Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: fudgums on May 04, 2014, 07:33:28 PM
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Summer is starting to set in, what would be some suggestions on some reading materials. Of course since this is a WW2 Air Combat forum that would be likely topic, but any suggestions would be lovely.
Fud!
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ChickenHawk by Robert Mason
It is about Robert Mason's experiences as a UH-1 pilot during the Vietnam War. It is extraordinarily well written and reads more like a fiction novel than the biography that it is.
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Rick Atkinson: The Liberation Trilogy.
Book 1: An Army At Dawn
Book 2: The Day Of Battle
Book 3: The Guns At Last Light
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See Rule #4
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ChickenHawk by Robert Mason
It is about Robert Mason's experiences as a UH-1 pilot during the Vietnam War. It is extraordinarily well written and reads more like a fiction novel than the biography that it is.
:aok If you want to know what being a chopper pilot was like in Viet Nam read this book!
One of if not THE best books about the Viet Nam war.
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Summer is starting to set in, what would be some suggestions on some reading materials. Of course since this is a WW2 Air Combat forum that would be likely topic, but any suggestions would be lovely.
Fud!
Gunther Ralls book is really good about his experiences in the Luftwaffe.
If you're into novels check out the Jeff Sahara WW2 set it's really good. Also I just finished a book called The Last Jump which was really intriguing and sad, a great book.
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Good WWII aviation books:
The Few, by Kershaw (The first Americans in the Battle of Britain)
Masters of the Air, by Miller (8th AF, stories from strategic to tactical, awesome)
Unbroken, by Hillenbrand (B-24 crewman, incredible tale of survival)
Fighter Pilot, by Olds (autobiography of Robin Olds)
JG26: Top Guns of the Luftwaffe, by Caldwell (daily history of JG 26)
The First and the Last, by Galland (Galland's tale)
Zemke's Wolfpack, by Freeman (P-47's, Zemke, Johnson, Gabreski)
Top Guns, by Foss and Brennan (excellent collection from pilots)
Samurai, by Sakai (Saburo Sakai's story)
Midway, by Fuchida and Okumiya (Midway and a lot more by guys who were in the action)
Intrepid, by White and Gandt (detailed stories of USS Intrepid)
FLAK, by Veitch (stories from RAF, RAAF, RNZAF pilots)
Baa, Baa Black Sheep, by Boyington (Pappy's tales)
Aces High, by Yenne (about Bong and McGuire)
A Dawn Like Thunder, by Mrazek (detailed stories of VT-8)
America's Hundred Thousand, by Dean (nonfiction detailed info on all US WWII fighters)
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning, by Bodie (awesome nonfiction book on the P-38)
The Wild Blue, by Ambrose (B-24 stories)
Flying Through Midnight, by Halliday (interesting tales of a C-123 special-ops pilot)
Good WWII books (not mainly aviation):
With the Old Breed, by Sledge (if a person reads only one book on war, this should be it)
Neptune's Inferno, by Hornfischer (awesome account of the Guadalcanal campaign)
A Measureless Peril, by Snow (awesome story of US battle in Atlantic)
One Man's War, by LaMore (awesome story of fighting and survival)
To Hell and Back, by Murphy (Audie Murphy's story)
Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors, by Hornfischer (awesome account of Battle of Leyte Gulf)
The Bravest Man, by Tuohy (WWII submarine combat)
Band of Brothers, by Ambrose (famous)
No Simple Victory, by Davies (excellent academic history of WWII from angles not usually presented in the West)
Army at Dawn, by Atkinson (North Africa)
The Day of Battle, by Atkinson (Italy)
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hatchet, brians river,brians return,brians winter,brians hunt where all favorites of mine when i was younger and ill think ima take a glanse through the base library to see if they have them
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One Second After. I feel the urge to start stockpiling canned goods.
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ChickenHawk by Robert Mason
It is about Robert Mason's experiences as a UH-1 pilot during the Vietnam War. It is extraordinarily well written and reads more like a fiction novel than the biography that it is.
Chickenhawk is fantastic, as are 'The Bleed' by John R Cronin and Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes :old:
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Im currently on Volume 4 of Edward Gibbon(s) The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire...6 volumes total....Very good (albeit time consuming) read
Would last you all summer :aok
If its WWII you want, me personally im a James Hornfischer fan...All his books are incredible. Actually had a chance to ask him a question at the Pritzker Military Library when he was doing an interview for his book Neptunes Inferno....very nice guy
Anything Kershaw (The Few)
Miller (Masters of the air)
Barrett Tillman (anything...Clash of Carriers is awesome)
The Fire by Jorg Freidriech.....Book about the fire bombing of Germany
Max Hastings (anything)
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Israel's Best Defense: The First Full Story of the Israeli Air Force by Eliezer Cohen
Great reading... from the Independence War of 1948 to the 1982 Lebanon War. Many stories from the participants.
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Israel's Best Defense: The First Full Story of the Israeli Air Force by Eliezer Cohen
Great reading... from the Independence War of 1948 to the 1982 Lebanon War. Many stories from the participants.
Why are there no Lebanese and Egyptian books on the subject?
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So. Many. Good. Choices. :o
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Max Hastings (anything)
Other than Max Hastings : How to choose a hairpiece :old:
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ChickenHawk by Robert Mason
It is about Robert Mason's experiences as a UH-1 pilot during the Vietnam War. It is extraordinarily well written and reads more like a fiction novel than the biography that it is.
Great book! Read it 3 years ago
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I've read most on Brooke's list and concur - good stuff.
I'll add the following:
Thunderbolt! Robert S. Johnson
Shattered Sword: the untold Story of the Battle of Midway Johnathon Parshall
Wolfpack Warriors, Roger Freeman ( this book has many first hand accounts from pilots, crew, support personnel, etc..)
