Military Books

I have always been interested in WWII history and this book is excellent as it deals with the consequences of war. Wolfgang was blessed with an incredible memory and this book tells the story of the time from 1945 to 1950 in Germany and how things were. I will not recap the story since others have done it so well, but this is in the top 10 of the hundreds of books I have read.

This is a great book. I gave the book to a few German friends who lived in Germany during the war. They could identify with the author's experiences.

The author became a U.S citizen and fought in Vietnam. I would have liked to read about the author's experience in this country, and his experience, as a pilot in our Air Force.

A well written book and interesting too.

Wonderful and descriptive first hand account of living through WWII in Germany and the life there afterwards.

The author, who was 10 years old and living in eastern Germany when WWII came to an end, has an amazing memory for telling details and an irresistibly engaging personality. His memoir of that dreadful time is framed as a tribute to his mother, who certainly deserves it, and an unforgettable lesson in history as it is really lived. Once you start reading this book, you will be unable to put it down and you will never forget it.

This harrowing memoir should be required reading for all children. Perhaps, as adults, they will think hard and deeply before embarking on war. The description of life at the end of WWII and postwar Germany are harrowing. The reader cannot help but wonder how he or she would or could cope in the same situation.

I found the comparison among the American, British and Russian zones in postwar Germany to be fascinating. I hope that the friendliness and genorosity which have historically characterized Americans have not been lost in our recent imperialist adventurism and immoral acts.

This novel is truly amazing. The characters are well developed and the reader truly becomes attached to each one as they undergo their personal trials and tribulations in the days before Pearl Harbor. The work provides an excellent examination of the pre-war Army, a professional army preparing for war, inducting draftees, and operating under a proud system of tradition. The novel is full of great stories, advice, and sayings that are as relevant today as they were in 1941. Serving in Iraq while reading this novel, I was amazed at the very real connection I found with its soldiers; many things have not changed. Again, a great novel that I would recommend to anyone interested in war, the army, or the human condition.

I actually loved the melody of this book; but what it is really a good read for, is it's description of the attack on pearl harbor: This book captures the nuance of that particular moment when the Japanese planes appeared over the houses of Hawaii and the actors all knew while they were in the midst of it, that nothing would be the same again. I also liked the book for its description of Pruett's alcoholism - where Jones intervenes as the narrator/author and decides not to have his character "go alcoholics anonymous", thus guaranteeing certain death for his character - talk about deus ex machina in reverse!

I've read only a few war novels in my day and most of them are about, well, war. Which is interesting and all, but there's only so many ways you can depict war as horrifying and dehumanizing, and the soldiers involved as both heroic and all too human, the command structure as haphazard and detached. So I wasn't looking terribly forward to the prospect of diving into yet another massive examination of soldier life, and yet, that's not really what this is about. Jones' novel isn't so much about WWII as about sitting on the cusp of WWII, taking place in the months just before Pearl Harbor. Everyone is training for a war that may or may not happen, more or less hanging out in Hawaii, killing time in between drills with drinking or prostitutes, living the Army life as best they can. The story pivots around two characters, enlisted fellow Prewitt and staff sergeant Warden, following their separate stories as well where they intersect, and how they interact with everyone around them. Prewitt's tale is the slightly more visceral of the two, he's an excellent boxer that refuses to go out for the team, even though his superiors would very much like him to. They'd like him to so much that they'll go to nearly any lengths to break him, in order to make him fall in line and fit in, with the entire company eventually trying to wear him down. It's a rather frightening depiction at times of the military's somewhat necessary need for comformity taken to a new level, stamping down on anyone who dares to deviate. Meanwhile, Warden is attempting to hold the company together, and pursuing an affair with the wife of his superior officer. The stories of these men collide with everyone else they come into contact with, as Jones vividly relays military life on the base and in the town, detailing the trials and loves the men endure and force themselves into. It's a surprisingly angry book at times, the language coiled and sharp, etching out the duality of the longtimers who both love and hate the Army that nourishes and captures them. The salty language and somewhat brutal scenes are shocking not in how graphic they are but how frank and matter of factly they're presented. The prose achieves a strange jagged beauty in parts, as Jones dives right into the minds and emotions of the men involved. It becomes, as I said, not a book about war but about people at war. Pearl Harbor doesn't even occur until most of the book is over with. It's not the fastest paced book, the early chapters are necessary to set up everything that will come later but you are going to be about halfway through before all the setting up starts to gain momentum but after that it barely pauses. It's tragic and visceral and sort of beautiful in its own way, not because it glorifies but in the way it shows everything, the times when the system beats them down, the small moments of friendship, the way men you depend on with both look out for you and let you down, sometimes in the same moment. Surprisingly readable despite the length, it carries a fire and passion that most books can't even approach. Probably one of the best military books ever written that doesn't involve long descriptions about how a gun works.

