I'm a 5th year here and currently studying abroad. I just got back from Rome and Brussels where, in Rome I saw a lot of history and in Brussels experienced a lot of international affairs. I'm a Finance major but was majoring in International Studies before I switched. I was wondering if you could give me some books to start reading. I'll describe what I'm looking for.

I have one year left here at A&M and most of the time it has been busy with school and organizations. However, I'm done with organizations as of August and not many hours of school to go. I'm preparing (hopefully) to enter into the military as an officer after I graduate May 2009. I'm looking for some books regarding ancient classic history (Thucydides? Herodotus?) to later and more recent foreign affairs (Machiavelli? Hobbes?). I know a little bit but just need to know where to start. I just picked up "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu and have been slowly going through that taking notes, so maybe that will help out. I also just finished "Lone Survivor" by Marcus Luttrell and "Beyond Band of Brothers" by Major Dick Winters which are helping motivate me to work even harder towards OCS. Anything else to help out a potential future military officer would be appreciated.

Thanks guys.

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" Once an Eagle" by Anton Myers. I have enjoyed the W.E.B. Griffin series of books - "The Brotherhood of War" series and "The Corps" series are good easy reading that ties in historical events with fictional characters.

Ok I feel stupid.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_relations

Anything else you would recommend besides the international affairs aspect?

[This message has been edited by airplane driver (edited 6/16/2008 9:26a).]

Thanks for the suggestion. However, I want to stay within the realm of nonfiction as much as possible.

It is my understanding that "Once an Eagle" was required reading at the War College. I may be wrong.

I'm going back to my room right now and I'll look it up but I'm pretty sure Dick Winters said that as well.... I'll let you know later. If so, I'll pick it up.

For a study on Ancient Greek Tactics, you can never go wrong with Xenophon's "Anabasis"

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Xenophon/C-Brownson/e/9780674991019/?itm=2

An excellent companion to Clausewitz is Col. Harry Summers' Vietnam war study entitled "On Strategy"
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/On-Strategy/Summers-Harry-G/e/9780891415633/?itm=2

And of course if you have not read anything about Seapower, you need to study it as well for understanding of certain campaigns. A good start is Alfred T. Mahan's "The Influence of Seapower on History"
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Influence-of-Sea-Power-Upon-History-1660-1783/Alfred-Thayer-Mahan/e/9780760754993/?itm=1

Dick Winters could be the model for the main character in "Once An Eagle."

I'm reading "Clash of Civilizations" right now & highly recommend it to everyone.

Like Apache, I'm reading Clash of Civilizations, which is the book that kind of broke the bubble created by Francis ***ayama and the "end of history" folks. Highly recommend it.

Also have heard great things about "The Pentagon's New Map".

I'm an intel officer in Iraq, and I've been reading just about everything I can find for 10 years. A mix of history, diplomacy, philosophy, etc.

I strongly recommend "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" by William Shirer. It's a huge book and you probably need to read it in spurts, but after you read that, you will have a very good picture about the European Theater of WWII. The first book (within the book) is entirely about Hitler and his rise to power. That alone is really fascinating. There are several good Pacific books, but nothing as comprehensive that I'm aware of.

Bernard Lewis' "The History of the Middle East" is a classic read, although long. I listened to it on tape in my truck.

Just a few thoughts. I'd go through my list, but it's on my recently-deceased computer, which is somewhere in the mail back to the states. When I get to my backup copy next month (in exactly 1 month from today, I will be back in the USA), I'll go through it and see what others I've got in there.

"In With the Old Breed", by E.B. Sledge
He ran a mortar in the Marines on Peleliu, and Okinawa. Straight talk about what it was life was like on the front lines and can give you an idea of what real misery combat can be.

"Goodbye Darkness", by William Manchester, his memoir of war in the pacific. Goes along the same lines as In w/ the Old Breed.

First off Alan, thanks for your service. Secondly I'd like to definitely look at that list.

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich sounds really interesting. I've read up on WWII a lot so it would help to go more in depth. Been wanting to get around to Clauswitz and Lewis' as well.

