I got all hell let lose for christmas, I've used bomber command for referencing in my degree, I should really get around to reading his stuff. though have a book that I'd like to reccomend for you ted
Scorched Earth, Black Snow: The First Year of the Korean War by
Andrew Salmon (as a newbie to korea i must say it was enlightening and well written and heartily reccomend it.I cant wait to get his other work on korea).
As a former member of the Mighty 8th Air Force (NOT during WWII, I am not that old) I am glad to see the book on what bomber command did during WWII. I get tired of hearing how the Russians really beat the Germans because of the Eastern Front, with no mention of the impact of the bombing campaign by the US and British. I do not remember anyone taliking about the skies black over Germany with Russian Bombers!
@davidgcalderone Yes, very true. If I remember rightly I think that two thirds of German crew-served guns, three quarters of their fighter strength and 2 million personnel were deployed for the air defence of the Reich. This diversion of resources and the obliteration of German war production were vital in defeating Germany. This is forgotten now as it gets mixed up in the supposed war crimes debate.
Hastings is qualified to write about British forces but I don't put any stock in his assessments of US forces due to his extreme bias, as someone else here pointed out.
I also note, Ted, that apparently this Rick Atkinson also is very negative regarding US forces (in N. Africa). I realize that it's imperative to study what went wrong and why, but I wonder why the two authors you promote are both hyper-critical of the US Army.
Hope your house didnt get raided with your buddy who's the CEO or Founder =of MegaUpload. (lol) You wealthy NZ all run in the same circle, right? Looks like they tore into 10 of his house and also took some of his cars. Maybe you can go to the auction and purchase those cars cheap! Hmm, that mght not be a bad idea.
I also wondered if Hastings relied upon the writings of British "journalist" Reginald Thompson, a guy who wrote silly, insulting, provably untrue things about US forces in Korea. Predictably enough, it's in Hastings' "The Korean War" bibliography. I bet he ate that stuff right up.
When it comes to anything involving the US military, I steer clear of British authors because they have a huge bias against US forces. Hastings, in his work about the Korean War, for example, accentuates the negative and completely ignores the positive, regarding the US Army.
He then focuses on Brit and Commonwealth units (which is great, but he needs to reflect that in the title), which leads the reader to think that US forces were just one little brick in the UN wall. They were not.
you tar all uk authors with the same brush, indeed the same could be said of some US authers/journos onthe bias front.
I point you to the book i reccomended ted in the responses to this vid, the author was very even handed in critisism of the main actors. Equally he gave praise to those who warrented it.
@ArmedBrit - No, no, I don't mean just "bias"; many British authors have have contempt for the US military; I never read anything close to that type of attitude towards Brits from American authors.
Hitler's War by Heinz Magenheimer is quite good, bit of a dry read though. Its an analysis of Hitler's key strategic decisions and where they went wrong... It borders on the 'what if' history some times. Though it does given an insight into the workings of the OKW and their tactical planning
I studied History for A-level (last school qualification in British schools before Uni) and decided to study military history at University, what they teach in schools is pathetic, I had to relearn everything in the 1st year of Uni. The essay styles were all wrong, source analysis was all wrong, the style of history was wrong/ I looked through my old school notes last week and laughed.
@nzww2buff Yes, because according to some O.D.S. boonie cap sunglass wearing) F.A. types on YT I was a POG - LOL and ROFL
Nice dagger collection you are building there !!!! I (rather unfortunately) attended a funeral for a Veteran of the Battle of the Bulge today and saw a VERY impressive collection he had brought home, when I told the family some prices their collective heads spun
@ravenbones1 That guy is mental. No doubt about it. Sorry about the Vet. They are falling over with incredible speed now, sadly. I hope the family holds onto the 'bring-back' stuff. if not.........give 'em my number! :)
@nzww2buff I certainly will, My Dad doesn't like to drive too much, I started taking him to his Veteran meetings, next thing I know they elect me president of the chapter!!! At each meeting I make it a point to tell the Vets they should remind their families, or put me in their Last Will.
Also on the Max Hastings when i have been reading his books or unsing his books i have found that they are very dated and lake detail espical his bomber command book were he hardely talks about many of the inportant raids. A good book for bomber commnad is RAF Bomber Command in the Second World War the hardest victory by Denis Richards. its a huge book but it covers every thing and then anouther good one is The Relentless Offensive by Roy Irons. That one doas not miss any detail out
@topguntopcat Well, it is an Over view of the entire campaign - not a compendium of the varoius raids. Anyway, I'd highly recommend try Martin Middlebrook's book on the RAF campaign.(can't remember the title).
