Book recommendation/request thread

[The Spartan]

I was looking on Amazon and saw a book called "The Face of Battle" by John Keegan and I noticed that he had quite a few books on military history.

My question is has anyone had read anything by him and is his work was any good?

[Thanas]

My question is has anyone had read anything by him and is his work was any good?

His work on the first world war and German mentality is just awful. For example, he regurgitates the old Dolchstoßlegende, he thinks the socialists sapped Germany's strength to fight and he really, really likes the Freikorps. His book is also filled with cliches.

[The Spartan]

Ugh. I hate that kind of crap.

Well, I guess I'll go ahead and strike him off the wish list then. Thanks for the info, Thanas.

[TC Pilot]

I was looking on Amazon and saw a book called "The Face of Battle" by John Keegan and I noticed that he had quite a few books on military history.

My question is has anyone had read anything by him and is his work was any good?

I haven't read Faces of Battle, but I've heard it described as the first "experiential" narrative, where he focuses on what it was like for individual soldiers to fight in battles (as in, the experience of the common soldier). Apparently, he rejected the standard representation of battles at the time, wherein the movement and course of battle are dictated from on high by commanders, and instead favored the perception of a chaotic situation, in which the cumulative effect of thousands of individual decisions (by soldiers) dictate the course of battle.

[Bottlestein]

What is a good book on the history of the Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth, especially its influence on Lithuania, and its dealings with Sweden and Russia?

English would be preferable, but in a pinch I can work my way through a French text. I can access a good university library, so even if the text is rare please suggest it.

[Big Phil]

I'm reading a book right now (Medieval Naval Warfare by Susan Rose) that talks about the logistics and background of medieval naval warfare. The focus is primarily on late middle ages, however.

Where can I find books/sources about medieval naval warfare and ship construction around the time of the First Crusade (say 1050-1150 AD)? Any suggestions on English language sources?

[Thanas]

As Sanchez seemed to have missed the book recommendation/request thread, I did him a favor and merged his post with it.

[CarsonPalmer]

I'm looking to try and read some good books on Irish history, specifically the Troubles. Anyway, I took a book by Tim Pat Coogan (Ireland in the 20th Century) out of the library for its chapters on that, and I noticed he has quite a few other books (specifically a history of the IRA and a book just called The Troubles). Anyway, I also noticed that he's been accused of bias towards the IRA...I don't know enough about the subject to tell if he does or if he doesn't. Could anybody help me out on that one?

[Raj Ahten]

I was looking for information about Soviet/Russian special and airborne forces (especially during the 1990's) and I'm wondering if anyone around here knows of any good books on the topic. Finding any information about the Russian army that's not full of bullshit can be difficult in the west and any help would be appreciated.

[The Spartan]

Has anyone read anything by Glantz? In particular(there are quite a few others about the eastern front) the three books he wrote on the Battle of Stalingrad? I saw them on Amazon and it piqued my interest.

[phongn]

Has anyone read anything by Glantz? In particular(there are quite a few others about the eastern front) the three books he wrote on the Battle of Stalingrad? I saw them on Amazon and it piqued my interest.

Glantz is good.

[thejester]

Has anyone read anything by Glantz? In particular(there are quite a few others about the eastern front) the three books he wrote on the Battle of Stalingrad? I saw them on Amazon and it piqued my interest.

Glantz is one of the most influential English-speaking historians in the world, IMO. Played a huge part in reshaping the way we think about the Eastern Front. He's (ex?) US Army and like a lot of historians from that background his writing is pretty dry, but easy to follow. Definitely recommended.

[The Spartan]

Thanks for the info phongn, thejester. I'll be adding his books to my wishlist. From the looks of it on Amazon, he's got about 3 dozen books so I imagine it's going to take me a few years to acquire and read them all what with all the other books on my "To Be Read" shelf and wishlist.

[Zaune]

No historical novels. - Thanas

To that end, can any of you recommend a few good reference works on construction techniques between the end of the Roman Empire up until just before the Industrial Revolution?

[Kyler]

"Biohazard: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World--Told from Inside by the Man Who Ran It" By Ken Alibek

I first read this book in 2004 and it scared the crap out of me. As the title describes, the book obviously details the history Ken Alibek's (English version of his name) work with the Soviet Union's secret biological weapons program run under the guise of the drug company Biopreparat. Ken describes work on such biological weapons as anthrax, tularemia, ebola, and smallpox. Also the effect of working on such a program on friends, family, and himself including an accidental exposure to a biological weapon in a lab. Overall the scope of the Soviet Union's biological weapons program is scary beyond belief. At the end of the Cold War the Soviets were researching genetically engineered super bugs capable of being resistant to large numbers of drugs and nuclear radiation. Many of the scientists that Ken worked with the Soviet Union (now Russia) are either unemployed, under payed, or even missing. While many people want us to worry about nuclear or chemical weapons, biological weapons are far cheaper to develop and produce. Biohazard is must read for anyone concerned about WMD's in our world.

Other Recommended Titles of Same or Similar Subject

Stephen Preston's: "Hot Zone," "Cobra Event," & "Demon in the Freezer"
C.J. Peters': "Virus Hunter"
Joseph McCormick's: "Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC"
David Hoffman's: "The Dead Hand"

[phongn]

I don't suppose you can add some more details on the other book recommendations?

[Kyler]

Stephen Preston books:

"Hot Zone" His first bestseller and probably best book. Details the outbreak of the Ebola virus in a Reston, VA monkey storage facility in 1989.
The book follows mostly members of USAMRIID as they try to contain the outbreak. The book also details the history of other Ebola & Marburg outbreaks and the search for the carrier organism.

