What do you guys think is the best book of military history, or even what you favorite?

Mine is Michael Howard's 'The Franco-Prussian War. Also my favorite memoirs is those of Baron De Marbot.

Ross

I can't pin it down to just one book, but I have a favorite as to best set of books. Morrison's United States Naval Operations in World War II. The 15 volume set. Although, as even Morrison admits, there were written so soon after the war that they contain some inaccuracies, as a general history they're hard to beat.

I just finished reading 'Thunder Run' and must say that I was very impressed. The writing was very simple and easy to understand, and it gave a very vivid account of what our men and women in Iraq are up against and experiencing.

the best 2 military history books i've read has got to be (the late) stephen ambrose's 1) citizen soldiers and 2)d-day.... followed by 3) the forgotten soldier.

I haven't read all that many military books although I did enjoy "The Jungle Is Neutral" by Spencer Chapman which I read during my wasted youth. It's about the British guerilla forces that stayed behind during the Japanese occupation of Malaya (the name of Malaysia in WWII). Reading it kind of gives me a weird deja vu feeling.

Just one book???

At the moment, it's 'Chars B au combat' as I am waiting for the day that we are overwhelmed with as many models of the B1bis as we have Tigers.

As an all-time fave, I would have to go with Ken Tout's 'Tank'.

Yeah, I know that's two. :-)

Hmm.... How long is a piece of string?

I would tend to go for entire series - 'Charles' Oman's History of the Peninsular war - an adventiure in itself getting each individual volume...

If i ws one book, probably 'The Recollections of Rifleman Harris'... Again I tend to go for series ...Jim

Do I detect a pattern in your reading habits Jim? How do you like the Sharpe novels?

Hi, I've thought and thought about this question and after looking over what books I've collected down over the years I've come to the conclusion that there is no answer to it, as far as THE best book is concerned for me. Each and every book that I've picked up over the years, baring just a few 'bummers,' that ended up being donated to the local library the last time we moved, has had something special in it.

The only REAL problem is remembering all that I've read. A mental impossibility I'm afraid. Ha, ha!

Take care, Sgirty

I like Guy Sajer's The Forgotten Soldier. However, I also enjoyed Donald Kagans' The Peloponnesian War. I have a great many military history books, but those are 2 very good ones

Abook I read in the early seventies called the Bamboo Jungle its about Aussie P.O.W. 's of the Japaneese cant remember the auther but it was a damm good read, maybe some of our oz friends know of it . Other than that Stephen Ambrose Citizen Soldiers.

I really enjoyed the last book I finished. Panzer Operations; The Eastern Front Memoir of General Raus. It was a pretty informative book, no photos though. This book is a good chronology of the campaign as seen from Raus' position. It also shows a flaw in one of my Panzer Blitz 1941 Variant scenarios in which the game has the 6th Panzer Division come across it's first KV I too early. That's OK though, just change the date of the situation. :-)

Hmmm... Ask me the same question 6 months from now and I would tell you different, but I really Like Antony Beevor's "Stalingrad". Not too much technical mumbo-jumbo and lots of persona accounts. I read that book twice last summer.
Ryan