Bookstore Main Categories

WW2 Bookstore Main and National Customs

For the WW2 reenactor, there are MANY good books available on the 'Net. We have broken them down into topics as otherwise, this page would be intolerably long--actually, the pages still might be quite long, as there are a LOT of good books out there! Since I mostly reenact German, I admit that there is a bias in the books here, but I am working to change that, so bear with us and as time goes on, we will get more here. You can help by telling us what books we are missing.

Amazon Associate's logoWe are an "associate" of Amazon.com and so through them can offer you many of the books we think are an asset to building your impression. What this means is, that if you click on the links below and on the other book pages, you can buy these books through us! This wonderful act, besides showing your good taste, will allow us to pay our now surprisingly HIGH server bill, pay our programmer and keep reenactor.Net going ;-) Thanks, and... enjoy!

Right here on this page though, are some books on the different nations as a people, some of their customs and language slang--this will help you to get a handle on them!

National Customs

Here are some books that will help you learn about the customs of the people you might portray. Of course, some people aren't into that, simply wanting to go "bang!" However, many reenactors who try it, find that learning about the people they portray adds a lot to their experience.

Author: Cyrus A. Lee
self
German World War II soldiers with dogs, cats and other animals; companions and combat partners, complied in in one volume for easy view in Soldat new large format. Period, often candid, photos tell the story as old as time, soldiers and their animal friends

Author: Jane K Winter

Like the one above good for Non-Americans to get a handle on the South. Hell, it's good for non-Southerners to learn how not to act like an ignorant Yankee!

Author: Esther Wanning

What can I say, pretty much like all the other Culture Shocks! books... good for Non-Americans to get a handle on our weirdnesses...

Author: Terry Tan

Whether you travel for business, pleasure, or a combination of the two, the ever-popular "Culture Shock!" series belongs in your backpack or briefcase. Get the nuts-and-bolts information you need to survive and thrive wherever you go. "Culture Shock!" country guides are easy-to-read, accurate, and entertaining crash courses in local customs and etiquette. "Culture Shock!" practical guides offer the inside information you need whether you're a student, a parent, a globetrotter, or a working traveler. "Culture Shock!" at your Door guides equip you for daily life in some of the world's most cosmopolitan cities. And "Culture Shock!" Success Secrets guides offer relevant, practical information with the real-life insights and cultural know-how that can make the difference between business success and failure.

You'll never feel intimidated and awkward about the customs and etiquette of another country again. With the insights provided in this Culture Shock! Guide, you'll learn to see beyond the stereotypes and misinformation that often precede a visit to a foreign land. Whether you plan to stay for a week or for a year, you'll benefit from such topics as understanding the rules of driving and monetary systems, religious practices and making friends. There are tips on political traditions, building business relationships, and the particular intricacies of setting up a home or office. Great for the business traveler, the foreign exchange student, or the tourist who makes a sincere attempt to cross the bridge into a new and exciting culture.

Each "Culture Shock!" title is written by someone who's lived and worked in the country, and each book is packed with practical, accurate, and enjoyable information to help you find your way and feel at home.

Author: Genevieve
Touchstone

Written by "Genevieve," who is identified only as living in Switzerland, this humorous look at French argot claims to be a "survival guide to understanding everyday French as it is really spoken." While there is certainly much for the casual reader to enjoy and much for lovers of France to commit to memory, the book falls flat. The fun of learning slang in a foreign language is understanding the sometimes mystifying, often amusing, literal meanings of those expressions. For example, according to Genevieve, an innocent, naive person is a oie blanche, a white goose, and to make love in a slow, conventional way is faire l'amour a la papa, make love like dad. Unfortunately this guide only erratically provides such literal meanings, making the book of full value only to those whose French is in good shape already or who are willing to paw through a conventional dictionary while reading this.

Author: Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow

At last, a fresh take on a country that no one can seem to understand.

The French smoke, drink and eat more fat than anyone in the world, yet they live longer and have fewer heart problems than Americans. They take seven weeks of paid vacation per year, yet have the world's highest productivity index. From a distance, modern France looks like a riddle. But up close, it all makes sense. Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong shows how the pieces of the puzzle fit together.

Decrypting French ideas about land, food, privacy and language, the authors weave together the threads of French society -- from centralization and the Napoleonic code to elite education and even street protests -- giving us, for the first time, an understanding of France and the French.

Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong is the most ambitious work published on France since Theodor Zeldin's The French. It goes beyond Adam Gopnik's Paris to the Moon to explain not only the essence of the French, but also how they got to be the way they are. Unlike France on the Brink: A Great Civilization in the New Century, the authors do not see France in a state of decline, but one of perpetual renewal.

Author: Ross Steele
McGraw-Hill

Never feel like a stranger in France again!

When should you mention a person's family name in a greeting? Should you pay immediately when you are served in a café? Wearing what item of clothing will instantly reveal you as a tourist? All these answers and more can be found in When in France, Do As the French Do, a fun and intriguing book that teaches you about France's culture, language, and people.

It features 120 intriguing multiple-choice questions that are cross-referenced to fascinating articles on pop culture, customs, behavior, history, consumer trends, literature, tourist sights, business, language, and more. Also included are key terms and useful expressions, informative charts, and websites for further reference.

 

Author: Sally Adamson Taylor

Whether you travel for business, pleasure, or a combination of the two, the ever-popular "Culture Shock!" series belongs in your backpack or briefcase. Get the nuts-and-bolts information you need to survive and thrive wherever you go. "Culture Shock!" country guides are easy-to-read, accurate, and entertaining crash courses in local customs and etiquette. "Culture Shock!" practical guides offer the inside information you need whether you're a student, a parent, a globetrotter, or a working traveler. "Culture Shock!" at your Door guides equip you for daily life in some of the world's most cosmopolitan cities. And "Culture Shock!" Success Secrets guides offer relevant, practical information with the real-life insights and cultural know-how that can make the difference between business success and failure.

Each "Culture Shock!" title is written by someone who's lived and worked in the country, and each book is packed with practical, accurate, and enjoyable information to help you find your way and feel at home.

Author: Hyde Flippo
McGraw-Hill

Never feel like a stranger in Germany again!

On entering a restaurant, should you find your own table or wait to be seated? What is a suitable topic for small-talk with a stranger? In what circumstances might you ask to borrow ein Handy? All these answers and more can be found in When in Germany, Do As the Germans Do, a fun and intriguing book that teaches you about Germany's culture, language, and people.

It features 120 intriguing multiple-choice questions that are cross-referenced to fascinating articles on pop culture, customs, behavior, history, consumer trends, literature, tourist sights, business, language, and more. Also included are key terms and useful expressions, informative charts, and websites for further reference.

 

Author: Gertrude Besserwisser
Illustrator: David Levine

SCHEISSE! is a useful book for the German reenactor. With this book one can learn how to actually speak those phrases that real people use. Soon, you too will be swearing away -- Es ist mir scheissegal!

If you think you have a fairly good command of German, think again. For it's a sure bet that Frau Schultz never taught you those nasty little guttural curses and humiliating invectives so expressive of real low German speech. But relax—here at last is the one book that can introduce you to the very worst beer-hall German. Scheisse! is an indispensible guide to off-color German colloquialisms and profanities - lascivious bedroom slang and boozy insults, jeering scatalogical put-downs and scurrilous ridicule. This hilariously illustrated cornucopia of creative expletives, gauranteed to vex, taunt, aggravate, and provoke as only overwrought low German can, will help you master the fine art of German verbal abuse - with triumphant one-upmanship.

 

Author: Lavern Rippley
Barnes & Noble Books

Although an older book, Of German Ways is a good basic primer on German history, customs and culture. Well worth reading to give one a solid grounding in "Germanness". Don't rule it out just because it's an older title.

Author: Richard Lord

Whether you travel for business, pleasure, or a combination of the two, the ever-popular "Culture Shock!" series belongs in your backpack or briefcase. Get the nuts-and-bolts information you need to survive and thrive wherever you go. "Culture Shock!" country guides are easy-to-read, accurate, and entertaining crash courses in local customs and etiquette. "Culture Shock!" practical guides offer the inside information you need whether you're a student, a parent, a globetrotter, or a working traveler. "Culture Shock!" at your Door guides equip you for daily life in some of the world's most cosmopolitan cities. And "Culture Shock!" Success Secrets guides offer relevant, practical information with the real-life insights and cultural know-how that can make the difference between business success and failure.

Each "Culture Shock!" title is written by someone who's lived and worked in the country, and each book is packed with practical, accurate, and enjoyable information to help you find your way and feel at home.


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