(Part 2) Best american military history books according to redditors
We found 305 Reddit comments discussing the best american military history books. We ranked the 131 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
Firstly, they are not operators, that title belongs to guys in CAG. Secondly, Rangers have been responsible for the most captures and kills of HVTs in the War on Terror. They have become one of the premier D.A. forces in the U.S. military. If you would like to learn about some of their countless exploits in recent decades check out [Violence of Action: The Untold Stories of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the War on Terror.] (https://www.amazon.com/Violence-Action-Untold-Stories-Regiment/dp/0991286529/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491843375&sr=8-1&keywords=ranger+war+on+terror)
That was a good book.
Edit: This one the picture is the back cover so that's what I think of whenever I see this photo.
http://www.npr.org/2015/09/10/439246978/marine-corps-release-results-of-study-on-women-in-combat-units <-- this was a year long study where, according to Marines there, every benefit possible was given to integrated units and they still performed badly.
http://www.vdare.com/posts/study-finds-women-dont-belong-in-combat
http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB7515.html <-- This one is interesting because the two female researchers found a whole host of problems with women in the military not even in the infantry, such as the sexualized workplace and rampant adultery, but they entirely dismissed their findings and said "who cares"
http://www.amazon.com/Co-ed-Combat-Evidence-Shouldnt-Nations/dp/1595230432
What Every Person Should Know About War by Chris Hedges
Archives for the links in comments:
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I am Mnemosyne 2.1, Cause we're going to shout it loud, even if our words seem meaningless. It's like I'm carrying the weight of the world. ^^^^/r/botsrights ^^^^Contribute ^^^^message ^^^^me ^^^^suggestions ^^^^at ^^^^any ^^^^time ^^^^Opt ^^^^out ^^^^of ^^^^tracking ^^^^by ^^^^messaging ^^^^me ^^^^"Opt ^^^^Out" ^^^^at ^^^^any ^^^^time
You want to experiment with non-fiction you say?
Hmmm...you like history? I'd recommend books that are about smaller aspects of history.
The Mathews Men tells the story of the Merchant Marine during World War II. The men who defended the merchant vessels that carried supplies to the Allies, and the cost so many paid.
Patton and His Third Army gives a detailed account of Patton's efforts in World War II, and it's written by a man who served under him.
Or maybe you want to learn about animals?
Dangerous Beauty: Encounters with Grizzlies and Bison in Yellowstone gives detailed accounts of human-and-animal interaction in one of our most storied national parks.
The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival goes into rich detail about a lushly forested region in Far East Russia and the people and animals who live there.
The Battle of 73 Easting.
Wikipedia: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_73_Easting
The Coalition commander the armored troop, Captain (now Major General) HR McMaster, wrote this report on the battle: http://www.benning.army.mil/Library/content/McMasterHR%20CPT_Battleof73Easting.pdf
Maps: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/maps/10.html
This book was written by a veteran of the battle: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1591145333
This short blog post was written by a veteran of the battle. Blog comments are instructive but of course not definitive: http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=28890
You're going in about the same time I did - I left for bootcamp Nov 2, 1992. Graduated Jan 21, 1993. You're going to miss Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. You'll probably get a phone call home on Thanksgiving and Christmas, but you'll be up north on New Years.
It's a little late and the book is slightly outdated, but if you like to read I'd recommend the book "Boot" by Daniel Da Cruz - it gives a day by day account of life at boot camp from a guy that's living with a platoon at Parris Island. You won't be prepared for all of it but that book will at least give you some good info.
I know you won't be thinking this in a few weeks but....enjoy it. I still talk to a bunch of my boot camp buddies and I absolutely remember that warm day in January standing on the parade deck being introduced as a Marine.
Semper Fi
When my kid brother was looking to enlist in the USMC, I did a little research, and most folks felt that Boot was the most accurate description of Basic. Because I told him to read it, he refused to read it before boot camp (he always did the exact opposite of what I recommended, or said he should do), and when he graduated, and finally read it he was "yep, that's what it was like."
I thought Tank Rider had interesting perspectives. Translation was a bit literal and awkward but it was pretty clear what was meant if you had context (e.g. mortar "mines" vs shells).
I see someone else has been pursuing the Commandant's reading list...
