Military Books

BostonB

I've a few PDF's of reports and studies of a military subjects. But not much. I've not tried to read them year. I was reading reviews of eReaders and took note that some of them are better then others for PDF. But most seem to think a tablet is probably the best reader for PDF's. I was wondering how others had faired with them.

My main problem is too many books and not enough space. But it looks like eBooks are as expensive if not more expensive than regular books at the moment. Also you'd miss the photo's and maps and illustrations, which are more important in military books. I'm thinking of getting a cheap or mid range one to see if I like it.

Morlar

BostonB wrote: »

I've a few PDF's of reports and studies of a military subjects. But not much. I've not tried to read them year. I was reading reviews of eReaders and took note that some of them are better then others for PDF. But most seem to think a tablet is probably the best reader for PDF's. I was wondering how others had faired with them.

My main problem is too many books and not enough space. But it looks like eBooks are as expensive if not more expensive than regular books at the moment. Also you'd miss the photo's and maps and illustrations, which are more important in military books. I'm thinking of getting a cheap or mid range one to see if I like it.

I'd also be wary of having a single point of failure. If the device fails/drops/gets stolen/ etc. out of warranty then can you re-download all of them again for free ?

Or are you going to have to track down urls and registration emails for dozens of different publishers and so on a couple of years down the road ?

I'd be curious to see if you can back them all up to an external source and restore them if needs be. Preferably there is no crippling DRM mechanisms in play. Hopefully someone who has used one for a while can clarify that.

BostonB

Well you could argue your books don't have a back up. Some eReaders use DRM some don't. Kindle ones are linked to your Amazon account so every device which uses that account has access to the same books. Much like iTunes I guess. I was really just wondering if theres much military stuff available as eBooks. Since borders left, online is the only place to find much of the military stuff.

Lemming

Currently reading "Siege of Jadotville: The Irish army's forgotten battle" by Declan Power.

It's a very accessible book and I've steamed through over half of it inside of a day. The book - so far - has dealt with a wide variety of issues around the siege such as the external and internal politics at play, Machiavellian interference from certain European nations in the Congo conflict, the underfunded, outdated state of the Irish army of the day, and the absolute chaos and rudderless leadership at UN level that contributed to the eventual siege itself, along with the local build-up.

The book uses a variety of sources, both from the eyes of the men who were at Jadotville, deployed to the region, and from a couple of reporters who provided a wider context of what was going on both regionally, & internationally at the time.

I've been lucky enough to pick up a hardback limited edition copy signed by the author (number 279 of 339 copies).

whydave

So have you ever heard of Trooper Pat Mullins ?
If your like me then the answer will be no! But if you want to know about a true hero then this is the man you should read about.
He gave his life on or about 14th September1961 in the defence of a fallen comrade.

So a bit of back round :
I was routing about on the net a came across ''Missing in Action: The 50 Year Search for Ireland's Lost Soldier'' . now I had heard of one Irish soldier M.I.A.(Kevin Joyce) but I had never heard of this Man, So off to the local Library and asked if they had this book in stock.And yes they had and off I went to find out about an Irish Hero !
So here is the link to the book on Amazon :

So if your looking for a sometimes hard but well worth read then try this book.

Horse84

whydave wrote: »

So have you ever heard of Trooper Pat Mullins ?
If your like me then the answer will be no! But if you want to know about a true hero then this is the man you should read about.
He gave his life on or about 14th September1961 in the defence of a fallen comrade.

So a bit of back round :
I was routing about on the net a came across ''Missing in Action: The 50 Year Search for Ireland's Lost Soldier'' . now I had heard of one Irish soldier M.I.A.(Kevin Joyce) but I had never heard of this Man, So off to the local Library and asked if they had this book in stock.And yes they had and off I went to find out about an Irish Hero !
So here is the link to the book on Amazon :

So if your looking for a sometimes hard but well worth read then try this book.

Pat Mullins, would've been my mam's cousin. She's from a tiny village in the foothills of the galtee mountains called kilbehenny where cork, limerick and tipp meet.There's a memorial to pat in the local church there, pic of it in the book I think.

I've read the book, it's a decent read. Gives a good account of his life. Just an ordinary very decent, country lad, like most of his troop were then. Well worth the read.

whydave

whydave wrote: »

So have you ever heard of Trooper Pat Mullins ?
If your like me then the answer will be no! But if you want to know about a true hero then this is the man you should read about.
He gave his life on or about 14th September1961 in the defence of a fallen comrade.
So a bit of back round :
I was routing about on the net a came across ''Missing in Action: The 50 Year Search for Ireland's Lost Soldier'' . now I had heard of one Irish soldier M.I.A.(Kevin Joyce) but I had never heard of this Man, So off to the local Library and asked if they had this book in stock.And yes they had and off I went to find out about an Irish Hero !
So here is the link to the book on Amazon :

So if your looking for a sometimes hard but well worth read then try this book.

