Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: slimm50 on January 05, 2005, 08:44:32 AM
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I’m currently reading SAMURAI! by Saburo Sakai. I know many of you have probably already read this, years ago. I don’t know why I haven’t picked this book up much sooner, but…….OMG! Now, I’ve read several books about/ by pilots and their exploits, but this is definitely one of the most gripping accounts I’ve ever read, in any genre. For those of you who haven’t read it, or maybe it’s been a very long time since you last did, I highly recommend it. Not only is the author’s story truly inspiring, but the aerial combat descriptions are the stuff some of in here thrive on.
I’d like to hear about other books some of you have read that you would recommend.
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read it... was pretty good except the part where he battled the 100 or so hellcats for 3 days....
No Hellcats were reported lost that day nor were any Hellcats in the area saki claimed this feat took place nor did any Hellcat pilots report such an engagement.
lazs
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It was co-authored by Martin Caidin, wasn't it? An author, God rest his soul, who was never accused of letting the facts get in the way of a good story. In fact I think there was some controversy or hard feelings between Sakai and Caidin after the book came out, but I cannot recall the details. But I don't mean to trample on his grave. He's a credit to aviation history in the way he portrays the excitement and intensity of air combat.
Martin Caidin's "Zero Fighter", published by Ballantine Books years ago, lit a fire in me for WWII air combat that has never been quenched. I'll never forget his description of Gregory Board's Brewster Buffalo being shot out from under him by a Zero pilot.
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Originally posted by oboe
It was co-authored by Martin Caidin, wasn't it?
Yes, it was. I figgered he did the writing as Sakai did the dictation. So I figgered it was Sakai's story made a little more readable with Caidin's help. But it smacks of truth, to me. Throughout the book I sensed a comfortable mix of pride and humility. But I'll Google the relationship between Caidin and Sakai and see what I can come up with.
Lazs, don't know what to say 'bout your skeptacism, except that records were often shoddily kept, if at all, in many engagements. And I understand there are differing accounts of any story told by two or more people.
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Originally posted by slimm50
I’d like to hear about other books some of you have read that you would recommend.
Do non-flying related books count slimm?
Last read: "The Battle of Mogadishu: First Hand Accounts From the Men of Task Force Ranger" edited by Matt Eversman, and Dan Schilling
Reading: "American Soldier" by Gen. Tommy Franks
On deck: "Masters of Chaos: The Secret History of the Special Forces" by Linda Robinson
These books were recommended on other forums, and so far I agree. The first hand accounts from Mogadishu are quite interesting because you get the picture from people who were in different areas of the battle. Add in Michael Durant's "In the Company of Heroes," and of course Mark Bowden's "Black Hawk Down," and you get quite a picture of the events.
mauser
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i love fiction and historical books.
if you like medievil battles, try a book called 'Heretik' by....er....crap. hes good anyhow.
also, anything by Wilber Smith i find seriously fun to read.
and of course there is Biggles by Capt. W.E. Jones.
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Originally posted by mauser
Do non-flying related books count slimm?
Last read: "The Battle of Mogadishu: First Hand Accounts From the Men of Task Force Ranger" edited by Matt Eversman, and Dan Schilling
Reading: "American Soldier" by Gen. Tommy Franks
On deck: "Masters of Chaos: The Secret History of the Special Forces" by Linda Robinson
These books were recommended on other forums, and so far I agree. The first hand accounts from Mogadishu are quite interesting because you get the picture from people who were in different areas of the battle. Add in Michael Durant's "In the Company of Heroes," and of course Mark Bowden's "Black Hawk Down," and you get quite a picture of the events.
mauser
Well I had in mind books about flying, in general, but the books you listed all sound interesting, so let's open this up to any books that are supposedly factual accounts of military operations.
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toad recomended "A Better War" and I am about half through it and find it very interesting.
lazs
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Beevor's Stalingrad is the best war book I've ever read...and I've read it about 1000 or so times. (It was my toilet reader for about 6 months ;) )
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Originally posted by Curval
Beevor's Stalingrad is the best war book I've ever read...and I've read it about 1000 or so times. (It was my toilet reader for about 6 months ;) )
Hard to get reading material on the island?:p
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Seriously guys, this is great. Keep 'em coming.:aok
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The Jolly Rogers by John Thomas "Tom" Blackburn - introduction by VAdm. James Stockdale, USN (ret) is great book. :)
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The Endurance : Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition
What these guys went through and survived is amazing.
