motortown 10:46 PM 03-06-2009
While it may be going back a bit further than what you (and others) have been discussing, I think that you'd
really enjoy
"1776" by David McCullough. He's one of my favorite authors, and his books are absolutely fascinating...
http://www.amazon.com/1776-David-McC...6400862&sr=1-1
I hope this helps!
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M1903A1 11:16 PM 03-06-2009
If you don't mind doing some searching, I can recommend a few more:
"Make The Kaiser Dance", Henry Barry. Oral histories of World War 1 vets, done in the 1960s.
"The Doughboys", Lawrence Stallings
"Shots Fired In Anger", Lt. Col. John George. A rifleman's saga of service with the 132nd Rgt of the Illinois National Guard, the Americal Division and Merrill's Marauders in the Pacific. His comparative commentaries of US vs. Japanese (equipment, tactics etc.) are very enlightening.
"Death Traps", Belton Cooper. The dark side of service in the armored units of WW2.
"A Rifleman Went To War", H.W. McBride. An American rifleman's service with the Canadian Army in WW1.
"Japan At War: An Oral History", Haruko Taya Cook and Theodore Cook. Lots of great oral history material.
"Soldiers Of The Sun", Marion and Susan Harries. The rise and fall of the Imperial Japanese Army. Pulls no punches and hides no details.
"Bataan: Uncensored", Col. E.B. Miller. Bataan was the only real chance the prewar Regular Army had to show its stuff, and this book by the CO of one of the NG tank units sent over to aid them tells their story.
"They Fought Alone" and "Lieutenant Ramsey's War" (can't find the authors) are about survivors of Bataan who evaded the Japanese and carried on the war as guerillas until MacArthur came back. Both are great reads.
"Japanese Destroyer Captain", Tameichi Hara. The author's story begins with the first forays into China in the 1930s and ends as part of the flotilla escorting superbattleship Yamato to her doom in 1945. As another reviewer said it, "How this guy survived the war is beyond me".
"GI: The American Soldier In World War II", Lee Kennett. Great (and very informative) reading.
Some are in print, some are out of print, but all are great reading.
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Cigargal 11:37 PM 03-06-2009
Killer Angels by Shaara...great Civil War action.
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smokeyandthebandit05 03:00 AM 03-07-2009
Enemy at the Gates was pretty good and I started reading "Biggest Brother" by Larry Alexander which is about the life of Major Dick Winters who led the band of Brothers. ie the group of amazing men from the HBO series. Good book so far just got side tracked
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smokeyandthebandit05 03:04 AM 03-07-2009
If you are interested in reading about The Band of Brother and Major Dick Winters from his point of view let me know and I would let you borrow it or anyone for that matter. Just PM me
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Tikihut27 07:29 AM 03-07-2009
SonOfNone 07:50 AM 03-07-2009
I skimmed though the posts here but didnt see "We where solders once and young" as with any book to movie rendition the book is alot better. I read it when I was deployed to Egypt for 6mts. Sorry if you have not seen the movie it is about Vietnam war.
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CBI_2 08:24 AM 03-07-2009
An excellent book on Vietnam I read in high school was "The Monk And The Marines". 1st hand account from a guy that was a medic over there. I couldn't put it down.
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M1903A1 09:14 AM 03-07-2009
A very different read is "Ivan's War: Life and Death In The Red Army, 1939-1945" by Catherine Merridale. Not only did they suffer to an incredible degree, at the hands of their own incompetent and cruel leaders as well as the Germans, but after the war they were repressed en masse and forced to conform to an impossibly heroic propaganda image.
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Kreth 10:44 AM 03-07-2009
Originally Posted by alley00p:
One of my favorites is Mila 18 by Leon Uris. It tells the story of the German occupation of Poland, and Warsaw during WW2. A large part of the story concerns the Jewish uprising and defense of the Warsaw ghetto.
Battle Cry, also by Uris, is a good read. It's partly based on his own experiences with the 6th Marines during WWII.
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jcruse64 12:30 PM 03-07-2009
Originally Posted by motortown:
While it may be going back a bit further than what you (and others) have been discussing, I think that you'd really enjoy "1776" by David McCullough. He's one of my favorite authors, and his books are absolutely fascinating...
http://www.amazon.com/1776-David-McC...6400862&sr=1-1
I hope this helps!
This was a good one, and got me started on a roll reading about the Revolution and the war. His bibliography is a great list of books to read. For the battles of the War of the Revolution, the 2 volume "The War of the Revolution" by Ward is excellent. Also agree on WWII books by Ambrose. A very good book on Japan's background and involvement in WWII is "Japan's War" by Hoyt. Very interesting look at it from that view. I've read some views that Japan was backed into a corner with blockades to force them to war, but this book pretty much shoots that view down.
