Decent modern 'war' book for holiday

[Pooky67]

War Torn by Andy McNab is really good, couldn't put it down. Set in Afghanistan but also focuses on the relationships between soldiers and their other halves back home.

[Bad-Gerbil]

"The last Valley" the story of the French and Dien Bien Phu, by Martin Windrow.
You'll never look at the French army in the same light again - they fought extremely
bravely and were let down by the politicals back home.

[itsnotarace]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Battle-Falklands-Pan-Milit...

[Tycho]

Matt_Tilda said:

I'm reading Phoenix Suqadron, about Buccaneers flying from the Ark Royal to defend Belize. Good book. I'd never heard of the mission (it happened in 1972) until I saw this book.

Forgot about this, I really enjoyed it.

[Prev]

Im currently reading Bloody Hero's. All about the SBS in the first few weeks of the Afgan war.

Also another vote for Sniper one. My mate who was there in Al Amaraha at the time the book is describing, gave it to me to read. Ive read it three times now. He's in one of the pic's as well. The one with Johnson Beharry with a load of link round his neck. My mates the bloke bent over in the back ground with a cheesy grin on his face. Useless fact but something im proud of none the less.

[RicksAlfas]

Anyone read Matterhorn?
(Vietnam epic).
Very good indeed. Maybe a bit heavy for holiday luggage...

[Working class]

Problem is with Sniper One is that it is so good you wont be able to put it down. I finished it in 3 days, what a story, brilliant.

[PintOfKittens]

FunkyNige said:

'8 Lives Down' is a good read about a bomb disposal guy that was targeted by the militants.

+1, really really good book, really enjoyed it.

[Tuvra]

Working class said:

Problem is with Sniper One is that it is so good you wont be able to put it down. I finished it in 3 days, what a story, brilliant.

+1, I took it to the Carribean, literally couldnt put it down and SWMBO was not impressed. I spent 45 minutes on the toilet at one point because I was reading through one of the battles

[JonnyFive]

Working class said:

Problem is with Sniper One is that it is so good you wont be able to put it down. I finished it in 3 days, what a story, brilliant.

Yep, I read it in less than a week, only reading in the evenings. Couldn't put it down and would recommend it to everyone.

[gregd]

Young Officers Reading Club is worth a read. Also enjoyed Sniper One.. Just bought Task Force Black but not started it yet..

Just to ignore the "modern" bit I also wholeheartedly recommend the Flashman books and the author George Macdonald Fraser's wartime memoir "Quartered Safe From Harm".

[Stedman]

Tycho said:

Fabric 2.2 said:

spaceship said:

Sniper One is good. I'm sure Beharry is mentioned in it.

Apache Dawn is good too.

+1 for Sniper One. Ed Macy's Apache is also a good read.

Sniper One is good but so is Apache so get them both...

BOOM! End of thread. Both brilliant reads.

[4Q]

gregd said:

Junior Officers Reading Club is worth a read.

I was going to recommend this...it's really good. Additionally, not in the spirit of most 'war' books, the author is one who can write (and in fact had a few bits published before joining) which makes it even nicer to read.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Junior-Officers-Reading-Cl...

ETA: You don't get more modern than a tour that only finished just over a year ago either!

[sassthathoopie]

Have just finished 'Looking for Trouble' the autobiography of General Sir Peter De La Billiere

He fought or was involved in just about all the major post war actions of the SAS, as well as commanding Falklands forces immediately after the war, and finally commanding British forces in the first Gulf War. In between he was a pioneer of freefall parachuting, competed in off road motorcycling, and sailed a 22ft yacht from UK to Aden in 1961 having virtually never sailed before.

A good read

[Boozy]

Lone Survivor's a good read.

[Vieste]

Fabric 2.2 said:

+1 for Sniper One. Ed Macy's Apache is also a good read.

Both are very good

[knight]

I know it's not a 'modern' war book, but "With The Old Breed" by E B Sledge about his time in the Pacific during WW2 is a good read.

[98elise]

davepoth said:

Vulcan 607?

What he said....very good book.

I spend a great deal of my last holiday sat under a tree, in the sun, reading that.

[g3org3y]

4Q said:

gregd said:

Junior Officers Reading Club is worth a read.

I was going to recommend this...it's really good. Additionally, not in the spirit of most 'war' books, the author is one who can write (and in fact had a few bits published before joining) which makes it even nicer to read.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Junior-Officers-Reading-Cl...

ETA: You don't get more modern than a tour that only finished just over a year ago either!

It's fairly good but nothing special imo.

The earlier chapters describing his time at Sandhurst are actually far more interesting (imvho) than the later chapters during the war which the book is supposed to be building up to. The actual battle chapters for me were a bit tricky to read (millions of acronyms and abbreviations) and often didn't flow very well with awkward sentence structure. If you know your 'war stuff' you'll probably appreciate it more. Moreover, his conclusion to the book and the moan about the RAF was a little arsey.

As a sidenote, I was actually intrigued regarding the title of the book, expecting a fair amount of content describing the books read during the conflict and how they impacted the author's outlook etc however I think the 'club' was only mentioned about three times and quite minimally at that which was a shame.

[Davey S2]

Just finished reading Sniper One following a recommendation on PH.

Great book.