Favorite War Books

[boylermaker]

They can be fiction or non-fiction, or some combination. Mine are:

1) Ernle Bradford, The Great Siege (of Malta by the Ottomans. If you haven't read it, do so. It's pretty short, and a great read.)
2) Arthur Conan Doyle, The White Company (slaughters effete Europeans in the Hundred Years War)
3) C.F. Forester, Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies (I love the whole series)
4) Shelby Foote, The Civil War (Working my way slowly through its 5000 pages)
5) Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game (Science fiction, but still war)

[Garc]

To Glory We Steer by Alexander Kent - Richard Bolitho Series (Like Hornblower)

Rifles For Watie by Harold Keith (children's book, but great)

Day of Infamy by Walter Lord

[40roundsready]

Johnny got his gun-Dalton Trumbo
The naked and the dead-Normon Mailer
A Farewell to arms-Ernest Hemmingway
The guns of August-Barbara W. Tuchman

[Kommandant]

well mine are:

Art of War-- Sun Tzu
1001 things everyone should know about world war 2-- Frank E. Vandiver
Military Top 100-- i forgot who's the author for this one, all i can remember
is that he was a colonel :D

[Moderator Sinister]

They can be fiction or non-fiction, or some combination. Mine are:

1) Ernle Bradford, The Great Siege (of Malta by the Ottomans. If you haven't read it, do so. It's pretty short, and a great read.)
2) Arthur Conan Doyle, The White Company (slaughters effete Europeans in the Hundred Years War)
3) C.F. Forester, Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies (I love the whole series)
4) Shelby Foote, The Civil War (Working my way slowly through its 5000 pages)
5) Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game (Science fiction, but still war)

I love Bradford's book on Hannibal. Very Very Fun Read!

[Podlet]

I find myself returning to these books again and again for their information, their humanity and the beauty of their writing:
JOHN BROWN'S BODY by Stephen Vincent Benet. An epic poem about the Civil War. The descriptions of the feelings of men in battle and the hopes and anguish of their families left at home are immensely moving.
SINK THE BISMARCK! (Also published as THE LAST NINE DAYS OF THE BISMARCK) by C. S. Forester. The "Horatio Hornblower" author scores again with another tale of men in battle at sea. To me, the description of the fight between the Bismarck and the Hood is the equal of anything ever written about war anywhere at any time. You see the ships in your mind's eye and feel the terror and exultation of the sea battle.
SALAMMBO by Gustave Flaubert. The author pulls out all the stops in this account of ancient Carthage fighting off a revolt of the mercenaries it hired but now can't afford to pay. The lush, over-the-top, purple-prose descriptions of exotic locations, gigantic battles and mighty heroes and villains repay endless rereadings (try it out loud for the best effect). And the title heroine gets intimate with a snake in the sacred temple! This cries out to be turned into an opera.
THE WINDS OF WAR and WAR AND REMEMBRANCE by Herman Wouk. These two novels literally span the whole of World War II, seen through the experiences of an American naval officer and his family. If you can get past the numerous coincidences needed to have characters take part in everything important, you'll be rewarded with a sweeping view of every aspect of the war with all the military details correct and a real sense of people being caught up in momentous events, only some of which are under their control. The chapters about the Battle of Midway are particularly well done.
I, too, have to add words of praise for Ernle Bradford. Everything I've read by him is full of splendid, lively writing conveying tons of detail and period feeling without being in the least bit pompous and stuffy. Hurrah!

[boylermaker]

Military Top 100-- i forgot who's the author for this one, all i can remember is that he was a colonel
Is it Dupuy? I love that guy: Future Wars is another sweet book.

[Stojakovic]

Blood red snow and ghost soldiers were both great books.

[nerdx]

and who could forget "The Red Badge of Courage"?

[TrimChris]

and who could forget "The Red Badge of Courage"?

In grade school we at first thought this might be a tale about a young girl reaching puberty.

[40roundsready]

and who could forget "The Red Badge of Courage"?


Great required reading I often wondered how Stephen Crane wrote such detailed book about war. I found out he had observed the Spanish-American war as a reporter. Also "All Quiet on the Western Front" is a good book.

[Beast1313131]

WWIII-Ian Slater
Battlefront-Ian Slater
Das Reich-Some British guy
Great Commanders and Their Battles-Another British Guy
Sun Tzu-The Art of War
Rommel-Edward Young
Many others....