In my humble uneducated opinion, this book is superior to the film as is usually the case. But the movie is STILL a classic, so don't get preturbed at me for sayin' that. It's by and large one'a my favorites, but you don't get the FULL impact of James Jones' story unless you read this book. And while it is LONG as hell, it's worth it. I'll be honest, I was so intimidated by it, I bought it and didn't touch it for a year; I'd never even ATTEMPTED a book that was 800-plus, but when I finally got up the courage, I was hooked by the third chapter. Of course, like most people my age, I had the preconceived notion of how I viewed the characters from the movie, but, trust me, that doesn't water down the incredible impact of the way the book unfolds; it clings more to tragedy and despair than the film, and truly encapsulates Jones' theory that the world stops to mourn no man. He puts you right there for everything; the corruption, the favoritism, the "treatment", the hookers, and many other controversial, politically incorrect topics that the mere mention in this review would be censored. Fifty some years after its first publication the book still feels scandalous. The stockade scenes for instance which were only briefly implied in the film are brutal to read.

But what's really REALLY great is the way Jones puts you in the mind of each and every character, even the ones we're supposed to despise, like Sgt. Galovitch or Dynamite Holmes, making it not so "black and white" like the film was (literally and figuratively). Everyone is a human being, whether in the corridors of power or in the messhall cleaning; there is no true villain; characters you latch on to will more than likely do something or say something to enrage you at least once or twice before the book is over; they're all flawed human beings confused and uncertain about their place in Uncle Sam's army. This book is a real, unflinching, highly critical and uncompromising view of the United States Army and Infantry told from the views of the young faceless men serving at the bottom end; accounts which aren't heard nearly enough.

But the most gut-wrenching part to me deals with a secondary character; the long drawn-out scene of Isaac Bloom considering his options before his tragic end. That scene brought real true-to-life tears into my eyes which hasn't been brought to me by a book in a long time. Anyone looking for a deep, involved, beautifully harsh an' thought-provoking read that shows you the pain and indifference prevalent in the life of the modern man, look no further.

From Here to Eternity is a singular reading experience: gritty, raucous, desperate, raw and, yet, ultimately sublime. James Jones fields a superb cast of characters with which relatively few novels can compete. More than once, it reminded me of Catch 22 (without the intended absurdity) - Pianosa set down in a peaceful Hawaii just prior to Pearl Harbor.

Distractingly, there are times when the author is guilty of pontification. There are stretches which seem entirely gratuitous. The two protagonists, Prewitt and Warden, elsewise dynamic, can wax numbingly philosophic. But, by the middle of the book I was captive to a steadily mounting anticipation, the culmination of which plays out true to form - recklessly, brutally as the soldiers of G Company ready themselves for war.

There is a quality of novel which can best be described by the wistfulness with which one completes it. I was sorry to see this one end. Despite the violence, hard living, bravado and despair, James Jones concludes with hope and endurance. Like Herman Wouk's Winds of War and War and Remembrance, From Here to Eternity is a classic among WWII literature. 5 stars.

This book certainly has won praise by many amazon.com readers as witnessed by the numerous five star ratings it has received. True, it is written as a fast-paced narrative, and flows well. You might call it an "easy read" as a result. However, if we take it as a work of history, rather than a "war story," it has some faults. The chief flaw in this book is that it lacks context, as do so many of these modern war tales ("instant histories") we find rushed to print seemingly before the smoke has cleared from the ruined enemy vehicles in the wake of US armored columns. Mr. Zucchino unfortunately gives us VERY little background information about the reason for these runs, why they were important, how they were really supposed to topple Sadam, and what they really did. There's very little perspective from above. We get lots of shooting, good impressions of the men involved, and get a great picture of what these mostly young soldiers were required to do, but not much else to put things in perspective, esp. at the high command level. For example: Zucchino has a great description of when the task force's TOC gets hit by a missle or rocket, and the utter confusion and devastation this event caused for men and equipment. However, we never find out more details about the attack--where did the rocket come from? How'd they make such a direct hit? After the battle, did anybody in the Army figure out who fired it and were these "bad guys" taken out? Several places like this in the book make it limited in its scope.

