What's your favourite war novel?

[Lazarus_Long 0]

I used to enjoy Alistair MacLean a lot when I was a teenager... You know, "Where Eagles Dare", "Guns of Navarrone", just to name a few. Recently I've become really interested in anything by Tom Clancy (except those cheesy op-center books).

What kind of stuff do you guys read? It could be fictional, or real-life stuff.

[LT.Schaffer 0]

Hi all,

well i don't know the names of who wrote these books but i know the titles:Bat 21{Vietnam}/Seals Eagle Force...

thos are both good books..

[Tovarish 0]

Catch-22 (Ok, so it's mostly a satire ridiculing war, but IMHO it's a great book)

[mr. Duck 0]

Here's some good ones:

Bravo Two Zero (Andy McNab)

SAS Commando (Andy McNab)

And that's about it I guess... (for me)

[UniverseMan 0]

Check out 'Red Storm Rising' by Tom Clancy. You won't be disappointed.

[FSPilot 0]

There are tons of paperbacks written by vietnam vets out there, just go to the military history section at barnes & nobles.

[habdoel 0]

kilo two,

by a belgian spec op in the somalia war, about his (sort of secret) mission, writen after he was ambushed, but i think you cant get it outside Belgium

All the "Buck Danny" albums

[Jester983 0]

Hmm lets see. I recommend reading Rainbow 6 by tom clancy. Very action packed but at a long 700 or so pages. Very good.

I also like Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden. It shows both the somalians and US soldiers view of the situations and tells you things that you never knew from the movie.

Lets see....I am reading the Band Of brothers book. Very good. If you liked the series i think you might like it. Very short. about 300 pages.

Lord of the rings is a good series but it can get tiring to read because of the old english if you're not use to it.

pretty much thats what i like to read. Medevil stuff and modern day warfare.

HTH and good luck.

[ralphwiggum 6]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (habdoel @ Dec. 08 2002,01:42)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">kilo two,

by a belgian spec op in the somalia war, about his (sort of secret) mission, writen after he was ambushed, but i think you cant get it outside Belgium <span id='postcolor'>

amazon has the book but it's out of stock. and seem like there is no english version for it

[Col. Kurtz 0]

A Bridge Too Far was a good book. It covers all the stages of Operation Market Garden, the allied landings at and around Arnhem.

Also, Dispatches was good. Done by a Vietnam War journolist.

[Warin 0]

The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan

Chickenhawk by Robert Mason

Command the Red Armys Shermans by Dmitry Loza

Anything by Stephen Ambrose. My fave is Pegasus Bridge.

[Frisbee 0]

Well,it's also sci-fi and slightly political,but I really liked Starship Troopers by Heinlein.

The Dune series is also very good,maybe a little hard too understand (but that might be me).

Now more a 'war' book,The Thin Red Line was pretty good imho,and there's something called 'The Vietnam Diary' with lots of pics,very thick book,but a nice read.

[Tovarish 0]

I've also read a few pilot memoirs (being the aircraft fanatic I am), don't know if those would interest you as well, but:

Dam Busters - I read a Spanish edition of this one when I was a kid. I'm failrly sure most of you know what it was about.

Swastika in The Gunsight by Igor Kaberov (memoirs of a Soviet ace 1941-1943)

Fulcrum by Alexander Zuyev (A MiG-29 pilot's account of his defection  and the circumnstances leading up to it in the last years of the cold war)

And if you don't want exclusively military books, I most highly recommend the Dark Tower series by Stephen King (The Gunslinger, The WasteLands, The Drawing of the Three, and Wizard and Glass), as well as The Talisman, and it's sequel Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straubb, which tie into the world of the Dark Tower (but you won't see this until you read Black House) All in all that's 6 books so it should keep you busy  for a while if you decide to read them all, but it's worth it!

[Mr. Snrub 0]

5--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (UniverseMan @ Dec. 08 2002,015)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Check out 'Red Storm Rising' by Tom Clancy.  You won't be disappointed.<span id='postcolor'>

Too right, one of the best i've ever read.

You might want to check out other Tom Clancy books as well, they're all pretty good (despite the fact that he doesn't actually write all of them himself  )

'The Bear and the Dragon' is a ripper book about a hypothetical war between Russia and China in the near future, where the US comes to Russia's aid.

'The Dogs of War' by Frederick Forsyth is pretty good, although a bit old - about mercenaries in central Africa.

