Recommend me some books...

[Butch 3,456]

Hi,

Open topic. I like to read, but mostly my bookshelf consists of Military History, specifically WW2 European and Asia Pacific campaigns along with some stuff on Omani History and numerous work related tomes.

 

Along the same lines, I'm becoming interested in the American Civil War and also I'm interested in personal accounts like diaries, first hand accounts and how veterans' lives changed after the conflict.

 

The problem is that with the Internet being a great source for obtaining books, getting a true or good recommendation is difficult. If anyone can suggest anything that gives a comprehensive history so I have a half decent starting point, as well as some suggestions of personal accounts it would be a great help.

 

As I'm going to have some time on my hands in the coming months, I might as well make good use of it :)

 

Cheers

Butch

 

[atlas2 4,329]

Flashman.

 

The funniest……most un-PC tour through the backstairs of history.

 

Placing the bully and coward from 'Tom Brown's Schooldays' at Balaclava……Rork's Drift…….and even the 'Little Big Horn'.

 

The first volume is the Afghan Wars. The author wrote it in 90 hours. Read all the footnotes and follow literature's greatest anti-hero as he lies, cheats and shags his way to a medal from the queen and the thanks of parliament.

[MM 6,562]

For an entertaining and informative rendition of the major points of the American Civil War, I'd recommend the Starbuck Chronicles, by Bernard Cornwell (an Englishman!).

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Starbuck_Chronicles

[BigDUSA 71]

http://www.nytimes.com/ref/opinion/civilwar-booklist.html?_r=0

[forcebwithu 4,856]

Probably one of the best books I've read set in the Civil War period. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara.

 

 

Amazon.com Review

This novel reveals more about the Battle of Gettysburg than any piece of learned nonfiction on the same subject. Michael Shaara's account of the three most important days of the Civil War features deft characterizations of all of the main actors, including Lee, Longstreet, Pickett, Buford, and Hancock. The most inspiring figure in the book, however, is Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, whose 20th Maine regiment of volunteers held the Union's left flank on the second day of the battle. This unit's bravery at Little Round Top helped turned the tide of the war against the rebels. There are also plenty of maps, which convey a complete sense of what happened July 1-3, 1863. Reading about the past is rarely so much fun as on these pages.

[atlas2 4,329]

The only other author I've found for fictionalised history and as good as any text book is Steven Pressfield.... Particularly 'Gates of Fire' which would be well placed in a personal top 20.

[Evil Penevil 7,628]

I second the recommendation of The Killer Angels. Shaara has written two sets of trilogies about the Civil War, as well as novels about the Revolutionary and Mexican Wars. All are good. Cain at Gettysburg by former Army officer Ralph Peters is also good.

 

 

Owen Parry has written a series of detective novels set in the Civil War. Probably the best is A Faded Coat of Blue.

 

The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command, by Edwin B. Coddington, is a very detailed factual account written by a military historian.

Evil

[teelack 9,645]

Can I suggest that as you are a WW 2 fan that if you life novels based on fact get hold of Philip Kerr. This writer is exceptional and is a great mixture of fact and hard boiled detective all based around happenings in Germany from the early thirties until approx 1950. The hero is Bernie Gunther, a Berlin senior detective but he ends up in the war, investigating the Katyn massacre and all sorts of other adventures. He even ends up i Dachau at one stage!

 

Some of his books were available at Canterbury Tales a few weeks ago.

[Butch 3,456]

Hi

Thanks for the suggestions, I'm going to trawl amazon and Ebay for Killer Angels and Cain at Gettysburg, I'll also try my best to find the Edward Coddington book Evil, and BigD, that list is pretty detailed but again, thanks, there's some good suggestions although some might be out of print, the biography of Stonewall Jackson is one which caught my eye along with a few others. I might well look to find one from each section.

 

Thanks again guys, I've got a bit of searching to do now, plus some spending I imagine.