I picked this up to read on a month long travel trip. I ended up reading it in one sitting! Consequently, Im very glad I had also purchased a few other titles on the same topic. I really good read, disturbing and terrifying at times with a great deal of insight, but a great read.

This is hands-down the most compelling book I've read so far on the war in Iraq. It made me late going back to work during several lunch hours because I just couldn't put it down until I finished another chapter.

I think too many people have this image of the invasion being an absolute cakewalk -- this book will put that notion to rest in a big hurry. The soldiers faced some ferocious fighting during their push into Baghdad and Zucchino paints a very vivid picture of it.

Outstanding account of the two Thunder Runs into Baghdad by TF 1-64 Armor (5 Apr 03) and 2nd Bde, 3rd ID(M). From individual tank/Bradley commanders and Soldiers to the brigade and battalion commanders, this riveting account of the battles gives a good view of the planning and execution involved. This shows the gritty side of war at the lower tactical level, bringing home timeless lessons on the battlefield. A great addition to any military professional's library!

Zucchino's book Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad seems to be one of teh best accounts of the 3rd IDs "Thunder Run" into Baghdad. I've recelently read a lot of literature on the invasion of Iraq, including excellent books such as One Bullet Away by Nathaniel Fick and Generation Kill by Evan Wright which highlight the Marine advance and feign that helped contribute to the fall of Saddam, as well as other books about the Army's advance, to include Rick Atkinson's excellent account on the 101st Airborne. However, there have been relatively few books out there that have been able to concentrate on a specific battle. That's not to say that its such a bad thing. Many of the books listed above provide incredible insight into the commander's thoughts and the experiences of the troops through the 23 day advance and even the pre-invasion deployments of the 3rd ID to camp Doha, then Yankee, etc.
Nonetheless, Zuccino's book is an excellent overview of the troubles and successes of the Spartan Brigades experiences in Baghdad, the ferocity of the battle, the trepidation and elation of the soldiers, and the brutality that goes with war and the loss of comrades. Immediatley the author is shot en-media-rez into the action during the night that the brigade receives the WARNO and then the hasty OPORD to go to battle. Zuccino then takes the reader on a harrowing adventure of the first Thunder Run which killed or wounded an estimated 1,200 enemy and then the brave decision to move the brigade to the center of the city and hold it.
But the adventure isn't as easy as it seems and the reader begins to understand the complexities of keeping this force alive, supplied, and preventing it from being isolated. Zuccino takes you to the brutal intersections of Larry, Moe, and Curly, Saddam's palace, and the staging point of BIAP, then Saddam International Airport. Zuccino's task, like Mark Bowden with the Battle of Mogadishu, was immense: to study and disseminate the pivitol battle of the war, and he succeeds magnificiently.

As a Marine veteran, this book gave alot of good ideas. The authors tell you different aspect of how the Marine Corps is ran and they explain why the Marines do this and how to implement it into the business world.

It's a good book. There are a lot of leadership techniques in here that can be applied. There is also a lot of information about the Marines, which is interesting. For a leadership book, I could have used less information about the Marines and more about leadership in business, but it's good for what it is.
One thing, the chapter on women dealt with sexual harrassment, mostly. I think that with everything women deal with (lower pay, glass ceiling, family life, etc) there could have been more info on women and less on sexual harrassment. That could have been a seperate chapter.

Semper Fi does a good job of relating the organizational and cultural strengths of the Marine Corps to successful essentials for corporate America. The beginning of the book emphasizes the importance of recruiting and maintaining the enthusiasm and energy or new hires. The book keeps it focus on sharing the attributes of the Marine Corps' organizational attributes contributing to its success rather than organizing around what corporate America needs and how the Marine Corps has solved those problems. Strongly recommended for HR professionals and managers leading large organizations. Always a good book for former Marines although some may remember a few details of Marine life differently.

