Military History
Discussion
James Holland - Burma '44
Excellent, well written, detailed with background around the senior officers.
Giles Milton - The Ministry of Ungentlemenly Warfare
Very enjoyable, oddballs of British ingenuity coupled with upper class education to produce diverse methods / weapons to fight the Nazis. Again an enjoyable well researched WW2 book.
Excellent, well written, detailed with background around the senior officers.
Giles Milton - The Ministry of Ungentlemenly Warfare
Very enjoyable, oddballs of British ingenuity coupled with upper class education to produce diverse methods / weapons to fight the Nazis. Again an enjoyable well researched WW2 book.
Ayahuasca said:
It's been mentioned a couple of times already, but 'With The Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa' by E.B. Sledge.
I must admit I had not even heard of the battle of Peleliu, yet it was said to be the toughest of the whole Pacific war. The Americans suffered 10,000 casualties. 10,000 Japanese defenders were killed, and only 19 surrendered.
Grim does not begin to describe it.
The book was one of the sources for 'The Pacific' TV series.
After reading about the thousands of men who died there, I went to Google Earth to look for the island. It is hard to find, even when you know more or less where it is. In the end I had to resort to the search function to find the main island (Palau, not itself fought over), then I found the tiny Peleliu. It got quite dusty in my house when I saw the insignificant, microscopic,dot in the ocean where all those men suffered.
Really really cannot recommend this enough. Some of the people mentioned by him also have penned their own books.I must admit I had not even heard of the battle of Peleliu, yet it was said to be the toughest of the whole Pacific war. The Americans suffered 10,000 casualties. 10,000 Japanese defenders were killed, and only 19 surrendered.
Grim does not begin to describe it.
The book was one of the sources for 'The Pacific' TV series.
After reading about the thousands of men who died there, I went to Google Earth to look for the island. It is hard to find, even when you know more or less where it is. In the end I had to resort to the search function to find the main island (Palau, not itself fought over), then I found the tiny Peleliu. It got quite dusty in my house when I saw the insignificant, microscopic,dot in the ocean where all those men suffered.
"Strong Men Armed" is another.
As is "You'll be sor-ee" by Sid Phillips (not read it yet)
"And Islands of the Dammned" by R V Burgin
Just started Carrier Pilot by Norman Hanson, memoir of a Fleet Airarm pilot in the Pacific. Looks promising so far and currently on special on Kindle if anyones interested
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01MQGD6AF/ref=db...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01MQGD6AF/ref=db...
Thanks to the people on here who recommended First Light. Extraordinary. I also really enjoyed - well, perhaps 'enjoyed' is not the right word but I found myself on the edge of my seat most of the time - reading Chickenhawk quite a few years ago. The scene where the helicopter is so over-laden with injured troops that he can't take off so effectively jumps off a cliff to get up sufficient air speed.........blimey.
Bernard Cornwall writes quite a good series of historical fiction called the Grail quest, set in the hundred years war. Fictional characters operating around historical events, with quite a lot of accurate context provided. He writes of the battle of Crecy and Agincourt in amazing detail! I highly recommend
D-Day by Anthony Beevor
Penguin Military History
My holiday reading last week while motoring round Northern France and probably the best account I have read leading upto the liberation of Paris. I can't recommend it highly enough. Lots of quotes from both sides puts you in the heart of the action. Probably rated better than Max Hastings' account 'Overlord' which preceded it, and that isn't too bad either.
Penguin Military History
My holiday reading last week while motoring round Northern France and probably the best account I have read leading upto the liberation of Paris. I can't recommend it highly enough. Lots of quotes from both sides puts you in the heart of the action. Probably rated better than Max Hastings' account 'Overlord' which preceded it, and that isn't too bad either.
K50 DEL said:
Flip Martian said:
K50 DEL said:
I understand that this
http://thefirstcasualty.net/
Was officially launched yesterday, I'm waiting to get hold of a copy, interested if anyone else here has one?
I wonder why it was on kickstarter...you'd think a major publisher would be all over that. Does sound interesting but I'm dubious of kckstarters.http://thefirstcasualty.net/
Was officially launched yesterday, I'm waiting to get hold of a copy, interested if anyone else here has one?