I've read 2 good WWII books on aviation recently, one on Jimmy Stewart and one on George McGovern. Both were excellent. I always had a lot of respect for Mr. Stewart, but the book made me respect him all the more. I need to find one on Ted Williams.
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hotreds 04:32 PM 03-07-2009
The one on McGovern was Ambrose's last. Also sad that there were allegations of plagiarism concerning it.
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forgop 08:48 PM 03-07-2009
Great suggestions thus far...I tried doing some research on amazon for all of the recommendations you had. So far, these are at the top of my list:
Band of Brothers Stephen Ambrose
Citizen Solders Stephen Ambrose
We Die Alone Stephen Ambrose
Currahee: A Screaming Eagle at Normandy Stephen Ambrose
Parachute Infantry: An American Paratrooper's Memoir of D-Day and the Fall of the Third Reich Stephen Ambrose
D Day: June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II Stephen Ambrose
Crazy Horse and Custer Stephen Ambrose
Pegasus Bridge: June 6, 1944 Stephen Ambrose
With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa E.B. Sledge
In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors Doug Stanton
Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission Hampton Sides
Flags of our Fathers James Bradley
Flyboys: A True Story of Courage James Bradley
Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 Marcus Luttrell
The Longest Day: The Classic Epic of D-Day Cornelius Ryan
The Guns of August Barbara Tuchman
The First World War John Keegan
The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916 Sir Alistair Horne
Bury Us Upside Down: The Misty Pilots and the Secret Battle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail Rick Newman
His Time in Hell: A Texas Marine in France Warren Jackson
Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills Charles Henderson
1776 David McCullough
The Killer Angels Michael Shaara
Duty, Honor, Privilege: New York City's Silk Stocking Regiment and the Breaking of the Hindenburg Line (History of War) Stephen Harris
We were Soldiers Once and Young Harold Moore
Ivan's War: Life and Death In The Red Army, 1939-1945 Catherine Merridale
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era James McPherson
The Civil War: A Narrative Shelby Foote
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hotreds 09:20 PM 03-07-2009
The Guns of August Barbara Tuchman-- I found this to be soporific in the extreme. Almost a minute-by-minute account. Not recommended!
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hotreds 09:55 PM 03-07-2009
Beer Doctor 10:27 PM 03-07-2009
:-)
I read Band of Brothers and D-Day last year. Both were amazing. Ambrose is known for letting the soldiers tell the story.
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gettysburgfreak 11:02 AM 03-08-2009
I see people mentioned Killer Angles and Gods and Generals. Those books are historical fiction. Those books are ok if you know absolutely nothing and wanted to be entertained while reading about the Civil War, otherwise I would pass on them. These books are really in depth and may be a little dry for someone whos not a huge buff but they are excellent reads. Here are my recommendations.
Battle Cry of Freedom by James Mcpherson
Lee's Lieutenants (3 vols) by Douglas Southall Freeman
Gettysburg by Stephen Sears
Gettysburg A Testing of Courage by Noah Andre Treadeau
Apostles of Disunion by Charles Dew- excellent account of succession
Return to Bull Run by John Hennessy
A Strange and Blighted Land by Gregory A. Coco- the bible on the aftermath at Gettysburg
If you are hardcore and wanted to learn in depth about battles pick up the Official Records of the Rebellion- its correspondence and orders from each battle and campaigns during the war.
American Brutus by Michael Kaufman is excellent on Lincolns Assasination
Any questions on the Civil War PM me.
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CBI_2 11:28 AM 03-08-2009
forgop 01:29 PM 03-08-2009
Thanks for the clarification on Killer Angels. I've removed it from the list.
One other topic I was pretty fascinated with when I was in high school was the JFK assassination as that's when JFK came out. I read On the Trail of the Assassins by Jim Garrision and thought it was good. Any other recommended JFK assassination books?
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M1903A1 03:29 PM 03-08-2009
Originally Posted by forgop:
Thanks for the clarification on Killer Angels. I've removed it from the list.
One other topic I was pretty fascinated with when I was in high school was the JFK assassination as that's when JFK came out. I read On the Trail of the Assassins by Jim Garrision and thought it was good. Any other recommended JFK assassination books?
"Case Closed", by Richard Posner. Gives a lot of background on Oswald and his revolutionary-wannabe leanings, Ruby and his ties to the Dallas police, the circumstances that led Kennedy to go to Dallas (which was openly recognized as "hostile territory"), and the beginnings of the conspiracy myths. Also goes into Garrison and details the damage his conspiratorial witchhunts did to innocent people. Overall, I found it very informative and enlightening, especially his discussion of why the conspiracy theories began and why they have continued so long after the fact.
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