Want to develop sound leadership and solid loyalty? This book clears up many of the misconceptions of USMC training and brings the same form of positive supportive leadership into the civilian and business world. Leadership is more than just telling people what to do. Leadership is established by being in the front lines with all your "troops". It's you're willingness to get your shoes just as dirty as anyone else's while providing an example of being out in front and at the same time making sure that everyone is up there with you. You, the leader, are the example! It is extremely well-written and should be in any top sensei's [martial arts instructor's] book collection. Dan Carrison is one of my Black Belts. I recommend this book to all my black belts!

In case you want to know how this 175,000 strong force is led/managed to live up to the "Send the Marines" legend, you will be largely satisfied. Many unique features, including the Buddy System (two friends get recruited, trained, and deployed together), Tour of Duty (a Marine can opt to remain or transfer several times during the enlistment period of four years), the strong emphasis on quality HR and recruiters, the "Crucible" (the 54 sleepless hours of hellish training with only one meal), the need for an officer/NCO to be better in all aspects (esp physically) than his fellow men till his retirement and so on are vividly discussed. However, I am obliged to comment that the successful principles of USMC are not readily applicable to the commercial world, primarily because, as per pg 123, "Unlike the Marine Corps, the workplace environment is not one of self sacrifice. Employees are motivated much more by self interest than by the collective good and are not shy about asking, "Why did he or she get this assignment and not me?" Anyway, this is definitely a good read. Highly recommended!

Below please find my most favorite passages for your reference:-

One of the legends every NCO has heard tells of a young officer who did not return an enlisted man's salute - and was subsequently ordered by the renowned Marine general Chesty Puller to stand there and salute the nervous private one hundred times. pg 66

The "monkey experiment" is a classic laboratory experiment that illustrates exactly what the Marines try to avoid - the thoughtless passing from one group to another of a learned tradition. Six monkeys were put into a cage in which bananas were suspended by chains...when a monkey pulled on the bananas, the entire group received a shower of cold water. It didnt take long for the six monkeys to learn that the bananas were to be left alone. A new monkey was then introduced into the group, while one of the original monkeys were removed. Of course, the newcomer saw the bananas and thought it was in monkey paradise. But, as it climbed upward, the five remaining original monkeys would actually prevent it from reaching the bananas.....Other newcomers were introduced, for each one, a monkey from the original group was removed.....Soon, none of the original group was left in the cage, yet the bananas were undisturbed - by monkeys who had never felt the cold shower themselves and who did not know why the bananas were to be left alone. pg 115

Today, teams of recruits clash in the pugil stick circle so that one learns not to just fight for himself but for his buddy as well. If his buddies are "killed", the remaining recruit must defend himself against multiple attackers, who close in intelligently, as a team. Thus teamwork is taught while defending and attacking. pg 130

If a manager has not called his own customer service desk in a week, then he has no idea how many times the phone will ring before it is answered, how politely the customer will be greeted, how willingly that customer will be helped and then thanked. pg 171

p.s. Semper Fidelis (Always Faihtful), the motto of USMC, is an indication of how much value is placed upon the virtue of loyalty.

Easy Company from Band of Brothers revisited. Two of the men who became lifelong friends relate their stories. Easy to read and gives you a sense of war from men who were there. They were indeed a Band of Brothers.

Like many veterans of WW2 these two men say they are not heros, that title they insist , belongs to the boys who didn't come home.

Then what are they? They are two enlisted men who fought in some of the most savage fighting in western Europe during World War Two. The charm of this book is that these men are not officers. They were enlisted men. They were not involved in any big meetings or planning sessions. They took their orders and did their job and their shared memoire is that of the foot soldier on the battlefield. From training, through D-Day to VE and beyond.

Strangley some of the parts I found most moving were their lives after the war. When 'Wild Bill' became one of the driving forces behind the reunions that held the Band of Brothers together. Particularly touching the attmepts to welcome back Herbert Sobel. Hated during the war, he was still a mamber of the company. through the wonderful writing you feel you are there as Bill and Babe and the others are confronted by Sobel's sister, after his death. She was insensed over how her brother was depicted by Ambrose. It fell to "Wild Bill" once the chief hell raiser, to explain some hard facts to her, long after he clearly had forgiven Sobel.