IIRC the source I used was this book
https://www.amazon.com/Warriors-Rage-Great-Battle-Easting/dp/1591145333
The author, Douglas McGregor, was the Squadron S3 at the time and provided that primary source insight. I haven't heard good things about the author personality wise, (Heard he was an asshole), but the book did serve its purpose for what I was writing.
I feel pretty good about being an American.
I vote, I rally, and I commit a significant portion of my time away from work helping to campaign for individuals whose campaigns align with my own ideals.
I know that my vote, and only my vote, can influence the outcome of elections. This isn't true in a singular sense, but if only if you are aware of Down's Paradox and actively work against it.
The United States economy is going through a great resurgence and as a direct result I've seen my salary raise by nearly $25k in the past year.
I know that the imprisonment of prisoners of war is happening and I know that it is not necessarily happening legally. I also know that despite how much chagrin we place towards "advanced interrogation techniques" that they do in fact provide some good intelligence. Albeit not all or even a majority of the time, but sometimes they do.
The major thing that we cannot truly calculate is the number of attacks that have been thwarted due to torture, phone tapping, email screening, or otherwise invasive maneuvers into my personal freedom.
I do not agree with the way that these things have come about, but I actively do my part to try and corral them.
I look at how much the US government "spies on its citizens" and then I look across the pond at the UK where there are CCTVs everywhere - the amount of "spying" that is actually occurring against your average every day citizen is not as much as some people would like for us to believe - just as it is definitely more than what some agencies would like for us to believe.
Which portions of the Constitution are you referring to? Please give me a list of specific articles and I will either agree with you wholeheartedly or I will help to explain why the Constitution is not being ignored as much as being spread by the ambiguity of legal definition; a key point considering the fact that the Constitution is a legal document.
The "frequently corrupt" police force that murders innocent people and frequently aren't held accountable is not, and I repeat, is not a staple of the US Government. In fact, each police force is representative of each individual state government and the powers held therein, in accordance with the 10th Amendment of the US Constitution. So, by inherently ascribing the "corruption" of the "US" police force, you're creating a false narrative in itself - there is no "US" police force and each individual department is governed by the individual states.
These individual states would probably hold more power and sway if we, the people, did not consistently decide that we wanted the US federal government to have more control and power in our daily lives. Because of our nation's general lack of understanding of the generic makeup of our government and the underlying backbone of federalism within, we tend to make these broad assumptions.
We have the most people incarcerated of any country, sure. We also have a higher population than most of the other countries that we are often ranked against - a hugely determining factor that is so easily swept under the rug whenever any statistic such as this one is brought up. We also have an outdated drug policy that will eventually be overturned and eventually will release the vast majority of these prisoners. The key term there being "eventually" because our government was specifically drawn up to require a good amount of time for major pieces of legislation to be overruled. This helps to fight against vast swings in public opinion and also tends to help combat bouts of demagoguery - another thing that we should probably teach more about in our schools.
I'm not going to comment on "going after journalists and whistle-blowers" because the big bad US government isn't, in fact, singling these people out en masse. That being said, I'm sure that it does happen, and I'm sure that when it does there are indeed some grandiose underpinnings to it. Do I agree with it? No. So what do I do? I do what I can to help place politicians in power who can do something about it.
The US has not invaded or bombed a single country this side of 2000 where the overall achieved effect could be considered "profitable." Look at the deficit that we grew in response to the Iraq/Afghanistan war if you need further clarification.
I'm proud to be an American. I'm proud because I can see people coming from countries of true destitution come here and make something of themselves - maybe not something for them individually, but something that allows their children to have a better lot in life than they did; a most respectful endeavor.
I'm proud to be an American because I was able to study political science and focus on American politics so that I could better understand the machinations of our government and rise above the general populace and the notions of fear-mongering that so easily encapture us (something you are engaging in now, believe it or not).
I suggest that you embark on a well encouraged journey to help better your own understanding of the Constitution, the powers held within, and the intent of those who wrote it.
A good and short starting point is Philip Hamburger's paper (PDF warning) The Constitution's Accommodation of Social Change
Moreover, a large amount of the issues that you address are issues of comparison between legal thought and the ever-changing opinion of morality. I suggest you read Richard Posner's work (PDF warning) The Problematics of Moral and Legal Theory
Lastly, to truly help increase knowledge of our international relations and the policies within, I suggest reading three books for three different reasons:
Often, I think that people find themselves ashamed of our country and our government due to their lack of knowledge of the underlying struggles that dictate our leaders' decision making, coupled with a lack of understanding of how exactly our leaders come into (and subsequently stay in) power. These issues are not unrelated, but instead part of a larger network of issues that all stem from a basic lack of education in the realm of civics and American government.
