Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

I'm looking to spend some nice summer evenings on my patio doing some reading and much less time off of the internet. Some of the topics I'm most interested would be related to the Civil War, WW1, WW2, and Vietnam. Not really looking for a political book, but one that tells a good story. I read All Quiet on the Western Front and The Frontiersmen when I was in high school and will read those once again. Any suggestions???

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

Fiction or non-fiction? I'm a WWII buff and have close to 500 books on the subject- many dealing with aviation. All are non-fiction, however.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

One of my favorites is Mila 18 by Leon Uris. It tells the story of the German occupation of Poland, and Warsaw during WW2. A large part of the story concerns the Jewish uprising and defense of the Warsaw ghetto.

Another favotite is Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy, which deals with a possible WW3 scenario between NATO and the USSR. It's more modern, going into a lot of detail of battle strategies.

I'm found both of these excellent reads.

:dance:

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

Non-fiction is what I'm after...I just picked up The Civil War: A Narrative by Shelby Foote because that seemed pretty highly rated.

I'd rather read an actual book about the sinking of the Titanic than watch the movie.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

You, sir, are a man after my own heart! I have so many ideas, I can't think of one! Let me look and I'll list a few for ya!

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

By the way, I'm a Purdue aviation technology grad, so you can say I love airplanes. ;)

Got my private pilot license back in '96, but haven't managed to get up in about 10 years now.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
http://www.amazon.com/Old-Breed-At-P...6398735&sr=8-1

Anything by Donald Burgett
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b_...x=donald+burge

Flags of Our Fathers
http://www.amazon.com/Flags-Our-Fath...6398863&sr=1-9

Anything by Stephen Ambrose
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b_...ix=stephen+amb

Any of the War Stories by Ollie North
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?...th+war+stories

That should be a start for you. Good luck! Will go upstairs later to take a look at my aviation library....

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

You know much about WW1 or Vietnam stuff by chance either? I'm really interested in reading some great story telling of what some of these guys really went through. My wife doesn't really care for COD WAW. :D

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

I really like Knights Cross. It's a book about Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

By the way, a preference would be someone who actually wrote it with first hand experience. To me, there's a lot left out by someone who is writing it without having lived it. Thanks for all the suggestions thus far.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

Off the top of my head, I wholeheartedly agree with Hugh on "anything by Ambrose."
another good one.
http://www.amazon.com/Naked-Warriors.../dp/0312959850

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

Checked out With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa on Amazon...looks like a great fit for the kind of stuff I'm looking for.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

I don't remember the author's name, but I read the novel F.N.G., and I liked it a lot.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

Bury Us Upside Down: The Misty Pilots and the Secret Battle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail
http://www.amazon.com/Bury-Us-Upside...6399729&sr=1-1

His Time in Hell: A Texas Marine in France
http://www.amazon.com/His-Time-Hell-...6399814&sr=1-1

The Mammoth Book of War Diaries and Letters: A collection of Letter and Diaries from the Battlefield
http://www.amazon.com/Mammoth-Book-W...6399876&sr=1-1

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

A book that I really enjoyed was Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills. It's about Carlos "Whitefeather" Hathcock, a Vietnam Marine sniper.

The book is pretty much non-fiction, but not a biography or anything. The author was a fellow Marine. A lot of Hollywood sniper movies seem to be based on Hathcock's missions.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

Outstanding!
I heard him interviewed- the "classic" Southern Gentleman!

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

But we still like you...;)

Just read the IU/PU forums on Indystar.com, they're kinda war-like...:r

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

I have heard about Hathcock and been meaning to pick up one of the books on him, evidently he was one hell of a Marine.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

I enjoyed the book Charlie Wilson's War by George Crile

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

I used to post on the PU/IU boards...you wouldn't believe how much fish I caught trolling on that board. LOL

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

While it may be going back a bit further than what you (and others) have been discussing, I think that you'd really enjoy "1776" by David McCullough. He's one of my favorite authors, and his books are absolutely fascinating...

http://www.amazon.com/1776-David-McC...6400862&sr=1-1

I hope this helps!

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

If you don't mind doing some searching, I can recommend a few more:

"Make The Kaiser Dance", Henry Barry. Oral histories of World War 1 vets, done in the 1960s.

