OT - Book (Non Fiction) Review/Recommendations Thread

[Cdnwolf]

For a really good account about a Russian attack against a fixed defence position, I recommend "First Clash" by Kenneth Macksey.

Its about a meeting encounter between the 4'th Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group and the Soviets 1'st Guard Tank Division. It has lots of detailed maps and organizational charts. Fascinating read.

Also "Dragons at War - Land Battle in The Desert" by Daniel Bolger... a great behind the scenes look at the US Army National Training Center at Camp Irwin. It also offered insight on how to play the great game and get promoted.

[Adm.Lee]

Originally Posted by Cdnwolf

Also "Dragons at War - Land Battle in The Desert" by Daniel Bolger... a great behind the scenes look at the US Army National Training Center at Camp Irwin. It also offered insight on how to play the great game and get promoted.

I'm a huge fan of Bolger's work. He wrote "Dragons" after a 1982 deployment by his brigade to NTC-- he was a company CO. He also wrote "The battle for Hunger Hill" about his brigade's (he was a battalion commander in the 101st) 1993 and 1994 deployments to the JRTC at Fort Polk. JRTC is the anti-guerrilla version of NTC-- a big laser-tag game, plus civilians, guerrillas, journalists and NGOs. I liked that book better, but it infuriated me later: to know that the Army *had* learned some lessons of counter-insurgency, and they couldn't get through to the high command.
He's also written two or three histories of post-Vietnam actions by the US, "Death ground," "Savage peace: Americans at war in the 1990s," and "Americans at war:1975-1986"; and a novel "Feast of bones."
Daniel P. Bolger-- says he now commands the 1st Cavalry Division.

[WonderGoon]

A Rumor of War by Phillip Caputo: Pretty good read about the authors time in Vietnam with the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade in 1965 and again ten years later when he returned as a newspaper correspondent.

Blood on the Risers: An Airborne Soldier's Thirty-five Months in Vietnam by John Leppelman: An honest, gut wrenching read which was a catharsis for the author (in my opinion). At times brutally honest. Has an afterword where the author expresses his opinions on allowing females to take jump training. Leppelman served as a paratrooper with the 173rd Airborne, an Army seaman, and an LRRP.

Infantry Soldier Holding the Line at the Battle of the Bulge by George W. Neill: Neill served with the 99th Infantry Division during the Battle of the Bulge. It also covers his time serving with a signal battalion in London after he recovered from wounds suffered on the line. An interesting read.

The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military This is a dictionary of military terms. Handy for those unfamiliar with military terminology. (I picked this up at Dollar General, of all places, for a dollar. Cover price is $7.99. Check the spinner rack at your local Dollar General, if you've got one nearby).

Enjoy!

Goon

[sic1701]

Reading "The Dead Hand:The Untold Story Of The Cold War Arms Race And Its Dangerous Legacy" by David E. Hoffman. A little lite reading.

Oh, and the six-issue "Zero Killer" comic series by DC. In which WW3 happens in 1973.

[Targan]

I'm currently reading a bit of a classic - The Fall of Saigon by David Butler.

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by sic1701

Reading "The Dead Hand:The Untold Story Of The Cold War Arms Race And Its Dangerous Legacy" by David E. Hoffman. A little lite reading.

It's on my stack of books to read.

About halfway through "Strategic Geography - NATO, the Warsaw Pact and the Superpowers" by Hugh Farrington, with a free preview at http://books.google.com/books?id=A5g...he+superpowers

[sic1701]

Anyone read the John Birmingham Axis of Time trilogy; "Weapons of Choice", "Designated Targets", and "Final Impact"? Helluva story.

His "Without Warning" isn't quite as good, though the portion of the story detailing the Israeli pre-emptive nuclear strikes on their adversaries is pretty interesting.

[Raellus]

Adrian Goldsworthy's How Rome Fell. Makes me fear for my own country. The parallels are numerous.

[Adm.Lee]

There is no freedom without bread! : 1989 and the civil war that brought down Communism by Constantine Pleshakov. According to him, the WP forces were really really weak, and no one trusted them to squash any of the 1989 revolts. Well, Ceaucescu did, and see what that got him.

