The month of May marks several key events in the timeline of WWII, including the official end of the war in Europe on V-E Day (or Victory in Europe Day) on May 8, 1945, as German troops surrendered to Allied forces. On May 10th, the U.S. began the process of bringing three million American troops stationed in Europe either back home or headed to the Pacific Theater.
To mark the 81st anniversary of V-E Day, we’ve put together a list of some fascinating World War II, military history reads focusing on the heroic efforts of men and women who served in the armed forces.
During World War II, over 16 million Americans served in the Armed Forces. Today, less than 1 percent are still alive. The Last of the Old Breed is an unprecedented oral history of the final living United States Marines from World War II, featuring over 130 veterans, ranging in age from 90 to 103. Told in harrowing detail, the witnesses reveal the brutal reality of combat against a fanatical enemy and the heavy toll it took on their post-war lives.
On August 13, 1944, Joe Moser set off on his forty-fourth combat mission over occupied France. Soon, he would join almost 170 other Allied airmen as prisoners in Buchenwald, one of the most notorious and deadly of Nazi concentration camps. Tom Clavin’s Lightning Down tells this largely untold and riveting true story of brave men confronting great evil and great odds against survival.
After decades of silence, the last surviving World War II spy operating in the deadly world of Nazi France, reveals the real, untold story of her time as a secret agent.
The Last Secret Agent is a posthumously published memoir, co-written with writer Jude Dobson.
Award-winning author Keith Lowe’s newest critical deep-dive into the history of Naples during WWII.
Naples was the first major European city to be liberated by the Allies. What they found there would set a template for the whole of the rest of Europe in the years to come. Keith Lowe’s Naples 1944 is a page-turning book about a city on the brink of chaos and glimpse into the dark heart of postwar Italy.
From New York Times bestselling author and fighter pilot Dan Hampton comes the gripping, untold story of a vital secret mission set during the darkest days of the Second World War. In Vanishing Act, Hampton definitively solves the final mystery of the Doolittle Raid with never-before-published documents and photographs in exclusive collaboration with Japanese researchers and the Raiders’ descendants.
In this instant New York Times bestseller, Luck of the Draw is the the epic true story of an American hero, Frank Murphy, who flew during WWII and was one of the few survivors from the 100th Bombardment Group. His heroic story was featured in the Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks TV Series, Masters of the Air.
Propaganda Girls is the incredible, untold story of four women who spun the web of deception that helped win World War II. Bestselling author Lisa Rogak brings to vivid life the incredible true story of Betty MacDonald, Zuzka Lauwers, Jane Smith-Hutton, and Marlene Dietrich, whose spellbinding achievements would change the course of history.
Joe Pappalardo’s Inferno tells the true story of the men who flew the deadliest missions of World War II, and an unlikely hero who received the Medal of Honor in the midst of the bloodiest military campaign in aviation history.
From Kevin Maurer—the #1 New York Times bestselling, award-winning coauthor of No Easy Day—comes the true story of a World War II bomber pilot who survived twenty-five missions. Drawn from Luckadoo’s firsthand accounts, war correspondent Kevin Maurer shares his extraordinary tale from war to peacetime, uncovering astonishing feats of bravery during the bloodiest military campaign in aviation history, and presenting an incredible portrait of a young man’s coming-of-age during the world’s most devastating war.