Whilst we are on the subject of lists - Help Needed

[meridian]

Hi all,

Not posted anything in this forum before but I am hoping for a good response.

In time for Christmas I want to compile a number of ARRSE Top 10 reading lists.

Why?

On the Sgt Slingsby site that supports the ARRSE fund (Help Them Out) we have an Amazon bookshop (the fund gets a few percent commission that goes into the pot)

The lists will be published on the Sgt Slingsby Site in time for Christmas and then if anyone clicks on the relevant book and buys it the small amount goes to helping wounded service personnel.

So I guess the first thing to do would be to define what lists would be best

Armed Forces History
The Royal Navy
Young Officers Essential Reading
The Falklands Conflict
etc etc

Then you can start populating those lists on a separate thread per list

Click the banner in my signature to go to the Sgt Slingsby site if you are not familiar with the stuff we do.

So, thanks in advance for your help, really looking for a good response

Meridian

 

[blue-sophist]

Compulsory Reading, top of anyone's list, has to be ....

On the Psychology of Military Incompetence
Norman E Dixon
ISBN 0 7088 1482 4

 

[blueygirl]

Can we add N. Ireland, Balkans and Military Psychology to the list of lists?

 

[blue-sophist]

Can we add N. Ireland, Balkans and Military Psychology to the list of lists?

That would be in the "Mad Barstewards" section, Madam ... "down the stairs, 2nd left, one cross each ..."

Menwhile, I know what Meridian is getting at ...

A list of "Best Books" that [at no personal cost] generates a few coppers for Help ThemOut ...

NEXT, please?

 

[Bowmore_Assassin]

There are loads of others but here's a good list of Military History Top Ten, IMHO:

Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943 by Antony Beevor

The Fall of Berlin 1945 by Antony Beevor

Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945 by Max Hastings

Retribution : The Battle for Japan, 1944-45 by Max Hastings

The Battle of Hurtgen Forest by Charles Whiting (WWII)

The Civil War: A Narrative (3 Vol. Set) by Shelby Foote (US Civil War)

D-Day June 6, 1944 by Stephen E. Ambrose

One Upon a Distant War by William Prochnau (Vietnam War)

Quartered Safe Out Here by George MacDonald Fraser (WWII)

With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by E.B. Sledge

 

[Schleswig-Holstein]

If you want a humour section, both the Flashman and McAuslan series (George MacDonald Fraser) seem to be extremely popular with ARRSErs...

 

[Bowmore_Assassin]

Science Fiction Top Ten (any order), IMHO,

Revelation Space - Alistair Reynolds

Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks

The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks

Marrow by Robert Reed

The 'Robot' Series, starting with "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov

Old Man's War by John Scalzi

Mars by Ben Bova

The Saga of Seven Suns by Kevin J. Anderson

Chasm City (Revelation Space) by Alastair Reynolds

Chung Quo by David Wingrove

 

[Bowmore_Assassin]

If you want a humour section, both the Flashman and McAuslan series (George MacDonald Fraser) seem to be extremely popular with ARRSErs...

Any humour section should have Tom Sharpe in it as well.

 

[JoseyWales]

Military Mavericks by David Rooney.

He also wrote;

1. Burma Victory.

2. Kwame Nkrumah.

3. Mad Mike.

4. Wingate and the Chindits.

 

[JoseyWales]

And anything about this man;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Carton_de_Wiart

 

[Bowmore_Assassin]

A Top 10 from James Lee Burke, US Crime Writer, although you can read any of his other books as well - they are all excellent. This is a list of the first ten books about a detective called Dave Robicheaux. Should be read in order, then I suggst you get the rest as well. The best crime writer in America IMHO:

The Neon Rain, 1987
Heaven's Prisoners, 1988
Black Cherry Blues, 1989
A Morning for Flamingos, 1990
A Stained White Radiance, 1992
In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead, 1993
Dixie City Jam, 1994
Burning Angel, 1995
Cadillac Jukebox, 1996
Sunset Limited, 1998

 

[meridian]

Thanks for these responses, I am going to start the planning for this in time for the Christmas season. Has anyone seen crimbo decorations in shops yet?

 

[meridian]

I have started to implement the Recommended Reading lists on the Sgt Slingsby site

http://www.sgtslingsby.org/get-involved/recommended-reading/224-the-falklands-conflict

This is the only one at the minute but over the next few weeks I will build in more topics. The basic idea is to maintain a list of titles for a number of categories and when people click and subsequently purchase from Amazon we get a few percent of the sales value. The buyer pays no more than they would have done by going straight to Amazon so its a win win

Lists currently being worked on are (in no particular order)

Falklands
Gulf War
Iraq
Afghanistan
Sierra Leone
Kenya
Aden
Cyprus
WWI
WWII
Malaya
Balkans
Armoured Warfare
Military Engineering
Military Communications
Infantry
Artillery
Aircraft
Military Transport and Logistics
Medical
Veterans
United Nations and politics
History - by period
Military humour
The Royal Air Force
The Royal Navy


If anyone has more list ideas then let me have them or post here

I have missed the Christmas rush because the site redesign took priority but there are always birthdays....

Please check out the site and have a look at the list that is active, the format will be the same, 18 titles displayed in a 2x9 grid with pictures, ratings and a description.

Thanks again for all your input