# Believe it or not, I'm reading Team Yankee again **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 14, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believe-it-or-not-im-reading-team-yankee-again/264413 "2004-09-14T13:47:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believe-it-or-not-im-reading-team-yankee-again/264413/1 "2004-09-14T13:47:44Z")
I say believe it or not because mostly I hate war books. I’ve only read a handful I’ve liked. I re-read nearly every book I own, and I never re-read any of my war books. But I’m actually re-reading _Team Yankee_! I actually know more than many girls (that I know of) about armor. I know what a Defender is, what a Dragon anti-tank missile is. I know the difference between a APC and a real tank. So, yes this book fascinates me. Anybody want to discuss? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believe-it-or-not-im-reading-team-yankee-again/264413/2 "2004-09-14T14:34:57Z")
The book is a bit out-dated now but its pretty realistic speculation about WWIII. Coyle was an armor officer and I think he retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. I think he was a Captain when he wrote TY. Most books on the subject try and give a broad view of the conflict such as\* Red Storm Rising\*. TY was pretty unique at the time because it used the point of view of a company level unit (in this case an Armor/Infantry Team) and didn’t try to give the big picture. Coyle’s writing got better in later books but I don’t think he every captured the same feeling in his other works. ---
**Author:** ![ElectricZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58f4c7/32.png) [@ElectricZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElectricZ)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believe-it-or-not-im-reading-team-yankee-again/264413/3 "2004-09-14T16:13:37Z")
_Team Yankee_ is a book I’ve held onto long after others have moved on to the half-price bookstore. In a lot of ways I like Coyle much better than Clancy, mainly because he seems a lot more grounded… More “common man” I guess, with less reliance on the high tech itself and more about what the average soldier would go through fighting a war with high tech weaponry. I guess that’s because Coyle wrote about what he knew, which was being a tank commander. Coyle went on to do a series of books completely unrelated to TY and the early ones are really good (like _Sword Point_), but later he fell in love with his own characters (especially the main one, Scott Dixon I think was his name) and turned into Jack Ryan lite. But in his earlier works, you’d see well developed characters die in unexpected and trivial ways, which really added to the suspense for me. And since TY was not part of any series Coyle could do what he wanted with any character as he saw fit. Ahhh Elenia, there’s far too few women in the world who want to talk tanks… Maybe you could mosey over to the “How much do you pay for shoes” thread and enlighten some of your sisters. 😉 EZ ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believe-it-or-not-im-reading-team-yankee-again/264413/4 "2004-09-14T16:22:42Z")
Little known fact—there was actually a graphic novel of Team Yankee way back when. Not too badly done either. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believe-it-or-not-im-reading-team-yankee-again/264413/5 "2004-09-15T16:09:51Z")
> [@ElectricZ](#): > > Team Yankee is a book I’ve held onto long after others have moved on to the half-price bookstore. In a lot of ways I like Coyle much better than Clancy, mainly because he seems a lot more grounded… More “common man” I guess, with less reliance on the high tech itself and more about what the average soldier would go through fighting a war with high tech weaponry. I guess that’s because Coyle wrote about what he knew, which was being a tank commander. I HATE Clancy. I tried to read The Hunt for Red October and first of all everyone’s got names and titles like he started and couldn’t stop. Long-winded Russian names of course is what they had, but you can’t keep a person’s attention if you can’t reasonably distinguish the characters! I have watched & read Clear & Present Danger, and…Patriot Games, that’s it. Patriot Games they f\*\*\*ed up the beautiful ending that was in the book, with the Prince and the boat and everything. Clear & present Danger - the movie - I LOVE Wilhelm Defoe (man he’s hot!). Plus I really enjoyed the scene where they were painting the target, also the ambush in the alleyway was excellently done. > [@ElectricZ](#): > > Ahhh Elenia, there’s far too few women in the world who want to talk tanks… Maybe you could mosey over to the “How much do you pay for shoes” thread and enlighten some of your sisters. Well, thank you. If I was honest with you, I would tell you what I really like are mechs. Like in the game Mechwarrior. However, they have the slight disadvantage of not being real. But tanks are pretty close in some ways, and a good way to read and understand what happens in those things. Anytime you want to chat armor, I’m game though. I’d be a Mech driver! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2004, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believe-it-or-not-im-reading-team-yankee-again/264413/6 "2004-09-15T17:49:38Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Little known fact—there was actually a graphic novel of Team Yankee way back when. Not too badly done either. I own that, & you’re certainly correct. It’s _very_ well done. I read the GN before I read the book. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2004, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believe-it-or-not-im-reading-team-yankee-again/264413/7 "2004-09-16T13:27:37Z")