 

Any of the books I finish with , as long as they're not out of print or have cost me a fortune, I'll take into the Canterbury Tales on my next trip.

 

Cheers again,

Butch

[forcebwithu 4,856]

Hi

Thanks for the suggestions, I'm going to trawl amazon and Ebay for Killer Angels and Cain at Gettysburg, I'll also try my best to find the Edward Coddington book Evil, and BigD, that list is pretty detailed but again, thanks, there's some good suggestions although some might be out of print, the biography of Stonewall Jackson is one which caught my eye along with a few others. I might well look to find one from each section.

 

Thanks again guys, I've got a bit of searching to do now, plus some spending I imagine.

 

Any of the books I finish with , as long as they're not out of print or have cost me a fortune, I'll take into the Canterbury Tales on my next trip.

 

Cheers again,

Butch

 

Have you considered purchasing a Kindle Paperwhite? On of my best ever purchases. Easy to carry around, screen is great for reading, and downloading of books is quick and easy.

[tallguy 1,479]

On the fiction front the British author Bernard Cornwell is famous for his historical novels, He is best known for the Sharpe novels which follow the adventures of the eponymous hero through the Napoleonic wars. He did, however, write a series of novels, starting with Copperhead, which are set in the American Civil War and may appeal more to your stated interests.

He has also written series of novels set during the 100 years war and the time of Alfred the Great.

On the non fiction side the British historian Richard Evans has written a number of books following the Nazis rise to power during the Weimar republic to their eventual demise in 1945. In particular the first two books give an interesting insight into the views of ordinary Germans on Hitler and the Nazis during the period.

Cheers

TG

Edited October 13, 2014 by tallguy

[BigusDicus 9,881]

A novel I enjoyed immensely decades ago, Water Music by T Coraghessan Boyle.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Music_(novel)

 

Water Music is the first novel by T. C. Boyle, first published in 1982. It is a semi-fictional historical adventure novel that is set in the late 18th and early 19th century. It follows the parallel adventures and intertwining fates of its protagonists Ned Rise, a luckless petty criminal, and the famous explorer Mungo Park - the first a purely fictional character, the latter based on a historical person. The book takes place in various locales in Scotland, England and Western Africa. It revolves around two Imperial Britishexpeditions into the interior of Western Africa in an effort to find and explore the Niger River.^[1]
The novel is loosely based on historical sources, including Mungo Park's 1816 book, Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa. However, as Boyle admits in his foreword to Water Music, he does not claim historical accuracy or even faithfulness to the contemporary accounts, whose reliability is doubtful anyway.

[typhoon42 103]

May I suggest

 

1. Helmut For My Pillow by Robert Leckie

 

2. With The Old Breed/Pelilu/Okinawa by Eugene Sledge

 

3. Red Blood Black Sand.

 

These are WWII books written by the Marines who experienced the battles. HBO series THE PACIFIC was based on these.

[rmicheald 6]

What language are you speaking???? Are you trying to say: "RECOMMEND SOME BOOKS TO ME."????

[Butch 3,456]

What language are you speaking???? Are you trying to say: "RECOMMEND SOME BOOKS TO ME."????

I might ask you the same thing, I'm not "speaking" to anyone, I'm writing (specifically, typing).

 

I think a majority of the membership are perfectly clear on what the title says and manage to understand. There is actually nothing wrong with the title, either grammatically or spelling wise, so in answer to your question, I'm not actually speaking a language here, I'm writing in English.

 

Will that be all, you fucking half brain?.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Butch

[atlas2 4,329]

It does sound awkward………but may I politely recommend a book on …. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dative_shift ….. to settle the matter to everyone's satisfaction.

 

Read it through it's all terribly straight-forward.

 

 

PS I really hope you get hold of a 'Flashman'

Edited October 16, 2014 by atlas2

[MM 6,562]

No need to explain me that now atlas. Thanks.