Yes i tottaly agree what you said at the start of the vid, when i started IB and uni from the start we were told we could not really of the internet and DVDS. Also to add to your recomdations for books about ww2 is Andrew Roberts Storm Of War a new history of ww2 i think it was published around 2008 ish but it is a very good and interesting read.
Spot on Ted. TV/DVD documentaries can only ever scratch the surface. I agree with your views on Max Hastings, but what do you think of Anthomy Beevor? I thought his books on Stalingrad, Berlin and D-Day were excellent, especially as accessible ways in to the subject; he certainly doesn't have starry eyes about any of the belligerents.
@10rdsrpd I've read everything he's written. I'll be talking about Beevor shortly - I don't rate his as highly as Hastings or John Keegan. In truth, i supect he write for people that have difficulty with big words. I'm not being facicious (and i've probably mispelled that!) when I say that. He did write a very interesting account of Operation Mercury.
on the 'social studies' thing, I completely agree (and currently live it), we were doing WW1 last year (Gallipoli in particular), but the furthest we got into the acutal combat life (besides the physical conditions) was how britian were complete idiots (hurtful D:), so being someone who shows more than a remote interest in these things, it annoys me on how little we're told.
I have to agree with you, video presentations have their place, but nothing takes the place of good books, and besides reading them is so enjoyable (at least I think so).
World War II Small Arms by John Weeks is a nice one for photos, even had some rarer pieces. Most notably for me, a lovely photo of a Solothurn S18-1000. It coveres a fair few weapons doesn't go into masses of detail, but it was one book that started me off when i was about 8 or so. It's as old as i am funnily enough.
But I have read books that I have (later) discovered were utter bollocks. I used to read Michael Moore books (would you believe it) when I was too young to know better, it took the internet to enlighten me to his deceptions and fallacies.
So you see how badly I've been burned by valuing books as doing no wrong, and don't get my started on my Grandmother and The Bible.
So, INHERENTLY to the medium, what makes books better than DVD?
@Treblaine You simply can't fit the amount of information in a 300 page book into a 1, 2 or 5 hour film presentation. DVD programs just can't give the breadth of detail, context, and analysis that can be presented in a book. DVDs are fine for quick exposure to a topic, but true understanding requires absorbing much more information. Like everything else, not all books are the same quality (i.e. Michael Moore), but that is tangential from the book vs. TV/DVD presentation argument.
@natasigmundhi Well, 300 page book, that's about 5 hours of reading IF you have high reading speed. 5 hours you can comfortable hear spoken about 192 pages of text (250 words per page).
But DVDs can use infographics, integrate photographic/video record, interviews, video demonstrations. A picture can speak a thousand words.
Simon Schama's documentaries are effectively him reading his work out loud to the camera, though with the benefit of his tone and emphasis.
I have watched a couple of DVDs and I do agree that they do repeat themselves. I would love to be able to pick up a book and read it but my with terrible attention span I'm not sure if I could. I already have a couple of the Collector Grade books on the firearms. I think I might try and pick up that Overlord book you recommended, seems like a good read.
i am about to start ncea level 3 history, i bought the text book and read it, it is meant to be about the english civil war, republic and restoration, yet 90% of the text book focuses on agrarian society and ecomony of the middle ages, the differences between protestanism and catholicsm and the role of women in society, out of 400 page text book 27 pages actually talk about the civil war, republic and restoration.
Can't agree more about reading books, READ MUCH AND WIDELY AS POSSIBLE
Sadly the verbal 1st account history of WWII is dying rapidly with the veterans, and most audio visual accounts tend, at best, to be misleading by omission or ill informed, at worst, Hollywood fantasy and political propaganda.
In the past I've watched quite a few discovery channel programs and dvd's and they often give you quite a nice overview, but at a certain point I just feld that I wasn't learning anything new anymore and that most dvd/programs were actually repeating/copying eachother. At a certain point you'll have to start reading and most youth will/do realize that.
off topic, but.. couldnt agree more about the world becoming WAY too PC bullshit.. noones at fault..etc. but funny how at the same time were going over the top with liability, someone HAS to be liable for anything that goes wrong, someone has to take the blame..
great video ted. im really happy with how this second channel is coming along. its always a pleasure to come home and see you put up a new video. thank you.
will you please order and read the pink swastica, i think this is hidden history of the nazi party , and id like to hear what you think of this book and author
I was wondering if you could recommend some real good readings on the all Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team? My grandfather served in the Regiment during WWII and I would like to read more about them, but all the books I've are little more than paraphrasing from the official regiment history book published in 1946 by Orville Shirey. Any help would be much appreciated.