I'm trying to get hold of a copy, my old man was there on the periphery so I'm interested to read it.
He actually knew several of the people mentioned within and already knew some of the story so in all it seems likely it's genuine.
There's a great little novel called Pegasus Bridge, about British commandos flying into Normandy the night before D-Day to capture 2 bridges. The Germans had the bridges rigged to blow and without out them the Normandy landings would have had no way to move their armour in land and the whole invasion would have floundered. It's a completely true story and a yet untold chapter of the second world war. Its written by the same man who wrote Band of Brothers, so you know its well done.
Dwight D Eisenhower described it as "the single most impressive feat of flying of the entire war". Daring, dangerous and more than a little mad, reading about these British commandos can easily keep you entertained for a few hours. . A good read for any history buff!
Dwight D Eisenhower described it as "the single most impressive feat of flying of the entire war". Daring, dangerous and more than a little mad, reading about these British commandos can easily keep you entertained for a few hours. . A good read for any history buff!
Oliver James said:
There's a great little novel called Pegasus Bridge, about British commandos flying into Normandy the night before D-Day to capture 2 bridges. The Germans had the bridges rigged to blow and without out them the Normandy landings would have had no way to move their armour in land and the whole invasion would have floundered. It's a completely true story and a yet untold chapter of the second world war. Its written by the same man who wrote Band of Brothers, so you know its well done.
Dwight D Eisenhower described it as "the single most impressive feat of flying of the entire war". Daring, dangerous and more than a little mad, reading about these British commandos can easily keep you entertained for a few hours. . A good read for any history buff!
Check out pix of how well the gliders landed, not only the tiny areas they had put how close together.Dwight D Eisenhower described it as "the single most impressive feat of flying of the entire war". Daring, dangerous and more than a little mad, reading about these British commandos can easily keep you entertained for a few hours. . A good read for any history buff!
There's a museum at the bridge now (bridge has been replaced but they have the original at the museum), and they've put posts in where each of the gliders landed. It's astounding how close they are to the machine gun pit next to the bridge. They also have a replica Horsa glider there which looks scarily flimsy.
Interesting random fact: Richard Todd, who played Major Howard, commander of the force that took the bridge, in the film The Longest Day, was a Para officer and part of the force that reinforced Howard once they'd initially taken the bridge.
Interesting random fact: Richard Todd, who played Major Howard, commander of the force that took the bridge, in the film The Longest Day, was a Para officer and part of the force that reinforced Howard once they'd initially taken the bridge.
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Wednesday 28th June 16:38
^^^
The 'Gulf War Chronicles' by Richard Lowry is a detailed (if a little dry) day-by-day account of Desert Storm/OP Granby.
Should also add some that I have recently read:
'Tommy' - excellent account of the British Infantry on the Western Front
'We Landed by Moonlight' - Lysanders and Hudsons from Tangmere and Tempsford flying SOE into and out of France
'Afgantsy' - an account of the USSR's own little soiré into Afghanistan, a good read, and shows that even now a simple end game is essentially impossible.
I've also finished the first part of the 'Pax Britannica' trilogy, which strictly speaking is not a military history book, it is a fairly thorough account of the rise and fall of the British Empire, which of course only possible by the projection of military force across the globe.
The 'Gulf War Chronicles' by Richard Lowry is a detailed (if a little dry) day-by-day account of Desert Storm/OP Granby.
Should also add some that I have recently read:
'Tommy' - excellent account of the British Infantry on the Western Front
'We Landed by Moonlight' - Lysanders and Hudsons from Tangmere and Tempsford flying SOE into and out of France
'Afgantsy' - an account of the USSR's own little soiré into Afghanistan, a good read, and shows that even now a simple end game is essentially impossible.
I've also finished the first part of the 'Pax Britannica' trilogy, which strictly speaking is not a military history book, it is a fairly thorough account of the rise and fall of the British Empire, which of course only possible by the projection of military force across the globe.