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Try "To War in a Stringbag" by Charles Lamb. Great book. Also "Stuka Pilot" by Hans Rudel.
"Fighter Boys" is a decent book, it starts and stops and jumps around alot until it hits it's stride. Once it is full on into the BoB, its a great book. Very much an "inside story" on the guys who fought off the Germans in the summer of 1940.
"A Proud American: Joe Foss" is an excellent book, and details his time serving with the "Cactus Air Force" in the PTO. One quote from his book I have always remembered, "In the air, whoever acts .. smartest .. and fastest is going to be the survivor. As the Red Baron said, ' It's not the crate .. it's the man sitting in it.'
If it were not so .. the Grumman Wildcat would have been a flying coffin. "
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"Terror in the Starboard Seat" by Dave McIntosh. Quite simply the best WWII memoir I've ever read.
I'm serious, don't walk, run to amazon to get this one, then reserve an evening to read it (you won't put it down).
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lazs et al.. Have you ever read Stephen Hunter's books?
Point of Impact and Black Light are both good. I just picked up "Time to Hunt". Looks like another winner.
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Churchill's six volume set on WW2 is a wonderful read. The way he constructs sentences and the words he chooses just make them a blast to read. Furthermore, there are important lessons to be learned. I suggest anyone who was against attacking Iraq should read "The Gathering Storm".
Also, if you enjoyed Beevor's "Stalingrad", I believe he also wrote "The Fall of Berlin". It was also very good (I've read both).
Matthew Cooper's "The German Army 1933-1945" was also interesting, especially how it details the Army's growth.
I'm currently reading Arthur Hermann's "To Rule the Waves". It's about the Royal Navy's rise to the world's first policeman. I've only got through a few chapters so far, but if the first one doesn't suck you in, I'm not sure what will.
Another good book was "Dresden" but Frederick Taylor. I'm amazed Hollywood hasn't tried to make a recent movie about it.
I've also read "Rising: '44" which really is a must read for all of Polish descent.
And, if you're interested in various times of history and are looking for a good bathroom reader, may I suggest the TimeFrame series? They're by Time Life Books and really are enjoyable reads.
Maybe I'll post more later.
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I'm almost finished with First Light, an account of flying Spitfires during BoB and Malta, by Geoffrey "Boy" Wellum. It's more of a memoir than a factual account, but it is entirely excellent. Most thrilling to me was his account of going out on CAP one cold, foggy, rainy day with a ceiling of about 500', chasing a JU-88 in the mist and fog, then getting lost and trying to find his way home; I felt "there".
Amazon link for First Light (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/047142627X/qid=1104976719/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-5831996-1840746?v=glance&s=books)
Also absolutely excellent is The Last Cruise of the Emden, an account of a German light cruiser that was stationed in China at the start of WW1. It's an incredible story, involving tremendous ingenuity, bravery, and willingness to persevere.
Amazon link for Emden (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1585743828/qid=1104976456/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-5831996-1840746?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)
Tom
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Churchill, Stallin, Joe foss hum ok, any other recomendations?
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I read SAMURAI! by Saburo Sakai, Slim. Very informative and a great read. You're gonna be flying Zekes for a while ;)
Also enjoyed "The Blonde Knight of Germany" - about Erich Hartmann
and "I FLEW FOR THE FUEHRER" by Heinz Knoke.
Also the Martin Caiden book about the Schwienfurt Raid. Think it was called "Black Thursday." All worthwhile...
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My reccomended reading list. though not in any particular order
Good reading.
"The Patton Papers"
(read both volumes..twice)
Also BH Liddell Hartt "Strategy" and "the German Generals talk"
Sun Tsu "the Art of War"
Bernard Montgomery "a History of Warfare"
Ambrose- "D-Day", "Citizen Soldiers".
"the Victors" (basically a condenced version of the previous two)
and of course "Band of Brothers"
All outstanding books.
As well as "the Wild Blue" (not one of his better works)
Bill Mauldin- "Up Front" (very good book)
And a host of others too long to list
Currently reading on and off
Heinz Guderian- Panzer Leader
Richard Tregaskis "Guadal Canal Diary"
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The best Ambrose is Pegasus Bridge, imo. More concise than BOB, which is also great; I think PB is better for being more focused.
