Military Books

effluent · 28-06-2011 10:39pm

Has anyone here read "Diary of a Legionnaire: My Life in the French Foreign Legion by Gareth Carins. It's a book I've been eying up for some time, just reading Doug Beattie:Task force Helmand at the moment.

I loved reading Simon Murrays book, in fact it was one of my favourite reads. Would anyone recomend Gareth Carins book? From the book description he joined straight after university

alanmcqueen · 08-08-2011 10:41pm

effluent wrote: »

Has anyone here read "Diary of a Legionnaire: My Life in the French Foreign Legion by Gareth Carins. It's a book I've been eying up for some time, just reading Doug Beattie:Task force Helmand at the moment.

I loved reading Simon Murrays book, in fact it was one of my favourite reads. Would anyone recomend Gareth Carins book? From the book description he joined straight after university

Did you try 'Mouthful of Rocks'?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mouthful-Rocks-Through-Corsica-Jennings/dp/0747505799/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312839525&sr=8-1

I read it years ago; thought it was good - very good in parts. Most complaints about it are about him being a 'whinger' of sorts. Anyway if you've not tried it, £0.01 + P&P, how bad?

alanmcqueen · 08-08-2011 10:47pm

Morlar wrote: »

Completely agree Putin has done an awful lot of good for Russia and yes he is a fascinating character imo. Haven't read the Sakwa one so may check it out.

The Arkady Babchenko one is recommended, it's a nitty gritty book. Not much for strategic overviews or long term outlook or any of that, it is basically one guy and what he saw on his various tours and how it affected him and the people around him. I found some of the unreported details and anecdotal information pretty mindblowing. Some parts of it reminded me of World War two soldiers histories, actually some parts of it kind of reminded me of the 'Forgotten Soldier'. The impression you are left with is that the author wrote a very honest book.

Yes, recommended. But 'Forgotten Soldier' is in another league; that is some story.

Manach · 08-08-2011 10:50pm

As a memoir and a literary work, one of my favourites would be 'Storm of Steel' by Ernst Jünger - set in WWI.

alanmcqueen · 08-08-2011 10:56pm

Manach wrote: »

As a memoir and a literary work, one of my favourites would be 'Storm of Steel' by Ernst Jünger - set in WWI.

Always meant to try that; must give it a go.

Just finished this and it was excellent. Bit deep in places but extremely well researched. If you like historical works that bring the events to life then this is a good example.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Armageddon-Germany-Max-Hastings-Sir/dp/0330490621/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312841894&sr=1-1

iceage · 20-08-2011 1:42pm

Managed to finally get my hands on a hardback copy of Nish Bruce's Freefall. Fascinating read.

ReacherCreature · 26-08-2011 4:58pm

Picked up this remarkable book about a month ago, after being familiar with the author's previous works, and the glowing reviews. It is regarded very highly and this review will only add to the previous reviewers' good words.

Olsen set himself an ambitious task. To record a history of air warfare into a book of less than 400 pages, and provide a readable account too. The time frame of over 100 years, an exceedingly busy period of war, does not help his task. But he's performed very well.

Olsen edited chapters from air warfare experts from all over the world. Their academic and writing pedigree is hugely envious. Four parts are implemented, 1914-1945; 1945-1990; 1990-2000; and perspectives. Within this framework, Korea, WWI, Vietnam, Falklands, Desert Storm, Deliberate Force, Enduring Freedom, among others are present. This gives a sweeping account of the air forces in action.

The chapters are readable, accessible, and fascinating. The chapters on Pacific bombing in WWII, the air war in North Vietnam, Desert Storm, Afghanistan are all deeply enjoyable. However one issue is Richard P. Hallion's chapter which I found to be poor. It lacked anything interesting. He promotes that air power will continue to soar, whereas his counterpart who's advocating for air power in the traditional form of jets, will be removed. This advocate Martin van Creveld trumps Hellion.

The sources are top notch and provide a useful reference for further study.

If you're interested in air power I highly recommend this work. It's a superb effort that I'll come back to to read some sections over.

whydave · 29-08-2011 10:55am

'A history of the Irish Army' ISBN 0-7171-1957-2
Very good book.
David

Foghladh · 19-09-2011 7:16pm

I'd highly recommend Absolute War by Chris Bellamy for a big read, at 700 pages. It's about the role of the Soviet Russia in WWII. I brought it on holiday and couldn't put it down.

Anthony Beevers work, The Battle for Spain is another good one about the Civil War there. I'd always thought that to be a confusing conflict but he unravelled it pretty well. Plus he included a glossary page to keep track of the 30 or 40 different political groups involved!

laoch na mona · 30-10-2011 1:58pm

anyone know any good books on military strategy or on the history of armored warfare

ReacherCreature · 01-11-2011 4:30pm

laoch na mona wrote: »

anyone know any good books on military strategy or on the history of armored warfare

Your best bet (provided there are no recommendations in the mean time) would be to key in those phrases on Amazon (.co.uk/.com) and see what the folks are saying. You might get some ideas then -- some of my purchases have been influenced by their reviews.

