on the mood.
@rocinante217
3 ай бұрын
Great video Woody!
@spindrjr
3 ай бұрын
Where can I look at the bookshelf in your thumbnail? I love browsing WW2 bookshelves.
@WW2TV
3 ай бұрын
In my living room, they are a couple of my shelves
@spindrjr
3 ай бұрын
@@WW2TV Any chance of getting some pictures?
@WW2TV
2 ай бұрын
I sometimes post photos on social media
@jwjohnson9547
3 ай бұрын
I like to read for fun, but I feel like it’s a waste of time if I don’t learn something. Unfortunately, my bad memory means that I may only retain a small percentage. Another good show. I find your Woody standalone shows to be the most informative.
@WW2TV
3 ай бұрын
Well, that's a nice thing to say - thank you, but the best shows are those with expert guests
@normagraham149
3 ай бұрын
I know, right? I spend more time scrabbling through books muttering “I know I read that somewhere but I can’t remember where!” Getting old blows, sometimes. 😖
@jwjohnson9547
3 ай бұрын
@@normagraham149So right. I’ve begun to buy e-books which make it easier to search those instances.
@phillipsmith4814
3 ай бұрын
I really enjoy narrative history, but also prefer a more analytical/descriptive type of history since it helps to not just know what happened, but more importantly have some idea of how and why it happened. I get the most from history when I understand how we got to where we are. Bottom line, I want to learn from and about the past. As a citizen of a republic it is important to know when our “leaders” are trying to feed us peons a load of 💩
Пікірлер: 57