The Forgotten Soldier Guy Saajer (the best...)
Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds
The Blond Knight of Germany, Erich Hartman
Gabby; A Fighter Pilots Life
Zemke's Wolfpack, Hub Zemke
Lost Victories; Memoirs of Hitler's most Brilliant General, Von Manstein
The Rommel Papers, Liddel-Hart
Stuka Pilot; Hans Erich Rudel
Storm of Steel, Ernst Junger (WWI)
Goodby to all That, Robert Graves
Leningrad; The Epic Seige (1941-1944)
Inferno; the Epic Life and Death Struggle of the USS Franklin in WWII
In Deadly Combat:A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Fron
Black Edelweis; A Memoir of Combat and Conscience by a Soldier of the Waffen-SS
The Killer Angels, Shaara (Civil War)
The German Aces Speak, Colin Heaton
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I recommend Mark Berent's 5 novel series on the Vietnam War, starting with Rolling Thunder. Based on his experiences as a fighter pilot, and as well the Special Forces operations, Berent wrote 5 excellent books that I found before having a license to drive, and I re read them probably every couple of years. He captures the highs and lows of combat in a way few other authors ever have IMO. There is a ton of real world history woven into his books, they could almost be called semi fictional I suppose.
"The best Vietnam air novel I have read. Berent captures the essence of flying men at war, their agony, emotions, courage, and triumph." --- Brigadier General Robin Olds .
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I tend not to read war fiction. There is too much great nonfiction out there with stories that are more amazing than fiction.
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I would make an exception in this case Brooke, truly. As I said, some characters have been created, and in some cases just had their names changed, but it is all based on the authors experience. Give Rolling Thunder a try, in fact, I'll send you one of my copies for free, as I just found a bunch of his hardcovers on ebay in the .10 adds and bought the whole set x2 for under 30$ delivered in excellent shape. PM me if you wish. Again, these may be a fiction book, but the actual events are in there, as are many actual historical people, like Yeager, Olds, LBJ, MacNamara, some very famous SF soldiers, etc.
http://www.markberent.com/ - check out the site, and the about the author tabs. Berent is a great aviator, and an American hero IMO. Don't dismiss his work just because it's partially fictionalized. Check out the comments from other well known military writers, both fiction and non fiction. Personally I would have hate to have gone through my life without having read his books, not knowing what I missed, and I read several books a week, always have. If you have even a slight interest in the Vietnam air war, or just aerial warfare in general - I feel you owe it yourself to at least give the first book a once over. I know you won't need any advice after that regarding books 2 through 5.
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Also, if you're into Game of Thrones or the ASOIAF series, a friend of mine is co-writing the new "The World of Ice and Fire" book with George RR Martin, and it should be available fairly soon.
http://www.westeros.org/ASoWS/News/Entry/World_of_Ice_and_Fire_Cover
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Also anything by Derek Robinson, Particularly Goshawk Squadron about WW1, is a fantastic read by a guy who really knows his stuff and can write well.
My old man has just finished his first 90'000 word novel, and although I am biased it's pretty bloody good. :old:
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*Shameless Plug* (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0615888038)
:D
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The Battle of Brices Crossroads (Battle of Tishomingo Creek) by Stewart L Bennett
Hunting With Richthofen by Gen. Karl Bodenschatz
Anything by Shelby Foote.
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See Rule #4
where do you get rule#4 from??????nothing in those post's that require a rule 4..unless your just kidding.
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Anyone ever read the Vince Flynn books? I like them a lot, even though they are more James Bondish.
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where do you get rule#4 from??????nothing in those post's that require a rule 4..unless your just kidding.
Perhaps my synopsis wasn't PC enough for the times. We live in a sensitive world now.
With everyone being so easily "offended", I wonder how any of them survived junior high school.
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I recently finished two excellent books.
A Dawn Like Thunder by Robert J. Mrazek which has already been mentioned but it is such an amazing masterpiece it worth a second notation.
Before that I read Going to War with Japan: 1937-1941 by Jonathan G. Utley. If you have an interest in the geopolitical climate of Pan Pacific relations during those years leading up to December 7th than this is a good book to be enlightened by. The whole ordeal wasn't just a oops where six carriers appeared near Hawaii for no good reason. It makes for an excellent read.
Right now I am 2/3rds of the way through The Battle of Tanks: Kursk 1943 by Lloyd Clark. This covers the backstory to the approach of Zitadelle and does a throughly detailed job of it by interjecting the stories and thoughts of the men who were there on both sides throughout the whole book. If you have any inkling of reading about the greatest tank battle in history then this is a must read.
I'm not sure what I am going to read next so I am glad this thread was posted. Lots and lots of great choices here. :aok
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Why are there no Lebanese and Egyptian books on the subject?
First of all Lebanon had never had any serious air force. The Egyptian, Syrian, Jordanian and in some part Iraqi air forces were the threat to IAF.
I think you can take a look on the Phoenix over the Nile: a history of Egyptian air power, 1932-1994 that is written from Egyptian point of view (I hadn't read it). There are probably more but I'm not aware of them.
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*Shameless Plug* (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0615888038)
:D
Did you write that?
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Did you write that?
Yep.
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Slaughterhouse-Five
Catch-22
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Yep.
Very Cool!!!!! Didnt know u were a writer.
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Slaughterhouse-Five
Catch-22
Oh yes, Catch 22 is not to be missed, although i wouldn't really bother with any other of Hellers' work.
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Normally I read Military or Military Aviation books. I'm on a different subject this year. The Missing 411 series by David Paulites.
http://ajmacdonaldjr.wordpress.com/2014/01/11/unexplained-disappearances-in-national-parks-missing-411/