(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best historical germany biographies

There are plenty of memoirs from the German perspective that have been translated into English. However when compared to the number of sources that were written originally by English speakers, the number of German memoirs is puny. After years of reading the accounts of allied soldiers, airmen, and sailors, I became interested in reading the opposite point of view and have collected and read about 30 different accounts of German Soldiers, but I have yet to find any from the perspective of a child serving in the Hitler Youth or that of a pensioner pressed into service with the Volkstrumm.

Though I do not know of any, I highly suspect that they are out there, but more than likely the works are still in their native tongue, and have yet to be translated to English, etc.

Edit: Here's my Top 5 memoirs, for those looking to get into in a first person German perspective.

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1. Blood Red Snow by Guenter Koschorrek
   
   1. (Memoirs of a German Machine Gunner with the 24th Panzer Division in Stalingrad & on the Eastern Front. What I believe is the best, most well organized, and most thrilling account that I have ever read set in the Second World War.)
      
2. Sniper on the Eastern Front: Memoirs of Sepp Allerberger by Albrecht Wacker
   
   1. (Memoirs of a German Sniper serving in Army Group South. The account is just astonishing, but I'm afraid its also incredibly graphic; It is not for the faint of heart.)
      
3. At Leningrad's Gates by William Lubbeck
   
   1. (Memoirs of a German Forward Observer in the 58th Infantry Division of Army Group North. What is extraordinary about this account is that Mr. Lubbeck recalls and tells the story of his entire life, including his experiences during the rise of the Nazi Party in the 1930s.)
      
4. Duel under the Stars by Wilhelm Johnen
   
   1. Memoirs of a Luftwaffe Pilot, serving in a night fighter wing tasked with defending German Cities from the British Night-time bombing raids.)
      
5. Tigers in the Mud by Otto Carius
   
   1. (Memoirs of Germany's second most decorated Tiger Ace, Otto Carius. However his account felt too short and incomplete to me. Still would recommend based on his unique posting as a Tank Loader, then Tank Commander of Germany's feared Tiger Tank.)

"Bismarck - A Life" by Jonathan Steinberg. It contains a LOT of original source material (letters) and focuses on Bismarck's character. Kissinger called it the "best study of its subject in the English language". Some Amazon customers were less enthusiastic but even the skeptical ones praise the book in part. I certainly enjoyed it.

Different version than the one I saw. Never heard that before.

Details of the small plane, its runway, the sighting over Berlin by soviet soldiers, all were on a TV show I saw, cant remember it for the life of me, it was a long time ago.

If foggy memory serves me correctly it was his film director, that woman that made 'triumph of the will' that pressed Hitler to leave Berlin. They cleared a portion of the Berlin main drag outside the chancellory for it to land and take off.

Searching...

Edit: Found a book on Amazon, not his film director, someone else:

"This is the amazing story of Hanna Reitsch, one of the most celebrated women of the Third Reich. As a decorated test pilot for the Luftwaffe and a protege of Hitler, Reitsch was one of a handful of women who achieved personal success by breaking from the traditionally defined role of wife and mother in Nazi Germany. Reitsch's skills and accomplishments ultimately earned her an Iron Cross and celebrity status. A witness to the last days of the Third Reich, Reitsch visited Hitler's Berlin bunker where she received orders to deliver letters designed to rally the Luftwaffe. She left on this futile mission only minutes before Hitler's marriage to Eva Braun."

amazon

If you're interested, I suggest you go out and read both Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege and Berlin: The Downfall. Really some of the best books on the Eastern Front I've ever read. There's also books like Sniper on the Eastern Front, and also Enemy at the Gates (not the movie, the book, which is superb).

Also, may I suggest Downfall about Hitlers last days in Berlin's Fuhrerbunker told from his secretary's point of view. I found it to be the best movie I had ever seen on the Eastern Front.

Here's the free Dr. McDougall’s Color Picture Book which forms the basis of his latest book, The Healthiest Diet on the Planet. His website, specifically the newsletters under the education tab, is a great resource.

Perhaps Walter Kempner and the Rice Diet: Challenging Conventional Wisdom, but unfortunately it seems out of print and more expensive.

I have a ton of books, but tbh, I think you should just youtube the various plant based doctors'/researchers' names, watch their videos (a lot of content not in books), and see if those you like have a worthwhile book.

Names off the top of my head:

• Neal Barnard
  
• Michael Klaper
  
• Milton Mills (excellent lectures)
  
• Nathan Pritikin (excellent 1978 lecture and 1983 interview)
  
• Hans Diehl
  
• Doug Lyle
  
• Garth Davis
  
• Robert Ostfeld
  
• Caldwell Esselstyn
  
• T. Colin Campbell
  
• Denis Burkitt
  
• Dean Ornish
  
• Alan Goldhamer
  
• Joel Fuhrman
  
• etc
  
  Btw, Mic the Vegan has really good videos too.
  
  edit: added names

The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer is one that I'm finishing up right now. It's quite riveting. Technically the protagonist is only part German, but he served in the Wehrmacht (in the elite Panzer Grenadier Division Großdeutschland). There's been a bit of controversy as to the historical authenticity of the memoir. The division historian of the Großdeutschland was at first convinced that Sajer (real name Guy Mouminoux) was a fraud, but after exchanging letters with him became convinced that the memoir was indeed authentic. The evidence presented for arguing that the book is fake seems extremely flimsy to me (tiny details that an enthusiast would care about but a veteran might not). However read it yourself and draw your own conclusion. It's a great read, and for the most part appears to be a historically truthful memoir (in the sense of it being the truth as one man saw it), and exactly what you're looking for.

