War Books

GaMMoN

Am a really big fan of non-fiction war books and I want to read more but dont know what to get. Any recommendations.

The books I have read are Bravo Two Zero by Andy McNab and Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden.

Any recommendations would be really appreciated. Thanks

Dinner

Depends what area of war your into. Any? WW2? WW1?

If your into WW2 thenStephen Ambrose's books are pretty good. The Longest Day by Cornelious(sp?) Ryan was great too. But if you want to go into the espionage/deception area of WW2 then A bodyguard of Lies by Anthony Cave Brown is fantastic.

As you can see, I rarely venture out of WW2 books.

Samson

You must read Chickenhawk by Robert Mason.
An account of the author's time as a combat helicopter pilot in Vietnam.

It's a cracker.

tribulus

Or some Sven Hassel books - Wheels of Terror, Monte Casino

His are a mix of fiction and non-fiction (as far as i know he was a german soldier in WW2)

Capt'n Midnight

GaMMoN wrote:

AThe books I have read are Bravo Two Zero by Andy McNab

- that's a work of fiction - you should see the Channel 4 docu where they followed the route and talked to the locals, totally different story. Loads of bad decisions starting with giving up the landrovers...
Black Hawk Down, I'll have to re-read the book and see the film again to get the sequences right.

tribulus wrote:

Or some Sven Hassel books - Wheels of Terror, Monte Casino
His are a mix of fiction and non-fiction (as far as i know he was a german soldier in WW2)

I've heard it said that a lot of the stuff is based on stories he heard so not pure fiction, then again the bit with the fleas is take straight from All Quiet On The Western Front it's well worth a read.

Chickenhawk oh yeah it's a must.

One Day In a Very Long War John Ellis,
It takes a look at what is happening on all fronts on 25th October 1944. Very simple idea. But very well done.

echomadman

The Penguin book of war is a great collection of short stories from conflicts throughout history. Keep an eye out for A History of Bombing by Sven Lindqvist aswell.

The band of brothers and thin red line books are worth a read too, the give a good insight into both the pacific and european theatres of ww2, iirc the thin red line book is quasi fiction though.

conjon

Stalingrad and the follow up Berlin, by Anthony Beever are really good reads on WWII.

Capt'n Midnight

echomadman wrote:

Keep an eye out for A History of Bombing by Sven Lindqvist aswell.

Love the format,
Which reminds me I can't find my copy of The World At War based on but a little different to the TV series.

Naos

I second Robert Masons Chickenhawk. Excellent book.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

Dalton trumbo - johnny got his gun
kurt vonnegutt - slaughterhouse 5

GaMMoN

Arabel wrote:

Depends what area of war your into. Any? WW2? WW1?

As you can see, I rarely venture out of WW2 books.

I like WW2 books but am mainly into the Iraq war of 1990s.

Thanks everyone I'll keep an eye out for those books you suggested.

is_that_so

Even though you're looking for Iraq war stuff these are worth looking at anyway.

A bridge too far by Cornelius Ryan.
Riveting read - vastly superior to the film they made.

Anthony Bevor is also superb.
Also look at

Guns of August - very good study about 1914 and how that war started.
Clinton referred to this in the run up to the Iraq war.

The First World War - John Keegan - also excellent

theCzar

conjon wrote:

Stalingrad and the follow up Berlin, by Anthony Beever are really good reads on WWII.

I agree, for narrative history Beevor and Ambrose are v.good. Also Tom Holland's rubicon on the fall of the Roman Republic was excellent.

I have zero interest in the Gulf War so i couldn't recommend anything unfortunately.

Kenshi

"The longest tunnel" was the best war book I ever read. About a WW2 POW escape. Its in the Library in Drogheda GaMMon.

Dar

On the subject of escape books - check out The Colditz Story by Peter (Paul?) Reid. It's about the many escape attempts from Germany's "impregnable" camp for officers who attempted to escape from other camps. Some of the methods used by these guys were nothing short of ingenious. Highly recommended.

sixpack's little hat

Jarhead - Anthony Swofford

a great read

Manach

ditto Jarhead - I'd be interested to hear the author's thoughts on GW2.

Also, "The Storm of Steel" by Ernst Jünger. Very graphic account of a German soldier's life during WWI. Excellent and vivid writing mixed with an (to me)extreme devotion to duty.

pwd

homage to catalonia by orwell

tHE vAGGABOND

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

one of the best books I have ever read.

Wheely

Wow...pretty surprised that no-one mentioned it yet but the best book I have ever read on a war of any kind has to be Niall Sheehans A Bright Shining Lie, its absolutely brilliant and the only book to read on the Vietnam War. Follows this really cocky yet amazing soldier who believes in US right and ability to win the war and how he changed thruout the war and...oh well just read it....excellent. Also 6 Days by Jeremey Bowen is excellent and easier to read then the same book by Micheal Oren tho Orens is probably better. John Simpsons "hte wars against saddam" is also excellent

torrid

I know discussion started on non-fiction war books but "The Aardvark Is Ready For War" by James Blinn. It is set on a U.S. navy aircraft carrier during the Persian Gulf War and is as brilliant and bizarre as the name suggests.

As for non-fiction "Dispatches" by Michael Herr is in my opionion the outstanding book on Vietnam.

Pherekydes

A collection of letters and reminiscences called Ordeal by Fire is worth reading.

Then there's Primo Levi's If this is a man, not strictly war, but absolutely compelling.

I can also second Beevor and Rubicon, proposed earlier.

If Bravo Two Zero was enjoyed then read the other half of it, so to speak: The One That Got Away by Chris Ryan.

Dades

Really enjoyed Chickenhawk too.

For fiction Catch 22 (obviously) and

Where Eagles Dare - fantastic read and my fav war movie too.

Amazotheamazing

Read "a Rumour of War" by Phillip Caputo, it's about Veitnam, it's brilliant. Can't praise it too highly. The Moon is Down by Steinbeck is an interesting short read.

pukey

in the company of soldiers - rick atkinson
follows a division commnder with 17000 troops under his command in the american invasion of iraq
road works - mark bowden
a collection of stories by bowden, not all strictly about war but well worth reading