1Tess_W
A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell. This was the story of Virginia Hall, WWII's most decorated spy. A great non-fiction about Virginia, an American, who ended up being the primary operative in Vichy, France, during WWII. At one time she had 1500 couriers, radio operators, etc., under her auspices. She narrowly escaped Klaus Barbie, who had a bounty placed on her head. This book was so very well researched that it was easy to go down needed rabbit holes, and I did! 368 pages 5 stars
Klaus Barbie: The Shocking Story of How the U.S. Used This Nazi War Criminal As an Intelligence Agent by Erhard Dabringhaus. The U.S. employed Barbie and helped him escape punishment in France. This book appears to have been little researched and seems to be opinion. Not worth the time 207pages 2 stars
France: The Dark Years, 1940-1944 by Julian Jackson. A superbly written account of France during WWII, especially Vichy. Since reading A Woman of No Importance, I discovered that my studies of and U.S. textbooks about Vichy, France, are quite distorted. After reading this I can categorically say that Vichy, France, was by no means a "free zone", and in fact, perhaps more dangerous than Paris. Well worth the 608 pages 5 stars
Klaus Barbie: The Shocking Story of How the U.S. Used This Nazi War Criminal As an Intelligence Agent by Erhard Dabringhaus. The U.S. employed Barbie and helped him escape punishment in France. This book appears to have been little researched and seems to be opinion. Not worth the time 207pages 2 stars
France: The Dark Years, 1940-1944 by Julian Jackson. A superbly written account of France during WWII, especially Vichy. Since reading A Woman of No Importance, I discovered that my studies of and U.S. textbooks about Vichy, France, are quite distorted. After reading this I can categorically say that Vichy, France, was by no means a "free zone", and in fact, perhaps more dangerous than Paris. Well worth the 608 pages 5 stars
2ironjaw
Great recommendations. I dislike reading a non fiction book that turns out rubbish so will avoid Dabringhaus
3rocketjk
I finished The Background of Our War by The U.S. War Department Bureau of Public Relations.
The U.S. War Department (now known rather euphemistically as the Department of Defense) put this book together immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor that finally brought the U.S. into World War 2. The War Department evidently assumed that cadets at the U.S. Military Academy (a.k.a. West Point) needed to be brought up to speed about what had been going on in the world over the past 10 years or so. The book contains a chapter apiece about the war up until that time. The Japanese invasion of China and other pre-Pearl Harbor activities in the Pacific get a couple of chapters, and there's a chapter each for the Nazi invasions of Norway, Poland and France, the Battle of Britain and the Battle of the Atlantic, among others. There will be very little that's new here for folks who are up to speed on their WW2 military history, although the book might serve as a good primer for those who haven't read much on the topic. The writing and explanations are generally clear and straightforward. There's more than a bit of a propaganda element going on here, you won't be surprised to learn. The snafus that were part of the English Army's attempts to help the Norwegians fight off the German invasion and the inept defense of France are both pretty much whitewashed, for example. At any rate, copies of this book were evidently handed out to West Point cadets. It's unclear to me whether there was any further distribution of the book, although if not, the volume does represent a pretty impressive effort all told for such a small (in numbers, anyway) an audience.
Book note: This volume has been on my Military History shelf since 2010. So, a while. I have no memory of purchasing it, but most likely in some thrift shop or antique store somewhere. According to the penciled in price on the inside cover, I paid a dollar for it. According to the inscription written in ink, the book originally belonged to
Cpt. A.W. Brooks
Co. F-1, U.S.M.A
The U.S. War Department (now known rather euphemistically as the Department of Defense) put this book together immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor that finally brought the U.S. into World War 2. The War Department evidently assumed that cadets at the U.S. Military Academy (a.k.a. West Point) needed to be brought up to speed about what had been going on in the world over the past 10 years or so. The book contains a chapter apiece about the war up until that time. The Japanese invasion of China and other pre-Pearl Harbor activities in the Pacific get a couple of chapters, and there's a chapter each for the Nazi invasions of Norway, Poland and France, the Battle of Britain and the Battle of the Atlantic, among others. There will be very little that's new here for folks who are up to speed on their WW2 military history, although the book might serve as a good primer for those who haven't read much on the topic. The writing and explanations are generally clear and straightforward. There's more than a bit of a propaganda element going on here, you won't be surprised to learn. The snafus that were part of the English Army's attempts to help the Norwegians fight off the German invasion and the inept defense of France are both pretty much whitewashed, for example. At any rate, copies of this book were evidently handed out to West Point cadets. It's unclear to me whether there was any further distribution of the book, although if not, the volume does represent a pretty impressive effort all told for such a small (in numbers, anyway) an audience.
