WWIIDF
World War II
Discussion Forum
Free virtual lectures with historians and authors. Founded 2023.
“God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right, even though I think it is hopeless.”
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
Upcoming talks
Times are Eastern. The public Zoom link appears here before each talk.
The Man Who Tested Parachutes – Charles Agate and the Development of Britain’s Airborne Forces for D-Day and Arnhem
Andrew Colley & John Neil
Destroyers at War: James L. Holloway’s retrospective of the war in the Pacific
David F. Winkler
ONI and 'John Bull': The Office of US Naval Intelligence and British Naval Power
Hal M. Friedman
When Murder Rode the Train: The Nazi Hunt for a Serial Killer on the Eve of the Holocaust
Benjamin Hett
New talks will be announced here.
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Previous talks
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2026
Why Barbarossa Failed: Germany and Russia in the Second World War
Timothy Manion
Général Louis Dio: The Wartime Epic of One of Free France’s Greatest Soldiers, 1940-1946
Monique Brouillet Seefried
Bold in Battle: South African Stories from the Second World War
Karen Horn
The Fleet that Fought Itself: The Spanish Navy and the Civil War 1936–39
Leonard Heinz
Patton Reconsidered: General George S. Patton Jr. as a Wartime Commander
James Ellman
Wielding the Trident: Admiral Raymond A. Spruance and America’s Victory in the Pacific
Andrew K. Blackley
Thunder Over Normandy: How Allied Airmen Helped Liberate France from D-Day to Paris and Beyond
Joseph T. Molyson Jr.
Churchill's Forgotten Generals: Victors in Burma
Raymond Callahan & Alan Jeffreys
Warriors in Washington: Henry Stimson, the US Army, and the Politics of American Power in World War II
Grant Golub
Operation Barbarossa, Part II: Why Operation Barbarossa Failed
Craig Luther
Operation Barbarossa, Part I: Photographs and Maps
Craig Luther
Advance Britannia: The Epic Story of the Second World War, 1942-1945
Alan Allport
Redemption: MacArthur and the Campaign for the Philippines
Peter R. Mansoor
Monopoly X: How Top-Secret World War II Operations Used the Game of Monopoly to Help Allied POWs Escape, Conceal Spies, and Send Secret Codes
Philip E. Orbanes
Patton's War: An American General's Combat Leadership, Volume I: November 1942–July 1944
Kevin M. Hymel
Out of Hitler's Shadow: Debt, Guilt, and the German Economic Miracle
Tobias Straumann
The Dead and Those About to Die: D-Day: The Big Red One at Omaha Beach
John C. McManus
Guadalcanal’s Longest Fight: The Pivotal Battles of the Matanikau Front
Dave R. Holland
1945: The Reckoning: War, Empire and the Struggle for a New World
Phil Craig
Red Army Offensive War Plans in the Spring of 1941 (85th anniversary)
Evan Mawdsley
Scattered Far and Wide: The Naval Academy Class of ’38 at War
Justin LaBorde
Patton and the Battle for Sicily: The General, the Navy, and Operation Husky
Flint Whitlock
Matisse at War: Art and Resistance in Nazi Occupied France
Christopher Gorham
Moscow Tram Stop: A Doctor’s Experiences with the German Spearhead in Russia
Craig Luther
Launching Liberty: The Epic Race to Build the Ships That Took America to War
Doug Most
The Defeat and Attrition of the 12. SS-Panzerdivision Hitlerjugend: Volume II: Operations Martlet, Epsom, Windsor and Charnwood, 11 June–12 July 1944
Arthur Gullachsen
Air Battles Before D-Day: How Allied Airmen Crippled the Luftwaffe and German Army in France
Joseph T. Molyson Jr.
