What books do you have?

[J Sheehan]

What books about the story of the Bismarck do you have?

For me it's these;

 

[Dave Gittins]

I have the remains of a book called The Sinking of the Bismarck, by Will Berthold, from 1958. It's translated from the German. It tells the story from the German point of view. I don't know how much is fictionalised, but it's a good read. Second hand copies seem to be around.

 

[J Sheehan]

Just recently got this book about Bismarck from Osprey Publishing:

Also if you want a good book about the Bismarck, I can recommend Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History which was released a few months ago.

A highly detailed book that tells the whole story of the Bismarck in minute detail and even includes pictures of the wreck from James Cameron and a detailed analysis of how H.M.S. Hood was destroyed.

There are two downsides to this book;

First: Weight; it weighs a shade over 3 kg so you wouldn't want to lug this about all day.

Second: Cost; I got my copy for about €65.

However despite these two issues, I'd highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the Bismarck story.

 

[Ada]

I own a copy of
Burkard Freiherr von Müllenheim-Rechberg's Schlachtschiff Bismarck

I bought it combined in some "2 books per the price of 1" deal some 2 years ago.

It is interesting, mainly because its written by a survivor from the ship. At the same time, the author is at the same time angry at his superiors, offers a "here is what we should have done instead" vignette and at the same time tries to defend the general image of the service and the men that served.

In short, it exhibits features of what I call: "Officer that lost the war" syndrome. I've seen the same emotions and writing patters in books by Japanese ww2 officers, Polish 1939 veterans, French 1940 veterans... I think I should at some point make a study of "The literature of military defeat".