Book Recommendations

[Howard1955]

I'm reading John Bruning's book, 'Indestructible'. Excellent account of P. I. Gunn's adventures in the Philippines during WW2. John did extensive research, and uses that information to tell the story the way history should be told. I wish all history books were written this way. The first sentence in the book is "The sharks fed, and men screamed."



What are you all reading? What do you recommend?

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[Oregon13]

I just finished "The Longest Winter" by Alex Kershaw. It's a very good story about an I&R platoon attached to the 99th Infantry Division just before the Battle of the Bulge. They fight and hold position in the Ardennes forest, but are ultimately captured and sent to POW camps. I found it to be easy to read and very interesting.

 

[BlackRyder]

I read "where men win glory" by John krakauer last month and really liked it- an account of pat Tillman, the footballer who left the nfl to join the army after sept 11 happened. Really good investigative journalism and descriptions of battle in the Middle East. I recommend it.

 

[Timbertodd]

Well it looks like I have 3 more books to add to my "need to read" list.

 

[USMC-03]

T.E. Lawrence has been a long time inspiration into strategy, purpose and creative problem solving. I've never heard of 'With Lawrence in Arabia' by Lowell Thomas but it reached the top of my reading list when I saw it on another book list recently; it turned out to be available for Kindle and I'm about 1/4 through.

 

[maddog]

"Band of Brothers" by Steven Ambrose is a good read. It's the true account of E/506th as described by the members themselves, and "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand is the first hand story of Louis Zamparini and his amazing story of survival. And "Iron Coffins" by Herbert Werner, a U-Boat Commander during WWII is his first hand account of the war he endured. All great books.

 

[maddog]

I read "where men win glory" by John krakauer last month and really liked it- an account of pat Tillman, the footballer who left the nfl to join the army after sept 11 happened. Really good investigative journalism and descriptions of battle in the Middle East. I recommend it.

"Lone Survivor" by Marcus Lutrell is a similar story and also a good read.

 

[BlackRyder]

I just finished that one! I enjoyed it, but I liked American Sniper even more, just because of how in depth Chris Kyle went in his descriptions of SEAL training. Those guys are pretty amazing.

 

[Dungannon]

Looks like all the recommendations are military related, so the last two I read and recommend in that vein are ...

'The Heart of Hell' by Mitch Weiss. I'm biased on this one because its a very personal account of the men on LCI 449 in WWII. My father was one of 130 people interviewed by National LCI Assn historian Dennis Blocker over a 15 year period, following his grandfather's suicide to find out what had happened at Iwo Jima. And it was Blocker's research that was the impetus for the book.

'Grunts' by John C. McManus. I think his most famous book on military history is 'Alamo in the Ardennes.' This book is a description of how Army Infantry and Marines were employed in ten major battles, from WWII through Iraq.

 

[teflon6string]

Chickenhawk by Robert Mason. Autobiography of a Huey pilot.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Chickenhawk is an excellent read, I've read it a couple of times now!

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Shots Fired In Anger by LT.COL. John George.
Tells of the Campaign on Guadalcanal and Merrill's Marauders in Burma.
Also has a review of US and Japanese WWII small arms.

Company Commander by Charles B. MacDonald
Tells about the fighting from the Ardennes to the crossing of the Rhine.
From a young CO in the 2nd Infantry Division.
Andy

 

[Andy54Hawken]

For a non-military read I like South by Sir Ernest Shackleton.
A great read of survival and endurance ( Pun intended )
Andy

 

[ThePhonMan]

Some excellent military books are:
The Only Thing Worth Dying For - Eric Blehm
The Night Stalkers - Michael J Durant & Steven Hartov
13 Hours - Mitchell Zuckoff

Current topic books worth a look:
The War on Guns - John R Lott Jr.
The War on Cops - Heather MacDonald

 

[maddog]

Company Commander is now on order, thanks Andy! And while I was there (Amazon) I saw another good book: "About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior" by Julie Sherman. It's about Lt Col David H Hackworth. He enlisted in the service during WWII and rose to the rank of Lt Col. He became disenchanted with the government during the Vietnam war and his story is compelling. A lot of us old guys can relate to his plight.
.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Another good WWII era read is : The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz.
Rawicz was a Polish officer who was sent to a Soviet Gulag in Siberia.
He and six others escape an make their way to British held India.
Quite a read showing just what a man will do to be free.
Andy

 

[jbett98]

Just this minute finished "Rogue Heroes" by Ben Macintyre.
It's about the WW2 inception of the British SAS special forces fighting in Libya behind Rommel's desert mechanized forces and then parachuting deep behind the Nazi lines all the way through Italy, France and finally into Germany.
Great true life history of how the British Special Forces came into being.

 

[Dungannon]

Another good WWII era read is : The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz.

Amazing story. Wonder if we'll ever know who the American was.

The Only Thing Worth Dying For - Eric Blehm
13 Hours - Mitchell Zuckoff

Great reads. Another great book by Eric Blehm is 'Fearless' about the late Navy Seal Adam Brown.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Well Ed Harris played him the movie...
But yeah I do wonder just who and what he really was in real life.
Andy

 

[U8395279]

Brian Kilmeade's THOMAS JEFFERSON AND THE TRIPOLI PIRATES is now available in paperback, for anyone that has not yet read it. It covers a most important, yet forgotten war, that America fought shortly after our nation was founded.





Amazon.com: Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The Forgotten War That Changed American History (9780143129431): Brian Kilmeade, Don Yaeger: Books