These are not plaster saints but tell their stories, warts and all, gamlbing, drinking and girls rank along side battles and jumping and all the rest. Playing jokes on each other, dodging uptight officers and mourning those whom they would call heros.

So why is this getting so much attention? Well it's very well written. Also, well known from the Ambros book "Band of Brothers" and the HBO series these two men, and the other members of Easy Company, 506 PIR have come to represent all those GI's who went to war. We can hear about 10,000 men going into Arnhem or 90,000 going to Stalingrad, but the numbers are too big. We can't wrap our minds around them. But with Easy Company we can. We can see a few men and names and follow their fates through the war and so, by expansion all the others who served in the war. We can't think of 10,000 men. But we can think of Bill and Babe and their buddies and then a few more companies like them and that we can get.

They were members of an elite unit, but other than that they were pretty common. They are two examples of the millions of americans who put aside their lives and comfort and safety and went out to do nothing less than save the world. You know, that seems pretty darn heroic to me.

After watching Band of Brothers, I couldn't wait to read this book by "Wild Bill" Guarnere and "Babe" Heffron. It really gives you an insight into what went through their minds during the hell of WWII, but the most poignant thing is the enduring love and friendship all of these guys still have for each other. It's a lesson we all should learn.

In "Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends", Bill Guarnere and Babe Heffron not only tell us more in-depth stories of their Easy Company exploits but give us a true insight into the bonds formed in battle that most of the rest of us never experience let alone understand. Heffron and Guarnere grew up literally just blocks from each other on the tough streets of Depression era Philadelphia with the same strengths that would see them through the toughest of times during the Battle of the Bulge and the siege of Bastogne during the bitter Winter of 1944-45. We learn of the toughness ingrained into their generation and the street-wise attitudes that lent them the drive to be among the Army's best, the Parachute Infantry. That same savvy enabled them to continue to survive some of the toughest actions and conditions of WWII in the European Theater of Operations.

Bill was a tough sergeant, the prototypical inspirational leader of his men. Leading always by example, he not only lead them in combat but also looked after them like a doting father, especially when meeting Babe as Heffron joined Easy Company as a replacement at Aldbourne, the 506th Regt's. English home following Easy's Normandy exploits.

Robyn Post has done a marvelous job of compiling her interviews of these men not only humanizing each of their personalities but without adding her own to the mix.

If you are interested in first-person information on Easy's exploits in battle with the warmth and humor that only these two B of B can tell them, then please buy this book. Following a more than 60 year friendship forged in the toughest of times is educational, humorous and above all, inspirational.

Brother's In Battle by Bill Guarnere and Babe Heffron was an excellent book. It helped to explain so much of the background material that made up Band Of Brothers. It was so hard to put this book down.

Thunder Below By Admiral Eugene Fluckey has provided many hours of pleasure for my
husband. He has read and reread this several times. He feel like he is right among
the men the way the stories are told. I have just purchased his second copy as a gift
as he has worn the first one out. Wonderful Submarine involvement, Great reading!

I bought this book seeing the Positive 5 star reviews and I am glad I did.
What a Great Read, I finished this book today. I was impressed at how Cdr. Flukey worked with his men.
The enlisted men of the Barb were first rate and the fact he was an officer and Captain of the boat need not matter. Some Captains of a boat separate themselves from the enlisted men which hinders relationships and productivity.
With this respect, every patrol was sucessful. The Barbs 11th overall and Cdr Flukeys 4th was the best.

He then pleaded with his superior officers to have one more go on the Barb which made it his 5th and final, The War was in its final stages and I was amused at, instead of war, he seemed to be having a blast literally!!
No problems, only solutions.......

Great Book Great Sub.......God Bless All who served!!

No doubt about it, this is the absolute BEST American submarine account out there that I have read. Usually I tell folks if you want an exciting submarine warfare book you need to read the German stuff, but now I finally have an American account to recommend. This guy had b$^ls that clanked and knew when and how to push things to the brink. Get it, read it, you will LOVE it!!!

I consider this the best written and most enjoyable book I have read on submarine's in the Pacific in WWII.

A great account of the exploits of the Barb and her gallant crew. The skipper, Gene Fluckey, was one of the most daring of US submarine captains. I loved this book!!

