# Military History, War and Fantasy Books
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [March 17, 2004, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919 "2004-03-17T21:42:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919/21 "2004-03-18T15:34:19Z")
For non-fiction military: Band of Brothers, Steven Ambrose. The mini-series did an excellent job but the book goes into details that the show doesn’t cover.
Low Level Hell by Hugh Mills. A book by a Viet Nam Scout helicopter pilot.
[here](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=stripbooks&field-keywords=low%20level%20hell&results-process=default&dispatch=search/ref=pd_sl_aw_tops-1_stripbooks_4284022_2/002-2258674-6394411)
Aboutface by David Hackworth. Regardless what you think of what he has done since, his military career was worth reading about. Beware of inflated egos though.
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### Author:  [@ColonelDax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelDax)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2004, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919/22 "2004-03-18T15:42:52Z")
I’m glad to see Alistair Horne has already been mentioned and will note that \*The Price of Glory \* forms part of a tryptich on Franco-German relations, along with \*The Fall of Paris: The Siege and the Commune 1870-1871 \* and _To Lose a Battle_, about the invasion of France in 1940. I recomend all three. Byron Farwell has written a number of books about the British army, of which my favorites are \*Queen Victoria’s Little Wars \* and _Mr. Kipling’s Army_.
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### Author:  [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2004, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919/23 "2004-03-18T18:41:51Z")
I heartily recommend the now-seemingly-forgotten **The Winds of War** and **War and Remembrance** by Herman Wouk.
And if you enjoy epic fantasy, a light and easy but still fun series is **The Belgariad** by David Eddings.
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### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919/24 "2004-03-18T18:58:44Z")
_The Life of Johnny Reb_
and
_The Life of Billy Yank_
both by Bell Irvin Wiley.
The poor SOB who is a private has a tough time in any war. See what his life was like in the American Civil War.
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### Author:  [@Phelan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phelan)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2004, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919/25 "2004-03-18T19:55:35Z")
I second John Marco’s Tyrants and Kings series. It has lots of nice plot twists, and it’s not always a straight cut good vs evil. His next series isn’t all that good though.
For military I liked Web Griffin’s Brotherhood of War series. I also liked War of the Rats.
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### Author:  [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2004, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919/26 "2004-03-18T21:45:09Z")
I’m not sure if it counts, but I once read a rather interesting Sci-fi military book called **The Forever War** , detailing the possibility of a war fought using FTL drives and the effects that would have on those fighting in it.
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### Author:  [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2004, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919/27 "2004-03-18T23:11:51Z")
> [@Phelan](#):
>
> I second John Marco’s Tyrants and Kings series. It has lots of nice plot twists, and it’s not always a straight cut good vs evil. His next series isn’t all that good though.
I’ve heard three different people say this, which is why I’m avoiding it.
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### Author:  [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2004, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919/28 "2004-03-19T16:32:00Z")
Thanks for all the Suggestions… will check 'em out.
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### Author:  [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919/29 "2005-03-02T19:41:44Z")
Bumping this old thread… any new suggestions ?
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### Author:  [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2005, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919/30 "2005-03-03T00:51:04Z")
Sure. Here’s some good non-fiction…
[The Face of Battle](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140048979/qid=1109811612/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-9989575-7344051?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) - John Keegan
[The First Casualty](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/080186951X/qid=1109811697/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/002-9989575-7344051) - Phillip Knightley
[Dispatches](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0679735259/qid=1109811805/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-9989575-7344051) - Michael Herr
And a good novel…
[The Short Timers](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553267396/qid=1109811880/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-9989575-7344051?v=glance&s=books) - Gustav Hasford ( **Full Metal Jacket** was based on this book, but is nowhere near as good).
Did you read any of the recommendations? Did you like anything? Hate anything? Have any recommendations to return?
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### Author:  [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2005, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919/31 "2005-03-03T03:11:50Z")
> [@davos](#):
>
> John Erikson’s two volume series on the Eastern front of War War II, “The Road to Stalingrad” and “The Road To Berlin”, are very interesting. Written largly from the Soviet perspective they provide a take on those events not often found in Western writing. A bit dry and techincal at times but if you want to understand that conflict these are almost essential reading.
I second these books, but with a warning : if you are not very familiar with Soviet geography, better get a good atlas. Erickson is **very, very** skimpy with his maps.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2005, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919/32 "2005-03-03T04:12:42Z")
Maybe you’d like _Fox on the Rhine_ by Douglas Niles and Michael Dobson. It’s a WWII military novel but it’s also an alternate history novel - the authors base it on the idea that Hitler was killed in the July 20, 1944 bomb plot and follow the possibilities from there. So it’s a straight forward military book but because of this change you don’t know what the outcome of the battles will be. There’s also a sequel, _Fox on the Front_, but I haven’t read it yet.
