Thread: Best War Book

Read "Nobodys Hero" by LD Jones. Very funny account of the invasion of Iraq, particulalry the masturbation. "Very absorbent, the desert."

Originally Posted by Goldbricker

Dont know if it's been mentioned but for fiction

"The 13th Valley" by John M. Delvecchio (101st Airborne in the A Shau Valley RVN 1968?)

For non-fiction

"This kind of war" by T.R. Fehrenbach (Korea)

13th Valley is indeed a cracking read Goldbricker, if it were possible for a book to put you in the footsteps of a platoon member in hostile territory then 13th Valley would be fairly close to doing so...

A book that is sure to put the s&*s up anyone reading it for the first time...

Was it "Chickenhawk" by Bob Mason where there was a dog on a firebase mentioned that could sense incoming?

"Forgotten Voices of the Falklands War" Hugh Mcmanners, was nice to read a 'from the horses mouth' account from a good cross section of arms, capbadges and services.

Gates of fire by Stephen Pressfield. Easily one of the best books I have ever read (not counting LOTR)

Originally Posted by Gundulph

Originally Posted by Goldbricker

Dont know if it's been mentioned but for fiction

"The 13th Valley" by John M. Delvecchio (101st Airborne in the A Shau Valley RVN 1968?)

For non-fiction

"This kind of war" by T.R. Fehrenbach (Korea)

13th Valley is indeed a cracking read Goldbricker, if it were possible for a book to put you in the footsteps of a platoon member in hostile territory then 13th Valley would be fairly close to doing so...

A book that is sure to put the s&*s up anyone reading it for the first time...

Was it "Chickenhawk" by Bob Mason where there was a dog on a firebase mentioned that could sense incoming?

Another bump for a great Vietnam book. 'Once a Warrior King' by David Donovan. A young officer in charge of a Popular Forces hamlet in the Plain of Reeds. Superb stuff.

Originally Posted by slab

"BY TANK INTO NORMANDY" Stuart Hills

Autobiography of a 2Lt with the Sherwood Yeomanry from D Day to German surrender. Very readable; very sobering.

Just bout to begin reading this. Having just finished reading Tank Men by Robert Kershaw, and the brilliant Armored Farmer. Both are well worth a read and kept me amused for a couple of days (i read alot )

The biography of 'H' Jones is rather interesting too. (H.Jones VC: The Life and Death of an Unusual Hero by John Wilsey)

Also worth a look... Troop Leader by Bill Bellamy

Its an account by a former Officer in the 8th Kings Royal Irish Hussars of his experiences in the 1944 and 1945 phases of WW2. Great fun to read. Bit ;like Armored Farmer in its style

'Steel my soldiers hearts' and 'About Face'
by Col David Hackworth.

A very hard, up- through- the- ranks officer, but also a very radical thinker, especially on COINS doctrine in the US Army. 'Steel...' is very good on how he took a totally demoralised conscript battalion and turned it around.

Just finished "Coward at the bridge" it may be a fictional account of Operation Market Garden but it's a dammed good read.

"WINGED VICTORY" is a 1934 novel by English World War I fighter pilot Victor Maslin Yeates that is widely regarded as a classic description of aerial combat and the futility of war.

As the story is told, RAF pilots during the Battle of Britain paid up to £5 (more than a week's wages for most of them) for a copy of this novel.

"THE CAULDRON" by Zeno.

Books by convicts always have a certain curiosity value, if not a literary one. But this first novel by a British prisoner serving a life sentence for murder rises above its origins. The publishers will say nothing about the author, who uses the pen name Zeno (borrowed from the founder of Stoic philosophy), except that at various times he was a sailor, a soldier, a farmer and a timber merchant. More to the point, he was a World War II parachutist with the British 1st Airborne Division, which was trapped and methodically riddled to pieces at the Battle of Arnhem.

Zeno tells the grim story of a single pathfinder platoon in that battle. Heartened at first because they encounter almost no enemy opposition when they land in their drop zone, the 50-odd men in the platoon soon discover that they are in fact hopelessly trapped. After a few days of unrelieved agony, death becomes relatively unimportant. What matters more is how it will come. Using prose as direct and brutal as a trench knife to the gut, and with utter fidelity to military fact, the author meticulously ticks off the manner in which each man dies. The Cauldron may not win a prize as high art, but as an unsparing and authentic eyewitness account of the sights and sounds and pains of war, it is a bitterly superb tale.

(Note: because the platoon was an independent path finders' unit it therefore had a larger establishment than a normal platoon).

"Bugles and a Tiger" By John Masters

John Masters was commissioned into the Gurkha Rifles on the eve of the Second World War and rose to command one of the Chindit columns fighting behind the lines against the Japanese in Burma. He left the Army after the war to pursue a very profitable career as a novelist.

