What books would you suggest to read up on general military history, WW1 and WW2 specifically, as well as equipment and organization of divisions in WW1 and WW2 as well as navy and airforce?

by _AGermanGuy_

I wanna start reading more about this sorta stuff. I am very interested in WW1 and WW2 (both politically and militarily), but also in general military history as well as in small details like the organization and equipment of various divisions, the airforce and navy. There exist millions of books about all these subjects, but which would you suggest? I am german so books about Germany specific or books in German are welcomed, but english is also okay. Also, other countries are good, too.

Thanks in Advance!

EDIT: As well as books about technical details and performance of tanks, planes, ships, etc.

I know this is ALOT to cover, but I just don't know where to begin!

tlumacz

I know very little about WW1, but I can recommend some books about WW2. At least most of them ought to have German translations.

Naval operations are covered very well in the old, but authoritative series of books by Samuel E. Morison, which are in fact the official history of the US Navy in the war. I even had the honor of translating one of the volumes into Polish. Obviously, these books focus on the American perspective, but they'll also give you some understanding of what the Allies were doing as well as what the Axis was trying to do the US.

For the air war I highly recommend The Most Dangerous Enemy by Steven Bungay. The book only covers the Battle of Britain, but does so in great detail and explains a lot of the military-technology stuff you're apparently interested in. The Air War: 1939–1945 by Richard Overy explains why the Allies won the war in the air. The book I'm currently working on, Donald L. Miller's Masters of the Air, gives a vivid account of the bomber war in Europe from the perspective of American airmen. Also, any book(let) by John Weal in the famed Osprey series is worthy of attention.

Moreover, I recommend that you should not read anything by Stephen Ambrose. See justification here.

An overarching perspective of World War 2 is presented in a very interesting way in Norman Davies' Europe at War. It won't tell you anything about units and equipment, but will tell you a lot about how the war was fought. Personally, I'm a fan of books by Antony Beevor.