Re: Need War/History/Military Book Recommendations

**Skud** · 04-11-2009, 12:26 AM

Originally Posted by thegreatnardini

Thanks for all the recommendations guys! This is what I ended up ordering:

In the Company of Heroes
Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War
The Mission, the Men, and Me: Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander
Art of War
The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783
Biohazard: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World Told
House to House: An Epic Memoir of War
Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10
SOG: The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam
Roberts Ridge: A Story of Courage and Sacrifice on Takur Ghar Mountain, Afghanistan
Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda

There were a few others that looked fascinating, but I ran out of money so I'll save those for when I'm done with these (which may take a while)

.

You're going to make a great officer.

**El_Gringo_Grande** · 04-12-2009, 11:23 PM

Originally Posted by CingularDuality

The Defence of Duffer's Drift

http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resour...on/Swinton.asp

That is a classic.

**C7A1** · 04-13-2009, 03:46 AM

Originally Posted by Sir-Nerd

Generation Kill.

I second that... my Master Corporal recommended everyone in my section to read it.

Delta*RandyShugart* · 04-13-2009, 12:58 PM

Generation Kill is a great book, i read it in 2 day's, also Andy Mcnabb's book which I can't remember the title of how he first volunteered for the SAS is also a great read.

**Ristin** · 04-16-2009, 04:59 AM

Here's a few I liked.

3 PARA by Patrick Bishop
Chicken Hawk by Robert Mason (Vietnam Huey pilot)
Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit by Eric Haney
Rogue Warrior by Robert Marcinko (SEAL Team 6 founder)
Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army by Jeremy Scahill
The Night Stalkers by Michael J. Durant and Steven Hartov
Generation Kill by Evan Wright
The Royal Rifles of Canada in Hong Kong 1941 - 1945
Seven Troop by Andy McNab
Firebirds by Chuck Carlock (Vietnam Huey gunship pilot)
How to Make War: A Comprehensive Guide to Modern Warfare in the Twenty-first Century by James F. Dunnigan
From Sun Tzu to Xbox: War and Video Games by Ed Halter
World War Z by Max Brooks
American Spartans: The U.S. Marines: A Combat History from Iwo Jima to Iraq by James A. Warren
Tail End Charlie: Memoir of a United States Marine in the Vietnam War by Ronald John Jensen
Immediate Action by Andy McNab
Canada's Secret Commandos: The unauthorized story of Joint Task Force Two by David Pugliese
Contact Charlie: The Canadian Army, the Taliban and the Battle That Saved Afghanistan by Chris Wattie
Educating the Royal Navy: 18th and 19th Century Education for Officer (Naval Policy and History) by Harr Dickinson
Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy by Ian Toll
Battle at Sea: 3,000 Years of Naval Warfare by R. G. Grant
A Brief History of Fighting Ships by David Tudor Davies
The Pursuit of Victory: The Life and Achievement of Horatio Nelson by Roger Knight
Nelson's Trafalgar: The Battle That Changed the World by Roy Adkins

I'll stop now before I end up searching my room for more.

**Portable.Cougar** · 04-16-2009, 05:25 AM

World War Z

**Axis_Sniper** · 04-16-2009, 10:41 AM

I see you already ordered, but I don't mind suggesting Marine Sniper by Charles Henderson, which is a great biography about Carlos Hathcock aka White Feather.

It about him from him just getting into Vietnam, to him living the rest of his days after he gets 3rd degree burns on most of his body from sitting on an APC which ran over a 100lb mine.

Delta*RandyShugart* · 04-16-2009, 12:34 PM

Ristin, thanks for mentioning chicken hawk, i read that i think ten years ago.......great addition, i completely forgot about that book.

"We were soldiers once, and young" is also a really well written book.

**OAC_Rattler** · 04-16-2009, 06:06 PM

I liked this book...

Into the Storm: A Study in Command
by
Tom Clancy and General Fred Franks

If you're not a Clancy fan, don't worry - it doesn't read like his usual fare.

**Skylark** · 04-17-2009, 01:16 AM

Any particular topic that interests you more than others?
naval
armor
infantry
etc..

I have my dad's military books. Some are very interesting. I liked reading a lot of the stuff on world war II.

I forget the author, but I liked the book Armored Combat in Vietnam, because that was what my father was doing there.
Tom Clancy did a series of non-fiction books on some topics
One was on armored cav, another on subs. I forget the others. I thought they were pretty good.

**meeeeee8880** · 04-17-2009, 04:04 AM

Althought you already ordered, here is one i have always liked. The true story of the USS Rasher in WW2. Pretty fun to read.

Red Scorpion - Peter Sasgen

**gunjunkie** · 04-17-2009, 04:49 PM

This is awesome if you are interested in the least about the history of the end days of the Apartheid regime and their effect on the rest of Southern Africa. Includes details about S.A. bio-weapons research. No idea if you can get it at Borders.

http://www.amazon.com/Warfare-Other-...9997611&sr=1-7

**OAC_Rattler** · 04-22-2009, 04:35 PM

"Shake Hands With The Devil"; Gen. Romeo Dallaire, commander of UN contingent in Rwanda, 1994.

http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/di...=9780679311713

Also a movie version.

**Coridon** · 04-23-2009, 08:55 PM

I'm about halfway through Max Boot's "War Made New" and it's a worthwhile read.

It focuses not necessarily on the most famous battles in history, but on the ones where the old way of fighting was replaced by something more revolutionary. For instance, one of battles highlighted is Breitenfeld, 1631, where Gustavus Adolphus defeated a much larger Imperial force during the Thirty Years War.

As an aside, one piece of trivia I learned the other day from the book was this: during the 18th and 19th centuries European armies standardized the colors of their uniforms. British were red, Russians green, French were white, Prussians blue, etc. etc. The significance of the last one is that the Prussians were the first to Wargame (Kriegsspiel). During these games, Prussian pieces were colored blue and the enemy red. After Prussian victories in the mid-to-late 19th century, other armies began to wargame as well. Interestingly, they also adopted the Prussian color schemes of friendly forces being blue, and enemy forces colored red.

So today, whenever you see friendly Blue Forces on a map (or mini-map, in game), you can think of Prussians marching around in their blue uniforms...

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