Good books I've read

[Redpossum]

I was sitting here thinking idly, after a long hard day at work, and I was moved to talk to you folks about a forgotten author.

The man's name was Robert Ruark. He was an American, and a Southerner. He spent much of his life in East Africa as professional hunter, safari guide, and later as an author.

When Kenya achieved its independence, one of Jomo Kenyatta's first acts as President was to declare Robert Ruark persona non grata. Why? Because Ruark's novels and other writings told too much of the truth about the long, bitter, ugly guerilla war which had finally led England to abandon Kenya, and indeed all her african colonial posessions.

Telling the blunt truth about highly-charged political topics, especially those involving race, is no way to make friends in this world.

The Old Man and The Boy is a delightful novel about growing up in the old south.

The Old Man's Boy Grows Older is a continuation of that tale.

The rest of his novels are set in Africa, and are much sadder tales.

Something of Value and its not-quite-sequel Uhuru are both about the long, sad, brutal colonial wars, but on a very personal level. This is what happens in one family.

The Honey Badger is also a story set in Africa, but one I've never read.

Robert Ruark is sometimes branded a racist. This is not true, as a reading of any of his books will show you. He tells both sides of the story, and you can see he has sympathies both ways. He makes no effort to hide the inequities of the colonial system that was.

[Redpossum]

The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer. The author's account of his time in the german army in WW2, with a focus on his years in Gross Deutschland on the eastern front.

This book has been called the "All Quiet on the Western Front" of the second world war, and deservedly so. Like the author of that earlier tale, Guy Sajer is from Alsace-Lorraine.

This is a forgotten gem, and not to be missed.

[Redpossum]

Sand in the Wind By Robert Roth.

My stepfather called this the most realistic novel of the Vietnam war he'd ever read.

Who is my stepfather to say this?

Well, he served a total of 28 years in the USMC, including a total of 45 months combat duty in Vietnam.

His first 13-month tour was in 1965, when LBJ sent the 1st Mar Div to Vietnam on 24 hours notice.

His second and third tours of duty, and the 6-month extension after the second tour, were with 2nd Force Recon Bn.

[dhanegan]

I have recently read and highly reccomend John Elting's Swords Around a Throne. This is a non-fiction description of Napoleon's Grande Armee. Elting goes into meticulous detail, but is nevertheless very readable. Organization, training, recruitment, weapons, equipment, uniforms, even obscure details like intelligence gathering and food preparation are described. One chapter gives a character sketch of every marshal of France of this period, often with a sort of edgy humor--none of these fellows were saints. Numerous other real individuals, officers, enlisted, and even a few civilians are also described. Overall, the book has a very human feel to it; this is not a dry collection of statistics, but rather an attempt to give the reader of picture of what it was really like to be a soldier of this era.

[Redpossum]

Another author I'd like to talk about is Harold Coyle. Coyle is an army tanker, whose books often involve the army and lots of tanks. This means he knows WTF he's talking about, and it shows

Here are the books of his which I have read and enjoyed enough to read over and over, in order of publication -

Team Yankee - His first novel, but still damn good.

Sword Point - USA vs Russians in Iran.

Bright Star - USA vs Russians again, this time in Egypt and Libya.

Trial By Fire - Excellent story! Congress deploys the US army to the mexican border. EVERYONE needs to read this in order to understand just what a f***ing impossible job it would be. Coyle explains in cold facts and figures why it cannot possibly work. Delightful historical echoes of Pancho Villa.

The Ten Thousand - Resurgent German militarism. The basic premise seems far-fetched to me.

Code of Honor - US Army brigade deployed to Colombia for the "war on drugs" finds itself in the midst of a revolution. This one is another must-read.


In addition, I have read his two novels of the War Between the States, "Look Away" and "Until the End". This is a very difficult period of American history, and one about which I have strong feelings. This probably renders me unqualified to really evaluate these books objectively.

Since these 8 novels, Major Coyle has written 3 or 4 newer works which have not yet read, and cannot yet comment on.

[sum1won]

I just started the black company, thank you for recomending it.

[Redpossum]

I just started the black company, thank you for recomending it.

Oh, wow, great series! It goes on for, mmm, 11 or 12 books, and the characters really grow and evolve. Croaker, Lady, Murgen, One-Eye, Goblin and all the rest, the main characters are the kind you, ahh, how to say it?

OK, there is a totally unrelated book, "Piece of Cake", which is about an RAF squadron in WWI, except I think it was RAAC, not RAF, but never mind. The important part is that my best friend Ian, who went to Alleyn's (an english pubic school), said of the characters in that fictional RAAC squadron, "I knew all those guys! I went to school with every one of those bastards!".

Meaning that they reminded him of real people he'd known. I felt the same about many of the major characters in The Black Company series.

Oh, and pity poor Ian. He's lived here in California for 30 years now, and when he goes home to england, people ask him if he's Australian, which he apparently finds quite painful. The fact that his GF is named Sheila doesn't help, of course

[gaiuslaelius]

I would reccomend any military hisory work by Major General J.F.C. Fuller. His three volume work "A Military History Of The Western World" is, in my opinion, unsurpassed by any author in describing how human beings are far and away the most important factor and in it's scope and clarity in detailing the impact of war on human history. You may not always agree with him, but Fuller is opinionated and very outspoken. To provide just a few examples; he describes Julius Caesar as "not altogether sane", Napoleon as a strategist who has "never been surpassed", and Robert E. Lee as "one of the worst quartermasters in history". I hope you all check out his various works.

[Redpossum]

Ah, well, as far as military reference works, my favorite is -

"History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War Two" by Rear Admiral Samuel Elliot Morrison.

This is a comprehensive account of the whole ball of wax, beginning to end, in 11 or 12 volumes, (if I recall correctly).

This is a superb, exhaustively researched work for wargame design. The author gives complete lists of all ships, squadrons, and other forces present on both sides.

In fact, this series of volumes, which was then available from the public library, was my source for the first scenario design work I ever did, (at the age of 13 or so), which was a series of additional scenarios for the old Avalon Hill classic "Midway".

[Redpossum]

Wilbur Smith is another of my favorite fiction authors.

The Sunbird is an older novel, but still damn good.

River God and its modern second half The Seventh Scroll are much more recent, and truly display the storyteller at the peak of his powers.

edit:

I should caution the potential reader, however, that both The Sunbird and River God deal with the ancient world as it really was. As such, both novels contain a certain amount of the ugly side of that ancient world.

River God put me off at first, because the narrator is a eunuch, which I found horrifying and repulsive. Once I got past that, I was immersed in the story, and loving every minute of it. I've since re-read all three books multiple times; indeed I am doing so right now.

But I thought I should caution you. Wilbur Smith is an african, he was born there and has lived there all his life. Like most sons of that continent, the man does not shy away from the truth about things, however uncomfortable.

[dithyrambos]

I've read some pretty good books.

Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield is amazing. It tells the story of the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae, and their 5,000 allies from Thespiae, Korinthos, Tegea, Phokis, Lokris, and other city states. It is a very gripping story. And very accurate.

The Darkness and the Dawn by Thomas B. Costain was one of the most gripping stories I've ever read. It takes place during the time of Attila the Hun and General Aetius of Rome. It is a very amazing story.

Antiochus by Walter K. Price and John Gillies is also a pretty good book. It tells the story of King Antiochus IV Epiphanes and to a more minor extent that of Judah Maccabee. It is a very gripping story. - Just so you guys know, this book takes the point of view that Antiochus IV is the archetype of the AntiChrist. So if anybody has any reservations about that topic, this book is not for you.

I list these in the order I reccomend them. Just so you know.

Dithy