Troops Books

I'm journalist, writer and my father is a military trainer. I recomend this book to everybody whowants to know something about military training and the Forces the keep the world in peace. Is a really good book.

Mostly, this is a collection of photographs of the SS. It has a large number of formal portraits in dress uniforms, when awards were being issued. There are also non-combatant photographs of troops in the field and on training exercises. A fair number of tank photographs as well. This is the only book I have seen with a moderate collection of photographs of the interior of buildings in the Bad Tolz and Braunschweig officer candidate schools. Read to see the contrasting fates of these two schools in the present day. Interesting things to look for: which well-known figure appears in 3 photographs with a perpetual grimmace, and which always has a bottle in his hand?

The history was written by individuals who were asked to provide information about their Loyalist ancestors. Lots of Family Histories.

Who's ever heard of Arditi? Me either. But this is what makes a title like this so wonderful. It puts light on a little known subject that is important to any Military, Italian or WWI historian. This book is part of the "Warrior Series" published by Osprey Publishing.

"Ardito" means literally "Audacious Man," and you will learn so much more about this elite unit of the Italian Army that served in World War I and into the internal unrest that Italy suffered right after the great war. The book by great academic, former soldier and historian Angelo Pirocchi is written in a style that is flowing, easy to read and packed with information. The differing chapters cover origins, recruitment, training, equipment and daily life. The illustrations are wonderfully rendered by Velimer Vuksic in a fresh style with lots of eye-catching details. Photographs, lists and maps help to round out the information and bring it all together, even to the casual reader. Osprey, as usual, has made the most of the 60-plus pages in this book.

I was really impressed by this book. It is all encompassing and covers every detail without getting bogged down in details. Excellent!

The Leader's Imperative: Ethics, Integrity, And Responsibility edited by J. Carl Ficarrotta is a complete presentation of the Reich and McDermott lectures on military ethics and leadership given at the U.S. Air Force Academy from the years 1988 to 1999. Assembling the words and thoughts of more than twenty veterans of high standing, these twenty lectures combine to address the ethics of warfare, moral education, keeping a center of values in the midst of deadly combat, and much more. The Leader's Imperative is eye-opening reading and filled cover-to-cover with thought provoking testimony about addressing the practical and very real problem of balancing the necessary evils of war with the necessary virtues of respect for human rights.

Since paper was expensive in the 1700s, we have very few writings from the Burgoyne campaign in Vermont, and even fewer from women. This book of excerpts from the diary of Baroness Riedesel is a wonderful insight from a woman's viewpoint of this campaign. While it necessarily is primarily from the English/Hessian side of the campaign, Baroness Riedesel also comments on the colonials she sees.

The translation is smooth, readable and reflects an interesting personality.

I highly recommend this book.

This isn't a front line battle story, but rather the chronicle of one man who lived the war supporting his fellow troops from the inside. More than 60 years later, Hathaway tells his story with a lifetime of perspective juxtaposed against the youthful enthusiasm of his letters home, saved by his mother as she prayed for his safe return.

Hathaway paints a picture of life as a wartime recruit, from the time he enlists (leaning on the front edge of the scale to add pounds needed to meet the weight requirement), through his pilot training, and finally into the Pacific to serve his country. LETTERS HOME is a valuable read for anyone interested in WWII aviation, as Hathaway (flying troops before he was old enough to drink) shares the details of training and flying the B-25, C-46, and C-47. From his stories of hung-over flight instructors, to landing on blown out tires, he never fails to entertain.

And yet, each step of his story is told with the humble authenticity of a man looking only to share the history that he lived with the reader. This book offers a rare glimpse into the day to day life of one young man doing his part, for his country.

This is a cartoon history written by Charles T. Waltman, that chronicles key events in the life in the 84th Troop Carrier Squadron. Waltman, one of the squadron's pilots, uses humorous cartoons to highlight key events in the life of the squadron from basic training to the D-Day invasion and on through VE Day. This book was very popular and in high demand during Troop Carrier Reunions and is still prized by family members. Journey to the Far Shore by Frank Guild Jr. offers a historical perspective of the 437th and explains some of the "inside jokes" shown in Waltman's book.

This book is the true experience of a crew chief who flew with his plane dropping paratroopers and supplies in WWII's European theatre. It reads like the author is sitting and talking with you about all the things that happened to him as a very young man
who saw the service as a way to get out of, as he puts it, spending his life "looking up a mule's butt." Very honest, down-to-earth story.

It's really a shame this book is out of print, as it is just as good as the more famous Ambrose books. The reason "The Making of a Paratrooper" reads so well is that Kurt Gabel was a paratrooper and participant in everything he describes...something Ambrose can't claim. His is a light, easy style of prose that reads easily, yet conveys the emotions, both high and low, of war. Friends blown to pieces or shot in the head right next to you. Moments of hilarity and joy...or the abject misery of fighting in hellish conditions. It's all here, from the beginnings in the tough jump school--it's amazing how hard these men trained--to the bloody European battlefields. All I can say is, this book pulls you in and keeps you there in a way that few tomes do. It is well worth the purchase. I might also add that Dr. William Mitchell, a paratrooper in the same Airborne outfit as Kurt Gabel and who wrote the final chapter of "The Making of a Paratrooper," was my political science professor at the University of Oregon in Eugene. He still proudly wears his paratrooper beret.