This Just In
Some reader suggestions for the shelves at Crittenden’s Boutique Right-Wing Warmonger Bookshop:
The Gallic War, Julius Caesar.
The Patton Papers, 1885-1940, George S. Patton
Thanks, good choices, GW, who adds ”any of the S.L.A. Marshall books … Most read like what they are, after action reviews of combat.” Some dispute over exactly what they are, though. The legendary combat historian who ended up as a brigadier in the reserves served in three wars, WWI & II and Korea, though apparently not in combat, and favored group oral histories conducted with units post combat. Some controversy over his methods, his results and his claim that as many as 75 percent of soldiers in combat did not shoot to kill. The google search takes you right into the fray. Hackworth, who operated with him post-retirement in Vietnam, reportedly was disillusioned and quoted as saying Marshall, a journo between wars, was a “voyeur warrior” who never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Hey, I’ve heard of that happening.
Well, we’re not afraid of controversy at Crit’s Boutique Warmongery and we love a good story, so here you go:
World War I, by S.L.A. Marshall
Blitzkrieg: Armies on Wheels, by S.L.A. Marshall
Island Victory: The Battle of Kwajalein Atoll, by S.L.A. Marshall
Night Drop: The American Airborne Invasion of Normandy, by S.L.A. Marshall
The river and the gauntlet: Defeat of the Eighth Army by the Chinese Communist forces, November, 1950, in the Battle of the Chongchon River, Korea, by S.L.A. Marshall
Pork Chop Hill, by S.L.A. Marshall
Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command, by S.L.A. Marshall
The Soldier’s Load and the Mobility of a Nation, by S.L.A. Marshall … Hmm. That one must be pretty good. Seller wants $95 for it. No “Load” jokes, please.
Swift Sword The Historical Record of Israel’s Victory, June 1967, by S.L.A. Marshall
Bringing Up the Rear: A Memoir, by S.L.A. Marshall
Moving on, from reader LCDR Joe D., who divided 28 years between the Army and the Coasties:
Quartered Safe Out Here: A Harrowing Tale of World War II, Flashman series author George MacDonald Fraser’s account of his service as an infantryman in Burma in World War II
Once An Eagle, a novel of combat leadership spanning several wars, real and fictional, by Anton Myrer. Have not read this, but its gets some raves:
America’s fighting men have turned to Once an Eagle as a sourcebook for the military’s core values since its publication at the height of the Vietnam War. The novel, following the careers of virtuous Sam Damon and opportunistic Courtney Massengale, is required reading for all members of the United States Marine Corps and frequently taught in leadership courses at West Point. – Amazon reviews
“A remarkable novel…utterly engrossing. Myrer is a superb story-teller, one of the few gifted novelists now writing who cares about the art of narration and is a master of it…A grim, exciting and almost overwhelming account of twentieth-century war. It is an astute study of the mind and character of a good general and a good man. And it is a brilliant inside views of the life of a career officer in peace and war.” — The New York Times
“An ambitious, magnificently vivid novel…compelling. The battle scenes are among the finest I have ever read.” — The Atlantic
“At long last we have what critics have been saying was lost to modern novels–an honest-to-God hero…a natural.” — Harpers
“I fully understand why Once An Eagle has become a classic novel of war and warriors. Sam Damon doesn’t preach, he lives his values and they are universal not only military.” — General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, US Army Retired - Commander in Chief Desert Storm
“In ironic contrast, the story moves from jungle warfare to drawing rooms on the Potomac, and back again…Goes to the heart of our century.” — Chicago Sun-Times
“Inspects down to their most elusive motives those who have to make the agonizing command decisions.” — Providence Journal
“It is my firm opinion that Anton Myrer’s Once An Eagle deserves to rank with, or perhaps above, any one of those three truly great pieces of military fiction–Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage; Fix Bayonets! by Col. John W. Thomason, USMC; and What Price Glory, by Capt. Lawrence Stallings, USMC.” — Armed Forces Journal
“Once An Eagle may be America’s War and Peace and Anton Myrer a contemporary Tolstoy.” — Louisville Courier Journal
“Reflects skillful research in military areas as well as technical mastery of the writing craft…Through the gentle but courageous character of Damon, Myrer graphically describes the criminal, dirty, wasteful, savage immorality of war…The Army career man will look on it as a monument.” — Denver Post
“The most outstanding novel I have seen in long years. And it is far and away the best work of fiction with a military background I have ever read.” — Journal of the Armed Forces
Must be good, it even spawned Once An Eagle: A Reader’s Companion, by Thomas W. Hebert.
The General, C.S Forester. A novel of combat leadership set in World War I.
Speaking of Forester,
Hornblower: Ship of the Line, etc.