I think Islam is where Christianity was during the crusades. I've met many normal Muslims who integrate fine into 'Western' society. However I've also met some who refuse to shake hands with a women.
To me, I fear it more than the other religions, simply because the vast sum of it's followers are in positions to do harm to others. They live in Countries where if justified by the Quran they can assault or even murder people.
In one book at a public execution one Afghanistan man said the following.
>"In America you have television, movies - the cinema. Here there is only this." ~ The Forever War
> for which she was awarded a Bronze Star.
Echoing /u/squatdog_nz. a Bronze Star per Wikipedia:
> The Bronze Star Medal, unofficially the Bronze Star, is a United States decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone.
> When the medal is awarded by the Army and Air Force for acts of valor in combat, the "V" Device is authorized for wear on the medal.
Also, as far as I know, and I'm reading The Bitter Woods right now, the big constraint on our air forces during the Battle of the Bulge was Hitler very specifically scheduling the attack for a period of bad weather. So far, and I'm just getting to the defense of Bastogne proper, exactly one attack was managed by them, at one point the harried Joachim Peiper's Kampfgruppe knocking out ~10 tanks (but it's ultimate failure was an inability to scrounge or get supplied from the rear enough gasoline to keep going).
Army Officer's Guide
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0811714543/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_gcMjybG2TC25N
No difference, and the failure of American strategy to realize these things is why we keep getting walloped at modern war. Ignore the sensationalist translated title, but explore this modern Chinese strategic classic for an in-depth look at how we are still trapped in old paradigms while our opponents are not. https://www.amazon.com/Unrestricted-Warfare-Chinas-Destroy-America/dp/1626543054
https://www.amazon.com/Tank-Rider-Into-Reich-Army/dp/1853675547
My husband has this book. He's fascinated with the tank riders, Soviet soldiers who literally rode on top of tanks during WWII and had to shoot anyone who came after the tank, or jump down right into hand-t-hand-combat. Someone else here could probably tell you a lot more about it, this is just what I remember him talking about.
That's a myth. They don't go after blood much, they don't like other dead sharks, and they LOVE dead fish.
Also, there is no such thing as shark repellent. Mostly due to said "repellent" getting diluted in millions of gallons of ocean.
For the most part sharks only go after dead people.
There's a chapter on the subject in Mary Roach's fascinating book Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War.
The New Vanguard serie from Osprey.
They are more booklet than book as they are about 40 pages long but still contain alot of information about the subject its about. I bought 12 of them over the years and always end up re-reading them all the time.
Check them out on Amazon
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/0991286529/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_twi_2?qid=1417888128&amp;sr=8-1 free shipping too
This is an excellent book. https://www.amazon.com/Tank-Killers-History-Americas-Destroyer/dp/B07CL4VGR8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1526881377&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=tank+killers&amp;dpID=61YyfQXeBlL&amp;preST=_SX342_QL70_&amp;dpSrc=srch
Is this listed as a recommendation?
Coincidentally, The Forever War is an excellent look at the war in Afghanistan by Dexter Filkins.
If you want some great war non-fiction, I am a HUGE fan of a guy Bing West.
West was a former Marine general who served as a Lt in Vietnam, and later worked as a researcher for the Rand Corporation.
A few of his non-fiction books I really liked:
"The March Up". He and another Marine vet, Ray Smith grab themselves an SUV and ride along with 1st Marines on the initial OIF invasion of Iraq. The cool part is, since West has been an infantry Lt, a Vietnam vet, a General, and a former senior staff member under Reagan, West has access to everybody. He has high level connections to get one on one interviews with politicians and Generals and enough combat street cred to pull up a chair with Enlisted Pvts and company grade officers.