[Butch 3,456]

Hi,

Atlas, that's a pretty intense lesson there mate!. Thanks for the link

 

I have heard a lot about the "Flashman" books, as I tend to trawl old bookshops whenever I get the chance I'll keep an eye out. Car boot sales when we're in the UK (like now) are also a great source for books, 25 pence each I consider them a bargain. By pure coincidence I stumbled upon a box today we'd packed away ages ago, opening it up I found a collection of old "Sven Hassel" books from my schooldays...

 

I have considered a kindle, it does make good sense actually but my Ipad has a kindle app which seldom gets used. I just prefer the feel of a book, as well as having the chance to pass it on to someone.

 

Cheers

Butch

[MM 6,562]

Hi,

Atlas, that's a pretty intense lesson there mate!. Thanks for the link

 

I have heard a lot about the "Flashman" books, as I tend to trawl old bookshops whenever I get the chance I'll keep an eye out. Car boot sales when we're in the UK (like now) are also a great source for books, 25 pence each I consider them a bargain. By pure coincidence I stumbled upon a box today we'd packed away ages ago, opening it up I found a collection of old "Sven Hassel" books from my schooldays...

 

I have considered a kindle, it does make good sense actually but my Ipad has a kindle app which seldom gets used. I just prefer the feel of a book, as well as having the chance to pass it on to someone.

 

Cheers

Butch

Butch, I read many of, if not all of, the Flashman series in college, which was before the incandescent bulb, but from atlas's recommendation, I wanted to read them again. They are tiny, but packed with humor.

So, I just looked on my favorite torrent site and found a collection of all the Flashman series in order. It took 2 minutes to download and another two to hook up the Kindle Paperwhite and load them up.

Feel free to hang out in second hand bookstores and car boot sales looking to get them in the written order (they are chronologically related), but if you are really interested in the content rather than the texture (and Flashman books as I recall had some prurient content for that time period, so who knows what that sticky page might be caused by), then get yourself a Kindle or use your Ipad to read...it's the way to go.

Time to embrace the present and stop living in the past (except for the books we read).

[marleyboy 140]

I tend to read lots in Thailand ( seems to be the only chance I get!). I also "much prefer real books"..........but I finally got a kindle a few years ago..........I didn't want to...but in a way Im glad I did....its much easier than taking a dozen books with me for a few weeks holidays! I think I still "prefer" real books........but a kindle is wayyyyy more practicable.

 

Getting back to your original question................I like books on the Vietnam war.....If you like books from this era....I strongly recommend "Chickenhawk" by Robert Mason (a chopper pilot in the war) Another I like is "Dispatches" and I also really like "The 13th Valley".

[atlas2 4,329]

I read everything I was supposed to read at college…….But it felt too much like conditioning. "You will enjoy this, check the name on the spine."

 

I rebelled and Flashy led the charge!

 

I don't read classics today…..Though I picked up half a dozen PG Woodhouse on my last trip over to plug a gap…..haven't read 'em yet.

 

Sometimes I'm grateful to my conditioners though. You spot references that would otherwise have gone swoosh……I was watching Sky-Fall when it came out……Sam Mendes layered that one…….Turner, Tennyson…….Doyle…..Orwell . All the talk of 'rats' and later you spot the number '101' on the 'policeman's' lapel when Bond chases his enemy through the underground………..So then you watch the film again because it's become a puzzle to un-ravel. Makes it more interesting……but less about fun and more about patting yourself on the back.

 

I'm more into the Falklands than Vietnam but I'll check out some of the recommendations in this thread.

 

And now for my most embarrassing admission

 

I'm a Modesty Blaise fan.

 

I came across the books in the early 70s……..but never read the strips in the newspapers until recently when my fanship-completest-obsession led me to discover 'Titan' are re-publishing them all.

 

I learned there was an enormous public sensation when Modesty broke the mold and finally got her tits out in a daily paper.

 

After years of syndication and 2595 frames………Here's the famous frame…. 2596 below.

 

And look who turns up!!

 

He gets everywhere……!!!!

Edited October 17, 2014 by atlas2