This best-selling diary is one of the most extraordinary documents to emerge from World War II. Despite regulations, seaman James J. Fahey secretly compiled a diary on scraps of paper throughout the long World War II naval campaign in the Pacific. His diary describes an average sailor's daily life during wartime and records a personal view of a major historic event.

PANZER TANK CREWS?the" "most feared fighting men on earth On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and ignited World War II with a revolutionary fighting force that would forever change the face of war. The key to blitzkrieg??lightning war??was large scale deployment of Panzers, German armored tanks. Aided by the tremendous air power of deadly screaming Stukas, Panzer battalions attacked swiftly, violently, smashing through enemy lines, destroying supplies and artillery positions, and shattering the enemy?s will to resist. The sheer scale of rapid-fire victories amazed the world and elevated the tank soldiers to an almost mythical status. "Panzer Aces "chronicles the battles of six decorated officers who helped create the legend. Based on extensive research, these gripping narratives of D day at Normandy, the bloody campaigns in Italy, the ferocious combat at Kursk?the greatest armored battle in the history of war?and many others offer resounding evidence of how the armored tank, in German hands, became the twentieth century?s single most important development in land fighting.

This book goes over camouflage schemes and markings of German military vehicles covering the entire range of war years. And all fronts. The book has many nice black and white war time photos. They show the various vehicles with they vast variety of schemes used. And the different methods used to apply them. Though I love the photo's, they are no very easy to use for reference in painting. But there are color plates of the various camouflage schemes shown in the photos and discussed. These will come in very handy for the modeler. I will be getting the other two volumes of this series.

The image that defines the Nazis’ Blitzkrieg is that of the Panzerwaffe’s massed columns of tanks sweeping through Europe, all resistance smashed in their wake. The Panzers’ achievements in battle were largely responsible for Germany’s early successes in World War II, and once the tide had turned against the Reich, the Panzers became the backbone of its defense. But the dramatic story of Hitler’s tank divisions is more than one of mere mechanical efficiency. It hangs, too, on those who commanded and fought in them, and believed in their near invincibility. These are the men who come to life in this immensely readable narrative. Great generals like Guderian, Rommel, and Manstein, tank masters like Wittmann and Bake, and inspired commanders like Balck and Bayerlein dominate the story of Panzerkreig. Dispensing with jargon, but including explanatory maps, rare illustrations, and fascinating detail on uniforms, crew members, and the mechanical features of the machines, the authors give a comprehensive overview of all aspects of the subject, both human and technical. They have also benefited from new information available since the opening of Cold War archives. Emerging from the narrative is the whole vast canvas of the war, as it follows the titanic struggles that raged between France’s bocage country, North Africa’s desert wastes, and Russia’s limitless steppes. The development of German fighting vehicles and tactics is fully charted, and the many myths and misconceptions of the Panzerwaffe are exploded. Extensive research, maps, illustrations throughout, reference to the leading participants’ memoirs, and original new conclusions all contribute to this finely measured assessment of the evolution, exploits, and eventual destruction of this superlative fighting force.

A significant postwar memoir written by one of Germany's best field commanders and a brilliant panzer tank general. German general Erhard Raus was one of the most talented commanders to fight on the Eastern Front in Russia, where he was eventually appointed to army group command in early 1945. By the time the war ended, Raus had established a reputation as one of the German army's foremost tacticians of armored warfare, which made him a prized capture by U.S. Army intelligence. In American captivity, Raus wrote a detailed memoir of his service in Russia. His battlefield experience and keen tactical eye makes his memoir especially valuable. The Raus memoir-now translated, compiled, and edited by prominent World War II historian Steven H. Newton-covers the Russian campaign from the first day of the war to his being relieved of his command at Hitler's order in the spring of 1945. It includes a detailed examination of Raus's 6th Panzer Division's drive to Leningrad, his experiences in the Soviet winter counteroffensive around Moscow, the unsuccessful attempt to relieve Stalingrad and the final desperate battles inside Germany at the end of the war.

This is an excellent study of Patton's exploits with the Third Army during the march across Europe in 1944-1945. The book has a day-by-day summary of the activities of the Third Army each day during the drive towards (and later through) Germany. While not technically a primary source, this book should be of primary interest to anyone studying the Third Army or its commander.

One of the major problems with this book is hinted at by the mixed messages on the cover. I found it (in a library) shelved under nonfiction, history of WWII while the back cover copy describes it as a 'novel'. The confusion is understandable. Albright begins with real historical events (the Russo-Japanese War, and the early stages of the Pearl Harbor attack) although in a superficial and novelized format. Then at the point where the Japanese attack in reality broke off and went home, Albright postulates further assaults both in the air and on the surface. Unfortunately, the left turn into alternate history isn't all that well marked. I spent quite a bit of time after the shift into fiction wondering if Albright had his facts wrong or if my previous reading on the subject had missed something. The author information in the hardcover edition mentions that Albright, then a serving Army officer, was present at the Pearl Harbor attack. While this credential commands respect for him personally, it is of little help to him as a novelist. Since (past a certain point) the book is fiction, it demands the fiction writer's craft of drawing readers into the story. While Albright uses the tools of fiction -- directly quoted dialog, physical description of characters with speaking parts -- they aren't really handled adeptly. His idea might well have been better served by an essay format without the foray into fiction. (Another problem, one in no way Albright's fault, is that in the years since his book appeared "alternate history" has become a lively fictional genre populated by talented storytellers such as Harry Turtledove. The genre has developed smooth methods of handling narrative problems -- such as conveying the real history, the alternate history, and the point where the two diverge, to readers all without tedious lectures -- which Albright was trying to solve entirely on his own. This unfortunately means that although alternate-history buffs would be the ideal audience for this work, they are also the audience most likely to judge it harshly.) Unfortunately this book falls between two stools -- it's not quite a historical account of Pearl Harbor, and not quite a what-if novel on the same subject.