&nbsp;
"The Strongest Tribe" All about the reconstruction effort in Iraq, post invasion, during the occupation/stability ops phase. He pulls no punches. Speaks quite plainly about the mistakes that were made. (Bremmer, Rumsfeld, etc)
&nbsp;
"The Village" The story of a CAP (Combined Action Platoon) in Vietnam. West's experience with CAP operations is actually the foundation of his understanding of how modern counterinsurgency ops (OIF) should be run. You see the influence in his later works. The idea of a CAP was, patrol through, seek and destroy op with enemy, roll out was NOT effective Counterinsurgency policy. The CAP idea was to take a unit and make them part of the local community. They would live with and among the locals for an extended period of time to secure the area. The village is the tale of a Marine unit living for a year and a half in a Vietnamese village as the local neighbor/police presence, at a cost of half of their member's lives.
Interestingly enough, "pick a neighborhood to secure, find the most tactically defensible building in it, move in for the year" pretty much describes my first OIF deployment.
Here’s a book girl!
You can always change and stop being willfully stupid!
https://www.amazon.com/Coming-Out-Under-Fire-History/dp/080787177X/ref=nodl_
https://www.amazon.com/Military-Trade-Steven-Zeeland/dp/1560239247/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=steven+zeeland&amp;qid=1574765203&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-1
https://www.amazon.com/Barrack-Buddies-Soldier-Haworth-Lesbian/dp/1560230320/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=steven+zeeland&amp;qid=1574765220&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-2
https://www.amazon.com/Masculine-Marine-Homoeroticism-Haworth-Lesbian/dp/1560238747/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=steven+zeeland&amp;qid=1574765220&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-3
https://www.amazon.com/Lavender-Scare-Persecution-Lesbians-Government/dp/0226401901/ref=pd_sbs_14_1/138-6723854-4519325?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_i=0226401901&amp;pd_rd_r=766a6dd7-262c-489e-80e6-09d40e5619d4&amp;pd_rd_w=zg9e0&amp;pd_rd_wg=Ee8jV&amp;pf_rd_p=5873ae95-9063-4a23-9b7e-eafa738c2269&amp;pf_rd_r=2S8K39TAFHP1961CKZAS&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=2S8K39TAFHP1961CKZAS
Now go girl, go hit the corner store, buy some twizzlers, And open a book!
Being stupid isn’t a crime, staying stupid is a moral failure.
And seeing as you are retired, is reading a book a problem? Or are you afraid to put them on a hold at your library?
There's a lot of hate for shippers in general and slash shippers in particular in this subreddit, so that's probably why the other person assumed you were asking in bad faith.
I enjoy Steve and Bucky's platonic relationship in canon, but also ship them romantically, so assuming that you are asking in good faith, here's a few of the "undertones" as I see them.
As someone else pointed out, Bucky (and to a lesser extent Sam) are both given roles in the Cap films that are more commonly given to female love interests. Bucky is given a Damsel in Distress type role in The First Avenger when Cap goes AWOL to save his life after learning his unit was captured by HYDRA. Later, Bucky is (seemingly) killed by HYDRA and Cap becomes The First Avenger to avenge his death. A dead wife or girlfriend is an extremely common element in superhero origin stories, to the point that it's seen as a cliche. Later, when Bucky re-appears as the Winter Soldier, Cap breaks through 70 years of brainwashing and torture with a catchphrase ("I'm with you to the end of the line") that's practically a marriage vow ("til death do us part"). And so forth. Basically, the way the story tropes are set up, if you substituted Peggy for Bucky in Bucky's storyline, nearly everyone would expect their reunion to involve some swelling music and a kiss, and it's natural that people are responding to that even though in this case the characters are two guys.
Additionally, Bucky's role in the MCU is not the same as his role in the comics. MCU Bucky is more of a combination of comics Bucky and the comics character of Arnie Roth - an older and larger friend who protected comics Steve while he was growing up skinny and sickly. Arnie is canonically gay.