> [@](#): > > I own that, & you’re certainly correct. I have it too. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2004, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believe-it-or-not-im-reading-team-yankee-again/264413/8 "2004-09-17T00:05:31Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > The book is a bit out-dated now but its pretty realistic speculation about WWIII. Coyle was an armor officer and I think he retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. I think he was a Captain when he wrote TY. _Most books on the subject try and give a broad view of the conflict such as Red Storm Rising_. TY was pretty unique at the time because it used the point of view of a company level unit (in this case an Armor/Infantry Team) and didn’t try to give the big picture.\*\* Coyle’s writing got better in later books but I don’t think he every captured the same feeling in his other works. (Bolding mine) About 1980 Sir John Hackett, a British general, wrote [_World War III, August 1985_](http://www.alibris.com/search/search.cfm?qwork=6667664&wauth=Hackett%2C%20John%2C%20Sir&ptit=The%20Third%20World%20War%2C%20August%201985&pauth=Hackett%2C%20John%20Winthrop%2C%20Sir&pisbn=&pqty=199&pqtynew=0&pbest=2%2E95&matches=199&qsort=r) which did give the strategic view of a hypothetical war between the Warsaw Pact and NATO forces. Coyle read it, and thought it would be neat to cover the same action from a closer point of view, hence _Team Yankee_. The where, when, and why of the war starting, the overarching strategy, and the defeat of the Pact forces in _TY_ was exactly as it was in Hackett’s book, it’s just that most of it didn’t matter to an armored captain and his company except the bad guys right in front of them. I guess that’s the difference between a book writtten by a general and a captain: Write about what you know. It certainly gave a more personal view to the same (fictional) story. DD ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2004, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believe-it-or-not-im-reading-team-yankee-again/264413/9 "2004-09-17T00:10:01Z")
Make that [_The Third World War, August 1985_](http://www.alibris.com/search/search.cfm?qwork=6667664&wauth=Hackett%2C%20John%2C%20Sir&ptit=The%20Third%20World%20War%2C%20August%201985&pauth=Hackett%2C%20John%20Winthrop%2C%20Sir&pisbn=&pqty=199&pqtynew=0&pbest=2%2E95&matches=199&qsort=r) :smack: Note to self: Preview _everything_ including link titles. ::Sigh:: ---
**Author:** ![Rashak\_Mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2004, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believe-it-or-not-im-reading-team-yankee-again/264413/10 "2004-09-17T01:04:49Z")
Now Team Yankee is an old book ! A girl reading it ! Re-read it once… nice book. Red Storm Rising is more complete. DON’T read the new stuff by Tom Clancy… its all rubbish ! Read the old stuff. The movies suck though. From Rainbox Six (including RB6) onwards he totally lost it. BOOORRRIIINNGG… ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believe-it-or-not-im-reading-team-yankee-again/264413/11 "2004-09-17T01:08:57Z")
> [@Elenia28](#): > > Well, thank you. If I was honest with you, I would tell you what I really like are mechs. Like in the game Mechwarrior. However, they have the slight disadvantage of not being real. But tanks are pretty close in some ways, and a good way to read and understand what happens in those things. Anytime you want to chat armor, I’m game though. > > I’d be a Mech driver! Well come on over to [http://cbt.classicbattletech.org/SMF](http://cbt.classicbattletech.org/SMF) and chat with other BattleTech/Mechwarrior fans! Heck, if you play nice with the authors, you could even get your name put into literature as a MechWarrior. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2004, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believe-it-or-not-im-reading-team-yankee-again/264413/12 "2004-09-17T00:54:10Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Little known fact—there was actually a graphic novel of Team Yankee way back when. Not too badly done either. There was also a board wargame by GDW based on the book and it was also the inspiration for their _Terst of Arms_ game system.