MILITARY
HISTORY
The ones who write military history the best are the authors that make you feel as if you were there. We include books here that cover events leading up to military action as well..
Chickenhawk by Robert Mason. A powerful personal narrative of a Vietnam War helicopter pilot who went in one side of this magician's box and came out the other side something else entirely. Lyrically written prose of a terrifying experience, told totally deadpan, which seems to make this year in his life even more tragic. His follow-up, Chickenhawk: Back in the World, covers his post-service years as he tries to find his place again. He is brutally honest about his weaknesses, and amazes us by the ninth life he seems to now be on. His wife shows us why her name is so apt.
On Borrowed Time by Leonard Mosley. A very good, easy read if you want to understand what it was like in Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland in 1938, facing the onslaught of the German war machine. In a lot of ways you just can't believe that these countries are caving in to Hitler's demands so easily.
A Southern Woman's Story by Phoebe Yates Pember. A great Civil War classic, told from the rare woman's point of view, of her experiences working in a Confederate military hospital. An informative documentary of the hardships of that time.
Kurt Tucholsky, The Ordeal of Germany by Harold Poor. As you look at Politics, Journalism and Art in Germany between the World Wars from a Liberal Democratic point of view, you come to realize that this political notion had no chance of survival against the growing threat of the Nazis. You share Tucholsky's pessimistic outlook for political freedom in Germany and are saddened by his ultimate demise.
Fortunate Son by Lewis Puller Jr. "Chesty" Puller was the Marine Corps' most decorated fighting man in the history of the Corp. How could his son, Lewis Puller Jr., possibly live up to his father's expectations? Unfortunately, he can't--even though the father was enormously proud of his son. Pullers' disastrous tour in Vietnam is followed by even tougher times at home.
In Love & War by James Stockdale & Sybil Stockdale. What can you say about spending seven years in a prisoner of war camp, most of it in solitary confinement--Relive the harrowing experience of Cmdr James Stockdale in a Hanoi prison where life and death are never taken for granted. Brutal treatment and punishment are meted out on a daily basis as Stockdale and his fellow American prisoners are considered 'War criminals' by the North Vietnamese. Meanwhile, Sybil Stockdale copes with the anxiety and frustration of knowing her husband is alive, but can do nothing to affect his release. Eventually, she and other POW wives form a league to pressure the US Government in providing information about their loved ones--A true story of two American heroes.
The Last 100 Days by John Toland. The look at a dictator about to be sent to crushing defeat. You don't feel sorry for Hitler, but you do feel sorry for the German people. They're caught up in Hitler's fantasies and now must suffer total defeat at the hands of an avenging Russian army. You wish someone could say "stop this madness" but then you realize that war is madness. Also recommended by Toland are The Rising Sun and Hitler.
The Zimmerman Telegram by Barbara Tuchman. Did undeclared submarine warfare really bring the United States into World War I ? Or was it Germany's attempt to have Mexico align themselves with the Axis Powers that brought the US into the conflict? Tuchman gives a persuasive argument that the latter may be true. The US Government didn't take kindly to the idea of Mexico re-taking the Southwest. But could the Germans have been successful with such an incredible idea?