Perhaps with one I just finished. It's one of the best accounts of WWII submarine warfare I've ever read, and I've read several great ones:
Posted on 01/10/2014 5:48:26 PM PST by dynachrome
War is unquestionably mankind at his worst. Yet, paradoxically, it is in war that men — individual men — often show the very best of themselves. War is often the result of greed, stupidity, or depravity. But in it, men are often brave, loyal, and selfless.
I am not a soldier. I have no plans to become one. But I’ve studied war for a long time. I am not alone in this.
The greats have been writing and reading about war — its causes, its effects, its heroes, its victims — since the beginning of written text. Some of our most powerful literature is either overtly about war or profoundly influenced by it. Homer’s epic poems are about war — first, ten years of battle against Troy and then ten years of battle against nature and the gods. Thucydides, our first great historian, wrote about the Peloponnesian War — the great war between Sparta and Athens. Rome was built by war and literature, and the world has been influenced by that ever since. The American Empire is no different — our men came home and wrote about the Civil War, about the Spanish-American War, about WWI, about WWII. A new generation has come home and has written (and is still writing) powerful books about the counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The study of war is the study of life, because war is life in the rawest sense. It is death, fear, power, love, adrenaline, sacrifice, glory, and the will to survive.
(Excerpt) Read more at artofmanliness.com ...
I am surprised how many I have read and how many I now need to read.
There is a lot of money to be made in war. I’m surprised there’s no book about it.
“There’s no question it is a good thing a full generation has passed in the West without requiring the majority of young people to feel the full brunt of war.
At the same time, this can lead to a profound ignorance and naivete”
So women should be excluded? Maybe everyone should read them. One of my favorites is The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman. There are several books on the War of Secession aka The Civil War. Then there is the biography of Curtis LeMay, Ulysses S. Grant, Eisenhower, Churchill, etc. Not being argumentative and all but .....
Why do I need 43 books about war?
What you expect from a site called “The Art of Mnaliness”?
haha.
This idiot downplayz Sun Tzu. Chairman Moa’s Little Red Book was almost a verbatim plagiarism of Sun Tzu.
“The Art of War” was in fact and indeed the “ART OF WAR.”
Couple THOUSAND years OLD. And as new as the newest day.
ps. Guns of August is very good. Should be on the list.
I agree with a few of the books but not most of the list.
I have read most of these books, and most of those that I haven’t read I will add to my list and read in short order. But, very few of these books would have made much sense to me until I had experience the unmistakable sound and pressure of a bullet passing by my eye. Until you have seen the elephant, you know little and can understand nothing. Manliness in the metrosexual context of present day has nothing to do with it.
>> Not being argumentative
Are too! :-)
The list cannot be taken seriously. He has Caputo’s drugged out freak fantasy on Vietnam which is an insult to Vietnam vets who served honorably. Caputo even makes insulting comments about the bodies of dead American soldiers.
The list is a hodgepodge made up over many minutes of consideration.
That is one I have not read. I’ll take a freeper’s word for it.
Well put.
I was surprised that I had read several of these since I am not much of a reader.
I agree that Xenophon’s story of the 10,000 Greek Mercenaries is an absolute must not for just a military historian but for everyone.
Thucydides is a real treasure but it is really long and tough going. The amount of information is really incredible.
Perhaps with one I just finished. It's one of the best accounts of WWII submarine warfare I've ever read, and I've read several great ones:
Am not@! :)
Read it several times. Very good agreed. But those others I mentioned are good too, esp. LeMay. I see a bit of James T. Kirk in the reading. I wonder ... hmmmm......
Guy stuff????
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