[Dogger]

'Shattered Sword'. by Jonathan Parshall & Anthony Tully is a detailed account of the Battle of Midway from the Japanese perspective...and one of the best books of the battle that I've read. Wish I had gotten to it a lot sooner, excellent dissection of Japanese doctrine and a unique view into the actions, and inaction's that led to Kido Butai's fiery fate at the hands of the USN.

I especially enjoyed the detailed accounts of what was happening on the IJN CV's as USN bomb hits took place...very revealing. While I still enjoy Gordon W. Prange's Miracle at Midway for it's American view...Shattered Sword excellently completes the total view of the events of 4 - 7 June 1942.



Amazon Link

[Marc]

Originally Posted by Raellus

Adrian Goldsworthy's How Rome Fell. Makes me fear for my own country. The parallels are numerous.

Las year I read The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization, by Bryan Ward-Perkins. And in spite for the obvious differences, there are numerous and interesting parallelisms with the Twilight post-war world.

Some examples are the fall of the serial production (developed in certain fields), the lost of value of the currency in use and its substitution by the barter practicing, the interruption of the communication lines...

The fall of commerce in a very interdependent and specialized market caused starvation (in some cases) and the incapacity to continue the production of certain, since the moment, granted as needed, day to day goods.

Local production emerged as the only way to keep communities alive and the incapacity of the system to provide enforcing powers forced the different communities to develop their own self-defense methods against raiding parties. All with the inevitable lost of precious and specialized knowledge.

Of course, there are important differences with the Twilight world, above all, "the rhythm of the fall". Anyway I extracted some interesting ideas for our Twilight sessions.

[headquarters]

Russian SCi Fi ina dystopic post apoc setting - the worlds largest airraid shelter -the Moscow subway system and of course the story of a young man embroiled in a plot to bring about the end or new beginning for mankind.

Brutality and makeshift firearms in a hazmat suit enviroment.

Also a cool insight into todays Russia -if you choose to read that into it .

[Targan]

Originally Posted by headquarters

Russian SCi Fi ina dystopic post apoc setting - the worlds largest airraid shelter -the Moscow subway system and of course the story of a young man embroiled in a plot to bring about the end or new beginning for mankind.

Brutality and makeshift firearms in a hazmat suit enviroment.

Also a cool insight into todays Russia -if you choose to read that into it .

Ah. The books the new computer game Metro 2033 is based on. The game looks good.

[Marc]

Originally Posted by headquarters

Russian SCi Fi ina dystopic post apoc setting - the worlds largest airraid shelter -the Moscow subway system and of course the story of a young man embroiled in a plot to bring about the end or new beginning for mankind.

Brutality and makeshift firearms in a hazmat suit enviroment.

Also a cool insight into todays Russia -if you choose to read that into it .

Hmmmm... sounds good. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Glukhovsky

Added to my list.

[Adm.Lee]

Originally Posted by Dogger

'Shattered Sword'. by Jonathan Parshall & Anthony Tully is a detailed account of the Battle of Midway from the Japanese perspective...and one of the best books of the battle that I've read. Wish I had gotten to it a lot sooner, excellent dissection of Japanese doctrine and a unique view into the actions, and inaction's that led to Kido Butai's fiery fate at the hands of the USN.

This was friggin' awesome. One of the two authors also wrote one taking apart the night gunfight at Surigao Strait.

The South Pacific 1942 campaign has always been one of my favorites.

[Adm.Lee]

The only thing worth dying for: how eleven Green Berets forged a new Afghanistan by Eric Blehm.

I haven't finished it yet, but this is about ODA 574, which choppered into southern Afghanistan, met up with Hamid Karzai, and took apart the Taliban around Kandahar. It's a great read, and it certainly seems like a thing a Twilight players' group would do.

[Caradhras]

Researching for my latest project (running a campaign of players being British riflemen in the napoleonic Peninsula War), I have been reading this :-

http://www.amazon.com/Rifles-Years-W...832294&sr=8-12

It is a great read into the 'real lives' of men who fought in this period. Not sure how much Bernard Cornwells Sharpe series (books + TV) got around the World, but this is the facts behind the stories.

[headquarters]

Sean bean makes agood Sharpe.Read some of them -watched others .All in all good stuff.