John Masters learnt his business as an infantry officer fighting Pathan (Pushtu) tribesmen on the North West Frontier. It's unlikely that very much has really changed. Especially the ability of the tribesmen to mount an ambush at precisely the time and place which suits them best.

Originally Posted by littlejim

"WINGED VICTORY" is a 1934 novel by English World War I fighter pilot Victor Maslin Yeates that is widely regarded as a classic description of aerial combat and the futility of war.

As the story is told, RAF pilots during the Battle of Britain paid up to £5 (more than a week's wages for most of them) for a copy of this novel.

"THE CAULDRON" by Zeno.

Books by convicts always have a certain curiosity value, if not a literary one. But this first novel by a British prisoner serving a life sentence for murder rises above its origins. The publishers will say nothing about the author, who uses the pen name Zeno (borrowed from the founder of Stoic philosophy), except that at various times he was a sailor, a soldier, a farmer and a timber merchant. More to the point, he was a World War II parachutist with the British 1st Airborne Division, which was trapped and methodically riddled to pieces at the Battle of Arnhem.

Zeno tells the grim story of a single pathfinder platoon in that battle. Heartened at first because they encounter almost no enemy opposition when they land in their drop zone, the 50-odd men in the platoon soon discover that they are in fact hopelessly trapped. After a few days of unrelieved agony, death becomes relatively unimportant. What matters more is how it will come. Using prose as direct and brutal as a trench knife to the gut, and with utter fidelity to military fact, the author meticulously ticks off the manner in which each man dies. The Cauldron may not win a prize as high art, but as an unsparing and authentic eyewitness account of the sights and sounds and pains of war, it is a bitterly superb tale.

(Note: because the platoon was an independent path finders' unit it therefore had a larger establishment than a normal platoon).

"Bugles and a Tiger" By John Masters

John Masters was commissioned into the Gurkha Rifles on the eve of the Second World War and rose to command one of the Chindit columns fighting behind the lines against the Japanese in Burma. He left the Army after the war to pursue a very profitable career as a novelist.

John Masters learnt his business as an infantry officer fighting Pathan (Pushtu) tribesmen on the North West Frontier. It's unlikely that very much has really changed. Especially the ability of the tribesmen to mount an ambush at precisely the time and place which suits them best.

not quite, John Masters graduated from Sandhurst in 1933, he was seconded to the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) for a year before electing to serve with the 2nd Battalion of the 4th Prince of Wales's Own Gurkha Rifles. He saw service on the North-West Frontier and was rapidly given a variety of appointments within the battalion and its regimental depot, becoming the battalion's Adjutant in early 1939.

Bloody good book though

Originally Posted by littlejim

"WINGED VICTORY" is a 1934 novel by English World War I fighter pilot Victor Maslin Yeates that is widely regarded as a classic description of aerial combat and the futility of war.

As the story is told, RAF pilots during the Battle of Britain paid up to £5 (more than a week's wages for most of them) for a copy of this novel.

I've just finished my late (very) Grandfather's copy. He served in the RFC and was eventually diagnosed with Flying Sickness D and was discharged after a horrific crash that immolated his observer. He very rarely spoke to me of his service and when he did he was rapidly silenced by my Grandmother. It was incredibly moving to read of these brave young pilot's experiences.

Its not long out but will go down as a classic. "Attack State Red" Col Richard Kemp and Chris Hughes.

Fields of fire.

James Webb USMC. A brilliant read.

Originally Posted by littlejim

"THE CAULDRON" by Zeno.

Books by convicts always have a certain curiosity value, if not a literary one. But this first novel by a British prisoner serving a life sentence for murder rises above its origins. The publishers will say nothing about the author, who uses the pen name Zeno (borrowed from the founder of Stoic philosophy), except that at various times he was a sailor, a soldier, a farmer and a timber merchant. More to the point, he was a World War II parachutist with the British 1st Airborne Division, which was trapped and methodically riddled to pieces at the Battle of Arnhem.

Zeno tells the grim story of a single pathfinder platoon in that battle. Heartened at first because they encounter almost no enemy opposition when they land in their drop zone, the 50-odd men in the platoon soon discover that they are in fact hopelessly trapped. After a few days of unrelieved agony, death becomes relatively unimportant. What matters more is how it will come. Using prose as direct and brutal as a trench knife to the gut, and with utter fidelity to military fact, the author meticulously ticks off the manner in which each man dies. The Cauldron may not win a prize as high art, but as an unsparing and authentic eyewitness account of the sights and sounds and pains of war, it is a bitterly superb tale.

(Note: because the platoon was an independent path finders' unit it therefore had a larger establishment than a normal platoon).

.

Excellent book, I have read it several times. The story of the author is quite bizarre:

http://thebigretort.blogspot.com/200...-literary.html

http://www.mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=250