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- 9/25/2000 8:54:00 AM

Ken Rutsky

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Joined: 5/8/2000
From: Saratoga Springs, NY, USA
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Cross of Iron, by Willi Heinrich (as many others have suggested) is fantastic. The prose is spare, and having the story being told from constantly changing viewpoints adds to the tension of the story. It is interesting to compare the book to the (wonderful) movie that it inspired. Another book I enjoyed quite a bit was called Squadron Airborne; I forget the author's name. It's about two days in a British fighter squadron during the Battle of Britain, with an interesting ensemble of characters. I doubt it's still in print, but my battered old copy (in a crate somewhere) was a Bantam paperback, so it might not be too hard to find (and it'll probably be cheap, to boot!). Tim Obrien's interlocking story collection The Things They Carried is a modern literary classic, and one that is very accessible to the average grognard (I was in a lit class last semester that studied it, and was amazed that footnotes were needed to explain Claymores, C-Rations, etc.). The stories are tough and unsentimental, concerning a platoon of GIs in Vietnam (the author is a veteran of that war); a couple veer into surrealism, but still feel somehow true to the experience of war (though I have nothing to compare it to in my own experience). Hackett's Third World War is an interesting, strategic-level account of the greatest war that never was. These last few books are non-fiction, but it's interesting to compare them to their fictional cousins: Everything We Had by Al Santoli is a collection of true anecdotes from many Vietnam vets. One Soldier, by John Shook, is another interesting grunt's eye view of 'Nam. MacDonald's Company Commander is good for WWII. Ken Rutsky [This message has been edited by Ken Rutsky (edited September 24, 2000).]

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Post #: 31

- 9/25/2000 7:31:00 PM

Musti

Posts: 19
Joined: 7/26/2000
From: Tampere, Finland
Status: offline

I too recommend "The Unknown Soldier" by V�in� Linna. And during this week the original book will be published for the first time! The book suffered from censorship in the fifties when it came out...Some "anti-soviet" and "anti-war" material were removed and even some events that would have made some "heroic" characters look not so innocent and righteous. Censorship sucks ass! But read the book, you'll enjoy it.

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Post #: 32

- 9/25/2000 9:08:00 PM

von Curow

Posts: 89
Joined: 6/20/2000
From: Plymouth (Massachusetts)
Status: offline

The "Forgotten Soldier" is a great book, though there is a debate about whether it is fiction or autobiography. The author and publisher claim it is autobio, but even if it isn't, it is a great WW2 book. Btw, the author IS French, but his mother was German, so the Germans considered him German and required military service of him. That's why he ended up on the Eastern Front. Someone mentioned the article about the veracity of the book that is on Jason Pipes' WW2 website. Here is the link to that article: http://www.csd.uwm.edu/~jpipes/sajer.html

quote:

Originally posted by zombie: Regarding the `forgotten soldier` by Sajer, i read an article by an ex-GD vet who said the book was utter nonsense, he thinks it was written by a French author. It was pretty persausive,if i can find it i can post the relevant points here if anybody is interested. War of the rats also has my vote for a great read and if you are interested in artillery at all read the series by Geogre Blackburn, The guns of normandy,victory and where the hell are the guns, its a bout a Canadian FO from before the start of the war to the finish.

