I'm away at a full-on Geek-Fest Summer Camp for a few weeks. It's an academic retreat that teaches security studies, with a specific focus on military strategy and operations. We spent a couple hours today arguing about Lee at Gettysburg, for example.
Anyway, Conrad Crane (bio) came in yesterday. He's the head military historian at the US Army War College, and also helped write FM 3-24, the new US Army field manual on counterinsurgency (the project was overseen by General Petraeus, now head of CENTCOM and in charge of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan). He's pretty prestigious, and had some interesting background on the manual and how the Army operates.
Anyway, I got to have dinner with him, and asked him what were really interesting books on military history. Stuff that really made him pay attention. He gave me a list. This is it. I've attached Amazon links to everything. Anyway, an interesting list.
Alistair Horne, "A Savage War of Peace" (link). French counter-insurgency in Algeria in the 1950s.
Eric Bergerud, "Touch with Fire" (link). The land campaign against the Japanese in World War II.
Rick Atkinson trilogy (only the first two are published) (link link). US Army actions (successes and failures) in Africa and Italy (respectively) in World War II. I've read these; very, very good.
John Muirhead, "Those who fall" (link). US Airpower in World War II Europe.
Lyn Macdonald, The Somme (link) and Passchendaele (link). Reviews of two of the major British battles in World War I. Crane said the description of battle at the Somme was the most heartbreaking thing he's ever read.
Moore/Galloway, "We were soldiers once and young" (link). US Army actions in Vietnam.
Bernard Fall, "Hell in a Very small place" (link). The French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam in 1954.
William Slim, "Defeat in Victory" (link). Description of the campaign Sir William Slim commanded against the Japanese in Burma in World War II. I've read this one; a great account of a retreat and then victory. Officers read this for tips on command and how to lead troops. Slim maintained morale and control through some incredible circumstances.
William Craig, "Enemy at the Gates" (link). Battles on the Eastern Front (USSR/Germany) in World War II. Made into a movie, but the book is better.
Sager, some book on the Eastern Front (can't find it)
Morris, "Washing of the Spears:" (link). Account of the Zulu wars in southern Africa.
Fehrenbach, "This Kind of War" (link). US Army in Korea in the early 1950s.
McCullogh, 1776 (link). Revolutionary War America.
David Fisher "Washington's Crossing" (link). More Revulutionary War America.
Carol Reardon, "Pickett's Charge" (link). A decription of Pickett's famous charge at Gettysburg, which ended in failure. The book covers the charge, but also how the action has moved into the collective memories of various groups post-Civil War.
Ethell & Price, "Air War South Atlantic" (link). A look at the Falklands campaign in the early 1980s. Crane said the book convincingly argues that the Brits came very close to losing.
Cordesman/Wagner, "The Lessons of Modern War: Volume II: Iran/Iraq" (link). Someone noted that not much had been written on the Iran-Iraq war (1980s), and Crane recommended this. Not sure how good it is, just that it covers the period.
Mansoor, Bahgdad at Sunrise (link). Single best book, according to Crane, on military operations during the insurgency period recently in Iraq.
"On Point One" and "On Point Two" (US Army official histories) (link) (link). More on the build up and first few weeks of fighting in Iraq in 2003.
Posted by baltar at July 15, 2009 11:45 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Books | History | International Affairs | Military Affairs | War