What are the ten best non-fiction military books you have ever read?

[Jody]

Hello folks,
I would like to know what are the ten best non-fiction military books you have ever read.

Here is my list. I will admit that many of the books on my list are old by some standards of today; but these are books that I still find myself reading over from time to time.

My list is not in order from best to greatest (to hard to pick) and that is the reason why my list is in alphabetical order.

Please post your top ten list and here is my list.

1. The Bunker by James P. O'Donnell
2. The Frist Day of the Somme by Martin Middelbrook
3. Hitler's War by David Irving
4. Inside the Third Reich by Albert Speer
5. Iron Coffins by Herbert A. Werner
6. The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan
7. It Never Snows in September by Robert J. Kreshaw
8. The Rising Sun by John Toland
9. With the Old Breed by E. B. Sledge
10.The Washing of the Spears by Donald R. Morris

Regards,
Jody

[Woolgar]

My top 10 (in no particular order)

Blood Red Snow- Gunter Koschorrek
The Third Reich At War-Richard J Evans
Iron Coffins-Herbert Werner
D-Day - Stephen Ambrose
Sniper Ace - Bruno Sutkus
A Woman in Berlin - Anonymous
The Nazis - Lawrence Rees
Stalingrad - Antony Beevor
Berlin - Antony Beevor
Barbarossa - Alan Clark

Nick

[hucks216]

No particular order -

With The Old Breed – Eugene B Sledge
Guns Of Victory – George Blackburn
Island Of Fire – Jason D Mark
The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer (if you believe it to be factual) or Fireforce: One Mans War In The Rhodesian Light Infantry by Chris Cocks (if you don’t)
Kohima: The Furthest Battle by Leslie Edwards
War Without Garlands by Robert Kershaw
Leningrad: State Of Siege by Michael Jones
Klemperer Diaries vol 1&2 by Victor Klemperer
Pamwe Chet: The Legend Of The Selous Scouts by Ron Reid Daly
The German Invasion Of Norway 1940 by Geirr H Haarr

[PANZER332]

Here is my list.

hitlers war , by david irving
hess missing years , davig irving
goring , by david irving
other losses, by james bacque
crimes and mercies by james bacque
otto skorzeny memoirs
at hitler's side , by von below
the memoirs of keitel
I was hitler chauffeur , by erick kempka
yo fuy gualdaespalda de hitler , by rochus misch.

[Mark C. Yerger]

Anatomy of the SS State- Krausnick, et al
The Black Corps- Koehl
Latvian Legion- Silgailis
Fortress in the Sky- Bowers
The Battle of Britain- Mason
Uniforms, Organization and History of the German Police, vol. 1- Taylor/Bender
Ernst Kaltenbrunner- Black
Die Flugabwehrverbände der Waffen-SS- Stöber
Division "Das Reich"- Weidinger
Warplanes of the Third Reich- Green

hard to make a list of only 10

[Robert Shoaf]

In no particular order:

1. "The Middle Parts of Fortune" Manning
2. " Bugles and a Tiger" Masters
3. " To Lose a Battle" Horne
4. " Frederick the Great, a Military Life" Duffy
5. " Battle over Britain" Mason
6. "The War the Infantry Knew" Dunn
7. "The Campaigns of Napoleon" Chandler
8. " Six Armies in Normandy" Hastings
9. "The Desert Generals" Barnett
10. "Swords Around the Throne" Elting

I would have to include "The Forgotten Soldier" if I was certain it was non-fiction.

Bob Shoaf

[stgeorge64]

My 10:

1. Enemy Coast Ahead - Guy Gibson VC
2. The Frist Day Of The Somme - Martin Middelbrook
3. U-Boat War - Lothar-Gunther Bucheim
4. I Flew For The Fuhrer - Heinz Knocke
5. First Light - Geoffrey Wellum DFC
6. Moonless Night - Jimmy James
7. Selling Hitler - Robert Harris
8. In Deady Combat - Gottlob Hermann Bidermann
9. With the Old Breed - E. B. Sledge
10. The Forgotten Soldier - Guy Sajer

Difficult to pick only 10!

Regards Richard

[Woolgar]

My 10:

1. Enemy Coast Ahead - Guy Gibson VC
2. The Frist Day Of The Somme - Martin Middelbrook
3. U-Boat War - Lothar-Gunther Bucheim
4. I Flew For The Fuhrer - Heinz Knocke
5. First Light - Geoffrey Wellum DFC
6. Moonless Night - Jimmy James
7. Selling Hitler - Robert Harris
8. In Deady Combat - Gottlob Hermann Bidermann
9. With the Old Breed - E. B. Sledge
10. The Forgotten Soldier - Guy Sajer

Difficult to pick only 10!

