dtheriault

I'm really in the mood for a great non-fiction military campaign read.

Something along the lines of

Breakout: The Chosin Reservior Campaign where group of Marines fights their way out of being surrounded by a large Chinese army in the Korean Winter.

or

Enemy at the Gates: The Siege of Stalingrad: This was crazy reading about the city holding off the Germans with nothing, fighting building to building, then reading about the German army left to hang by Hitler eventually being cut to pieces.

Any recs please?

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Unless you are the freakin Highlander, what is the point in learning how to fight with a sword?

Wyodiver33

Ghost Soldiers

Book about the Bataan Death March in the Philippines during WW2. Also covers the rescue of Allied soldiers from a POW camp. Awesome book.

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powerclown

The Jungle is Neutral, by F. Spencer Chapman.
I was given this book to read by an elderly man who fought in WW2 in Poland against the Germans. I really liked it. Down & dirty, nitty gritty stuff.

From the Back Cover
After the fall of Malaysia to the Japanese, the unflappable F. Spencer Chapman survived for years in the jungle as a guerilla fighter. The Jungle is Neutral is his amazing tale of survival and valor against all odds.

As he traveled by bicycle, motorcycle, dugout, on foot, or on his belly through the jungle muck, Chapman recruited sympathetic Chinese, Malays, Tamils, and Sakai tribesman into an irregular corps of jungle fighters. Their mission: to harass the Japanese in any way possible. In riveting scenes, Chapman recalls their daring raids as they blew up bridges, cut communication lines, and affixed plasticine to troop-filled trucks idling by the road. They threw grenades and disappeared into the jungle, their faces darkened with carbon, their tommy guns wrapped in tape so as not to reflect the moonlight. When Chapman wasn't battling the Japanese or escaping from their prisons, he found himself fighting the jungle's incessant rain, wild tigers, unfriendly tribesmen, leeches, disease, and malnutrition.

This classic tale has been compared to Lawrence of Arabia's classic account, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, and the gritty account of day-to-day operations is so accurate that the French Foreign Legion used the book as a primer on jungle warfare. It is a war story without rival.

Wyodiver33

Powerclown, that book sounds great. I will have to look for it. It sounds like it is en par with Ghost Soldiers.

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radioguy

HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK AS WELL. i had never heard of this event before reading the book.

Wyodiver33

I found it to be the most enjoyable work of non-fiction that I have ever read. Here's a link:
http://www.randomhouse.com/doubleday/ghostsoldiers/

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Paradise Lost

Anything by Bruce Catton if you're looking into Civil War Campaigns. His cover more than one campaign (if you can really even call them that) but they're very, very in-depth and very well written. (The guy won a Pulitzer for "Stillness at Appomattox")

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Mephisto2

Boy oh boy...

My favourite subject.


The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...897367-4327301

This is one of the best books I've ever read. It combines history, science and biography into a nail-biting narrative on this amazing story. Rhodes won the Pulitzer Prize for this book. It may appear long (it is), but it reads like a Hollywood thriller. Exceptionally well written, it tells the story of how the US, along with its British allies, struggled desperately to develop the weapon that would end WWII. It not only covers the efforts of the Allies, but also of the Axis powers and even though we know the ending it really had me on the edge of my seat. I can't recommend this book highly enough. As an aside, it has a 5 star rating after over 100 reviews on Amazon (though I tend not to rely on these too much). If you read only one book on WWII history, then this is it.

Dreadnaught by Robert Massie
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...897367-4327301

Dreadnaught tells the fascinating story of the great naval arms race between Germany and England in the years preceeding WWI. Whilst it may sound a little esoteric of a subject, you find the narrative gripping and the writing so beautiful that you can't help but be drawn in. It really is an amazing book.

The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...897367-4327301
This book stands as one of the most famous military histories ever written. Its opening passage alone is considered one of the most well written pieces in English. It tells of the first month in the First World War when British, German, French and Belgian troops fought over the fields of Flanders. A story of herorism, catastrophe, military genius and blunder and the lives of soldiers, generals and politicians whose actions shaped the following four years of the 'Great War'.

Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...897367-4327301
If you liked Enemy at the Gates, you will love Stalingrad. Using reams of recently available documents from Russia and Germany it tells us about the terrible, almost inhuman battle for the city of Stalingrad. One of the books that started the recent renaissance in military history, Stalingrad is well deservedly considered a masterpiece. A huge international best seller.
Beevor recently published an equally chilling account of the fall of Berlin; also highly recommended. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books

The Civil War trilogy by Shelby Foote
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books
Absolutely breathtaking and sweeping in scope, Foote's majesterial history of the Civil War is considered of the best, if not the best, history of that conflict. Much more intimate that Pherson's oft-lauded Battle Cry of Freedom and more pesonable than Catton's works, the Civil War trilogy is huge; both in scope and in size. Three very large books that will stay with you for years to come.

The Rising Sun by John Toland
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books
Toland's Pulitzer Prize winning history of the decline and fall of the Japanese Empire is history at its best. Beginning with the military coup in Japan in 1936 (the so-called February 26 Incident) it tells how Japan rose to be a frightening military power, how it conquered great swathes of China (Manchuria) and how its military and political doctrine brought about its eventual fall in 1945. Truly great history writing.

The Washing of the Spears by Donald Morris
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...897367-4327301
The definitive history of the Zulu Wars in Southern Africa in the 1870's. It actually starts with the creation of the Zulu nation under the leadership of their great warrior king Shaka and ends with its destruction by the overwhelming firepower of the British Empire. Along the way we learn of how the Zulu nation caused massive socio-economic changes in native Africa, how the British suffered their first humiliating defeat at the hands of "spear waving natives", how 104 British soldiers defended themselves against 4000 Zulus at Rorke's Drift and how these two great proud empires clashed in the closing years of the 19th century. Superb.

The Boer War by Thomas Pakenham
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books
A beautifully written history of this often overlooked war in South Africa at the beginning of the 20th century. How many realize it was the British that invented the concentration camps? The stories of great roving bands of 'commandos', of terrible sieges, of inhuman treatment of women and children by British forces... A great story, very well told.

The Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...897367-4327301
Another African masterpiece by Pakenham, this book is not really about a single war or battle but concerns the European powers and their systematic invasion and annexation of Africa over the course of 30 to 40 years. Within one generation, Africa changed from being the "Dark Continent" to a patchwork of artificial colonies ruled by European powers. Fascinating history at its best.

The Greco-Persian Wars by Peter Green.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books
Also known as The Year of Salamis in the US, this is the definitive history of the great struggle between the Greek city-states and the massive Persian Empire fought, over two wars, in the fifth century BC. Had the Persians won, world history would be unrecognisably different to that of today. This is a great book.

The Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books
Kagan, the world's pre-eminent scholar on this subject, published a single volume history on the war between Athens and Sparta last year. Famous for his definitive five volume history (which I've also read and recommend, though it is a bit scholarly), Kagan tells us of the story of how these two great Greek cities fought each other over a generation.


I could go on and on, but I think that's enough for the moment. I might post some more when I get home and browse my bookshelves...


Mr Mephisto

Wyodiver33

Mr Mephisto, thank you for a great list of books. They all sound very interesting to me. Please feel free to post more!

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MikeyChalupa

Read all you can about the Battle of Midway. The planning, skill, luck, and blunders on both sides of this pivotal naval battle of the Pacific war are fascinating.

-Mikey

cuervo

The Longest Day

Not a battle book, but still a good look at the military:
Boyd

I just finished Clancy's Shadow Warriors.
Not great but a good description of the battle in Panama and some good anecdotal stories.

Blind Man's Bluff
about submarines used for spy duty

dtheriault

Has anyone read the Steven Pressfield books? Either Gates of Fire or The Virtues of War?

I read The Rising Sun 15 years ago and should go back and read it again.

I'm going to try Ghost Warriors, The Jungle is Neutral, and Dreadnaught first.

I tried reading Guns of August and just couldn't get into it. Maybe I'll give it another go.

Also, can anyone recommend a book dealing with Napoleon that focuses on the military/battles and not the politics?

__________________
"Remember, it takes two to lie. One to lie and one to listen." -Homer

Unless you are the freakin Highlander, what is the point in learning how to fight with a sword?

Mephisto2

If you can get past the anachronistic concepts, poor writing and unlikely plot twists, then I guess you could say Pressfield's books are a good historical introduction into ancient Greek history.