Some things never seem to change !
''United Nations peacekeepers stand deployed with an armoured personnel carrier (APC) in the eastern city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on July 10, 2012. Since yesterday, the United Nations' Stabilisation Mission for the Congo (MONUSCO) has deployed peace-keepers at key positions around the capital of the restive North Kivu province following a threat by M23 rebels to advance on the city. ''
Link

Cactus466

First time to post in this forum. I've been reading the below books by "Ben Macintyre" over the last few months and found them to be a very exciting read.
For those of you who don't know there are about the various espionage activities (double agents,deception plans etc) used by the British and the German during WWII.

I would highly recommend them, as some of the events with the agents are quite astonishing.

Lemming

I've been listening to the audiobook of Whattya mean I can't kill 'em? by Rad Miller Jnr., a diver with the US Navy Underwater Demolition Teams (UDTs) in the late 1960s who went on to join the Navy SEALs and fight in the Vietnam war.

Short, albeit pretty candid and un-glorified account of his three tours in Vietnam, with lots of tedium, monotony, mixed in with moments of sheer madness, all told with black humour laced into it. There is no higher level strategic talk in this book, it's all about what he saw with his own two eyes.

I've read reviews since that disparage the book as not doing a service to the special forces units that fought in the war, but I would disagree and say that it shows they were human just like the rest of us, and prone to injury and making stupid mistakes that they fortunately manage to learn from & walk away with.

Hedgemeister

Lemming wrote: »

Currently reading "Siege of Jadotville: The Irish army's forgotten battle" by Declan Power.

It's a very accessible book and I've steamed through over half of it inside of a day. The book - so far - has dealt with a wide variety of issues around the siege such as the external and internal politics at play, Machiavellian interference from certain European nations in the Congo conflict, the underfunded, outdated state of the Irish army of the day, and the absolute chaos and rudderless leadership at UN level that contributed to the eventual siege itself, along with the local build-up.

The book uses a variety of sources, both from the eyes of the men who were at Jadotville, deployed to the region, and from a couple of reporters who provided a wider context of what was going on both regionally, & internationally at the time.

I've been lucky enough to pick up a hardback limited edition copy signed by the author (number 279 of 339 copies).

Also - The Fighting Irish in the Congo- by Raymond Smith and
'In Search of the Wadi Monster' by James Dee (re- Irish Army & Lebanon)

Storm 10

Suprised this was not mentioned, newly released book "Fouga Magister- An Irish Perspective"

By Joe Maxwell & Radu Brinzan details the history of the Fouga Magister in Irish Air Corps Service between 1975 until 1997.


I got mine today thru Dubray books. There is a wealth of information in it.

Fouga Magister – An Irish Perspective goes on sale from September 7th. Price €22.
ISBN 978-0-9562624-1-7
Note to Editors
For further information contact Joe Maxwell at joe@maxdecals.com
See http://www.maxdecals.com/fougabooksample.html for sample pages.

Jawgap

Just finishing this......



And re-reading this....

Tenger

Anyone got any suggestions for a good World War I book, want it along the style of Anthony Beevor rather than the drier more political/strategic overview of John Keegan. (Even though I love Keegan)
It's for a colleague, "more combat oriented" was the phrase she used.

cyrusdvirus

Tenger wrote: »

Anyone got any suggestions for a good World War I book, want it along the style of Anthony Beevor rather than the drier more political/strategic overview of John Keegan. (Even though I love Keegan)
It's for a colleague, "more combat oriented" was the phrase she used.

If she's into naval actions, you could try Castle's of Steel, by Robert Massie. He does quite a good job IMO.

enfield

'Deaths Men' by Henry Winter was the best book I have read about the Great War.
Cheers.
Tom.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Has anyone readon 'Blood, Sweat and Tears' by Tom Clonan?.

Reading it atm, and tbh its so full of spoofs I had to check the back to see if it was 'fiction or non-ficton'.

I'm just at the part where the 77th Battalion have returned home on the rotations and he's left to command his troops with the BMR and struggling to go on.

Tenger

Harrison Hollow Forceps wrote: »

Has anyone readon 'Blood, Sweat and Tears' by Tom Clonan?.

Reading it atm, and tbh its so full of spoofs I had to check the back to see if it was 'fiction or non-ficton'.

I'm just at the part where the 77th Battalion have returned home on the rotations and he's left to command his troops with the BMR and struggling to go on.