"The Doughboys", Lawrence Stallings

"Shots Fired In Anger", Lt. Col. John George. A rifleman's saga of service with the 132nd Rgt of the Illinois National Guard, the Americal Division and Merrill's Marauders in the Pacific. His comparative commentaries of US vs. Japanese (equipment, tactics etc.) are very enlightening.

"Death Traps", Belton Cooper. The dark side of service in the armored units of WW2.

"A Rifleman Went To War", H.W. McBride. An American rifleman's service with the Canadian Army in WW1.

"Japan At War: An Oral History", Haruko Taya Cook and Theodore Cook. Lots of great oral history material.

"Soldiers Of The Sun", Marion and Susan Harries. The rise and fall of the Imperial Japanese Army. Pulls no punches and hides no details.

"Bataan: Uncensored", Col. E.B. Miller. Bataan was the only real chance the prewar Regular Army had to show its stuff, and this book by the CO of one of the NG tank units sent over to aid them tells their story.

"They Fought Alone" and "Lieutenant Ramsey's War" (can't find the authors) are about survivors of Bataan who evaded the Japanese and carried on the war as guerillas until MacArthur came back. Both are great reads.

"Japanese Destroyer Captain", Tameichi Hara. The author's story begins with the first forays into China in the 1930s and ends as part of the flotilla escorting superbattleship Yamato to her doom in 1945. As another reviewer said it, "How this guy survived the war is beyond me".

"GI: The American Soldier In World War II", Lee Kennett. Great (and very informative) reading.

Some are in print, some are out of print, but all are great reading.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

Killer Angels by Shaara...great Civil War action.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

Enemy at the Gates was pretty good and I started reading "Biggest Brother" by Larry Alexander which is about the life of Major Dick Winters who led the band of Brothers. ie the group of amazing men from the HBO series. Good book so far just got side tracked

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

If you are interested in reading about The Band of Brother and Major Dick Winters from his point of view let me know and I would let you borrow it or anyone for that matter. Just PM me

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

I just finished reading "Duty, Honor, Privilege: New York City's Silk Stocking Regiment and the Breaking of the Hindenburg Line" by Stephen L. Harris. It is a good WWI book with a mix of historical facts and tons of stuff from the soldier's view.

It's about the 7th NY Infantry Regiment as part of the 27th Division attached to the British Fourth Army.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

I skimmed though the posts here but didnt see "We where solders once and young" as with any book to movie rendition the book is alot better. I read it when I was deployed to Egypt for 6mts. Sorry if you have not seen the movie it is about Vietnam war.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

An excellent book on Vietnam I read in high school was "The Monk And The Marines". 1st hand account from a guy that was a medic over there. I couldn't put it down.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

A very different read is "Ivan's War: Life and Death In The Red Army, 1939-1945" by Catherine Merridale. Not only did they suffer to an incredible degree, at the hands of their own incompetent and cruel leaders as well as the Germans, but after the war they were repressed en masse and forced to conform to an impossibly heroic propaganda image.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

Battle Cry, also by Uris, is a good read. It's partly based on his own experiences with the 6th Marines during WWII.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

This was a good one, and got me started on a roll reading about the Revolution and the war. His bibliography is a great list of books to read. For the battles of the War of the Revolution, the 2 volume "The War of the Revolution" by Ward is excellent. Also agree on WWII books by Ambrose. A very good book on Japan's background and involvement in WWII is "Japan's War" by Hoyt. Very interesting look at it from that view. I've read some views that Japan was backed into a corner with blockades to force them to war, but this book pretty much shoots that view down.

I've read 2 good WWII books on aviation recently, one on Jimmy Stewart and one on George McGovern. Both were excellent. I always had a lot of respect for Mr. Stewart, but the book made me respect him all the more. I need to find one on Ted Williams.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

The one on McGovern was Ambrose's last. Also sad that there were allegations of plagiarism concerning it.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

Great suggestions thus far...I tried doing some research on amazon for all of the recommendations you had. So far, these are at the top of my list:

Band of Brothers Stephen Ambrose
Citizen Solders Stephen Ambrose
We Die Alone Stephen Ambrose
Currahee: A Screaming Eagle at Normandy Stephen Ambrose
Parachute Infantry: An American Paratrooper's Memoir of D-Day and the Fall of the Third Reich Stephen Ambrose
D Day: June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II Stephen Ambrose
Crazy Horse and Custer Stephen Ambrose
Pegasus Bridge: June 6, 1944 Stephen Ambrose
With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa E.B. Sledge
In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors Doug Stanton
Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission Hampton Sides
Flags of our Fathers James Bradley
Flyboys: A True Story of Courage James Bradley
Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 Marcus Luttrell
The Longest Day: The Classic Epic of D-Day Cornelius Ryan
The Guns of August Barbara Tuchman
The First World War John Keegan
The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916 Sir Alistair Horne
Bury Us Upside Down: The Misty Pilots and the Secret Battle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail Rick Newman
His Time in Hell: A Texas Marine in France Warren Jackson
Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills Charles Henderson
1776 David McCullough
The Killer Angels Michael Shaara
Duty, Honor, Privilege: New York City's Silk Stocking Regiment and the Breaking of the Hindenburg Line (History of War) Stephen Harris
We were Soldiers Once and Young Harold Moore
Ivan's War: Life and Death In The Red Army, 1939-1945 Catherine Merridale
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era James McPherson
The Civil War: A Narrative Shelby Foote

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

The Guns of August Barbara Tuchman-- I found this to be soporific in the extreme. Almost a minute-by-minute account. Not recommended!

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

A few that stand out from my WWII aviation library:

Ben Drew: The Katzenjammer Ace
http://www.amazon.com/Ben-Drew-Katze...6483590&sr=8-1

The Man Who Flew the Memphis Belle: Memoir of a WWII Bomber Pilot
http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Flew-M...6483663&sr=1-1

A Proud American
http://www.amazon.com/Proud-American...6483750&sr=1-1

Mad Rebel... A Youth at War OUTSTANDING!
http://www.amazon.com/Mad-Rebel-Yout...6483813&sr=1-1

Wings Of Morning: The Story Of The Last American Bomber Shot Down Over Germany In World War II
http://www.amazon.com/Wings-Morning-...6484076&sr=1-1

Goodbye, Liberty Belle: A Son's Search for His Father's War
http://www.amazon.com/Goodbye-Libert...6484149&sr=1-2

Donald's Story
http://www.amazon.com/Donalds-Story-...6484214&sr=1-1

Serenade to the Big Bird
http://www.amazon.com/Serenade-Bird-...6484285&sr=1-1

After the Liberators: A Father's Last Mission, a Son's Lifelong Journey
http://www.amazon.com/After-Liberato...6484373&sr=1-1

The Lucky Bastard Club: a B-17 Pilot in Training and in Combat, 1943-45 and Mister Fletcher's Gang
http://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Bastard-...6484444&sr=1-2

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

:tpd:

I read Band of Brothers and D-Day last year. Both were amazing. Ambrose is known for letting the soldiers tell the story.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

I see people mentioned Killer Angles and Gods and Generals. Those books are historical fiction. Those books are ok if you know absolutely nothing and wanted to be entertained while reading about the Civil War, otherwise I would pass on them. These books are really in depth and may be a little dry for someone whos not a huge buff but they are excellent reads. Here are my recommendations.

Battle Cry of Freedom by James Mcpherson

Lee's Lieutenants (3 vols) by Douglas Southall Freeman

Gettysburg by Stephen Sears

Gettysburg A Testing of Courage by Noah Andre Treadeau

Apostles of Disunion by Charles Dew- excellent account of succession

Return to Bull Run by John Hennessy

A Strange and Blighted Land by Gregory A. Coco- the bible on the aftermath at Gettysburg

If you are hardcore and wanted to learn in depth about battles pick up the Official Records of the Rebellion- its correspondence and orders from each battle and campaigns during the war.

American Brutus by Michael Kaufman is excellent on Lincolns Assasination

Any questions on the Civil War PM me.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

My wife just suggested "Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterroist Unit" written by a founding member of the unit. http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Delta-F...6529462&sr=1-1

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

Thanks for the clarification on Killer Angels. I've removed it from the list.

One other topic I was pretty fascinated with when I was in high school was the JFK assassination as that's when JFK came out. I read On the Trail of the Assassins by Jim Garrision and thought it was good. Any other recommended JFK assassination books?

