In which we recommend books about war - both fiction and non-fiction.Pic related - one of my faves. It's a tremendously vivid, readable and enjoyable account of the career of an ordinary rifleman in various campaigns during the Napoleonic Wars. There are accounts of the various battles and skirmishes, life in barracks and in camp. Accounts of draconian punishment, crimes, rape and pillage, drunkenness and disorder, heroism and cowardice, success and failure. There are honest opinions of the generals he served under both good and bad, accounts of the terrible Retreat to Corunna through the snowy mountains of Northern Spain in 1809 and the disastrous Walcheren Expedition where much of the force died of fever. I think it may be the most enjoyable and interesting military memoir I have ever read.
>>64313540>There are accounts of the various battles and skirmishes, life in barracks and in camp. Accounts of draconian punishment, crimes, rape and pillage, drunkenness and disorder, heroism and cowardice, success and failure. There are honest opinions of the generals he served under both good and bad, accounts of the terrible Retreat to Corunna through the snowy mountains of Northern Spain in 1809 and the disastrous Walcheren ExpeditionNone of which matter a hill of beans anymore.
As always, this should be required reading for anyone who wants to talk doctrine on /k/.
Is Sun Tzu still worth reading or does he just boil down to "Dude, don't do what the enemy wants you to"?
>>64315415Good insights on how much gold you'll need to maintain a campaign of various size and length.
>>64315415it was basically written for cosmopolitan chinese nobleman who've never stepped foot on a battlefield before who suddenly found themselves in charge of Armies it kinda boiled down to "Soldiers have to eat to live"
>>64313540Man, if you liked that book then read the Sharpe series from the guy who wrote that comment on the cover.One of his characters is actually named after Harris himself and it's about a British rifleman fighting through India and Europe
>>64313553they are still remembered and his words are still read 200 years after he wrote them; yours won't be
>>64313540can anyone recommend a good book on the 1939 invasion of Poland?
Some of the best /k/books I know, mostly based on recommendations from /k/:The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer - most vivid and memorable description of the horrors of the eastern front I have ever read.Chickenhawk by Robert Mason and also Low Level hell by Hugh Mills - great descriptions of helicopter operations in Vietnam, both by actual pilots. First one flew a Huey slick, the latter an OH6-scout helicopter.We Few and Whispers in the Tall Grass, both by Nick Brokhausen - about super secret scout missions of the MACV-SOG group in Vietnam. Brutal stuff.Congo Mercenary by the legendary Mike Hoare, about mercenary action in the Congo wars of the 60s. Absolutely required /k/ reading. War doesnt get much more kino.Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes - really brings home what a miserable clusterfuck the Vietnam War was.House to House by David Bellavia - brutal street fighting in Falluja during the Iraq War. That one hand to hand fight in a shot up house is one of the most brutal and gruelling things I have ever readSniper One by Dan Mills - adventures of a British sniper team in the Iraq war.
>>64315415It's basically War For Dummies. Not going to be super amazing, but it's neat for the historical context on how little some things change.
>>64318057Poland Betrayed: The Nazi-Soviet Invasions of 1939.
>>64318136looks goodthanks
>>64318115>Sniper One by Dan Millsexcellent reading>Mike Hoare>War doesnt get much more kinogripping, indeedI found Four Ball One Tracer also very interesting. despite being a little more dry, it went into more detail of discussion at the operations level (e.g. recruitment and training) and proper hearts-and-minds work
Small Unit Leadership by Colonel Dandridge "Mike" Malone.
>>64313540
>>64315415Putin would have benefited from reading Sun Zu. Instead, he hired General Tso Chi Kin.
Feels pointless by now for how much its been stated, but 'One Soldier's War' for just how fucking dysfunctional the Russian Army is. Other than that, 'The Centurions' has some fascinating insights of some real devious Viet-Minh shit they got up to and the mentality of the French public at the time, even though it's historical fiction, the author did sorta live through it. 'Brown Water, Black Berets' is really interesting for how, by the end of the Vietnam War, the USN basically recreated most of its fleet doctrine on the Mekong Delta, and 'Special Forces Berlin' for some mildly interesting chicanery that the US Army got up to as a stay behind/'burn the important shit and move on' unit in West Berlin.
This is a great book about the "Old Contemptibles": the soldiers of the British Regular Army which formed the British Expeditionary Force of 1914, which was basically destroyed during the open warfare of the Battle of the Frontiers culminating in the First Battle of the Marne. Just don't read the introduction; the historian who wrote it basically spoils the most dramatic and moving moment of the story.
Great account of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu where the French Empire ended.
>>64313540Found this at a used bookstore. As always, there was hesitation on whether it would be a generalist pop history book that would try to make compelling narratives and sweeping unproven claims. It was not.It is some extreme amounts of autism, inasmuch that it is toned down enough to actually get published. Everything is sourced and cited, tons of discussions on gunpowder weapons in particular. Like a pre-Hatcher's Notebook lmao>Will post some excerpts/screenshots below
>>64324398
>>64324401Apologies for the blur, my phone camera is retarded, but this is more just to convince you to get a copy yourself.