Yep, should have posted them originally: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/12/11/russia.hitler.remains/index.html

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and

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this book is also cited as a source, but I haven't read it (yet). Been on my Amazon wish list for years.

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EDIT: As others here have said, it is probably impossible to know, with complete confidence, what happened to Hitler's remains. Berlin was in ruins when he shot himself, his staff were fleeing, and I wouldn't call the KGB a fully trustworthy source. However, the account of Hitler's remains being kept under Russian lock and key until 1970, and then disposed of in the river, is the only consistent story.

I love them, got some myself as well.

I own most of those books as well, can i also recommend you 3 others i didnt see on your shelf?

https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Adjutant-Jochen-Peiper-Panzer/dp/1848840101

https://www.amazon.com/Never-Snows-September-German-Market/dp/1885119313

https://www.boekenbestellen.nl/boek/gustav-knittel/9789492475541

Those are very good and detailed books.

My senior year of undergrad I did a fair amount of work on medieval and early modern women, so I can recommend a couple of works here. Caroline Walker Bynum is basically the pioneer in the field and has written some really great studies, like [Holy Feast and Holy Fast] (http://www.amazon.com/Holy-Feast-Fast-Significance-Historicism/dp/0520063295/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1335016290&sr=8-2) and [Jesus as Mother] (http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Mother-Spirituality-Medieval-Renaissance/dp/0520052226/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1335016290&sr=8-8). These both deal with women and feminine imagery in the context of the medieval church, and specifically within monasticism. If you're looking for something a little closer to the Reformation and perhaps a bit more accessible, I'd recommend [The Burgermeister's Daughter] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Burgermeisters-Daughter-Scandal-Sixteenth-Century/dp/0060977213/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1335016083&sr=8-4) by Ozment.

If you are looking for some biographical texts for you or your physics person one of my favorites is
Planck: Driven by Vision, Broken by War by Brandon R. Brown

It is exceptionally interesting with both a great look at the person but without ignoring the fantastic physics he was doing. I am biased as he is my favorite scientist but if you ever need a really human story to do with physics then this is an fantastic option.

“I Am Dynamite! A Life of Nietzsche” is a solid read. I knew how important music was to Nietzsche’s philosophy, but wow, I had no idea how close Nietzsche and Wagner were. Highly recommend.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Dynamite!

I Am Dynamite!: A Life of Nietzsche https://www.amazon.com/dp/1524760838/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_duLRDb06GX5B2

Ive read a ton of books about this subject and this is my absolute favorite one - Agent ZigZag. It truly is a fantastic, adventourous read. http://www.amazon.com/Agent-Zigzag-Story-Espionage-Betrayal-ebook/dp/B000VSW7SO

I just finished reading Steel Boats, Iron Hearts by Hans Goebeler, who was a crewmember of the U-505, the U-boat that the US captured in WWII. In it he describes being able to hear the pings, but that they had to be very quiet to do so (of course, while being pursued they were very quiet anyway, to avoid detection).

That book was great by the way, I found it a very enjoyable read (although Hans isn't exactly an unbiased source, I have no idea how well regarded it is as a history rather than a memoir).

Actually, while the Italian army may not have been considered as the greatest army in the world, maybe for general organisational issues especially in those days, Italian soldiers are generally regarded as very brave. See this book for an example.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

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For someone (older than 5) that is interested in the topic, I can highly recommend the book Inside the Third Reich by Albert Speer.

It contains his memoirs starting from his childhood but quite thoroughly describes the state of Germany during the thirties with Hitlers rise to power, how he fascinated the German population (to begin with) etc. and ends with Albert Speers imprisonment and the Nürberg trials.

This may be what you're looking for: Hitler's First War. I haven't read it myself so can't comment about how good it is, but it does go over pretty much exactly what you're asking.

Books seen from the german perspective

• Blood Red Snow: The Memoirs of a German Soldier on the Eastern Front
  
• Tigers in the Mud: The Combat Career of German Panzer Commander Otto Carius
  
• Eastern Inferno: The Journals of a German Panzerjager on the Eastern Front 1941-43
  
• Twilight of the Gods: A Swedish Volunteer in the 11th SS Panzergrenadier Division on the Eastern Front
  
• Grenadiers: The Story of Waffen SS General Kurt "Panzer" Meyer
  
• Sniper on the Eastern Front: The Memoirs of Sepp Allerberger, Knight's Cross
  
  Books seen from the russian perspective
  
  
• Red Road from Stalingrad: Reflections of a Soviet Infantryman
  
• T-34 in Action
  
• Panzer Destroyer: Memoirs of a Red Army Tank Commander
  
• Guns Against the Reich: Memoirs of an Artillery Officer on the Eastern Front
  
  Much more good books to find, but then its gonna be a very long list, lets first see how you guys like the books above

Here you go, start reading.

I also recommend this one.

The author of this memoir talks about exactly that. He didn't start out as a sniper. He only received a scoped k98 once he returned from a formal sniper school a ways into the war.