OT - Book (Non Fiction) Review/Recommendations Thread

[kato13]

Since we are a pretty well read group I thought we could share our opinions on any books we read recently. As the header indicates any subject books are allowed for review not just Post Apocalyptic.

If any book spurs a vigorous discussion I will spawn a new thread and put the links below.

[JHart]

The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat by Robert Drury and Tom Clavin

Read this a a month or two ago. An account of a Marine company in Korea holding of a Chinese attack at Chosin in 1950.

[Matt Wiser]

Marines in the Garden of Eden by Richard S. Lowry. The story of the Battle of Nasiriya during the opening days of the Iraq War.

Enemy at the Gates by William Craig: Stalingrad from beginning to end. Also see Antony Beevor's book Stalingrad

The Last Battle by Cornelius Ryan (the only one of his books not to be a movie): Berlin, 1945. And check out Beevor's The Battle for Berlin

Iwo by Richard Wheeler: The 37 Days to take Iwo Jima in 1945.

Storm on the Horizon, by David J. Morris: The Battle of Khafji in the First Gulf War.

[TiggerCCW UK]

Killing Time, My War In Iraq : Colby Buzzel. Account of a member of the Stryker brigade in Iraq.

A Soldiers Song : Ken Lukowiak. Story of his time in the Falklands war. Laugh out loud in some places, but very moving in others.

Sniper One : Dan Mills. Story of his time with the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment in Iraq.

Apache : Ed Macy. Story of Apache operations in Afghanistan, including the battle of Jugroom Fort.

More to add later.

[headquarters]

The unknown soldier by Vaino Linna

All quiet on the Western front by Erich Maria Remarque

and I include the independently published An ace minus one which I rather enjoyed actually .

[TiggerCCW UK]

One soldiers war in Chechnya : Arkady Babchenko. Memoirs of a soldier in Chechnya. Very interesting because not much has come out of this war yet. A very personal account relating his service initially as a conscript and then having volunteered to go back. Deals a lot with the bullying and beatings handed out by senior ranks down through the chain of command, and also the problems with supplies etc. If this is indicative of the average quality of Russian troops we were scared of them for no reason. An excellent book.

Fighting Scared : Robin Horsfall. Memoirs of an ex SAS soldier covering his time in the regiment and after he left and became a bodyguard.

Guns for hire : Tony Geraghty. Analysis of mercenaries/pmc's in modern times. Includes Iraq and Afghanistan.

We were soldiers once.... And young : Lt Gen Harold Moore (Retd) & Joe Galloway. Now made famous by the film. Account of the first major battle between the US and NVA/VC.

We are soldiers still : Same authors as above. Details the return to the battle field after 40 years, including meeting with their former enemies. A very touching study of forgiveness on both sides. Highly recommended.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by TiggerCCW UK

We were soldiers once.... And young : Lt Gen Harold Moore (Retd) & Joe Galloway. Now made famous by the film. Account of the first major battle between the US and NVA/VC.

I read this before seeing the film and was pleasantly surprised at how closely the film followed the book.

Originally Posted by TiggerCCW UK

We are soldiers still : Same authors as above. Details the return to the battle field after 40 years, including meeting with their former enemies. A very touching study of forgiveness on both sides. Highly recommended.

I want to read this. Had no idea until now that it existed.

[TiggerCCW UK]

I hadn't heard of it either, until my brother got me it for Christmas. Can't recommend it highly enough.

[TiggerCCW UK]

Fetch Felix - The fight against the Ulster bombers, 1976-77 : Lt Col Derrick Patrick OBE. Memoirs of SATO (Senior Ammunition Technical Officer), the CO of 321 EOD in the mid seventies.

In the company of heroes : Mike Durant. The story of the Blackhawk pilot captured during the Blackhawk down mission. Details his earlier career and also the Mogadishu mission and its aftermath.

Deadly Beat : Richard Latham. Memoirs of an English man who served in the RUC.

Contact : AFN Clarke. Memoirs of a Lt in the paras two tours in NI in the early seventies. One tour in West Belfast, one in South Armagh.

The Raid : Benjamin F Schemmer. In depth study of the Son Tay raid, from planning to aftermath.

Lions Donkeys and Dinosaurs : Lewis Page. A study of how the British Army is equipped, the faults with the equipment and how the majority of it has been purchased for political reasons as opposed to actual operational requirements.

Platoon Leader : James McDonagh. Memoirs of a platoon leader in Vietnam.

[kato13]

This thread was actually bighauser's idea. I just wanted to thank him for it (but I wanted it to be successful first).

Have added quite a bit to my reading list.