@nzww2buff That's alright, you should try to do some research on them, very interesting story. All Japanese American segregated unit, although many on the mainland were interned in concentration camps they volunteered and would become one of the most decorated American units of all time. 21 members would eventually get The Medal of Honor and in all the regiment received over 9000 purple hearts.
@luckystrikeGREEN I know who they were - i saw the movie! LOL! I also saw a great display at the Hawaii Army Museum. They were an exeptional unit, no doubt about it. They even saved some cut off Texans!
I got all hell let lose for christmas, I've used bomber command for referencing in my degree, I should really get around to reading his stuff. though have a book that I'd like to reccomend for you ted
Scorched Earth, Black Snow: The First Year of the Korean War by
Andrew Salmon (as a newbie to korea i must say it was enlightening and well written and heartily reccomend it.I cant wait to get his other work on korea).
ArmedBrit 1 month ago
As a former member of the Mighty 8th Air Force (NOT during WWII, I am not that old) I am glad to see the book on what bomber command did during WWII. I get tired of hearing how the Russians really beat the Germans because of the Eastern Front, with no mention of the impact of the bombing campaign by the US and British. I do not remember anyone taliking about the skies black over Germany with Russian Bombers!
davidgcalderone 1 month ago
@davidgcalderone Yes, very true. If I remember rightly I think that two thirds of German crew-served guns, three quarters of their fighter strength and 2 million personnel were deployed for the air defence of the Reich. This diversion of resources and the obliteration of German war production were vital in defeating Germany. This is forgotten now as it gets mixed up in the supposed war crimes debate.
scarlebloke 1 month ago
Hastings is qualified to write about British forces but I don't put any stock in his assessments of US forces due to his extreme bias, as someone else here pointed out.
I also note, Ted, that apparently this Rick Atkinson also is very negative regarding US forces (in N. Africa). I realize that it's imperative to study what went wrong and why, but I wonder why the two authors you promote are both hyper-critical of the US Army.
ONKlub 1 month ago
I mean no offense by the way.
ONKlub 1 month ago
Again, a very interesting and stimulating video. It is quite refreshing to hear presentation of this quality, actually.
GutpileCharlie 1 month ago
Hope your house didnt get raided with your buddy who's the CEO or Founder =of MegaUpload. (lol) You wealthy NZ all run in the same circle, right? Looks like they tore into 10 of his house and also took some of his cars. Maybe you can go to the auction and purchase those cars cheap! Hmm, that mght not be a bad idea.
mejt223 1 month ago
@mejt223 LOL! I don't know the guy. But my gym trainer works for him - poor guy might not get paid this week.
nzww2buff 1 month ago
i enjoy these vids, gives me books to add to my list haha
UKMilitaria 1 month ago in playlist More videos from nzww2buff
when i watch "dvds" I look for interviews with veterans on both sides
Mr420pot420 1 month ago
@Mr420pot420 or combat video and photos
Mr420pot420 1 month ago
@Mr420pot420
the "forgotten voices" series of books is good for direct quotes.
ArmedBrit 1 month ago
I also wondered if Hastings relied upon the writings of British "journalist" Reginald Thompson, a guy who wrote silly, insulting, provably untrue things about US forces in Korea. Predictably enough, it's in Hastings' "The Korean War" bibliography. I bet he ate that stuff right up.
sudaev 1 month ago
When it comes to anything involving the US military, I steer clear of British authors because they have a huge bias against US forces. Hastings, in his work about the Korean War, for example, accentuates the negative and completely ignores the positive, regarding the US Army.
He then focuses on Brit and Commonwealth units (which is great, but he needs to reflect that in the title), which leads the reader to think that US forces were just one little brick in the UN wall. They were not.
sudaev 1 month ago
@sudaev
you tar all uk authors with the same brush, indeed the same could be said of some US authers/journos onthe bias front.
I point you to the book i reccomended ted in the responses to this vid, the author was very even handed in critisism of the main actors. Equally he gave praise to those who warrented it.
ArmedBrit 1 month ago
@ArmedBrit - No, no, I don't mean just "bias"; many British authors have have contempt for the US military; I never read anything close to that type of attitude towards Brits from American authors.
sudaev 1 month ago
@sudaev
Depends on who you read I suppose. US writers tend to discount British & Commonwealth forces as sideshows in my experience.
