# Recommend books on the Falklands War **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 28, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297 "2011-11-28T01:17:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297/1 "2011-11-28T01:17:57Z")
I just saw a rivetting documentary about the HMS Coventry in The Falklands War. I realised watching it that it’s a conflict I know very little about and would be interested to read a book about. Can anyone here recommend a book on the war? A general history of the conflict would be good but feel free to recommend biographies etc. related to the conflict. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297/2 "2011-11-28T02:30:45Z")
**The Green Eyed Boys** by Christian Jennings, about the British paras. Not a big geopolitical overview, but a good look at how confusion, poor upper-leadership, cold & fatigue are coped with by professional soldiers. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297/3 "2011-11-28T13:34:05Z")
It’s a few years old, but I remember Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins’s, [The Battle for the Falklands](http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Falklands-Max-Hastings/dp/0393301982), to be a good general history of the conflict. Edit: Here is a [monograph](http://www.offnews.info/downloads/ADA523209.pdf) of the Falklands’ War, written from the Argentine perspective. Looks interesting in a brief scan. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297/4 "2011-11-28T14:03:24Z")
Oh I didn’t know Hastings had written about the conflict. His other history books that I’ve got are top class. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297/5 "2011-11-28T14:11:03Z")
If you want something out of left field, there is a short book (more of a pamphlet actually) called Waking up to War, which is the story of the war from the point of view of a eleven year old girl who lived here at the time. It’s an absorbing read, but if you want a copy, you’ll have to PM me today as I’m leaving the Falklands on Wednesday and probably won’t be coming back. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297/6 "2011-11-28T14:30:39Z")
White, Rowland (2006). _Vulcan 607_. Bantam Press tells the story of [Operation Black Buck](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Black_Buck) - the bombing raids on Stanley, requiring precision flying and multiple staged refuelling operations. It’s not a demanding read, but pretty interesting. Si ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297/7 "2011-12-01T00:48:58Z")
**Tapioca Dextrin** is sending me a copy of the book they mentioned. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297/8 "2011-12-01T17:35:40Z")
Well, it’s in the post. It might arrive sometime this year! ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297/9 "2011-12-01T22:42:18Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Oh I didn’t know Hastings had written about the conflict. His other history books that I’ve got are top class. He was actually on the scene. I have several of his books, and “Falklands” is next. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297/10 "2011-12-20T15:19:07Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Well, it’s in the post. It might arrive sometime this year! This arrived today! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297/11 "2011-12-20T15:33:02Z")
Less than three weeks to arrive. I think that’s a record! ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297/12 "2011-12-20T19:44:23Z")
Sea Harrier over the Falklands by Cdr Nigel ‘Sharkey’ Ward is also a good read. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297/13 "2011-12-22T04:19:10Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > It’s a few years old, but I remember Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins’s, [The Battle for the Falklands](http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Falklands-Max-Hastings/dp/0393301982), to be a good general history of the conflict… I read that awhile back and liked it. I’d also suggest Duncan Anderson’s _The Falklands War 1982_ (Osprey Publ. 2002), a concise, well-illustrated book on the conflict. My biggest surprise was learning that the British troops attacking Port Stanley were in greater danger of running out of rations than the Argentines who were defending it. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297/14 "2011-12-22T14:20:31Z")
BTW, was there ever a request by the British for, or an offer from their own governments of, troops, aircraft, ships, supplies or other resources from the other Commonwealth countries to help retake the Falklands? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297/15 "2011-12-22T15:06:32Z")
I’ve never read this book, but I remember seeing it on the racks: [The Sinking of the Belgrano](http://www.amazon.com/Sinking-Belgrano-Desmond-Rice/dp/0450057860/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324566204&sr=1-2). ---
**Author:** ![Evin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@Evin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evin)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297/16 "2011-12-22T15:59:34Z")
Borges on the War: “Two bald men fighting over a comb.” ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297/17 "2011-12-22T18:44:24Z")
Sandy Woodward’s _One Hundred Days_ is worth a read. He was in charge of parts of the task force, but not all. It’s an illuminating account of what happens at senior command levels when they are all basically making it up as they go along. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297/18 "2012-09-15T02:15:58Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > BTW, was there ever a request by the British for, or an offer from their own governments of, troops, aircraft, ships, supplies or other resources from the other Commonwealth countries to help retake the Falklands? Anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297/19 "2012-09-15T02:45:26Z")
Probably not. The task Force set sail just a few days after the invasion, so even if anyone had anything useful, there wouldn’t have been enough time to do anything. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297/20 "2012-09-15T07:10:50Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Anyone know? I remember your original inquiry, and I also remember not being able to find anything. Funnily enough, some of the cables between the U.S. and U.K. have been declassified this year, and may be perused [here](http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB374/). They are notable to me, in that they don’t mention at all, the prospect of any other country besides the U.S. helping the Brits. Not the Canadians, not the Aussies, no one. Did any help out? It’s hard to say. I remember reading at either the wiki or in Hastings, that Canadian and Aussie vessels took over RN vessels’ assorted NATO duties. This [thread of speculation](http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=177012) about possible Canadian involvement has a few nuggets of speculation and rumor, including the supposition that the Australian and New Zealand SAS contributed a few personnel. OTOH, there were claims that observers from the U.S. and Canada who were training with Sandy Woodward’s force during the exercise that preceded the invasion, had to be left behind, to the chagrin of the officers involved. I still think it’s an interesting question, because there’s anecdotal evidence of various Commonwealth troops, sailors and pilots getting ready to be asked to join in, but seemingly no discussion of why the British ultimately decided to not ask for direct assistance. If I find anything, I’ll let you know. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-books-on-the-falklands-war/604297.md?page=2)