[TiggerCCW UK]

I've more coming as well - just didn't want to dominate the thread too much I buy shed loads of stuff second hand and stockpile it for when I've time to read - like at the minute seeing I'm off work still

[General Pain]

fiction but a good read:
http://www.amazon.com/Aquarium-Vikto.../dp/0241115450

nonfiction
http://www.amazon.com/Report-24-No-G...2134289&sr=1-1

This book I actually have it signed by G.Sønsteby himself (he is acustomer at my shop) he is the most decorated norweigian ever. - Stories from WW2 and norweigians doing saboteur-missions

Apart from that I can't recommend enough anything written by Terry Pratchett - his infamous discworld-novels are to die for

[Legbreaker]

"Those ragged bloody heros" - Peter Brune
"To the bitter end" - Lex McAulay

Two books detailing events in 1942-43 from the Kokoda Trail to the Japanese defeat at Buna and Gona in Papua New Guinea. At the beginning of this chapter of WWII, one understrength and dispersed battalion (the 39th) of VERY poorly trained and even poorer equipped Australian militia held back 10,000 of Japans best in a fighting withdrawal over the worst terrain imaginable until reinforced by a brigade hurriedly redeployed from the middle east.

"The Glass Cannon" & "The Barbarians" - Peter Pinney
A diary of one soldiers experience in Bougainville, 1944-45

"Tank warfare in world war II" - George Forty
First hand accounts from allied and Axis soliders

[TiggerCCW UK]

Here goes with another few for you all

Making a killing : James Ashcroft. Memoirs of a PMC in Iraq. Part of the group that had responsibility for the water infrastructure.

Joint Force Harrier : Cmdr Ade Orchard RN. Memoirs of a squadron leader flying harrier's on close support missions in Afghanistan.

Rules of engagement : Tim Collins. Colonel Tim's memoirs from the second gulf war, from the speech he gave on the eve of the war to the allegations of mistreating prisoners and his clearance of said allegations. Good read, especially because his family and mine are friends from years ago.

Post 381 : James Doherty. Memoirs of an ARP warden during the blitz on Belfast in WW2. I first read this as part of my GCSE history project. Only school text book I ever went and bought my own copy of.

An Ordinary Soldier : Doug Beattie. Memoirs of a member of the Royal Irish Regiment from his tour in Afghanistan. Cracking read.

Eight lives down : Chris Hunter. Memoirs of his tour as an EOD officer in Iraq.

The Forgotten Voices series. Transcriptions of audio records from the Imperial War Museum. There are a big selection of books covering from the first world war to the Falklands. First hand accounts of people who were there, truly harrowing in some cases, but well worth reading.

The Cage : Tom Abraham. Memoirs of an English man who served as an officer in the US army in Vietnam. He was captured by the VC but escaped and made it back to friendly lines.

And probably I've a few more recommendations to make yet

[Rainbow Six]

A few more...

A Million Bullets - James Fergusson - a study of the British Army in Afghanistan in 2006

3 Para - again, Afganistan in 2006, but focusing specifically on the Para Reg Battlegroup

The Circuit - Bob Shepherd - ex SAS guy who now works as a PMC

The Gamble - Thomas E Ricks - a study of the US Surge in Iraq focusing on the actions of General David Pertraeus (I'm reading this at the moment)

Defiance - The Bielski Partisans by Nechama Tec- the book that inspired the recent Daniel Craig film.

Centre of the Storm by George Tenet - memoir of the ex Director of the CIA

Would also second many of Tigger's recommendations, especially Sniper One, Eight Lives Down, and Rules of Engagement

[TiggerCCW UK]

I reckon we've similar tastes Rainbow - I'm reading The Circuit at the minute

[Rainbow Six]

Originally Posted by TiggerCCW UK

I reckon we've similar tastes Rainbow - I'm reading The Circuit at the minute

I reckon you're right there Tigger...after I finish the Gamble I'll be moving on to An Ordinary Soldier.

A few other recommendations:

Imperial Life in the Emerald City by Rajiv Chandrasekaran - a study of the activities of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq

Guests of the Ayatollah by Mark Bowden - about the US Embassy hostages in Tehran in 1979 (author is the same man who wrote Black Hawk Down)

Armageddon and Nemesis by Max Hastings - Armageddon has been discussed on the forums before, Nemesis is the follow up and centres on the closing stages of the Pacific War.