Regards Richard

I should have put 'Enemy Coast Ahead' on the top of my list

Nick

[Ilse]

Top 10

My top picks:

The Waffen SS by George H Stein

German Cross in Gold Vol 4: Cavalry Brigade and Divisions by Mark C Yerger

The American Way of War: A History of United States Military Strategy and Policy by Russell Weigley

Eminent Victorian Soldiers by Byron Farwell

The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power by Max Boot

War of the Running Dogs: Malaya, 1948-1960 by Noel Barber

A Devil of a Whipping: The Battle of the Cowpens by Lawrence E Babits

Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam by John A Nagl

War of the Flea: The Classic Study of Guerrilla Warfare by Robert Taber

Phantom Soldier: The Enemy's Answer to U.S. Firepower by John H Poole

[Ilse]

More books

My top picks:

The Waffen SS by George H Stein

German Cross in Gold Vol 4: Cavalry Brigade and Divisions by Mark C Yerger

The American Way of War: A History of United States Military Strategy and Policy by Russell Weigley

Eminent Victorian Soldiers by Byron Farwell

The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power by Max Boot

War of the Running Dogs: Malaya, 1948-1960 by Noel Barber

A Devil of a Whipping: The Battle of the Cowpens by Lawrence E Babits

Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam by John A Nagl

War of the Flea: The Classic Study of Guerrilla Warfare by Robert Taber

Phantom Soldier: The Enemy's Answer to U.S. Firepower by John H Poole

Since this thread is not getting a lot of posts I am going to post my 2nd group 10 favorites.


The Black Corps: The Structure and Power Struggles of the Nazi SS by Robert Lewis Koehl


Anatomy of the SS State by Helmut Krausnick


German Cross in Gold Holders of the SS and Police, Volume 5 - Polizei Division and Police Units by Mark C. Yerger


German Cross in Gold, Holders of the SS and Police, Volume 1 - Das Reich by Mark C Yerger


Daniel Morgan: Revolutionary Rifleman by Don Higginbotham


The Savage Border: The Story of the North-West Frontier
by Jules Stewart


Don't Tread on Me: A 400-Year History of America at War, from Indian Fighting to Terrorist Hunting
by H. W. Crocker


Insurgency and Terrorism: From Revolution to Apocalypse by Bard E. O'Neill


The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21st Century by Colonel Thomas X. Hammes


The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One by David Kilcullen

[darrenbate]

My ten (not including collector's books)

Agent ZigZag - Ben Macintyre
A Life In Secrets - Sara Helm
Third Reich - Michael Burleigh
Home Run - John Nichol
Inside The Third Reich - Albert Speer
Colditz - Pat Reid
The Third Reich Then & Now - Tony LeTissier
Hitler's Empire - Mark Mazower
Coming Of The Third Reich - Richard Evans
D-Day Then & Now - Winston Ramsay

[IanC]

Angriff – Jason D Mark

Island Of Fire – Jason D Mark

Stalingrad: How the Red Army Triumphed – Michael K Jones

Feldbluse: The German Army Field Tunic, 1933-1945 – Jean-Philippe Borg & Laurent Huart

Stalingrad – Antony Beevor

War Without Garlands – Robert Kershaw

Any one of "Then and Now" Hardcover book (Know it's a bit of a cop out but I have been unable to choose between them!)

Uniforms and Traditions of the German Army Volume 3 – John R. Angolia and Adolf Schlicht

Alamein to Zem Zem – Keith Douglas

MG34 - 42 Universal Machine Guns – Folke Myrvary

[peleliuexplorer]

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I'm more into the pacific theater of op's...

1. Shadow Divers--Robert Kurson
2. With the Old Breed--Gene Sledge
3. Marine at War--Russell Davis
4. Escape from the Deep--Alex Kershaw
5. Escape from Corrigedor--Edgar Whitcomb
6. Helmet for my Pillow--Robert Leckie
7. Return to Cassino--Harold Bond
8. In Deadly Combat--Gottlob Bidermann
9. Descent Into Darkness--Raymond Raymer
10. Oba the Last Samurai--Donald Jones

Not necessarily in order except Shadow Diver's definately number #1!!!

-Eric

[juvatwad]

My top picks:

Day of Battle
Army at Dawn
Passing of the night
Fire in the sky
Valley of death
Dawn like thunder
Bury us upside down
Coldest winter
The airmen and the headhunters
Nightingale's song

[PANZER332]

My other 10.

fighter general
berlin the downfall
rommel's papers
kesselring memoirs
Goebbels master mind of the third reich
at the heart of the reich
speer memoirs
lost victories
blond knights of germany
doenitz at nuremberg