Reader Evan, re Michael Caine, recommends The Ipcress File.
Reader Lawrence C. wants to know where the Victor Davis Hanson is at:
Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power
Ripples of Battle: How Wars of the Past Still Determine How We Fight, How We Live, and How We Think
Plus a few I just thought of:
Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: A Biography Edward Rice. Magnificant book about a great man who went there, did that.
Empires of the Plain: Henry Rawlinson and the Lost Languages of Babylon Lesley Adkins. Must read backgrounder for those who want to go deep on the current territory.
Defiance: The Bielski Partisans, Nechama Tec, researched history on which Defiance, the recent film of Jewish resistance, is based.
Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad. One of the greatest novels of all time, upon which the film Apocalypse Now is based. The opening scene alone, seafarers idly talking as they wait for the tide on Thames, is haunting.
Two Years Before the Mast, by Richard Henry Dana, not war but all the struggle and hardship you need, a fascinating look at a 19th-century sailor’s life by a Harvard student who was advised to take a sea cruise for his health. (Wouldn’t mind seeing a little more of that these days. Allow me to suggest a holiday in the Korengal Valley for the Ivy Leaguer in your life).
Meanwhile, recommended by reader Alvah for hardcore bookophiles, The Reader’s Exchange. Subscription newsletter, readers’ reviews and assorted ensmartening services.
Topics: A Right-Wing Warmonger's Boutique Bookshop, history, literary
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 11:24 am on Tuesday, May 26, 2009
7 Responses to “This Just In”
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May 26th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
No Gates of Fire by Pressfield?
Protest!
May 26th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Thought that was in one of the combat vet’s reading lists. Will check and set up an Ancient Greece shelf. Heck, probably need a couple of Horrible and Frightful Combat of the Ancient World shelves. Your suggestions welcomed.
May 26th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
1. Patton Papers and
2. Any of the SLA Marshall books, don’t remember the names and too lazy to walk to the bookshelf to find them. Most read like what they are, after action reviews of combat
3. Julius Caeser’s Commentaries on the campaign in Gaul. Unleash hell indeed.
May 26th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
Been doing the military thing for 35 years, started as a private ended as a field grade officer.
I read “Once an Eagle” 30 years ago, and re-read every few years. It helps to keep me grounded against the inevitable paper pushers.
Best story on military ethos ever written.
May 27th, 2009 at 10:40 am
I’ve read a good many on the list. Slam Marshall probably deserves much of the criticism he’s received. It’s true that Hackworth trashed Slam in ‘About Face’, primarily for being a celebrity-seeker who wrote about grunts while living the good life himself.
‘Once an Eagle’ is an extraordinary novel. I agree with mike43 that it’s about the best study of integrity under tough conditions I’ve ever read. Small wonder the army officer corps views ‘Sam Damon’ as a beau ideal.
One book worth a read is one of Rudyard Kipling’s more obscure books called ‘Plain Tales from the Hills’, which is a collection of short stories covering the clash of cultures in colonial India from just about every conceivable angle. I always thought Kipling knew more about soldiering than most and although he’s in disfavor among the annointed, these stories are valuable for soldiers thrust into an ‘alien’ environment.
May 27th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
S. L. A. Marshall deserves very little of the criticism he’s received, most of it from people who never got around to challenging him while he was alive to reply. Even his disputed claim that three-quarters of US WWII infantrymen would fail to engage in any given action has never been disproved — in the antique sense of “been shown by evidence to be in error” — probably because Marshall was better placed to know the truth than any other man.
Criticize him for his idiosyncratic lingo or the execrable maps and drawings that disfigure his books, but not for the candor of his reporting. Recently I visited the Marshall Collection at the University of Texas/El Paso and was able to read some of the unpublished combat analysis he produced for the Army: it is all of a piece with his published work, and confirmed my impression of his integrity. His basic purpose was to understand and explain what happens at soldier level in combat, in order to improve the way the Army used men. He devoted his life to that, and it’s a dirty shame that his reputation has not received the defense it merits.
What I really wanted to say, though, is that you shouldn’t omit Marshall’s Vietnam output from your list. In his mid-60s he went there and produced, following his usual after-action interview methods, no fewer than five volumes of combat reporting: “Battles in the Monsoon,” “The Fields of Bamboo,” “West to Cambodia,” “Ambush,” and “Bird: the Christmastide Battle.” He also produced the “Vietnam Primer” for the Army, a graphical and typographical disaster but still a timely corrective to mistaken tactics. The “Primer” was researched and written together with Hackworth, some of whose exploits had been related in the other books, and who received from Marshall (in print, anyway) much kindlier treatment than he gave in turn.
May 30th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
I’m very late to the party, but Ulysses Grant’s memoirs should be at the top of your list. Keep up the good work!