Second Front: Anglo-American Rivalry and the Hidden Story of the Normandy Campaign
Marc Milner
Seeds of Victory: Defeat, Triumph, and the American Way of War
James Ellman
2025
Red Arrow across the Pacific: The Thirty-Second Infantry Division during World War II
Mark D. Van Ells
Under the Red Banner: A History of the Soviet 43rd Guards Tank Brigade 1940-1945
Shawn Caza
Saving MacArthur: The Story of America's Most Daring Naval Rescue, and of the Men it Left Behind
Rudy Tomedi
Pilots and Painted Ladies: 493rd Bomb Squadron and the Air War in the CBI
Lawrence Drake
Romania's Holy War: Soldiers, Motivation, and the Holocaust
Grant T. Harward
The Mighty A: The Short, Heroic Life of the USS Atlanta (CL-51): America's First Warship Commissioned After Pearl Harbor
David F. Winkler
Allies at War: How the Struggles Between the Allied Powers Shaped the War and the W
Tim Bouverie
Blue Versus Purple: The U.S. Naval War College, the Soviet Union, and the New Enemy in the Pacific
Hal M. Friedman
Wings of War: The World War II Fighter Plane that Saved the Allies and the Believers Who Made It Fly
David and Margaret White
Profits and Persecution: German Big Business in the Nazi Economy and the Holocaust
Peter Hayes
The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb
Garrett M. Graff
Witness to Neptune's Inferno: The Pacific War Diary of Lieutenant Commander Lloyd M. Mustin
David F. Winkler
World War Zoos: Humans and Other Animals in the Deadliest Conflict of the Modern Age
John M. Kinder
Thunder Run Meiktila 1945: The greatest combined arms manoeuvre battle of WW2
Jack Bowsher
The Battle of the Beams: The secret science of radar that turned the tide of the Second World War
Tom Whipple
The Fate of the Generals: MacArthur, Wainwright, and the Epic Battle for the Philippines
Jonathan Horn
Utah Beach: The Amphibious Landing and Airborne Operations on D-day, June 6, 1944
Joseph Balkoski
Armies Afloat: How the Development of Amphibious Operations in Europe Helped Win World War II
John Curatola
Savage Skies, Emerald Hell: The U.S., Australia, Japan, and the Ferocious Air Battle for New Guinea in World War II
Jay A. Stout
Analog Superpowers: How Twentieth-Century Technology Theft Built the National Security State
Katherine Epstein
Yukikaze's War: The Unsinkable Japanese Destroyer and World War II in the Pacific
Brett L. Walker
Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II
Elyse Graham
Guest of Adolf: The War of SSG Ernest V. Focht, 805th Tank Destroyer Battalion
Michael Zang
Invasion On: D-Day, the Press, and the Making of an American Narrative
Stephen M. Rusiecki
Never a Dull Moment: The 80th Airborne Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion in World War II
Ben Powers
The "Rape" of Japan: The Myth of Mass Sexual Violence during the Allied Occupation
Brian Walsh
Wake Island Wildcat: A Marine Fighter Pilot's Epic Battle at the Beginning of World War II
Bill Ramsey
Graphic War: The Secret Aviation Drawings and Illustrations of World War II
Donald Nijboer
Aces at Kursk: The Battle for Aerial Supremacy on the Eastern Front, 1943
Christopher A. Lawrence
Uncertain Allies: General Joseph Stilwell and the China-Burma-India Theater
Eric Setzekorn
Communiques of General MacArthur: Pacific Campaigns, July 1942-February 1945
James Ellman
A Quiet Company of Dangerous Men: The Forgotten British Special Operations Soldiers of World War II
Shannon Monaghan
2024
The Eagles of Bastogne: The Untold Story of the Heroic Defense of a City Under Siege
Martin King
The Mighty Moo: The USS Cowpens and Her Epic World War II Journey from Jinx Ship to the Navy's First Carrier into Tokyo Bay
Nathan Canestaro
The Liberation Line: The Untold Story of How American Engineering and Ingenuity Won World War II
Christian Wolmar
America's First Aircraft Carrier: USS Langley and the Dawn of U.S. Naval Aviation
David F. Winkler
Americans in a World at War: Intimate Histories from the Crash of Pan Am's Yankee Clipper
Brooke Blower
Blue versus Orange: The U.S. Naval War College, Japan, and the Old Enemy in the Pacific, 1945-1946
Hal M. Friedman
Nightstalkers: The Wright Project and the 868th Bomb Squadron in World War II
Richard Lawless
The Lion and The General: Churchill, Eisenhower and the Friendship That Changed The World
Mitch Yockelson
Six Air Forces Over the Atlantic: How Allied Airmen Helped Win the Battle of the Atlantic
Joseph T. Molyson Jr.
Massacre at Oradour-sur-Glane: Nazi Gold and the Murder of an Entire French Town by SS Division Das Reich
Vincent dePaul Lupiano
Unlikely Heroes: Franklin Roosevelt, His Four Lieutenants, and the World They Made
Derek Leebaert
American Thunder: U.S. Army Tank Design, Development, and Doctrine in World War II
Richard C. Anderson Jr.