Originally Posted by Caradhras

Researching for my latest project (running a campaign of players being British riflemen in the napoleonic Peninsula War), I have been reading this :-

http://www.amazon.com/Rifles-Years-W...832294&sr=8-12

It is a great read into the 'real lives' of men who fought in this period. Not sure how much Bernard Cornwells Sharpe series (books + TV) got around the World, but this is the facts behind the stories.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by headquarters

Sean bean makes agood Sharpe.Read some of them -watched others .All in all good stuff.

Agreed.

[Marc]

Originally Posted by headquarters

Sean bean makes agood Sharpe.Read some of them -watched others .All in all good stuff.

I've watched some of the episodes of Sharpe, too. Although I must admit that I still have some problems to understand 100% the spoken English, depending of accent of the character. The same happens to me with Anzacs. Sometimes it's a little frustrating... Anyway I have enjoyed Sharpe, though I remember an absurd argument of one of the episodes regarding a Spanish revolt in relation with an old relic-banner. Ah! Those inevitable topics!

[Raellus]

I'm taking a bread from How Rome Fell to read the WWII memoir, With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge. As an enlisted Marine, Sledge fought on Peleliu and Okinawa. His first-hand account of the battles makes for gripping reading. I highly recommend it. Apparently, this book was one of several used as the basis for the HBO miniseries, The Pacific.

[Adm.Lee]

HOGs in the shadows: combat stories from Marine snipers in Iraq by Milo S. Afong. I'm partway into it, and it is well-written. It's a collection of reports from different snipers and teams.

I also picked up one by a British sniper, but I forgot the title-- Prince of Wales' Regiment, I remember that much.

I'm not a sniper-fanatic, but they do make for good reading pretty often, and as very small teams, they make for good RPG fodder. I can't remember the last time I tied a PC group in knots with a sniper.....

[Raellus]

I heard an interview this morning on NPR with Sebastian Junger, author of A Perfect Storm, about his new book, War. It's about an American platoon manning a remote outpost in Afghanistan that endured near constant combat for several months. It sounds really interesting and I really enjoyed his earlier work. I usually wait for books to come out in paperback but I may end up springing for this one.

Anyone here read it already?

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by headquarters

Sean bean makes agood Sharpe.Read some of them -watched others .All in all good stuff.

Another one of those cases where I have the books and haven't touched any of them yet...

[Targan]

When I watched Sharpe on TV it reminded me of The Man Who Would Be King (film) based on the Rudyard Kipling story of the same name (The Man Who Would Be King). Anyone here seen that film? It was truly excellent, made a big impresion on me as a kid. It starred Sean Connery and Michael Caine. I can't recommend it highly enough.

[TiggerCCW UK]

Originally Posted by Adm.Lee

[U]

I also picked up one by a British sniper, but I forgot the title-- Prince of Wales' Regiment, I remember that much.

I think you're talking about 'Sniper One' by Dan Mills. Good read.

[headquarters]

Originally Posted by Targan

When I watched Sharpe on TV it reminded me of The Man Who Would Be King (film) based on the Rudyard Kipling story of the same name (The Man Who Would Be King). Anyone here seen that film? It was truly excellent, made a big impresion on me as a kid. It starred Sean Connery and Michael Caine. I can't recommend it highly enough.

saw it - a great movie .I love the story and the production and all looks great too.

[Rainbow Six]

Originally Posted by Targan

When I watched Sharpe on TV it reminded me of The Man Who Would Be King (film) based on the Rudyard Kipling story of the same name (The Man Who Would Be King). Anyone here seen that film? It was truly excellent, made a big impresion on me as a kid. It starred Sean Connery and Michael Caine. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Yep, seen it a few times...it's one of my favourite films...

[Adm.Lee]

Originally Posted by TiggerCCW UK

I think you're talking about 'Sniper One' by Dan Mills. Good read.

Yep, that's it.

I finished 'HOGs', it was pretty good. Nearly all of the stories are from 2003-04, and only one from '05.

[HorseSoldier]

The Village and Once a Warrior King are both about Vietnam, but about low and slow counter-insurgency work, rather than big search and destroy operations or sexy LRRP work on the wrong side of the Cambodian border. Very good primers, I think, for a game or scenario where PCs put down roots in some surviving settlement.

Most anything about Rhodesia puts me in mind of how things might look in those places where a central government is still intact and fighting against enemy forces or marauder bands. War on a shoestring budget.