You will not find a more diffinitive book on the Luftwaffe's activites in
operation Blau. I was happy to see that the siege of Sevastopol was well covered, I have found so little information in other books about that epic siege. The book does a very good job in explaining the terrible conditions at the outlying airfields trying to supply the 6th army,the lack of fuel,spare parts and the horrific weather conditions.
Hitler decided to try and take the Caucausas oil fields as well as Stalingrad. They had forces to take one,not both. They would have had much
greater success if they had just bombed the oil fields especially Baku which represented 80% of Russia's oil. Army group A and B could have bypassed Stalingrad,cutting the Volga river traffic and with a pincer movement, enveloped the Russian armies coming to the aid of Stalingrad.
Field Marshal's von Bock and List did all they could and were treated unfairly by Hitler. This book is great in showing the leadership qualities of Wolfram von Richthofen,clearly the most outstanding Lutwaffe commander of World War2.

This is a very good description of Luftwaffe Operations on the Eastern Front. It has good background information speciffically about the economic side of it. Decisions made based on oil supply's rather than military objectives. Very interesting material.
The only bad thing about this book is that the editing comes across as very sloppy. German names are often misspelled or incorrect. It is not Manstein, but von Manstein, not Bock, but von Bock, not Kluge, but von Kluge.
Also it is not Count von Sponneck but Graf von Sponneck. If you overlook those issues, it is a very good book

Very thoroughly researched book. Could have explained infantry operations in a little more detail after all most of the movements of the Luftwaffe happened in direct support of infantry movement. Could have given a little bit more weightage to characteristic traits of leaders involved in action. But all in all a very lucidly written book a definite buy for anyone interested in eastern theater of WWII

This book is a treasure. Saying it deals with just the Luftwaffe effort does not really address the scope of the book. In addition to the author's fabulous treatment of air operations, it has some great stuff on naval operations in the Crimea. This book is an absolute MUST for your WWII library. This guy is a lecturer at some college in New Zealand. Get him to some University in the USA!!

Anthony Beevor's wife and publisher (the well-connected Hon. Artemis Cooper, no less) had her publicity machine whip his good book on Stalingrad into a huge international best-seller. That's perfectly okay. I liked Beevor's book very much, and do commend it to readers. But Beevor's isn't the most authoritative and analytical book on Stalingrad, that frightful, turning-point battle. Joel Hayward's book is! I'm pleased that, while it has never sold as many copies, Hayward's uniquely-conceived book has earned fantastic reviews and been quoted and acknowledged as highly-influential (and mandatory reading) by almost every subsequent writer on the eastern front, including Glantz, Erickson etc.

Hayward's book masterfully explains why, strategically, Hitler planned a major campaign in 1942 after not winning in the east during the previous year. It superbly elucidates why, even though the city of Stalingrad was never one of that major campaign's goals, Hitler then became distracted by it, to the point whereby its capture mattered more than the Caucasus oilfields he was originally, and very rationally, committed to seizing and exploiting.

Hayward's book also analyses air power and joint-service matters but always relates these in a seamless way to ground battles and operations. His book is therefore strikingly-different to all previous, army-focused books on Stalingrad (including Beevor's) which barely mentioned air power despite it dominating all successful battles during 1942, in and around Stalingrad itself, and during the air-lift.

Hayward's analysis of that increasingly-futile and tragic air-lift, and its highly skilful defeat by the Red Air force and Red Army, is by far the most original, complete, meticulously-researched (all from unpublished archival sources) and informative ever written.

I cannot recommend this original, insightful book highly enough. Buy Beevor's journalistic book, of course. But you must buy this volume if you want a thorough, analytical, scholarly work that explains why things happened and what it all meant.

this book may or may not be true, but if it is not then it's probably based on one or more true stories. it is told from the first person, and is very exciting. it does jump around some, leaving wide gaps of time. it is the story of an SS commander as the german army surrenders, and after. it also details the mens handeling of communist terrorists, and the battles they engaged in. there is lots of action and an intersting echo of todays events. this is a book i highly recomend. particularly for VETs of the current war on terror.

I loved this book. I don't believe as a christian that this is necessarily the right approach to win a war, but it is indisputable that you can win a war using Hans Josef Wagenmuellers methods.

This is a great story for all of the reasons mentioned in the other reviews, but the writing is really second rate. The use of exclamation points is childish in many instances.

Well worth your time if you can get your hands on one.