ArmedBrit 1 month ago
Hitler's War by Heinz Magenheimer is quite good, bit of a dry read though. Its an analysis of Hitler's key strategic decisions and where they went wrong... It borders on the 'what if' history some times. Though it does given an insight into the workings of the OKW and their tactical planning
Garron88 1 month ago
I studied History for A-level (last school qualification in British schools before Uni) and decided to study military history at University, what they teach in schools is pathetic, I had to relearn everything in the 1st year of Uni. The essay styles were all wrong, source analysis was all wrong, the style of history was wrong/ I looked through my old school notes last week and laughed.
Garron88 1 month ago
DVD's are for amateurs - playing Call of Duty on a HD tv is the way to go these days
ravenbones1 1 month ago
@ravenbones1 LOL! Yeah Gary - I'll bet that COD stuff came in useful for your during your TOD in Iraq.
nzww2buff 1 month ago
@nzww2buff Yes, because according to some O.D.S. boonie cap sunglass wearing) F.A. types on YT I was a POG - LOL and ROFL
Nice dagger collection you are building there !!!! I (rather unfortunately) attended a funeral for a Veteran of the Battle of the Bulge today and saw a VERY impressive collection he had brought home, when I told the family some prices their collective heads spun
ravenbones1 1 month ago
@ravenbones1 That guy is mental. No doubt about it. Sorry about the Vet. They are falling over with incredible speed now, sadly. I hope the family holds onto the 'bring-back' stuff. if not.........give 'em my number! :)
nzww2buff 1 month ago
@nzww2buff I certainly will, My Dad doesn't like to drive too much, I started taking him to his Veteran meetings, next thing I know they elect me president of the chapter!!! At each meeting I make it a point to tell the Vets they should remind their families, or put me in their Last Will.
ravenbones1 1 month ago
Also on the Max Hastings when i have been reading his books or unsing his books i have found that they are very dated and lake detail espical his bomber command book were he hardely talks about many of the inportant raids. A good book for bomber commnad is RAF Bomber Command in the Second World War the hardest victory by Denis Richards. its a huge book but it covers every thing and then anouther good one is The Relentless Offensive by Roy Irons. That one doas not miss any detail out
topguntopcat 1 month ago
@topguntopcat Well, it is an Over view of the entire campaign - not a compendium of the varoius raids. Anyway, I'd highly recommend try Martin Middlebrook's book on the RAF campaign.(can't remember the title).
nzww2buff 1 month ago
Yes i tottaly agree what you said at the start of the vid, when i started IB and uni from the start we were told we could not really of the internet and DVDS. Also to add to your recomdations for books about ww2 is Andrew Roberts Storm Of War a new history of ww2 i think it was published around 2008 ish but it is a very good and interesting read.
topguntopcat 1 month ago
Thanks for the heads up! Cheers -
hazeywolf 1 month ago
Spot on Ted. TV/DVD documentaries can only ever scratch the surface. I agree with your views on Max Hastings, but what do you think of Anthomy Beevor? I thought his books on Stalingrad, Berlin and D-Day were excellent, especially as accessible ways in to the subject; he certainly doesn't have starry eyes about any of the belligerents.
10rdsrpd 1 month ago
@10rdsrpd I've read everything he's written. I'll be talking about Beevor shortly - I don't rate his as highly as Hastings or John Keegan. In truth, i supect he write for people that have difficulty with big words. I'm not being facicious (and i've probably mispelled that!) when I say that. He did write a very interesting account of Operation Mercury.
nzww2buff 1 month ago
Comment removed
10rdsrpd 1 month ago
Thanks for the recommendations.
celtmarine 1 month ago
dude can't you just send me like... a book on tape or something??
just kidding :)
sincityarmory 1 month ago
on the 'social studies' thing, I completely agree (and currently live it), we were doing WW1 last year (Gallipoli in particular), but the furthest we got into the acutal combat life (besides the physical conditions) was how britian were complete idiots (hurtful D:), so being someone who shows more than a remote interest in these things, it annoys me on how little we're told.
poik12 1 month ago
I have to agree with you, video presentations have their place, but nothing takes the place of good books, and besides reading them is so enjoyable (at least I think so).
raceygofast 1 month ago
World War II Small Arms by John Weeks is a nice one for photos, even had some rarer pieces. Most notably for me, a lovely photo of a Solothurn S18-1000. It coveres a fair few weapons doesn't go into masses of detail, but it was one book that started me off when i was about 8 or so. It's as old as i am funnily enough.
BoydMort 1 month ago
But I have read books that I have (later) discovered were utter bollocks. I used to read Michael Moore books (would you believe it) when I was too young to know better, it took the internet to enlighten me to his deceptions and fallacies.
So you see how badly I've been burned by valuing books as doing no wrong, and don't get my started on my Grandmother and The Bible.