BostonB · 01-11-2011 5:09pm

laoch na mona wrote: »

anyone know any good books on military strategy or on the history of armored warfare

While I've read some books that included some tank stuff, I can't remember one that I say stood out. Currently reading "A Bridge Too Far" and (so far) its a bit along the lines of a strategy book.

Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck I read and don't remember it being very tankie tbh. Was a while ago though.

If you find something good, let us know.

Completely unrelated...when I was googling I found this,
http://blog.deadlycomputer.com/2010/01/20/2866/

Mycroft H · 10-11-2011 12:01am

Hans Von Lucks memoir was excellent stuff. Great read from a side of the war one doesn't often hear about

Tenger · 10-11-2011 2:10am

laoch na mona wrote: »

anyone know any good books on military strategy or on the history of armored warfare

Very general questions.....

..........however i would recommend Crusade by Rick Atkinson, a good read of the background to Desert Strom, shows the logistics of modern armoured warfare. Forget about tactics, the logistics of that campaign is impressive.

For a bit of history, go for Red Storm On The Reich a description of the 1945 final Soviet push into Germany (Known as the Vistula-Oder operation) , this is pure mobile combined arms warfare. Soviets forces annihilating German position with artllery, CAS, 'Deep Battle' frontal attacks. In terms of numbers this is 10 times the drama of the Western front. (Would be a great follow on 'Stalingrad' by Anthony Beevor)

Interesting blog:
http://wartard.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-favourite-war-that-hasnt-happened.html

http://wartard.blogspot.com/2011/02/tiger-tiger-burning-bright-german-armor.html

SAMPLE: "58,000 Shermans and 36,000 T-34s were produced as opposed to a mere 1350 Tiger Is. And here comes the fun part. The Wehrmacht even went so far as to develop a whole new variant, the Tiger II, otherwise known as the 'King Tiger"! Holy ****, run for the hills! Seriously, the dying German Reich under assault on two fronts attempted to rectify the Tiger's design problems and win the game on style points alone. You must admit the King Tiger wins on every metric except rationality and a reliable drive train. But doesn't it look damn beautiful?"

hippyrod · 13-01-2012 12:57am

Anyone know any good books on roman military history and tactics?

kellybus · 14-01-2012 7:59pm

Bought Sniper One by Dan Mills today, will probably have it read in a few days if I get into it. Will post my opinions of it.

Geekness1234 · 21-01-2012 8:06pm

Read "Vipers in the Storm" by Keith Rosenkranz.
It is a bit dated,has various political views tossed in as well and is more of a diary/biography then anything else.
But,what you get is an account of a what appears to be a very normal man who flew the most important plane (in my opinion) of the first media war.To contrast the military side,he outlines his life in America during the cold war and first assignments post pilot training.
A good read for anyone interested in the U.S. Air Force.

BostonB · 22-01-2012 12:16am

Geekness1234 wrote: »

Read "Vipers in the Storm" by Keith Rosenkranz.

...

A good read for anyone interested in the U.S. Air Force.

+1

It very good insight in flying the F16 (of that era) and anyone thats into the simulation Falcon 4/Falcon Aliied Force would be especially interested in it. Or interested in general flying either. I found the author a bit dry though, not a lot of passion. I wouldn't say everyone would enjoy it.

Sindri · 29-01-2012 9:00am

Our Struggle For Independence

A fantastic book detailing the Guerilla tactics of the I.R.A. from first hand accounts. Even has Barry's famous Kilmichael ambush; his own account;).

Lots of other good accounts as well with maps and troop dispositions.

goldie fish · 29-01-2012 12:35pm

Who wrote it?

Sindri · 29-01-2012 5:16pm

goldie fish wrote: »

Who wrote it?

It is a compilation of first hand accounts, some taken from An t-Óglách. Most are from the War of Independence but there's one or two from the Easter rising.

silentfox · 19-02-2012 12:39am

I'm in the middle of 'Black Hearts' by Jim Frederick. It gives a different insight to modern war and the negative effects that can happen from death on an almost daily basis.

Jawgap · 17-04-2012 4:50pm

Picked this up today......

From the UCD Press site:-

""Military Aviation in Ireland" charts the history of the Air Corps from its early days as the Military Air Service established by Michael Collins in 1922 to the ineffective air operations conducted during the Second World War period.

The Air Service came about when the Civil War caused the postponement of Michael Collins' plans for a civil air service. After participation in the war of 1922-3 a small Air Corps was confirmed as the token air element of a substantially infantry army.