I enjoyed The Five Fingers by Gayle Rivers more than Devil's Guard.

It is another may or may not be true war story set in Southeast Asia.

To a soldier conflict and combat are the mainstay of his vocation and profession after a certain point the victor and vanquished become little more than facts to be minded by the history keepers (usually the victors) and refered too by the participants in abbreviated rhetoric and broken dialogs. The author has done the reader a great service in the delivery of this redition of the activities and experiences of soldiers as they traverse the perilious and unforgiving realm of those involved in the arena. The fact that this material is non fiction affords the reader the added benefit of being a glimpse of history rearely exposed from a participants perspective.

This book purports to be a barely edited transcription of "18 days" of continuous tape-recorded narrative by Elford (a zoologist working somewhere in Southeast Asia) of a former Waffen-SS non-commissioned officer, encountered by the "editor" in a local bar. Unfortunately, the "Devil's Guard" is just a bad novel. There are too many historical anachronisms for this tale to even vaguely approximate a factual recounting. For example, the author refers to a French encampent at Dien Bien Phu, which places at least half of the action on or after March, 1954. As the defeat was not mentioned, it was before May, 1954 and as there was no reference to the battle, it's got to be before November, 1954. Within a page or so (in the Hailer Publishing edition, anyhow), our protagonist mentions working with a British military man who "fought in the Malayan Emergency for 3 years": the Emergency was declared in 1948 and ended in 1960. In order for there to be an encampment at Dien Bien Phu and for the British soldier to have fought for 3 years, the action had to have taken place in a very short time span in early 1954. This seems to contradict the chronology, as the narrator and his pals were former SS who left Europe in 1945 and joined the FFL around 1946. There was absolutely nothing in the story to suggest they were fighting for over 7 years at the time these references were made. Additionally, noted authorities on the French Foreign Legion, such as Bernard Fall, do not describe a unit comprised of German nationals, exclusively, much less one that was all former SS. Finally, none of the massacres nor any of the French FFL officers named appear to have existed. Aside from these major flaws, the approach to "counter-terrorism" espoused by Wagemueller, the putative principal of this yarn, was just that used to such worthless effect in the USSR. By thoroughly alienating the civilian population, the Wehrmacht was left without "native" allies and without indigenous support. A much more effective approach was outlined by David Galula in his seminal work, "Counterisurgency Warfare". If you are looking for a comic book or cartoonish tale, this might be for you. If an historical account is your object, look elsewhere.

The Real Deal! No "Steve Mcqueen" character, but everyone a true hero.The Great Escape

It's a shame the publisher decided to put a picture on the cover of Steve McQueen wrapped up in the barbed wire at the end of his big motorcycle escape attempt. Because, you see, that never happened in the TRUE story of the Great Escape contained in this book. The movie (while good) took serious dramatic license, while Brickhill's book presents the facts. And they are quite inspiring and thrilling enough without the addition of fictional elements such as McQueen's stunt riding.
I first read this book while in elementary school, and was hooked to the extent that I've read it many times since over the decades. A truly outstanding story.

If you want to know how to make something out of nothing, this is the book for you. I've been reading and re-reading this book since early childhood and that's how I learned to make a needed item out of just what was at hand. McGyver had NUTHIN' on these guys.

MRS. Dee Schauer
Texas

I love the movie the Great Escape and I loved reading the book it was based on. The movie did an excellant job of following the book but reading the book gave me so much more of an understanding of what these men went through and the courage they had. To truely understand the courage these men had and what they went through, you have to read the book.

This is the (true) story of the efforts of a multinational group of POWs to escape during WW2, and led to what is one of my favourite films.

I anticipated the book to be a bit of a let down after seeing the movie, but it really wasn't. They emphasize quite different aspects, and some parts of the movie were clearly made up with entertainment value in mind (people jumping motorcycles over fences for instance!). I can't blame the movie makers of course, because the compelling essence of this story is the daily slog of tunnelling set against the backdrop of the mind-numbing drudgery of incarceration. No movie could be long enough to get this point across, but the book allows one to build up a better picture of what captivity was like, particularly because it provides such incredible details. I was really struck by the ingenious ways the prisoners found to fake German uniforms and official passes, improvise tools, and build radios and other vital pieces of equipment. The book provides sufficient descriptions to allow you to get an impression of the main characters and camp layout, though I personally would have enjoyed a few photographs of the people involved (good and bad), though I realise these wouldn't have been easy to obtain.