Edited by LimaDelta on Monday 21st August 09:40
I recently read "Gallipoli" by L A Carlyon - terrible for both sides and dreadfully mismanaged by the Allies. As a personal aside, my grandfather was there as a Royal Engineer. He survived and was safely evacuated in time for the Somme! As a follow up, purely by chance I picked up "Birds Without Wings" by Louis de Bernieres . A lot of the action is set in Gallipoli from a Turkish perspective. It's a sometimes funny and often brutal look at Turkish history around that time centred around a small community.
Following comments by other contributors, anything by the US historian Stephen Ambrose is worth a look. An unusual one is "Crazy Horse and Custer" which follows the histories of these two contemporaries from such totally different cultures.
Following comments by other contributors, anything by the US historian Stephen Ambrose is worth a look. An unusual one is "Crazy Horse and Custer" which follows the histories of these two contemporaries from such totally different cultures.
Perseverant said:
I recently read "Gallipoli" by L A Carlyon - terrible for both sides and dreadfully mismanaged by the Allies. As a personal aside, my grandfather was there as a Royal Engineer. He survived and was safely evacuated in time for the Somme! As a follow up, purely by chance I picked up "Birds Without Wings" by Louis de Bernieres . A lot of the action is set in Gallipoli from a Turkish perspective. It's a sometimes funny and often brutal look at Turkish history around that time centred around a small community.
Following comments by other contributors, anything by the US historian Stephen Ambrose is worth a look. An unusual one is "Crazy Horse and Custer" which follows the histories of these two contemporaries from such totally different cultures.
If any of you go to the USA on hols....IF you have time, the battle ground at LBH is very moving.Following comments by other contributors, anything by the US historian Stephen Ambrose is worth a look. An unusual one is "Crazy Horse and Custer" which follows the histories of these two contemporaries from such totally different cultures.
Just been reading a long thread about Herbert Sobel (of Easy Company fame) on the Army Rumor Service forum. The common theme is that Ambrose whilst a good story teller, is not a very good historian. He plain invented a lot of what happend in his book.
The thread is here if anyone wants to waste an hour: https://www.arrse.co.uk/community/threads/herbert-...
The thread is here if anyone wants to waste an hour: https://www.arrse.co.uk/community/threads/herbert-...
Voldemort said:
Holy thread resurrection!
I've been trying to find a copy of Trip to Nijmegen by John Bridge. If anyone can point me towards one, my google skills fail me, I'd be grateful.
Otherwise, has anyone got any new recommendations?
Blimey, I tested Abebooks and Biblio and drew a blank. Maybe it was self published and tehre aren't many copies knocking about?I've been trying to find a copy of Trip to Nijmegen by John Bridge. If anyone can point me towards one, my google skills fail me, I'd be grateful.
Otherwise, has anyone got any new recommendations?
As for recommendations:
Ernst Junger's "The Storm of Steel" is a great read from the POV of a young German officer in WW1. Quite visceral as time goes by and they all get more desperate, with the fighting getting more vicious.
Ulrich Steinhilper wrote 3 books about training as a Luftwaffe pilot before WW2 and getting shot down, then his being shipped to a POW camp in Canada, and his subsequent escape attempts. Only read the first 2 but the 3rd is on my "to be read" pile - the first 2 are excellent; you get a real feel for what it was like living at the time (much of the book was from his diaries written at the time). The first was called Spitfire On My Tail - can't recall the 2nd but there aren't many authors with his name...
Just started Special Boat Squadron by Barrie Pitt.
Lots of crossover from other books I've read but some new stuff to me already & I'm less than 1/3 through.
Best bit is, it only cost me £0.99 as a Kindle book!
Has anybody read Basic Function: The 4th Parachute Squadron Royal Engineers At Arnhem: Volume 1 by John Sliz?
Lots of crossover from other books I've read but some new stuff to me already & I'm less than 1/3 through.
Best bit is, it only cost me £0.99 as a Kindle book!
Has anybody read Basic Function: The 4th Parachute Squadron Royal Engineers At Arnhem: Volume 1 by John Sliz?
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