Friday, June 19, 2009

World War II books

One of the things I thought I'd do last summer (and didn't) was inventory all my old projects and try to update some of them into publishable articles. I did some of the inventory but never any more research or writing.

This comes to mind because every so often I see an article or image or whatever that reminds me of once having invested a lot of effort in time in a particular subject.

Today's tickler was WW2. I had done a lot of work on the journalist/writer Martha Gellhorn a few years ago, with an eye to pitching a collection of her work. I spend more time with my dad now, who reminisces often about the war. My sister is writing his story.

Some graphic novels on the subject: the very famous "Maus" by Art Spiegelman. Now, "A Good and Decent Man,"part 1 of a projected trilogy called "You'll Never Know" by Carol Tyler.

Another book for interesting reading (not a graphic novel) is Red Orchestra: the story of the Berlin underground and the circle of friends who resisted Hitler. Anne Nelson, the author, is a journalism professor (Columbia) and has spent time living under totalitarianism in various places in the world.

Last, Masters and commanders: how four titans won the war in the west 1941-1945 by Andrew Roberts. An insider look (lots of diaries and other archival material) at the interpersonal relationships between leaders (FDR and Churchill) and their top commanders, and how the commanders had to work together to make sure their respective bosses didn't implement dangerouly wrong military strategy.

2 comments:

  1. Glad you're interested in Red Orchestra. As it happened, I knew Martha Gellhorn. She was a phenomenon. When I met her she was in her 80s, and had not lost either her glamor or her passion.
    I tracked down some of her books, and really liked her fiction from exotic locations.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for your comment, Anne! I wish I could have met her too - she sounds like a fascinating woman, so ready to BE in the world.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.