"Cobra Event" His first fictional book details as CDC outbreak investigator that goes to NYC to look into some unusual deaths. I won't spoil the book but involves bio-terrorism. A very good read; so much so, it was said that Bill Clinton while president read the book straight through and after finishing it quadrupled national spending on preparing for a biological attack.

"Demon in Freezer" Details the initial stages of the Anthrax attacks of 2001 and goes further to talk about the history of Smallpox and it development as a biological weapon. The book culminates in a actual test of a genetically engineered mousepox virus at St. Louis University fund by Stephen. This was to show how easy it is now to engineer viruses. The test mice ended up having a really bad day!

C.J. Peter's "Virus Hunter" details his career as a viral research at USAMRIID and for the CDC. Covers a lot of ground including a lot about Ebola and some of the Reston outbreak. Pretty good book

Peter McCormicks "Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC" is very similar CJ Peters book, but from the perspective of someone who was Public Health official that has traveled all around the world looking for a number disease including Lassa Fever, Legionnaire's Disease, and Ebola.

David Hoffman's "The Dead Hand" Dealing with the nuclear disarmament talks between the USSR & the USA. Focusing of the Reagan & Gorbi. Talks include Russia's nuclear missile forces, chemical weapons program, and secret biological weapons programs. It also details efforts made by the US after the end of the Cold War to help Russia secure its WMD programs.

[Kyler]

"Conway's Battleships: Revised & Expanded Edition" Edited by Ian Sturton

If you are at all interested in the history of battleships, than this book is must for your collection. By no means the definitive book on battleships, this an excellent quick reference book on any type of battleship designed or built after the HMS Dreadnought. The book includes a good short history of each design and it's service life or lack there of. The major benefit if the very good collection of pictures and illustrations of dreadnoughts. The book covers famous battleships like the HMS Warspite, IJN Yamato, and Bismarck but also includes little known battleships like the twelve turreted HMS Agincourt & the odd Russian Gangut class. I would recommend it to anyone interested in naval history.

[xt828]

Does it have anything on the so-called Washington's Cherry Trees?

[Thanas]

"Conway's Battleships: Revised & Expanded Edition" Edited by Ian Sturton

If you are at all interested in the history of battleships, than this book is must for your collection. By no means the definitive book on battleships, this an excellent quick reference book on any type of battleship designed or built after the HMS Dreadnought. The book includes a good short history of each design and it's service life or lack there of. The major benefit if the very good collection of pictures and illustrations of dreadnoughts. The book covers famous battleships like the HMS Warspite, IJN Yamato, and Bismarck but also includes little known battleships like the twelve turreted HMS Agincourt & the odd Russian Gangut class. I would recommend it to anyone interested in naval history.

How does it compare to Breyer?

[Kyler]

How does it compare to Breyer?

I only have a couple Breyer's small books, but similar but not as detailed.
If you have one of Breyer's more complete works on battleships, I won't
worry about picking this one up. Though if you don't have much literature
on battleships this is a good first book to pickup because it references so
many different designs and types.

[Kyler]

Does it have anything on the so-called Washington's Cherry Trees?

If I understand you correctly, it does detail the designs canceled under the 1922 Washington Treaty.
The class info is included the South Dakota Class BB49-54 and Lexington CC1-6.

[Kyler]

"100 Suns" by Michael Light

Anytime some one see's me looking at his book, they freakout! The author Michael Light is a well known landscape photographer especially for photos taken from aircraft. His also an accomplished researcher, and "100 Suns" is a collection of one hundred high quality photographs from American nuclear weapons tests provided by the National Archives & Los Alamos. Anyone interested in the history of nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction should have this book sitting on their coffee table. It is an excellent conversation starter. While most people upon seeing the book are weirded out by the subject, once they look at the pictures they are quite astounded by them. I was once dated girl who was a pacifist, and she found some of the photographs beautiful and she always showed the book to friends. If you didn't know it was a picture of hydrogen bomb detonating you probably assume some of the pictures are of a sunset or something the Hubble snapped. It honestly one of my all time favorite books.

Here are some links
http://www.michaellight.net/
http://www.michaellight.net/work100suns-pop.html

[Slacker]

What is a good book on the history of the Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth, especially its influence on Lithuania, and its dealings with Sweden and Russia?

English would be preferable, but in a pinch I can work my way through a French text. I can access a good university library, so even if the text is rare please suggest it.

Norman Davies' God's Playground is a two volume history of Poland; the first volume covers the period to 1795, so that would be what you'd aim for. Upon looking for it on Amazon, it was apparently recently republished. (2005) The edition I read a while back was the first edition and rather older.

I'd also recommend Charles Mann's 1491, which offers an extremely interesting view of American prior to Columbus. I feel like some of his points are somewhat controversial, especially the portion on the Amazon, but the evidence in the book is pretty strong and I haven't encountered anything that specifically contradicts his arguments. It's not a strong point in my own knowledge, so I'm inclined to lean pretty heavily on what he provided.

[Big Orange]

Legionary: The Roman Soldier's Manual (Philip Matyszak) - A very good text book that covers the recruitment, training, equipment, and deployment of Roman soldiers when the Roman Principate was at its height in 100AD. It's recommended for anybody from late high-school onwards, a good source of reference from Thames & Hudson that seems more solid than Osprey Publishing's history books (some of which are overpriced for what they are and hit n' miss factual wise). It well coveys how the Roman military machine was very hard to dislodge on a regional level and was for a very long time strategically invincible when describing the stone walled, well supplied permanent encampments for the Roman troops and how they built wooden walled temporary encampments every late afternoon/early evening when on excercise or campaign. In addition it has a good overview of Roman era battlefield tactics and siegcraft, with also a good basic overview of Rome's foreign enemies in 100AD (the Dacians, Parthians, Jews, Germans, and Picts). The writing is concise and assessable, laced with dry humour and witty sayings in latin.