The Army Air Corps survived the 1920s and 1930s, despite the absence of government defence policy and the Army leadership's great indifference to military aviation. In the Second World War period, two squadrons of the Air Corps were given air force tasks for which they had little aptitude and for which they were totally unprepared in terms of personnel, airmanship, aircraft and training, failures which led directly to the demoralization of the Corps.

During most of this period the Air Corps, on secretive government orders, carried out tasks aimed at assisting the war effort of the Royal Air Force. Using extensive archival research, Michael C. O'Malley throws new light on the people and operations of Ireland's early aviation history."

DipStick McSwindler · 26-04-2012 12:11pm

This post has been deleted.

Morlar · 27-04-2012 12:06pm

This is one I am finding interesting.

‘The Auxiliaries - Tudor's Toughs’

A study of the Auxiliary Division Royal Irish Constabulary 1920 - 1922
by Ernest McCall

Anyone interested can order it here :[url] http://war-talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=257[/url]

Lector · 25-05-2012 10:30pm

I just finished "A History of Warfare" by John Keegan. I thought it was a great read - it covers pretty much the whole history of warfare (exactly what it sez on the tin:)). Well written and very interesting!

Tenger · 25-05-2012 10:34pm

Lector wrote: »

I just finished "A History of Warfare" by John Keegan. I thought it was a great read - it covers pretty much the whole history of warfare (exactly what it sez on the tin:)). Well written and very interesting!

Wonderful book, now go on to his The Face of Battle/Mask of Command/Price of Admiralty series.

Lector · 27-05-2012 10:55pm

I've read the first two - excellent. I haven't heard of the third one - I presume it's a history of naval warfare??

BostonB · 27-05-2012 11:04pm

Anyone reading these on an eReader? Wonder how many decent military titles are available as eBooks.

Morlar · 28-05-2012 3:26pm

BostonB wrote: »

Anyone reading these on an eReader? Wonder how many decent military titles are available as eBooks.

I don't own one because I could never get into them. I have several dozen military history related titles in PDF format but even those are a challenge to read on screen imo. They can be useful when they are indexed and electronically searchable.

Open to correction but I dont believe e-readers offer that level of functionality, (e.g. to copy them all to a PC then search a library of books for a single reference - the way you usually can with dozens of .pdf's)

I know that self publishers like Lulu.com put out specialist military related titles in e-format, however there is no quality control in content, layout or editing etc. The most recent ones I came across were :

Kasernen, Schulen und Stätten der SS und Polizei / Bildband 1

http://www.lulu.com/shop/don-lange/kasernen-schulen-und-st%C3%A4tten-der-ss-und-polizei-bildband-1/paperback/product-18743634.html

Kasernen, Schulen und Stätten der SS und Polizei / Bildband 2

http://www.lulu.com/shop/don-lange/kasernen-schulen-und-st%C3%A4tten-der-ss-und-polizei-bildband-2/paperback/product-18750411.html

Kasernen, Schulen und Stätten der SS und Polizei / Bildband 3

http://www.lulu.com/shop/don-lange/kasernen-schulen-und-st%C3%A4tten-der-ss-und-polizei-bildband-3/paperback/product-18839469.html

Kasernen, Schulen und Stätten der SS und Polizei / Bildband 4

http://www.lulu.com/shop/don-lange/kasernen-schulen-und-st%C3%A4tten-der-ss-und-polizei-bildband-4/paperback/product-20084379.html

However with no reviews or peer review it's a gamble & you might end up with pure rubbish.

As far as the more mainstream military book publishers go I have heard talk of plans for upcoming e-versions but so far they have not really materialised to the best of my knowledge.

*edit this is the link with e-book versions

http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?contributorId=996111

BostonB · 28-05-2012 3:44pm

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 · 28-05-2012 4:01pm

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 · 28-05-2012 4:24pm

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 · 17-06-2012 6:45pm

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 · 05-07-2012 5:01pm

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 · 05-07-2012 10:10pm

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 · 11-07-2012 9:19pm

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 · 26-08-2012 10:32pm

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 · 04-09-2012 1:08am

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 · 17-09-2012 3:42pm

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 · 19-09-2012 5:51pm

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 · 21-09-2012 10:57am

Just finishing this......

51loi%2BRdeYL._SS400_.jpg

And re-reading this....

0c30017b42a0383f68aff110.L.jpg

Tenger · 10-10-2012 6:34pm

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 · 10-10-2012 6:37pm

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 · 10-10-2012 6:38pm

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

arybvtcw0eolkf · 06-04-2013 12:51am

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 · 06-04-2013 12:53am

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 · 06-04-2013 3:00am

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 · 06-04-2013 6:35pm

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 · 06-04-2013 8:05pm

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?

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