Anymore suggestions on classical stuff? Roman/Greek?

Like this forum... might have to hang out in here a little more. Thanks for the help.

As far as classical readings go, here are a few that I would suggest, not in any particular order:

A History of Greece - J.B. Bury and Russell Meiggs -- Everything you could ever want to know about the history of classical Greece. I'm not even sure if this book is still in print though.

Persian Fire - Tom Holland -- The rise of the Persian/Achaemenid Empire and its clash with the Greeks during the Persian Wars.

A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War - Victor Davis Hanson -- Gives a great view into classical warfare before the development of the Roman legion.

A History of the Roman World, 753 to 146 BC - H.H. Scullard -- An excellent review of the beginnings of Rome and the history of the Republic. This book is actually assigned by Dr. Konrad at A&M for his HIST/CLAS 428 - History of the Roman Republic.

Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic - Tom Holland -- An in-depth look at the last years of the Republic and the reasons for its demise. I would highly recommend reading this as a sequel to Scullard.

Caesar: Life of a Colossus - Adrian Goldsworthy -- An autobiography of one of the greatest generals the world has ever seen, not to mention his brilliance in the political realm. I haven't gotten all the way through this one yet, but I have enjoyed what I have read thus far.

Of course, you can't go wrong with any of the primary sources. I have enjoyed reading the Greek playwrights, especially Aristophanes. Livy, Herodotus, and Thucydides can all be beneficial to read; however I find that they tend to be very longwinded and it may be hard to keep up interest.

I enthusiastically second both "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" and "With the Old Breed".

BTW Rep830, which branch are you looking at?


[This message has been edited by Longstreet (edited 6/18/2008 12:33p).]

Army. I'm studying abroad right now and starting my packet when I get back to the States in a few weeks. I'd like to branch infantry, go Airborne and Rangers, and then...???? We'll see...

Well I guess if you make Ranger, you might almost be as good as a Marine.

Semper Fi, let us know if we can help out anyway.

Still reading "Clash of Civilizations" & I'm going to re-recommend it to the OP.

It's seriously making my brain melt down with all the good info. It probably deserves a thread of its own when I get finished.

If you do read Mahan, make sure you contextualize it in time and place.

Here are a few of my favorite military history books:

-Gerald Linderman's Embattled Courage. You can pair it with James McPherson's For Cause and Comrades (both are about the Civil War)

-Victor Davis Hanson's Western Way of War (mostly about Greece) is interesting, although I'm not a big fan of the western way of war idea

-Clausewitz is pretty hard to get through on your own so I would consider starting with or reading it alongside something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Masters-War-Classical-Strategic-Thought/dp/0714681326/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213907531&sr=8-1

-Face of Battle by John Keegan is a classic, although problematic in some ways

-Two very influential books in the Army right now are: David Galaula, Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice and Roger Trinquier, Modern War: A French View of Counter-Insurgency (except for his views on torture)

-Also consider taking a class with Brian Linn who is at A&M or reading his book, The Philippine War, 1899-1902

-Maybe Bing West, No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle of Falluja. This book was listed in a biography I received here at West Point, and it apparently contrasts the different approaches of the Army and Marine Corps to Falluja


[This message has been edited by Mrs. 96CH53 (edited 6/19/2008 3:39p).]

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Secondly I'd like to definitely look at that list.

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I’ve got an XCell spreadsheet with them all. That reminds me. There is some bibliophile website somewhere that I read about where you can post all of your books, write reviews, discuss, etc. I need to track that down and post it here.

I did post a good portion of my list on a forum here before. Here’s that link:
http://www.texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?forum_id=49&topic_id=618279

Here are a few of the other good discussions we’ve had on this subject:
http://www.texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?forum_id=49&topic_id=772075
http://www.texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?forum_id=49&topic_id=1080289
http://www.texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?forum_id=49&topic_id=614883
http://www.texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?forum_id=49&topic_id=627374
http://www.texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?forum_id=49&topic_id=1128732
http://www.texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?forum_id=49&topic_id=664408
http://www.texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?forum_id=49&topic_id=798562

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Anymore suggestions on classical stuff? Roman/Greek?