'The Thin Red Line' by James Jones is the original book that the movies were based on, and is pretty graphic for it's time. (just saw that Frisbee also recommended this )

'Rainbow Six' also by Tom Clancy isn't strictly a 'war' novel, but it's got a hell of a lot of guns and shooting.

Assuming you haven't read these already  

[Warin 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Mr. Snrub @ Dec. 08 2002,05:39)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">You might want to check out other Tom Clancy books as well, they're all pretty good (despite the fact that he doesn't actually write all of them himself :O<span id='postcolor'>

Larry Bond co-wrote Red Ovtober and Red Storm Rising, I believe.

And he doesnt write any of the Net Force and Ops Center craptastic series.

But other than that, I think he does all his writing himself

Hum...Add to my list anything by Dale Brown. Anyone that likes modern aviation and intrigue would likely find his books pretty damn good.

[cam0flage 0]

For anyone interested in WWII submarine warfare, Das Boot by Lothar-Gunther Buchheim is a very vividly described account of a combat mission in the Atlantic. If you have seen the movie and liked it, I suggest you check out the book too.

[Balschoiw 0]

Buchheim: Die Festung (The fortress) WW2 scenario

Clancy: All of them except Net Force series. He tends to be a bit to patriotic and pathetic in general, but the scenarios are well setup and the books are great to read.

[KingBeast 0]

Hmm interesting that the only war novels you peeps seem to read are either WW2 or Modern day

No one ever read the Sharpe novels? The beauty of them is that they are all based on real life events an battles, only with a fictional character chucked in doing his own thing while the other stuff is happening. Guns, Honour and a new piece of ass in every book. Beauty

A nice modern one however is CQB by Mike Curtis. Its one of those "real" type books like bravo two zero and such, only its a much more interesting and fun read. Its about a welsh boy who grew up, fated to be a coal miner but he decided to join the paras instead. So it documents his life joining the paras, fighting in the falklands and then joining the SAS (failed selection first time because during interrogation, he told the interrogator to fuck off when the guy started taking the piss out of the time when a heap of slag slid down a hill and buried a school with a load of kids in it in wales)

So he went through selection twice, fought in the gulf and went to bosnia too.

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Mr. Snrub @ Dec. 08 2002,05:39)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">'The Bear and the Dragon' is a ripper book about a hypothetical war between Russia and China in the near future, where the US comes to Russia's aid.<span id='postcolor'>

I got this for like Å4 from Tesco's, I have never regretted wasting money that much. That book is absolute trash, ridiculous, total bollox and totally unrelated to the real world.

If you want a proper war novel, try The Fall Of Crete, by Alan Clark.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Book Description

The epic story of one of the most bitter and dramatic battles fought between German and Allied forces during the whole of the Second World War. The decisive action took place within five days, and twice its outcome hung in the balance. By the third day, the number of German dead exceeded their losses in all other theatres since the outbreak of hostilities. The German parachutists were confined for supply and reinforcements to a single airstrip at Maleme, yet on this one foothold they managed to land over eight thousand men, who defeated an Allied army nearly five times as numerous. With its vivid and compelling description of the battle for Crete, Clark confirmed his reputation as a military historian first recognised with The Donkeys, his account of the British Expeditionary Force in France in 1914.

<span id='postcolor'>

It is well worth it

[Badgerboy 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">But other than that, I think he does all his writing himself <span id='postcolor'>

Have you read 'Red Rabbit'?

The entire bloody thing was ghost written. A big let down...

[Placebo 29]

Anything by Sven Hassel.

[ran 0]

"is paris burning" by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins

[Renagade 0]

Rambo II

[loopy 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (placebo @ Dec. 08 2002,22:15)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Anything by Sven Hassel.<span id='postcolor'>

Now there brings back a few memories placebo

[Mr. Snrub 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Ex-RoNiN @ Dec. 08 2002,13:33)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Mr. Snrub @ Dec. 08 2002,05:39)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">'The Bear and the Dragon' is a ripper book about a hypothetical war between Russia and China in the near future, where the US comes to Russia's aid.<span id='postcolor'>

I got this for like Å4 from Tesco's, I have never regretted wasting money that much. That book is absolute trash, ridiculous, total bollox and totally unrelated to the real world.<span id='postcolor'>

Well, for Å4 who knows what you got Each to his own i suppose

Stephen Coonts (while not being terribly realistic about things) is pretty fun to read.