I'm looking for a few book recommendations to round out my WWII reading list. I've read Richard J Evans Third Reich books on domestic Germany, Rick Atkinson's Liberation Trilogy, Ian W Toll's two books on the Pacific, and When Titan's Clashed by Glantz and House. I'm also planning to read Toll's third book on the Pacific when it comes out (hopefully this year).
The main gap here is the early parts of the war, so I'd love recommendations for books on Europe prior to Barbarossa, or the Pacific prior to Pearl Harbor. China is also a major gap, so I'd also be interested in reading a bit about the war there.
Thanks!
Hans van de Ven's China at War: Triumph and Tragedy in the Emergence of the New China, 1937-52 isn't just about the Second Sino-Japanese War (that is, the Chinese theatre of WW2) but also the Civil War and Korean War – conflicts which, for van de Ven, should be viewed together when in the context of the history of China. It's not a 'pure' military history, of course, and indeed it is primarily about the interaction between war and politics (hint: he, like Mao, is rather Clausewitzian in his leanings) and not the war in a vacuum.
EDIT: In addition to that, Vol. 30, No. 4 (Oct., 1996) of the journal Modern Asian Studies was a special issue on 'War in Modern China', and a majority of the articles within are on WWII topics, so if you have JSTOR access or similar it would be well worth checking out.
The Wages of Destruction is the most important book to read about the Western Front, probably.
If you’re read US books about the Pacific then it’s imperative to read from Japanese POV too. Toland’s Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire is a good start for an English speaker.