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Someone mentioned Anabasis, I think. That’s good. Ceasar’s “Conquest of Gaul” is good. HDF Kitto’s “The Greeks” is good. Edith Hamilton’s books, “The Greek Way” and the “Roman Way” are classics, although I’ve only read the former. I’ve got a ton of books on the Trojan War on my list, but most of them are on the archaeology part of it.
My theory on book reading is that there are great books and there are good books, and both are valuable. Almost any decent book on any topic you can learn from is good. I prowl around Half Price books, stalking cool history books like a book version of Aqalung. I might just come out with some paperback from the 1960s on Charlemagne, Islam or the Vikings that I’ve never heard of. It may not have the latest scholarship (which in some cases is an advantage), but it was 99 cents and it looked cool. I could read five older books on George Washington while waiting for the next great biography.

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Like this forum... might have to hang out in here a little more. Thanks for the help.

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Yes, here you can disagree, as Huisache and I do about Teddy Roosevelt and you can still be civil and friends. Over at the history board, it’s stab-your-enemy’s-grandmother and kick his dog time 24 hours a day. That’s why we lobbied successfully to let the history forum secede from the B&P one.

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Army. I'm studying abroad right now and starting my packet when I get back to the States in a few weeks. I'd like to branch infantry, go Airborne and Rangers, and then...???? We'll see...

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Even though I’m Navy, I’m actually serving with the XVIII Airborne Corps in Iraq now. The airborne folks are pretty gung-ho, although sometimes I think some of them could use a bit of humility. I have stories…

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If you do read Mahan, make sure you contextualize it in time and place.

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This reminds me, there’s a great book about Teddy Roosevelt and the Great White Fleet that I read, that is really great. I have a book somewhere on Mahan and his impact, and I think that would be even better than just reading Mahan, because a book after him can talk about the implementation, not just the theory.

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Roger Trinquier, Modern War

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Read this last year before deploying. I get freakin’ déjà vu every day. You can tell somebody read it, unlike in Vietnam.

[This message has been edited by aalan94 (edited 6/19/2008 6:34p).]

Yalta and the Bleiburg Tragedy by C. Michael McAdams.

This is one on my reading list.

Thanks for the info... I wanna hear your stories on the Airborne guys. =)

Anyone have suggestions on international theory type stuff as well as history

The civility is nice. Im on health and fitness a lot and its a nice change of pace.

Bumping this thread because I was in B&N yesterday and wanted to get something but had no clue what to get.

AAlan I'm going to look at your list and those other threads.

By the way, I was accepted to OCS a month ago so I want to start absorbing everything I can until I leave.

Sure will....Trip to Fox Mountain, Dick,Jane,Sally and Fluff, Now We Are Six, Horton Hatches an Egg, Fox in Socks. How'm I doing for ya?

Represent, congrats on OCS.

Make sure to triple up your PT schedule along with reading!

3 days of running to prepare for a marathon and 3 days of Crossfit per week... I think I'm pretty good.

Now I'm just trying to exercise my brain as well.

Well if you are interested in Rangers, then this should be required reading:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Journals-of-Robert-Rogers-of-the-Rangers/Robert-Rogers/e/9781846770029/?itm=6

Also, here is the reading list from my graduate course in American Ways of War. There are several good selections.





Maybe some of these will help you out.

I'll suggest a new one I'm reading called "The Devil's Broker".

The book centers on English mercenary John Hawkwood who rampaged around Italy in the mid/late 1400's. In addition to describing the way battles were fought during that time period, it also delves into the politics, religion & the general day to day life of the era.

http://www.amazon.com/Devils-Broker-Seeking-Glory-Fourteenth-Century/dp/B000EMSZC4/ref=pd_sim_b_1/105-3967874-4578012

Revenge which of those do you suggest? A lot of those aren't necessarily what I'm looking for.