Cheers

[Targan]

I've recently started reading 18 Hours by Sandra Lee. True story about Jock Wallace, Signaller, 152 Signals Sqn (152 is the signals unit for the Australian SAS Regiment) who with another 152 sig was attached to Charlie Company, 1-87 US 10th Mountain Infantry Division to provide comms for the SAS liaison to the 10th who was coordinating with 1 Sqn, SASR. They fought in a big battle at the start of Operation Anaconda. I don't normally like reading factual war stories by female authors but this one isn't bad.

[Matt Wiser]

A few more:

Crusade by Rick Atkinson: The best history so far of the First Gulf War
(He's also writing a trilogy on the U.S. Army in the ETO and MTO in WW II-two books so far and both worth reading)

She Went to War: The Rhonda Cornum Story by then-MAJ Rhonda Cornum (now a Brig. Gen); a firsthand account from one of two female POWs in the First Gulf War.

Down Range by Richard Couch: Navy SEALS on operations post 9-11. The author is a former SEAL, so be warned.

Any one of Tom Clancy's nonfiction books (Fighter Wing, Armored Cav, Marine, Submarine, etc.)

The Great War in Africa by Brian Farwell: WW I in Africa, very useful if planning a T2K campaign involving the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Kenya.

[TiggerCCW UK]

Another couple for you

War Dogs : Keith Cory Jones. A journalists travels with a group of mostly UK mercenaries in the former Yugoslavia.

That Others May Live : SMSGT Jack Brehm. Memoirs of a para rescue jumper. Astounding what these guys get up to.

Cold War; Building for Nuclear Confrontation : Wayne D Cocroft & Roger J C Thomas. An English Heritage publication studying Cold War architecture in the UK. Very interesting and full of useful photos, drawings and floor plans of everything from nuclear bomb stores to ROC posts to regional government bunkers. Great book!

[Rainbow Six]

Another couple that came to mind...

Berlin and Stalingrad, both by Anthony Beevor. In the same vein as Max Hastings' Armageddon...Berlin in particular paints a vivid picture of the last few months of WW2.

[Littlearmies]

Vulcan 607 by Rowland White - the story of the RAF mission to crater the runway at Port Stanley during The Falklands War. A really first rate account of flying elderly British jets (three months away from the scrapyard at the start of the war) 4,000 miles beyond their maximum range to deliver 21 thousand-pound bombs. Normally I prefer books about the PBI but this was very good.

Sod That For A Game OF Soldiers by Mark Eyles-Thomas - the story of a young Para during the Falklands War. Extremely good book.

Riding The Retreat by Richard Holmes. The story of a group of friends retracing the route of the British Army retreat to Mons during the opening weeks of WWI. Every time I read one of his books it just makes me wish he could be presuaded to do a War Walks series on the battlefields of North America. In fact I'd pretty much recommend anything by him - I haven't come across a dud yet (although I've heard Dusty Warriors being criticised for being a bit biased - he was colonel of the regiment featured). I'm working on his Marlborough at the moment.

Fusiliers by my friend, Mark Urban, the story of the 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers during the AWI. A really first rate account of a battalion that served pretty much from the beginning to the end of the war that includes lots of first person accounts of events.

I could go on but this also caused me to look at my "slush pile" of unread books and realise that my New Year resolution to read two books for every one I bought went out of the window about March and that I now have around thirty unread books in a large stack by my bed. As I have the same impulses with model soldiers (several large boxes of unpainted lead lie at the foot of my wardrobe) I realise I must do something about both issues!

[Targan]

Night Stalkers by Michael Durant. All about the history and some of the operations conducted by the US 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. I enjoyed reading this very much. Lots of good tie in information about other elite US units too (such as Delta and the ISA).

Delta Force by Colonel Charlie A Beckwith and Donald Knox. The history of 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta. Co-written by the unit's founder. A must read in my opinion. During the Vietnam War Charlie Beckwith was a Green Beret officer and was aboard a helicopter being inserted for a mission when he was shot through the abdomen with a 12.7mm round. When he was being triaged in a hospital the medics wrote him off as a gonner until he threatened them with violence if they didn't get him into an operating theatre. Went on to continue his miltary career in special forces. What an astonishingly tough bastard. Respect.

[TiggerCCW UK]

Originally Posted by Littlearmies

Vulcan 607 by Rowland White - the story of the RAF mission to crater the runway at Port Stanley during The Falklands War. A really first rate account of flying elderly British jets (three months away from the scrapyard at the start of the war) 4,000 miles beyond their maximum range to deliver 21 thousand-pound bombs. Normally I prefer books about the PBI but this was very good.

Same author has just released Phoenix Squadron about HMS Ark Royal and her Buccaneers doing a long range mission over Belize - great read.