>>64324414
>>64324418
>>64324425
>>64313540>>64318043Bernard Cornwell's Waterloo book is a really good analysis of the 100 days campaign. It goes into enough tactics and the major players in the right ratio of dry academia to some emotional narratives. Ending the book with a letter written by one of the officers who died on the battle and reminding you how many men actually died there makes you really understand what the cost of that day really was.If you like Napoleonic stuff, it is impossible to not recommend David Chandler's The Campaigns of Napoleon. Be forewarned, it is 1000+ pages of very dry, very analytical British academic type prose. It is though, unparalleled in what it discusses.For a more generalist approach on western warfare, The Art of Warfare on Land by Chandler is also really good. A generalist overview of decisive engagements throughout western history and discusses the mode of warfare at each era and what tactics were used to win. The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World by Creasy is also very good to read. Old by this point, but its influence in the study of history in general cannot be understated. It is easy to find a copy for free online. His prose is very flowy relative to other academic writing. Parts of it almost seem Tolkien-like such as the way he describes Athens alone overlooking the plains of Marathon the night before the battle but then a tiny force from Plataea is the only one of their allies to actually join them, and how loyal Plataea was to Athens, even to their end.
4 books that every kommando should read
>>64324487Fuck it, posting the excerpt anyways:"With one exception, the other Greeks held back from aiding them. Sparta had promised assistance; but the Persians had landed on the sixth day of the moon, and a religious scruple delayed the march of Spartan troops till the moon should have reached its full. From one quarter only, and that a most unexpected one, did Athens receive aid at the moment of her great peril.For some years before this time, the little state of Plataea in Boeotia, being hard pressed by her powerful neighbour, Thebes, had asked the protection of Athens, and had owed to an Athenian army the rescue of her independence. Now when it was noised over Greece that the Mede had come from the uttermost parts of the earth to destroy Athens, the brave Plataeans, unsolicited, marched with their whole force to assist in the defence, and to share the fortunes of their benefactors. The general levy of the Plataeans only amounted to a thousand men: and this little column, marching from their city along the southern ridge of Mount Cithaeron, and thence across the Attic territory, joined the Athenian forces above Marathon almost immediately before the battle. The reinforcement was numerically small; but the gallant spirit of the men who composed it must have made it of tenfold value to the Athenians: and its presence must have gone far to dispel the cheerless feeling of being deserted and friendless, which the delay of the Spartan succours was calculated to create among the Athenian ranks.
>>64324520...This generous daring of their weak but true-hearted ally was never forgotten at Athens. The Plataeans were made the fellow-countrymen of the Athenians, except the right of exercising certain political functions; and from that time forth in the solemn sacrifices at Athens, the public prayers were offered up for a joint blessing from Heaven upon the Athenians, and the Plataeans also. [Mr. Grote observes (vol. iv. p. 484), that "this volunteer march of the whole Plataean force to Marathon is one of the most affecting incidents of all Grecian history." In truth, the whole career of Plataea, and the friendship, strong even unto death, between her and Athens, form one of the most affecting episodes in the history of antiquity. In the Peloponnesian War the Plataeans again were true to the Athenians against all risks and all calculation of self-interest; and the destruction of Plataea was the consequence. There are few nobler passages in the classics than the speech in which the Plataean prisoners of war, after the memorable siege of their city, justify before their Spartan executioners their loyal adherence to Athens. (See Thucydides, lib. iii. secs. 53-60.)]"
>>64324525If you are curious what he means in the final sentence, read the following passage: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/7142/7142-h/7142-h.htm#link2H_4_0011:~:text=place%20at%20Lesbos.-,CHAPTER%20X,-Fifth%20Year%20of
>>64315415it's really more poetry than anything elseworth reading for its significance, but you shouldn't expect to have your socks blown off
My beat up first edition
What are considered the best books written by the generals that fought in war?
>>64324886It's baby's first war tactics book. But without knowing the fundamentals you can never learn anything else. It is not as important now, but in an era where institutional knowledge is either nonexistent or slowly accumulating, creating any sort of foundation on which to build on is hugely important. The first caveman who made a spear isn't going to win a battle today, but without him doing that we'd still be throwing rocks.
>>64324574> the Lesbianslelthanks for the link, I enjoyed these 4 paragraphs
as a polak the only books about combat i can recommend arehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squadron_303_(book) - self explanatory i supposehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janusz_Meissner - author of "G for Genevieve" and "L for Lucy", about polish dudes flying wellingtons in ww2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stones_for_the_Rampart - about child fighters in the warsaw uprising, this was a mandatory school book in poland when i was in schoolthere are some others but i haven't read them
>>64324938One of them is Defeat Into Victory by SlimYou really get a thorough idea of what it means to be a general from top to bottom, because he basically had to rebuild his Army from basic training up and then lead it into battleNo wonder they picked him as the Chief of the General Staff after the war. He was perfect for the job of rebuilding the postwar British Army.
>>64324425You have disgusting fingers
the shadow factory
>>64318115>We FewJust recently finished this one, generally liked it but I somehow got the feeling that the non-combat antics should be taken with a pinch of saltI believe the combat stuff was as accurate as human recollection can be, anyway
>>64318115good recs
Lincoln and His Generals by T Harry Williams
>>64315415It gives extremely important pointers. It’s actually short as fuck but every single line is just packed to the gills with meaning, so there are a million different commentaries on it explaining the historical context of “check which way the wind is blowing before you set your enemy’s city or field on fire” and shit.The most important thing I’ve read so far is something along the lines of “your enemy’s supplies are worth 10x than your own, steal them whenever you can” and I’ve been taking resources from homeless people ever since.
