Originally Posted by BANDSMAN69

I have read so many good books on war but the one that springs to mind most often is 'Fields of fire' by James Webb read it twice 'snake' is a real anti-hero you almost feel that you are in Vietnam...awesome

Great thread, love reading and love books !

Totally agree with you there. And the book has an awesome ending, even though it's it's incredibly sad. He also wrote another one, about a naval academy ( I belive it's called Fields of Glory but dont quote me... ) Not so much about war, more about a generation of young men preparing for one ( Vietnam ) .

On Vietnam, there are two others I'd swear by, both of which have been mentioned previously. Chickenhawk is excellent ( most amusing bit is the snake killing when they are hacking the airfield out of the jungle ) and 13th Valley by John M. Delvecchio ( I think ). Both incredible books.

Obligatory SAS book.. Soldier I:SAS... by errr... Soldier I. An excellent book. The Soldier I bit comes from the Inquest into the Iranian Embassy siege. It spans a number of years ending up with him in Hong Kong. I defy anyone to read his description of the caning he received there without involuntarily clenching thier buttock and wincing.

On the flip side, there's a book called Bloody Hell by Dan Hallock which is an excellent read. It's a series of true war experiences by soldiers and civilians, spanning many nationalities and conflicts. It's a blatant anti war book, but that's not a bad thing is it ? ( It's more a "hate war, love the warrior" style than a "all military types are fascists who deserve to die type" ) It's got a foreword by Simon Weston, and has a piece in it on Denzil Connick. It's the sort of book that makes you incredibly sad, but you cant resist reading it. The letter from a WW! soldier to his wife cut me up no end. The innocence of the age is revealed in the words, but the butchery of the trenches is right there undereath if you read between the lines.

Gonna stop there, or I'll be typing all day. Already looking forward to my commute home and a few more pages of barefoot soldier

Sammers.

Cannot recall tne name of the book but it was the memoirs of Robert Stanford- Tuck, a Hurricane pilot in the Battle of Britain. Written many years ago it was still very exciting when I read it in the 80's.

Legionaire- Simon Murray. Probably been mentioned already but I read it about once a year. I lent it to many while on Telic and all loved it!

A few come to mind:

Lasting Honour: The Fall of Hong Kong 1941, Lindsay, Oliver

C Force to Hong Kong: A Canadian Catastrophe 1941-1945,
Greenhous, Brereton

A Military History of Canada: From Champlain to the Gulf War, Desmond Morton

The Battle of Kursk, Glantz and House

Forgotten Heroes: Canadians at Dieppe, John Mellor

Makers of Modern Strategy from Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age, Peter Paret (and his von Clausewitz book)

Backbone of the Army: Non-Commissioned Officers in the Future Army, Ron Haycock

25 Centuries of Sea Warfare: Jacques Mordal

The Last Post - a recent book by the last survivors from the First World War. Each one a centenarian, many of them giving up memories for the first time.

A little known 5 book series on the Spanish Civil War by Steven Francis.

Zeno wrote The Cauldron and Play Dirty (later a film with Michael Caine) whilst a guest of Her Majesty.

Have read most of the books mentioned here - thoroughly enjoyed 'Where Soldiers Fear to Tread' by Ranulph Fiennes but knew a couple of SNCOs at 19 Regiment who had been loan officers in Oman at the same time who had no time for him.

Tolkein based many of the characters in 'The Lord of the Rings' on his experiences on the Somme.

Also good, a little known black comedy on the Vietnam War - The Only War We've Got.

W.E.B. Griffen has written a number of book series, mostly very readable. Two series come to mind, developing groups of characters throughout the series - Brotherhood of War takes US Army characters from before World War 2 to Vietnam and The Corps does the same for US Marines characters from China Station in the '30s through to Korea. Both series cracking reads.

As stated in my previous thread, I have read so many good books on war, if there is such a thing. One other that springs to mind (again)is 'By tank into Normandy' by Stuart Hill.

According to the British Army Review 'This is a superb awe -inspiring but intimimate account of armoured warfare at its most intense. By Tank into Normandy should be obligatory reading at Sandhurst'

Enough said

Churchill's Sacrifice of the Highland Division by Saul David, just bought it to find out about my GrandDads unit, but found the whole book amazing,and certainly gives an idea of what the Highland Division went through.

Omaha Beach by Joseph Balkoski, the best book without a doubt on 'Bloody' Omaha

Shopping Cart Soldiers by John Mulligan.

It deals with a man's struggle with PTSD and coming to terms with returning to the USA following Vietnam. Not your average war book and certainly not one for simply switching off your brain and reading but thought provoking without doubt.

Chickenhawk by robert mason - US army huey pilot in Vietnam fantastic
Forgotten soldier - germo/french soldier fighting on the russian front
Stalingrad by anthony beezer - amazing facts
Soldier 'I' SAS on of the original true tales about the 'Hooligans' - funny as F*ck

The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monserrat

I scrolled back through 5 or 6 pages looking for it and haven't seen it. The best war book ever is;

[align=justify]Catch 22.[/align]

Despatches is pretty good too.