Hitler's Panzer Generals: Guderian, Hoepner, Reinhardt and Schmidt Unguarded
David Stahel
Delivering Destruction: American Firepower and Amphibious Assault from Tarawa to Iwo Jima
Chris K. Hemler
Night of the Bayonets: The Texel Uprising and Hitler's Revenge, April–May 1945
Eric Lee
The Light of Battle: Eisenhower, D-Day, and the Birth of the American Superpower
Michael Paradis
The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line: Untold Stories of the Women Who Changed the Course of World War II
Mari K. Eder
The Defeat of the Damned: The Destruction of the Dirlewanger Brigade at the Battle of Ipolysag, December 1944
Douglas Nash Sr.
Forgotten War: The British Empire and Commonwealth’s Epic Struggle Against Imperial Japan, 1941–1945
Brian E. Walter
Our Man In Tokyo: An American Ambassador and the Countdown to Pearl Harbor
Steve Kemper
Rise of the War Machines: The Birth of Precision Bombing in World War II
Raymond O'Mara
Enemy Sighted: The Story of the Battle of Britain Bunker and the World’s First Integrated Air Defence System
Dilip Amin
Midway Submerged: American and Japanese Submarine Operations at the Battle of Midway
Mark Allen
2023
Bloody Verrières: The I. SS-Panzerkorps Defence of the Verrières-Bourguebus Ridges
Arthur Gullachsen
Two Navies Divided: The British and United States Navies in the Second World War
Brian Lavery
Sustaining the Carrier War: The Deployment of U.S. Naval Air Power to the Pacific
Stan Fisher
Churchill's American Arsenal: The Partnership Behind the Innovations that Won World War II
Larrie D. Ferreiro
Book reviews
Into the Inferno: A Fascinating Tale of a B-17 Gunner’s Experience in the “Forgotten 15th”
Into the Inferno tells a story of bravery and hardship across the skies of Europe. The book not only gives you a brilliant look into the life of a B-17 gunner, but also tells a more personal story about the author’s father, his friend, and their experiences during World War II. Action-packed and full of suspense, this book keeps you from putting it down.
Throughout the book, Ibelle connects his father’s story of love and hardship with that of his friend, who fights on another side of the world. Ibelle also shines a light on “The Forgotten 15th,” the men who flew and maintained Army Air Corps bombers and their fighter escorts from bases in Italy during World War II. The author points out that not much was known of the squadron due to the brilliant success of the rival 8th Air Force. By drawing from veterans’ stories and his own father’s letters, Ibelle manages to give the reader a vivid image of what life was like for the men who fought above Europe. While the book does a good job of giving a personal perspective into WWII, the sources are not always accurate, such as the inaccurate statistic that the ball turret position sustained more casualties than any other position when in actuality it had the lowest. The author seeks to discover the deeper meanings of his father’s trauma and opinion of the war but at times leaves that part hanging. Despite this, he manages to make it an enjoyable and thrilling tale. A well-done book and a great read for anyone interested in a more personal tale of combat, friendship, and love during WWII.
About
The purpose of the World War II Discussion Forum is to highlight scholars who possess an unrivaled knowledge of their subject matter but don’t necessarily have the standard academic background or affiliation. While we certainly recognize the contributions of those household names whose tomes line countless libraries, our aim is to offer a platform for those who toil alone and quietly driven solely by a passion to know what happened and why.
Dedicated to my grandfather, Joseph Mallen, who served on the USS Segundo in 1944 and 1945.
Gregory McNiff
Founder and Executive Director
Gregory McNiff is a Managing Director in the New York office of the Blueshirt Group. He has more than 25 years of technology and telecom experience. Prior to joining the Blueshirt Group, Greg worked at Nomura as a sell-side equity research analyst covering the communications infrastructure sector. Greg also has experience in early stage venture capital, investment banking, and corporate strategy. Greg holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, an M. Litt. in Shakespeare Studies from the University of St. Andrews and a B.A. in Classical Languages from Columbia University.
Greg has been fascinated by military history since his first exposure to Thucydides’ The History of the Peloponnesian War in high school. Greg is amazed at the scale of the World War II conflict and the panoply of human drama it encompassed. When not reading about military history, he is most likely writing overdue book reviews for the WWIIDF website.
“You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.”
Attributed to Leon Trotsky