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

"Case Closed", by Richard Posner. Gives a lot of background on Oswald and his revolutionary-wannabe leanings, Ruby and his ties to the Dallas police, the circumstances that led Kennedy to go to Dallas (which was openly recognized as "hostile territory"), and the beginnings of the conspiracy myths. Also goes into Garrison and details the damage his conspiratorial witchhunts did to innocent people. Overall, I found it very informative and enlightening, especially his discussion of why the conspiracy theories began and why they have continued so long after the fact.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

Somehow I wasn't quite pleased with Hoyt's "Japan's War", though I don't remember why. Perhaps I need to give it another look. Hoyt's book on the European theater, "The GI's War", is so good I would actually recommend it before Ambrose's works (in a "read this first" sense).

One that I have "mixed positive" feelings about is a two volume book called "Japan's Imperial Conspiracy". I am a doubter about the conspiracy aspects of the book, but as I recall the level of detail and interconnection the author went into is incredible.

And on the Pacific War, two other books (still in print) I would wholeheartedly recommend: "The Rising Sun" by John Toland (an absolute must-have) and "Eagle Against The Sun" by Ronald Spector.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

After reading "Band of Brothers" by Ambrose, read "The Biggest Brother: The True Story of Dick Winters" as a follow-up.

Also, after you finish reading the non-fiction hook yourself up with a couple of series written by W.E.B. Griffin - and I suggest reading them in order. "The Corps" follows a group of Marines from Pre-WWII China though the middle of the Korean War. Very entertaining series about old MARINES. The second series is "The Brotherhood of War" and it follows some Army types from WWII through the late-70s Viet Nam.

Griffin served in Korea and writes entertaining historical FICTION. Don't mistake it for anything but that even if you do swear that you know some of the characters in his books. (He's really good at describing the a$$es all of us military types have come across.)

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

Thanks for the feedback. This book was the first one I've read for this perspective on the war, so I would take my view on it as such. But it was given to me by a fellow lifter and BOTL, who is an avid history buff and a Marine. His dad was a WWII bomber guy also. He told me it was one of the better books on Japan's perspective/history of their involvement. One thing I did note; it did seem to try to make the emperor seem more of a dupe of the Army and Navy in the whole thing, and I don't know enough to judge that view.

Also, thanks for the other Hoyt recommendation; I will give that a read. I really have been bitten by the bug on WWII and Revolution history. I'm lucky to have a 94 year old neighbor who fought in Europe and survived, who wants to tell me his stories. Unbelievable what they had to do. From what I've read, the Pacific campaign was even worse.

Joe

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

once I get my book published you can add that to your civil war reading list

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

My godmother was one of those who interviewed soldiers returning from the PTO for the Army. Until the day she died she hated and refused to forgive the Japanese for what they did to our fighting men over there. I can only imagine....

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

You may have posted about this elsewhere, but what is your book about, regarding the war?

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

I have 44 letters of a Civil War surgeon with the 111th and 98th NY infantries. His letters are between 1862 and 1885. He was present at the surrender of Harpers Ferry, the defenses of Washington DC, Gettysburg, and the siege of Petersburg. I edited the letters, wrote background info on who he was, the role of surgeons during the war, as well as how the armies were organized because he mentions a lot of ranks and what not, I figured it would help the reader. I also added a large amount of footnotes on key people, places, events mentioned in the letters.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

A friend of mine is a longtime jeweler and watchmaker, still working in his 90s. He was in the PTO from Guadalcanal all the way to the Philippines, and he too refuses to forgive the Japanese. He'll talk with them if they come into his shop, but he will not forgive.

Given some of the more unsettling stories he's told me over the years, I can't blame him.

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

Here are the titles I've picked up off ebay in the last 2-3 days. They were all pretty highly rated on amazon...~50 bucks for all 8 books.

Patton: A Genius for War Carlo D'Este
The First World War John Keegan
The Second World War John Keegan
A History of Warfare John Keegan
The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece Victor Hanson
The Civil War: A Narrative(3 volumes) Shelby Foote

Re: Looking for book recommendations-war related
 

I didn't read the whole thread, but...

I'd suggest the Newt Gingrich trilogy that begins with Gettysburg. If Lee won. Great read. Very realistic. Hard to put down.