I'm looking to spend some nice summer evenings on my patio doing some reading and much less time off of the internet. Some of the topics I'm most interested would be related to the Civil War, WW1, WW2, and Vietnam. Not really looking for a political book, but one that tells a good story. I read All Quiet on the Western Front and The Frontiersmen when I was in high school and will read those once again. Any suggestions???
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Fiction or non-fiction? I'm a WWII buff and have close to 500 books on the subject- many dealing with aviation. All are non-fiction, however.
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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.

Another favotite is Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy, which deals with a possible WW3 scenario between NATO and the USSR. It's more modern, going into a lot of detail of battle strategies.

I'm found both of these excellent reads.

:-)
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Non-fiction is what I'm after...I just picked up The Civil War: A Narrative by Shelby Foote because that seemed pretty highly rated.

I'd rather read an actual book about the sinking of the Titanic than watch the movie.
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You, sir, are a man after my own heart! I have so many ideas, I can't think of one! Let me look and I'll list a few for ya!
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By the way, I'm a Purdue aviation technology grad, so you can say I love airplanes. :-)

Got my private pilot license back in '96, but haven't managed to get up in about 10 years now.
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With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
http://www.amazon.com/Old-Breed-At-P...6398735&sr=8-1

Anything by Donald Burgett
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b_...x=donald+burge

Flags of Our Fathers
http://www.amazon.com/Flags-Our-Fath...6398863&sr=1-9

Anything by Stephen Ambrose
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b_...ix=stephen+amb

Any of the War Stories by Ollie North
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?...th+war+stories

That should be a start for you. Good luck! Will go upstairs later to take a look at my aviation library....
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You know much about WW1 or Vietnam stuff by chance either? I'm really interested in reading some great story telling of what some of these guys really went through. My wife doesn't really care for COD WAW. :-)
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I really like Knights Cross. It's a book about Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.
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By the way, a preference would be someone who actually wrote it with first hand experience. To me, there's a lot left out by someone who is writing it without having lived it. Thanks for all the suggestions thus far.
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Off the top of my head, I wholeheartedly agree with Hugh on "anything by Ambrose."
another good one.
http://www.amazon.com/Naked-Warriors.../dp/0312959850
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Checked out With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa on Amazon...looks like a great fit for the kind of stuff I'm looking for.
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I don't remember the author's name, but I read the novel F.N.G., and I liked it a lot.
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Bury Us Upside Down: The Misty Pilots and the Secret Battle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail
http://www.amazon.com/Bury-Us-Upside...6399729&sr=1-1

His Time in Hell: A Texas Marine in France
http://www.amazon.com/His-Time-Hell-...6399814&sr=1-1

The Mammoth Book of War Diaries and Letters: A collection of Letter and Diaries from the Battlefield
http://www.amazon.com/Mammoth-Book-W...6399876&sr=1-1
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A book that I really enjoyed was Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills. It's about Carlos "Whitefeather" Hathcock, a Vietnam Marine sniper.

The book is pretty much non-fiction, but not a biography or anything. The author was a fellow Marine. A lot of Hollywood sniper movies seem to be based on Hathcock's missions.
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Outstanding!
I heard him interviewed- the "classic" Southern Gentleman!
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But we still like you...:-)

Just read the IU/PU forums on Indystar.com, they're kinda war-like...:-)
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I have heard about Hathcock and been meaning to pick up one of the books on him, evidently he was one hell of a Marine.
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I enjoyed the book Charlie Wilson's War by George Crile
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I used to post on the PU/IU boards...you wouldn't believe how much fish I caught trolling on that board. LOL
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