The author has a relatively dry style typical of a historian rather than a dramatist, and at times relates key events remarkably passionately. The book ratchets up the tension without having to try too hard however, and I could sense the tension that existed whenever the guards entered the barracks to check for tunnels. The depression that accompanies every uncovered tunnel jumps out of the page, as does the resolve to keep trying to escape without ever accepting captivity.

I was also pleased that the author described the events some time after the final escape, so that I could see how thoroughly the Allied authorities pursued the main protagonists, and what was their evetual fate.

This book was a fine testament to the memory of the brave men who didn't wilt despite literally years of incarceration in conditions that can best be desribed as spartan. If they had all died without anyone knowing their story the world would be a poorer place.

I don't think anybody really supported the Soviets when they invaded Afghanistan in 1979-1980. Most Westerners thought the Soviet action was barbaric. Tamarov in his picture book makes us aware of the human side with the Russian soldiers. Most were following their duty and doing their "international duty". Many were killed in the low grade guerilla war that followed the invasion. Tarmarov was a mine sweeper, and he was constantly exposed to danger. Several of his friends paid the price of their occupation. One wonders about the similarities with American verterans of the Vietnam War. In fact, Tamarov meets some of these verterans at the end of the book, and they have a lot in common.

There is some writing in this large picture book. The writing did not flow smoothly, but the pictures were great. They show the guerrilla war in Afghanistan from the Russian perspective.

Here is a riveting memoir by Vladislav Tamarov. In 1984 men were drafted into the Soviet Army at the age of eighteen. There was no choice. Unless you were in college or disabled, you served. Many men broke their legs to avoid serving. Others, the more wealthy, bribed their way out. Vlad was in college two years when the law changed and he was off to boot camp. Training the men needed, they never received. Training the men did NOT need, they got. (For example, lots of time was spent learning to parachute, even though it was a well known fact that no one used parachutes in Afghanistan.)

Vlad was born January 12, 1965. His "Date of Military Service Application" was April 26, 1984. This memoir really began when an officer walked up to Vlad at a distribution center and asked, "Do you want to serve in the commandos, the Blue Berets?" Vlad kept a tiny calendar where he crossed off his six hundred and twenty-one days, one-at-a-time. Vlad kept detailed records of each mission he participated in. He had his own little code, shown in this memoir. Two hundred and seventeen of those days were spent on combat missions. In addition to Vlad's coded diary, he secretly took many photographs. This book has dozens of the pictures littered throughout, and makes a powerful impact on those who read it.

***** Vlad, a minesweeper, portrays the horrors of war in vivid details. The reader can almost hear the explosions nearby and smell the fear of being shot at. Once you have read THIS book, you will never forget it! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch.

An excellent book! Lots of powerful pictures. Purchased the book from Amazon while serving in Afghanistan. Lots of flash backs/forwards in the story line, which I could have done without. But all together it's a well written, interesting book, which depicts a Soviet Solders tour of duty in Afghanistan.

This is the most amazing book I have read all year! It's not just a story, in his own words, from a young Russian soldier in that terrible place, but it is a photo book full of the most beautiful but tragic black and white photos. You see the haunted faces of Vladimir Tamarov (the author and photographer) and his brother soldiers, many of which did not make it back. And as you read his haunted words, how he came back and could not ever be the same, how his friends who died there visit him in his dreams. They were eighteen and nineteen but they look sixteen. The title "Soviet Vietnam" is quite haunting. I believe if I met the author now I would be reminded of our own boys who were damaged by Vietnam. They also were just draftees (conscripts) in a place where they did not want to be. As for our soldiers who are now in Afghanistan, it's true they are fighting the same vicious enemy as Vladimir did! But, don't our men look ever so much better fed, and organized, and equipped, and trained, then those poor Soviet conscripts? I reccommend this book so highly, I would personally buy a copy for all my friends.

As a paratrooper currently serving my second tour in Afghanistan (and third in the desert overall), I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Soviet conflict of the 1980s. The photographs provide insight into Afghanistan's terrain and climate, and I used this book to illustrate several points to my subordinates as we were preparing for this deployment. The author's writing is heartfelt.