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### Author:  [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2005, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919/33 "2005-03-03T04:39:37Z")
For shear salted peanut military fiction you can’t beat [WEB Griffin](http://www.webgriffin.com/) A total of 36 books to choose from.
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919/34 "2005-03-03T04:40:45Z")
> [@Midwinter](#):
>
> “Red Army” by Ralph Peters
Excellent book. \*\* Team Yankee \*\* by Harold Coyle is another one that is very good.
The Aubrey/Maturin novels by Patrick O"Brian are good for Napoleonic-era naval combat (as well as being eminently entertaining), and so are the Hornblower books.
“Goodbye Darkness” by William Manchester is an interesting memoir of WWII USMC life.
“Forgotten Soldier” by Guy Sajer is another interesting memoir, although there are some questions as to its veracity.
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### Author:  [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2005, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919/35 "2005-03-03T13:03:43Z")
[The Peloponnesian War](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0670032115/qid=1109855722/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/102-1089111-6748110) by Donald Kagan
[The Art of War](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/081331951X/qid=1109855676/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/102-1089111-6748110?v=glance&s=books) by Sun Tzu (Ralph Sawyer)
[Strategy](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0452010713/qid=1109855598/sr=8-3/ref=pd_csp_3/102-1089111-6748110?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Basil Liddell Hart
Tad Williams is good, at least in Tailchaser’s Song and the Dragon Bone Chair. I found the Otherland series to drag though.
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### Author:  [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2005, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919/36 "2005-03-03T13:10:24Z")
> [@vl\_mungo](#):
>
> Did you read any of the recommendations? Did you like anything? Hate anything? Have any recommendations to return?
Good point … sorry… I read only a few… I certainly was ungrateful for not mentioning **Gates of Fire**. It is spectacular ! Great fiction on the 300 spartans vs Persia. \*\*Team Yankee \*\* I’ve purchased more than a decade ago… and its still great fun. Stephen Ambrose is on my “to read” list.
Many I checked out on Amazon and I ended up choosing to buy them later… or they simply weren’t my style. I’m picky. Unfortunately I’m quite fed up with books on the US military for political reasons of my own… and Tom Clancy too. (Tom Clancy has become utter garbage). The last book on the US military I enjoyed was **Black Hawk Down**. (very well written and makes the film more enjoyable).
A book that wasn’t mentioned here but is great stuff is “ **Upfront** ” by Bill Mauldin a well known WWII cartoonist. He talks about the day to day lives of GI “doggies”: [Amazon Link Here](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0393050319/qid=1109855983/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-5263667-9314400)
As for Fantasy Books… I took some time to be captivated… but I loved the first 2 books of “Farseer Trilogy”: \*\*Assassin’s Apprentice \*\* & **Royal Assassin**. Ordering the third book this week.
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### Author:  [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919/37 "2005-03-03T13:13:54Z")
> [@bump](#):
>
> The Aubrey/Maturin novels by Patrick O"Brian are good for Napoleonic-era naval combat (as well as being eminently entertaining), and so are the Hornblower books.
I was so totally bored by Patrick O’Brian… and I don’t understand why. I’m interested in the Era and naval warfare… but it was the first fiction on the topic… and I found it so dragging along I quit before getting to half the book. I loved the movie with Russell Crowe though.
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### Author:  [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2005, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919/38 "2005-03-03T13:20:40Z")
> [@Grey](#):
>
> [The Peloponnesian War](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0670032115/qid=1109855722/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/102-1089111-6748110) by Donald Kagan
> [Strategy](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0452010713/qid=1109855598/sr=8-3/ref=pd_csp_3/102-1089111-6748110?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Basil Liddell Hart
The Kagan books seems interesting… is it a bit dragging ?
I read the reviews yesterday of the Basil’s Strategy… and it seems a bit simple or basic no ? How much will it benefit more intermediate readers ?
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### Author:  [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2005, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919/39 "2005-03-03T13:50:54Z")
I liked Kagan’s book. It has lots of maps which I found really helpful when you’re trying to piece together where the fleets met or how the Syracuse disaster happened. It also provides an intersting look at how the people invovled led to the type of strategy/war attempted by the Athenians. If you’re really eager he has a multi-volume work on the subject.
Liddell’s strategy book is good if for nothing else than its focus on maneuver and leveraging surprise and indirect attack.
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### Author:  [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)
#### Post date: [March 3, 2005, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-history-war-and-fantasy-books/234919/40 "2005-03-03T14:36:17Z")
The Kagan multi-book is better ?
I read about Scipio with Lidell… and I enjoyed it… but a general book on Strategy seems to “beginner” to me… I’m probably wrong then…
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