Tom
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Originally posted by Gunthr
I read SAMURAI! by Saburo Sakai, Slim. Very informative and a great read. You're gonna be flying Zekes for a while ;)
Heh, you called it!:aok
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Originally posted by DREDIOCK
Also BH Liddell Hartt "Strategy" and "the German Generals talk"
I just picked up the revised edition from Barnes & Knobles yesterday. So far it's been a great read.
Skunk Works : A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed by Leo Janos & Ben R. Rich is also a really good book.
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Vudak...I own both too...but Stalingrad is much better IMHO.
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Originally posted by mechanic
i love fiction and historical books.
if you like medievil battles, try a book called 'Heretik' by....er....crap. hes good anyhow.
also, anything by Wilber Smith i find seriously fun to read.
and of course there is Biggles by Capt. W.E. Jones.
Capt. W.E. Johns is correct (in case anyone goes googling for more info)
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Here's a suggestion for all you folks who love to read military non-fiction.
Try Harry Turtledove for outstanding, very entertaining alternate history fiction. He writes novels whose framework is essentially based in history, with historical characters, but with significant twists which put everone and everything in a completely different context. Then he runs with it...
'The Guns of the South' (what would one significant change in technology do to the outcome of the Civil War?)
'In the Presence of Mine Enemies' (the Germans win WWII)
'Household Gods' (be careful what you wish for...)
'Ruled Brittania' (the Spanish Armada didn't sink)
'The Two Georges', written with Richard Dreyfuss (yup, the actor) (actually a who-dun-it, but in a world where the Revolution was never fought)
Not to mention a bunch of series novels...The Great War series, American Empire series, Worldwar series, etc...
Great stuff, very engaging and makes a great re-read! Since it's historically based, you often find very subtle references that only come out the second and third time you read it. The 'what-if' nature of these stories is just plain kewl...
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BTW...for clarity's sake...
The above are clearly fiction. But I thought they would appeal to lovers of military non-fiction. Right? Ok, good...
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A few I've enjoyed...
War of the Rats... good read. The mythical Sniper Duel; well written but likely bogus. Puts the Battle of Stalingrad in perspective very well.
Gates of Fire. Steven Pressfield. Stunning read, historicaly accurate novel of the battle of Thermopylae.. 300 Spartans vs 250,000 Persians. Couldn't put it down.
We Were Soldiers Once.. Hal Moore. Riveting. True. Should be required reading in every highschool history class.
To Fly and Fight. Bud Anderson. Best Fighter Pilot biography out of WWII I've ever read. A must read if your into WWII thru Vietnam combat Aviation.
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Of course, Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden. The Philly Inquirer has most of the book with audio and video available online: http://inquirer.philly.com/packages/somalia/sitemap.asp
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STAFF SGT. Matt Eversmann's lanky frame was fully extended on the rope for what seemed too long on the way down. Hanging from a hovering Blackhawk helicopter, Eversmann was a full 70 feet above the streets of Mogadishu. His goggles had broken, so his eyes chafed in the thick cloud of dust stirred up by the bird's rotors.
It was such a long descent that the thick nylon rope burned right through the palms of his leather gloves. The rest of his Chalk, his squad, had already roped in. Nearing the street, through the swirling dust below his feet, Eversmann saw one of his men stretched out on his back at the bottom of the rope.
He felt a stab of despair. Somebody's been shot already! He gripped the rope hard to keep from landing on top of the guy. It was Pvt. Todd Blackburn, at 18 the youngest Ranger in his Chalk, a kid just months out of a Florida high school. He was unconscious and bleeding from the nose and ears.
The raid was barely under way, and already something had gone wrong. It was just the first in a series of worsening mishaps that would endanger this daring mission. For Eversmann, a five-year veteran from Natural Bridge, Va., leading men into combat for the first time, it was the beginning of the longest day of his life.
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Being a former army grunt, serving two special service force tours (one UN, the other Desert Storm), I find this account very gripping. Awesome read!
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War Story By Jim Morrison was a good read, the author is a interesting guy. About his tours as a Green Berret officer in Vietnam.
Tank Seargant By Ralf Zumbro.
Good read on tanks in Vietnam and how well they worked out from the perspective of a Tank comander.
Low level Hell By Hugh Mills
Hugh was a scout chopper pilot and did several tours in Vietnam. Great read.
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Given Up for Dead : America's Heroic Stand at Wake Island
this will blow you away.