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Looking for a good, historical war book.

Posted on 6/6/20 at 10:15 pm
Posted by HailToTheChiz
Back in Auburn
Member since Aug 2010
48993 posts
Posted on 6/6/20 at 10:15 pm
Whether it focuses on a single battle, i.e. Battle of Midway, or the overarching war itself.

Does not have to be WW2, but interested in what good ones you all have found.

Non-fiction. Historically accurate etc.
Posted by AllbyMyRelf
Virginia
Member since Nov 2014
3328 posts
Posted on 6/6/20 at 10:27 pm to
It doesn’t quite fit your criteria, but War and Peace has extremely detailed battle scenes and overarching themes from the Napoleonic wars. I’m always surprised at how much I already know about the battles when reading about them because I previously read War and Peace.
Posted by Sneaky__Sally
Member since Jul 2015
12364 posts
Posted on 6/7/20 at 5:46 am to
The campaigns of Napoleon - absolutley fanstastic and goes through all the campaigns, includes some battle maps and stuff but it reads like fiction. Written by David G. Chandler
This post was edited on 6/7/20 at 5:47 am
Posted by Tigertown in ATL
Georgia foothills
Member since Sep 2009
29206 posts
Posted on 6/7/20 at 6:32 am to
Look up Ian Toll.
His books about the Pacific Theater are excellent
Posted by Lsujacket66
Member since Dec 2010
4793 posts
Posted on 6/7/20 at 7:30 am to
With the old breed.

It’s what the show The Pacific is based on.... its graphic
Posted by BlackCoffeeKid
Member since Mar 2016
11730 posts
Posted on 6/7/20 at 9:01 am to
The Winter Fortress.

About how a bunch of Norwegians worked with the British to sabotage Hitler's attempt to get an atomic bomb.
Posted by HailToTheChiz
Back in Auburn
Member since Aug 2010
48993 posts
Posted on 6/7/20 at 9:21 am to
Thank you all
Posted by JudgeRoyBean
West of the Pecos
Member since Jun 2018
526 posts
Posted on 6/8/20 at 11:15 am to
Gordon Prange

"Miracle at Midway".

Some excellent research done on this battle by Mr. Prange.

Also, Prange wrote "At Dawn we Slept" about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. While a good read, I enjoyed the Midway book better.
Posted by TejasHorn
High Plains Driftin'
Member since Mar 2007
10956 posts
Posted on 6/8/20 at 5:18 pm to
I’m surely not as well read as others on this topic, but Rise and Fall of the 3rd Riech was amazing. I make a point to re-read every few years.
Posted by Buckeye06
Member since Dec 2007
23132 posts
Posted on 6/8/20 at 5:42 pm to
Read some of Craig Symonds stuff and really enjoyed it. his Midway stuff was very good as was his Civil War stuff

Posted by theGarnetWay
Washington, D.C.
Member since Mar 2010
25873 posts
Posted on 6/9/20 at 9:47 am to
I don't mean to hijack your thread but does anyone have any suggestions on Napoleon/Napoleonic Wars? The only one that seems to be widely recommended on the internet are The Campaigns of Napoleon. I'm sure it's great and I love to read but I'm not sure I'm ready to jump into a 1,000+ pg. book.

And I understand, he's a complex figure and the conflicts themselves are a decade+ so asking for a comprehensive book is going to be lengthy no matter what.
Posted by LSUA 75
Colfax,La.
Member since Jan 2019
3707 posts
Posted on 6/9/20 at 9:51 am to
I concur -With The Old Breed by E.B.Sledge
Just finished The First Wave by Alex Kershaw(D-Day Invasion).
D-Day by Stephen Ambrose
Citizen Soldier also by Stephen Ambrose
I’ve read almost all of Stephen Ambrose books,he was an amazing historian.Kinda pisses me off he smoked himself to death.
Posted by Palo Gaucho
Benton
Member since Jul 2013
3336 posts
Posted on 6/9/20 at 12:57 pm to
Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
With The Old Breed
Posted by John Gotti
Vestavia HIlls, AL
Member since Jul 2013
3370 posts
Posted on 6/9/20 at 1:32 pm to
Posted by Peter Venkman
Jackson, TN
Member since Aug 2016
2463 posts
Posted on 6/9/20 at 9:54 pm to
I really enjoyed Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose
Posted by AllbyMyRelf
Virginia
Member since Nov 2014
3328 posts
Posted on 6/10/20 at 9:23 pm to
I’m going to have to look into this
Posted by PJinAtl
Atlanta
Member since Nov 2007
12755 posts
Posted on 6/12/20 at 9:16 am to
Not sure if it fits with what you are wanting to read, but Erik Larson's The Splendid and The Vile looks at Churchill's first year as Prime Minister, and talks about the increasing air war over Britain.

It looks at things from both sides, and talks about the German mindset about increasing the frequency, level, and location of attacks.
Posted by WitoldPilecki
Louisiana
Member since Jun 2020
207 posts
Posted on 6/12/20 at 4:03 pm to
I just finished reading Masters of Death by Richard Rhodes. It goes in detail of the beginning of Himmler's Einzatsgruppen and how they first organized the locals in the east to participate in the final solution until they were massacring the Jews themselves. This book details some horrible events. It makes you wonder why more of them didn't resist.
Posted by Ace Midnight
Between sanity and madness
Member since Dec 2006
89569 posts
Posted on 6/12/20 at 6:47 pm to
quote:

but interested in what good ones you all have found.


Pure non-fiction, Blackhawk Down (Bowden) is difficult to beat. Stanley Karnow's Vietnam is almost the definitive single volume on that conflict and is outstanding. Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August (August 1914, the first month of The Great War) is very, very good.


For historical fiction that is brilliantly told and relatively meticulous in accuracy:

Killer Angels - Michael Shaara (Gettysburg)
Gates of Fire - Stephen Pressfield (Thermopylae)
The Ten Thousand - Michael Curtis Ford (The Anabasis)
This post was edited on 6/12/20 at 6:50 pm
Posted by Sneaky__Sally
Member since Jul 2015
12364 posts
Posted on 6/12/20 at 8:19 pm to
quote:

I’m going to have to look into this


It really is phenomenal and sort of represents the peak of early modern warfare - or the end of the beginning of the gunpowder age.
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