Book note: This volume has been on my Military History shelf since 2010. So, a while. I have no memory of purchasing it, but most likely in some thrift shop or antique store somewhere. According to the penciled in price on the inside cover, I paid a dollar for it. According to the inscription written in ink, the book originally belonged to
Cpt. A.W. Brooks
Co. F-1, U.S.M.A
4rocketjk
I snuck in one more before year's end. I finished Watch Czechoslovakia! by Richard Freund. This is a very short book, written in 1937, just months before the infamous Munich Agreement that allowed the German Army to occupy Czechoslovakia without a shot fired. The book is, at its heart, an examination of the conflicts within the country between the Czechoslovak majority and the German minority, the use that Nazi Germany might be likely to make of these conflicts, and the very important reasons why they would care. I could find very little information about the book's author. I did find a couple of contemporary book reviews online. Freund is referred to in one as an "Anglicized Austrian journalist" and in another as an "Anglo-Austrian journalist." At any rate, he seems to have known his business.
Freund gives a thumbnail sketch of Czechoslovak history and describes the geographic and economic factors that have made the country of such strategic importance in Central Europe throughout the centuries. As Freund wrote:
"Four points should be remembered: (1) the Western mountain arch, pointing towards the heart of Germany; (2) the 50 miles' gap in the northern range which, as the "Gateway of Moravia," has played an important part in the migrations of the European races for thousands of years; (3) the long sweep of the Carpathians pointing towards Rumania and Russia; (4) the Danube in the south.
The Bohemian basin with its mountain walls has been coveted by ambitious nations from the dawn of history, because its possession gives to a strong military power a strategic basis for operations over vast tracts of the European Continent."
The German minority in the country actually made up around 22% of Czechoslovakia's overall population. As Freund describes things, quite a few of their grievances were legitimate. But by time of his writing in 1937, he says that rather than working towards solving these problems, a nationalist German party, under the leadership of a Nazi sympathizer named Konrad Henlein, was much more interested in kicking up dissension and creating an excuse for the Nazi Army to take action. Freund describes the separate mutual defense agreements the Czechoslovakians had with both France and Russia, and talks about what these allies were likely to do in the face of a German incursion. Freund seems to have been able to imagine every eventuality other than what actually occurred, the Allies ignoring their own strategic interests by handing over the country to the Nazi's. Given the strategic military use Hitler and his generals were obviously likely to make of occupying the country, it's astonishing in retrospect that Neville Chamberlin could have ever supposed that the result of the Munich Agreement would be a significant period of peace.
Freund gives a thumbnail sketch of Czechoslovak history and describes the geographic and economic factors that have made the country of such strategic importance in Central Europe throughout the centuries. As Freund wrote:
"Four points should be remembered: (1) the Western mountain arch, pointing towards the heart of Germany; (2) the 50 miles' gap in the northern range which, as the "Gateway of Moravia," has played an important part in the migrations of the European races for thousands of years; (3) the long sweep of the Carpathians pointing towards Rumania and Russia; (4) the Danube in the south.
The Bohemian basin with its mountain walls has been coveted by ambitious nations from the dawn of history, because its possession gives to a strong military power a strategic basis for operations over vast tracts of the European Continent."
The German minority in the country actually made up around 22% of Czechoslovakia's overall population. As Freund describes things, quite a few of their grievances were legitimate. But by time of his writing in 1937, he says that rather than working towards solving these problems, a nationalist German party, under the leadership of a Nazi sympathizer named Konrad Henlein, was much more interested in kicking up dissension and creating an excuse for the Nazi Army to take action. Freund describes the separate mutual defense agreements the Czechoslovakians had with both France and Russia, and talks about what these allies were likely to do in the face of a German incursion. Freund seems to have been able to imagine every eventuality other than what actually occurred, the Allies ignoring their own strategic interests by handing over the country to the Nazi's. Given the strategic military use Hitler and his generals were obviously likely to make of occupying the country, it's astonishing in retrospect that Neville Chamberlin could have ever supposed that the result of the Munich Agreement would be a significant period of peace.