Bugger.....that's on my 'to read' shelf............

goldie fish

Careful now, the spoofer does not like when you call him a journalist...

I mean, the Journalist does not like being exposed as a spoofer...

He loves passing out "cease & desist" orders.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Tenger wrote: »

Bugger.....that's on my 'to read' shelf............

If you haven't been to Lebanon you'll enjoy it, its a half decent read and to be fair to the author I'm only half way through the book.

But he tries making out the other ranks canner is a 'no go' area for officers and he needs a body guard to go in.

Then talks about the 'no holds barred bingo' nights and how his bodyguards had to drag him out by the scruff of the neck and away from a malee one night.

Another was an IED disguised as a rock at 6:10 Al Jurn, and says the IDF left it there ~ anyone who's been there would know first that the 'hairy's and not the IDF planted IED's and for the IDF to get to the Al Jurn junction would have been a major incursion into the AO.

Altogether not a bad read so far, but take a lot of the stuff in relation to the early part of his trip with a pinch of salt.

Tenger

Harrison Hollow Forceps wrote: »

......
Altogether not a bad read so far, but take a lot of the stuff in relation to the early part of his trip with a pinch of salt.

Could this be done to bad memory and not allowing another Leb vet to edit the text?

Jawgap

Nearly finished this at the moment - it's a good read if you're in to contemplating the nature, relevance and context of combat especially at the level of the small unit.

He mixes in stories from his tours in Afghanistan (and deployments elsewhere) with classical and modern history, and poltical theory to produce a fairly interesting read.

Probably a good read for a junior officer.

The author served in the British Army from 2006-12 as an infantry officer in the Royal Gurkha Rifles. He completed three tours in Southern Afghanistan, and also served in Brunei, Nepal, and the Falkland Islands. He previously read history at Oxford University, and was a visiting defence fellow there in 2011.

Tenger

Jawgap wrote: »

Nearly finished this at the moment - it's a good read if you're in to contemplating the nature, relevance and context of combat especially at the level of the small unit.......
Probably a good read for a junior officer......

Sounds good, I'll pick it up.
Sounds quite similar to "One Bullet Away" by Nathaniel Fick. A blunt appraisal of his role by a well educated junior officer.
And with all the John Keegan in my back catalogue I would like the references to history and political theory.

F.J.

I have read Zero Six Bravo Going to War with today's Damdusters 617.

Zero Six Bravo is about a special forces operation in northern Iraq at the start of the war
in 2003. It waswritten by Damien Lewis and I found it to be an interesting read.

Dambusters was written by Tim Bouquet.If you are interested in how air units
operate in war this gives a overview of it.

Jawgap

Carrington served as an infantry officer in WWI but was a self-confessed 'chairborne' soldier in WW2. He served as Army Liaison Officer at Bomber Command and these are his memoirs. He also spent time in France during the battles there trying to arrange and co-ordinate air support (while also trying to organise the withdrawal of the personnel he was directly responsible for).

He went on to help co-author much of the doctrine and manuals used to deliver air support in Normandy and NW Europe and he provides a commentary on the whole process, which is quite neutral in that, despite being an Army officer, he doesn't write from the Army's perspective, but from the liaison officer's perspective.

Good read, if you are interested in inter-service co-operation during WW2 and particularly the detail of RAF / Army Co-operation and how it developed.

The author has a very readable style, very self-deprecating. He wrote a memoir of his time in WWI and followed that up with a novel and worked as a publisher between the wars. He includes an account of his time in the Battle of France, but in keeping with the tone of his writing, it's included as an appendix, in case anyone might be interested!

rossit

looking for any books about the irish army in cyprus thanks

Hedgemeister

rossit wrote: »

looking for any books about the irish army in cyprus thanks

Don't think there was any written specifically about UNFICYP, but the book - 'In Search of the Wadi Monster' includes service at home, in Cyprus (1960s) and Lebanon, from the start of UNIFIL in '78, through to the mid 90s.
Easons sold it about a year ago.

Hope that's some help.

Hedgemeister

Just heard about a 'Military book' just released by a chap called Frank Sumner from N.I.
The book is called 'From one end of the Rainbow,' & it promises 'revelations' about the Irish Army O/Seas.
I've not read it, but found a link where some of the book can be read for free.

www.franksumner.com/free

Jawgap

arrived today.......

beauf

I read that last year. be interested to hear your opinion on it when done. First hand so to speak.

beauf

I read this recently Bomb Alley: Aboard HMS Antrim at War. The author is a little bit annoying, in that he over sells his own role (open to debate), and its very BRITish. I was a little disappointed with Four Weeks in May: A Captain's Story of War at Sea. (HMS Coventry) But this one (HMS Antrim) was a lot better and interesting than I was expecting.