So, INHERENTLY to the medium, what makes books better than DVD?
Treblaine 1 month ago
@Treblaine You simply can't fit the amount of information in a 300 page book into a 1, 2 or 5 hour film presentation. DVD programs just can't give the breadth of detail, context, and analysis that can be presented in a book. DVDs are fine for quick exposure to a topic, but true understanding requires absorbing much more information. Like everything else, not all books are the same quality (i.e. Michael Moore), but that is tangential from the book vs. TV/DVD presentation argument.
natasigmundhi 1 month ago
@natasigmundhi Well, 300 page book, that's about 5 hours of reading IF you have high reading speed. 5 hours you can comfortable hear spoken about 192 pages of text (250 words per page).
But DVDs can use infographics, integrate photographic/video record, interviews, video demonstrations. A picture can speak a thousand words.
Simon Schama's documentaries are effectively him reading his work out loud to the camera, though with the benefit of his tone and emphasis.
But what about comprehension?
Treblaine 1 month ago
@Treblaine I love Simon Scharma (No Homo).
nzww2buff 1 month ago
I have watched a couple of DVDs and I do agree that they do repeat themselves. I would love to be able to pick up a book and read it but my with terrible attention span I'm not sure if I could. I already have a couple of the Collector Grade books on the firearms. I think I might try and pick up that Overlord book you recommended, seems like a good read.
CRH114 1 month ago
i am about to start ncea level 3 history, i bought the text book and read it, it is meant to be about the english civil war, republic and restoration, yet 90% of the text book focuses on agrarian society and ecomony of the middle ages, the differences between protestanism and catholicsm and the role of women in society, out of 400 page text book 27 pages actually talk about the civil war, republic and restoration.
KiwiTomCrawford 1 month ago
Can't agree more about reading books, READ MUCH AND WIDELY AS POSSIBLE
Sadly the verbal 1st account history of WWII is dying rapidly with the veterans, and most audio visual accounts tend, at best, to be misleading by omission or ill informed, at worst, Hollywood fantasy and political propaganda.
apocalypsesioux 1 month ago
In the past I've watched quite a few discovery channel programs and dvd's and they often give you quite a nice overview, but at a certain point I just feld that I wasn't learning anything new anymore and that most dvd/programs were actually repeating/copying eachother. At a certain point you'll have to start reading and most youth will/do realize that.
jong036 1 month ago
any reading you'd recommend specifically for battle tactics?
cam131313cam 1 month ago
@cam131313cam The Face of Battle by John Keegan. Its a classic, read it
ExiledOzi 1 month ago
@ExiledOzi Yup. Fantastic book - Agincourt - Waterloo - The Somme.
nzww2buff 1 month ago
off topic, but.. couldnt agree more about the world becoming WAY too PC bullshit.. noones at fault..etc. but funny how at the same time were going over the top with liability, someone HAS to be liable for anything that goes wrong, someone has to take the blame..
Nice vid tho, thanks for the author suggestions.
DeadHandRed 1 month ago
great video ted. im really happy with how this second channel is coming along. its always a pleasure to come home and see you put up a new video. thank you.
coldbloodprep123 1 month ago
While not your bag. Any Vietnam books you recommend?
BHPfan26 1 month ago
will you please order and read the pink swastica, i think this is hidden history of the nazi party , and id like to hear what you think of this book and author
leverboy100 1 month ago
Mark Zuehlke is a great author on Canadian operations in WW2.
Fishfins 1 month ago
I was wondering if you could recommend some real good readings on the all Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team? My grandfather served in the Regiment during WWII and I would like to read more about them, but all the books I've are little more than paraphrasing from the official regiment history book published in 1946 by Orville Shirey. Any help would be much appreciated.
luckystrikeGREEN 1 month ago
@luckystrikeGREEN I'm sorry - I have no idea about who would be an expert on that unit.
nzww2buff 1 month ago
@nzww2buff That's alright, you should try to do some research on them, very interesting story. All Japanese American segregated unit, although many on the mainland were interned in concentration camps they volunteered and would become one of the most decorated American units of all time. 21 members would eventually get The Medal of Honor and in all the regiment received over 9000 purple hearts.
luckystrikeGREEN 1 month ago
@luckystrikeGREEN I know who they were - i saw the movie! LOL! I also saw a great display at the Hawaii Army Museum. They were an exeptional unit, no doubt about it. They even saved some cut off Texans!
nzww2buff 1 month ago
@luckystrikeGREEN - Yes, the Medal of Honor was prostituted.
sudaev 1 month ago