Moreover, it's known that the Russos are aware of and sympathetic to the Stucky shippers, even though they don't ship it themselves, and that some members of the crew on The Winter Soldier and Civil War were shippers, so there are some film-making choices that shippers tend to interpret as Easter eggs of sorts. For example, moments before Steve sees Bucky for the first time in the 21st century, the song playing in the background is a WW2 era love song with decidedly non-platonic lyrics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dh3Ape1GmU
Though I don't know anything about the director and crew of The First Avenger's feelings on Stucky, the lyrics in the background of the bar scene are downright tragic if you believe Bucky is in love with Steve.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1bPRotpQDQ
I could go on, but it's also just a matter of personal taste. I love Friends to Lovers stories, so Steve and Bucky's relationship is a type that I often end up shipping whether the couple is m/f, m/m, or f/f. I also think it adds a very interesting twist to their story given historical attitudes towards gay relationships, and the more tolerant attitudes in the 21st century that they would have had to adjust to after defrosting. Entire books have been written about LGBT life in New York City in the early 20th century, and LGBT soldiers during World War 2, and a lot of Steve/Bucky fanfiction draws heavily from that research, so as a historical fiction nerd, the fic is some of my favorite of any fandom that I've ever been involved in. For example, one of the fics I read just last month was an imagining of Bucky's wartime diary that was really immersive and helped fill in the gaping holes left by the Howling Commandos montage in the film. It's a really active and fun fandom to be a part of, and frankly, people who are so tied to a heterosexual interpretation of Steve's character that they refuse to consider other options are missing out. :)
>... you sure about that? Because we've been doing a splendid job for the past tens of thousands of years.
I'm pretty sure about that. Recommended literature: What Every Person Should Know About War.
Never read it but read about it. A great counter point to the Brezhinksy doctrine in general, if not more aggressive. A true guiding beacon for the revanschist bloque among the Russian political and intellectual elite as
There's a similar book written by I think a Chinese colonel that deals with the rise of China. Do you by any chance know its name? I've forgoten.
Aww damnit, here I hoped it was an English translation! :(
Ah here it is:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unrestricted_Warfare
The chinese one I mean.
It's one Amazon in an commentated/English form: https://www.amazon.com/Unrestricted-Warfare-Chinas-Destroy-America/dp/1626543054
http://www.cryptome.org/cuw.htm
For an excellent solo wargame I can recommend: D-Day at Omaha Beach [BBG]. When combined with Balkosk's book Omaha Beach: D-Day, June 6, 1944 [amazon] my understanding of the US military completely changed. Our flaws and genius as a fighting force jumped off the board. That is saying something coming from a major in the military.
The Way of the Knife by Mark Mazzetti.
Imperial Grunts and Monsoon by Robert Kaplan.
And I'd also like to recommend the Liberation series and Ghost Wars which have already been mentioned in this thread.
https://www.amazon.com/Army-Officers-Guide-Robert-Dalessandro/dp/0811714543
Just go ahead and buy it and start reading.
Nobody wanna talk about the idea that women simply shouldn't be in the military at all?
This book looked interesting when it came out, but I was several deep in a reading list already, so I haven't read it. Has anybody?
I seemed to recall that one of the lines of argument was that women are bad to have in combat units for reasons that have nothing to do with their competence. E.G.: Men, deep down in the reptile brain, are simply not as comfortable with women being exposed to risk and dying as they are other men. (Which seems plausible; it would square with the fact that men kill other men far more than they kill women. Also makes loads of sense evolutionarily.) This can lead to a fatal second's hesitation, which can lead to more casualties than necessary. This is significant because modern warfare doesn't have "front lines" anymore, so keeping women off of them is impossible. This claim also makes sense, since more women in all branches of service have died in Iraq than in all other US conflicts combined. If this whole line of argument is true, this would mean that killing people is simply one of the few activities that isn't better performed by a mixed-gender group.
If men are more psychologically suited to killing (women have higher rates of PTSD, yadda, yadda, is this one really controversial?), and having women around gums up the works by interfering with the dehumanized, killing-machine state of mind necessary for... oh, right, killing human beings, is it really all that sexist a proposition?
You have Google right ?. This isn't hard stuff to find. How about a book ?
Stay away from the inmates at all costs. They will hurt you and kill you without a second thought, especially if you're a woman. Read ["Inside Gitmo"]
(http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Gitmo-Story-Behind-Guantanamo/dp/006176230X)
for more info.
There is some bad language here, but I want to be faithful to the record. Influencer Vernon Jordan, who often golfed with Bill Clinton was asked by a journalist what they talked about during their eighteen hole time spent together. His response was, “We talk about pussy.” It doesn’t change my opinion of Bill Clinton one bit. Most of what I think about Clinton comes from David Halberstam’s excellent book and it boils down to he was an extremely charismatic and extremely flawed man who cared way too much what people thought of him. He polled everything and was very good at making political calculations. I don’t view him as a great President.