Re Mark Urban - a friend of yours? Tell him I said congratulations on Big Boys Rules - an excellent read, and as a Northern Irish man I tend to be fussy about books I read about over here. Suppose that counts as another recommendation as well

[Matt Wiser]

The two books by Antony Beevor are pretty good; one thing you find out when reading Stalingrad is that Ivan executed 13,500 of his own soldiers for various offenses (real and imagined)-a whole division's worth. And the book on Berlin you find just how out of control the Red Army was: a lot of attrition among junior officers, and discipline slacked off big time-hence a lot of out-of-control soldiers wreaking havoc on civilians. And they were encouraged, too, by some of those writing for Soviet Army newspapers.

A few more:

Hitler's Last Gamble: The Battle of the Bulge by Trevor Dupuy (his last book): a very good read on the last major German offensive on the Western Front in WW II.

Leave No Man Behind by David C. Isby: POW/Hostage Rescue missions conducted by the U.S. military from 1945 (Los Banos in the Philippines) to 2003 (the Lynch rescue in Iraq).

Clash of the Carriers, by Barrett Tillman The story of the Battle of the Philippine Sea; the final carrier clash of WW II and might be (though I doubt it) the last one of its kind.

A Glorious Way to Die by Russel Spurr: The story of the superbattleship Yamato's final sortie and her sinking (7 Apr 45) in the largest war-at-sea air strike ever launched. More planes went after the Yamato in that strike (386) than Nagumo launched at Pearl Harbor (353).

[Littlearmies]

Originally Posted by TiggerCCW UK

Same author has just released Phoenix Squadron about HMS Ark Royal and her Buccaneers doing a long range mission over Belize - great read.

Re Mark Urban - a friend of yours? Tell him I said congratulations on Big Boys Rules - an excellent read, and as a Northern Irish man I tend to be fussy about books I read about over here. Suppose that counts as another recommendation as well

I've seen Phoenix Squadron but haven't yet taken the plunge.

Re Mark Urban - I'll let him know he has another satisfied customer . I actually prefer his books about less contempory events - we share a common interest in my other hobby which is how I came to meet him - but it's mostly friendship through email (despite him living less than five miles away) because every time I'm due to pop round to his place he's being sent off to the latest crisis point for the BBC. He's a very nice guy with an excellent knowledge of the AWI and Napoleonic Wars - so far nothing of his that I've picked up has disappointed me.

[Adm.Lee]

I have hundreds of titles, mostly WW2 ones. Wandering to the far Pacific first:
Shattered sword/ Parshall and Tully. Incredibly well-detailed account fo the battle of Midway-- some of what you know is wrong! The Japanese were in worse shape going in than most people know, the US wasn't as lucky as is believed, they were better (at some carrier tactics).

First team and The first team and the Guadalcanal campaign / John Lundstrom. Also incredibly detailed accounts of fighter combat among carrier pilots for the first year of WW2.

Sea Harrier over the Falklands / Sharkey Ward. He was one of the two Sea Harrier squadron commanders. He is NOT at all friendly to the RAF, be warned.

Battle for the Rhine / Robin Neillands. Somewhat biased towards the British half of the perennial Patton-Montgomery argument, but his arguments seem rather sound to me. Covers the Sep 44-March 45 part of the Western Front.

I've been copying some modern titles from this list, that's a field I usually stay away from.

Anything by Dan Bolger. Dragons at war covered his time at National Training Center with a mech company in 1982 or 1983. Battle for Hunger Hill covered his time as a battalion CO at JRTC in 1993-- two visits! He's also written two on US military actions: one for 1975-1986, and another for the early '90s. I can't think of those titles right now.

Those are the ones that jump to the front of my mind right now.

[Raellus]

If you like WWII Pacific Theatre naval warfare, check out Hornfinscher's Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors about the fighting off of Samar during the massive Leyte Gulf battle. A couple of destroyers and destroyer escorts held off several Japanese battleships, saving several escort carriers from certain destruction. A stunning tale of poor judgement, bravery, and sacrifice on both sides

I'll second anything by Beevor or Atkinson. Beevor's new one about D-Day is coming out soon. Woo-hoo!

For more modern combat, Black Hawk Down is the Holy Grail. Generation Kill was pretty good, as was Thunder Run, both about the offensive that kicked off the second Iraq War.

Next on my reading list is a book called 3 Para about some British paratroopers in Afghanistan. I'll let you all know how it was when I finish it.

[TiggerCCW UK]

3 Para wasn't bad, but there is a similar one about the marines (can't remember the title off hand) which I thought was better.

[pmulcahy11b]

Can't beat the Jane's books for technical details (even if they wouldn't let me use their pictures... ).