Dreadnaught is superb. He recently wrote a "sequel" that actually deals with the naval conflict during WWI itself; Dreadnaught was about the arms-race prior to the war. It's called Castles of Steel - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...897367-4327301

I loved it, but it's certainly "old school" style. If you are interested in the subject, you could try 1914 by Lyn Macdonald - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books. Macdonald has made a career from writing about the First World War and her books are dotted with extracts from letters, memoirs and interviews with the real protaganists; a refreshing change from the high level strategic overview we often get in military histories. She has published a whole range of books, covering everything from specific battles They Called It Passchendaele and Somme) to a history of each year of the war (1914, 1915... 1918 etc) to a history of the nurses and medical staff of the campaigns (The roses of no man's land). Whilst her references and extracts have a predominance of English and French voices (in that order), she does not ignore the German side. Her books come with a strong recommendation from Mr Mephisto.

Also very much worth considering is The Lions of July by William Jannen. It tells the fascinating story of the days leading up to the war and concentrates on the personalities involved on each side (politicians, generals, kings and kaisers). Highly recommended. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books

If you are interested in WWI, let me know and I have some more recommendations.

Boy oh boy...

There are literally thousands of books on Napoleon; and I'm not kidding. If you are interested in his military campaigns, as opposed to his politics, then you have some obvious choices. Of course, my opinion is that one can't be divorced from the other (as Napoleon's contemporary Clausewitz reminds us), but nevertheless the following works are recommended.

The canonical work is Raymond Chandler's sweeping, huge and all-inclusive The Campaigns of Napoleon. This is an amazing book, and very large, book. I've never succeeded in reading the whole thing end to end, but have dipped in and researched certain battles. If there's only one book on Napoleon's military career, then this is it.

At the other end of the scale, there is a nice introductory, colourful (lovely maps) and short book on the history of the Napoleonic wars in the Cassell History of Warfare series. I'm not near my home library at present so I can't remember the exact title or author, but it's a very good introduction.

There's a full section in Amazon about the military history of the Napoleonic wars; with sub-sections on general Napoleonic military history, naval, Waterloo and Napoleon himself also with their own sub-sections. You may also want to look there. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...897367-4327301

However, you can't go wrong with Chandler!


Any more requests? Did I say history was my favourite subject?


Mr Mephisto

transient

The Vietnam War

The author is Stanley Karnow. A very good look at the conflict and very well written.

Regards

Suave

Forgive my memory, but my book is at my other place and it's been a while.

I believe it's called "Dispatches". I may be wrong. Has some stuff from Vietnam and the Gulf War I believe.

omega2K4

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, not really a military book completely, but its a huge part of it. Its a non-fiction book written by Guanzhong Luo/Kuan-Chung Lo about the end of the Han dynasty (around 205 B.C. to 220 A.D.), when the Han dynasty split up into 3 warring factions (Shu, Wei, and Wu) for control over China.

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CrossEyedLover

Band of Brothers and D-Day by Stephen Ambrose. I found it hard to put either one down and if did I couldn't wait to pick them back up and read more.

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dtheriault

I've already read

Band of Brothers- liked it

Phillip Caputo's "A Rumor of War"- really liked the representation of what it was like in Vietnam before the fighting got heavy.

Dispatches- great book. The stuff on Errol Flynn's son the photographer was interesting.

Tim O'Brien's The Things they Carried (Much better than "Going After Cacciato") the chapter called "How to tell a war story" is one of the most haunting chapters I've ever read on the representation of war. I read it out loud one time to a group and it looked like people had been hit in the stomach with a shovel.

Cornelius Ryan's "The Longest Day" Every time I say the pledge I picture the Army rangers climbing those ladders up the cliffs of Normandy while Germans picked them off from above. I am eternally grateful for their courage and fortitude.

Thanks again for all the recs. It's making me look forward to my 2 weeks off during xmas.

__________________
"Remember, it takes two to lie. One to lie and one to listen." -Homer

Unless you are the freakin Highlander, what is the point in learning how to fight with a sword?

FngKestrel

Marine Sniper by Charles Henderson
Biography of Carlos Hathcock, 93 confirmed sniper kills in Vietnam.

dtheriault

I'm on page 54 of ghost soldiers and it rocks! Not a boring page yet. It's cool how it's going into the prehistory of the story with the taking of the philippines and the treatment of enemy prisoners. I have to admit that it makes you start feeling a wee bit o the hatred for the japanese. I'm ready to trade in my honda.

thanks again for the rec!

__________________
"Remember, it takes two to lie. One to lie and one to listen." -Homer

Unless you are the freakin Highlander, what is the point in learning how to fight with a sword?

Mephisto2

Band of Brothers was good, but I lost a lot of my respect for Ambrose after he was proven to be a plagiarist.

Mr Mephisto