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Post #: 33

- 9/25/2000 9:26:00 PM

von Curow

Posts: 89
Joined: 6/20/2000
From: Plymouth (Massachusetts)
Status: offline

About war novels that make for good reading. I wanted to mention some here. Toey already said that he read Ralph Peters' "Red Army", but I wanted to recommend it to anyone who hasn't. It's a typical look at WW3 in Europe ca. 1988, but it is very well done and has the added benefit of being from the perspective of the Soviets, hence the title. Anyway, I have always felt there was a dearth of war novels out there, and so I long ago turned to military science fiction to satisfy the urge. Here are some of my favorite military Sci Fi books: 1) "Hammer's Slammers" by David Drake; a little over the top at times, but if you like heavy armor, these stories make for fun reads. 2) "A Small Colonial War" by Robert Frezza; mainly light infantry combat 3) "The Mountain Walks" by Roland Green; I loved this book, but unfortunately his others were not nearly as good 4) "Falkenberg's Legion" by Jerry Pournelle; again, mainly light infantry combat; the other books in the Falkenberg series, incl those co-authored by SM Stirling, are also excellent 5) "The Regiment" by John Dalmas; you got it, light infantry at its best! Most of these 5 books really don't go overboard with fancy technology, so I would almost say they are using late 20th century weapons, with a few modifications. Hammers Slammers is the big exception to that, though the combat is recognizable to anyone who has read a good WW2 or Vietnam war novel (Drake is a Vietnam vet). There are also some good "naval" sci fi books out there, which essentially try to imagine space combat in an ordered way (with strategy and tactics). If anyone is interested, send me an email, and I can give you some titles. Over at my war book review site, I am still looking for someone to help me set up a review site for military fiction. Anyone interested? http://members.nbci.com/kcurow/hussar/index.html or http://members.tripod.de/yuanti/index.html

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The closer you are to Caesar, the greater the fear.

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Post #: 34

- 9/25/2000 9:29:00 PM

von Curow

Posts: 89
Joined: 6/20/2000
From: Plymouth (Massachusetts)
Status: offline

Oh, I forgot to mention. If you are interested in ancient warfare, then you can't beat Pressfield's "Gates of Fire", a novel about the battle of Thermopylae, in which the Greeks fight to the last man (more or less) against the Persians. Good stuff.

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The closer you are to Caesar, the greater the fear.

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Post #: 35

- 9/26/2000 1:39:00 AM

Bonzo

Posts: 676
Joined: 9/3/2000
From: Peace River, AB, Canada
Status: offline

Getting away from the modern, but still a grat book is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's (sherlock Holmes creator) " The Great Boer War". May be a bit hard to find. My copy came via my grandfather. I recall watching him read and re-read this book all through my childhood. I now think that, as he was a veteran of the First World War, he was looking for the origins of the mindset of the British General Staff that resulted in so much futility in the first war. Bonzo ------------------ Robert (Bonzo) Lindsay, Coordinator 28th (North-west) Battalion Headquarters http://dreadnaught.home.icq.com [email]nwbattalion@icqmail.com[/email]

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Robert (Bonzo) Lindsay, Webmaster 28th (North-west) Battalion Headquarters Main http://www.nwbattalion.com E-mail

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Post #: 36

- 9/26/2000 2:32:00 AM

Sgt. Rick

Posts: 26
Joined: 5/20/2000
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Status: offline

The books by Eric L Harry are great. Invasion is the last one out and it really put you into the battlefield. A really good Vietnam novel is "The Fire Dream" by Frank Allen Lieb. An excellent novel!

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Post #: 37

- 9/26/2000 4:56:00 AM

Billy Yank

Posts: 151
Joined: 5/18/2000
From: Northern Virginia, USA
Status: offline

Modern War: Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy "The Scott Dixon Series" by Harold Coyle Alternate WWI: The Great War Series by Harry Turtledove WWI with the US allied with Germany and the Confederacy allied with Britain & France. This series doesn't have any SF or fantasy elements like some of HT's other alternate histories. ------------------ Billy Yank I don't define "my own" the way you want me to.

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Billy Yank
"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."
-- Thorin Oakenshield

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Post #: 38

- 9/27/2000 5:10:00 PM

marklaker

Posts: 38
Joined: 9/26/2000
From: Puerto Rico
Status: offline

While I don't read much fiction, I can suggest some outstanding non-fiction titles: "We Were Soldiers Once....And Young" by Joe Galloway and LtGen(Ret) Hal Moore. A riveting account of a very nasty situation for the 7th Cav in the Ia Drang. "A Time for Trumpets" by Charles MacDonald. The most engaging account of the Ardennes Offensive I've ever read. Excellent detail, from operational strategy to accounts of small scale units and individual soldiers. "Landscape Turned Red", by Stephen Sears. The lost opportunities of a timid McClellan at the Battle of Antietam. The carnage at Burnside's Bridge, Bloody Lane and Miller's Cornfield were some of the toughest fighting of the entire Civil War. Marklaker

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Post #: 39