Book picks similar to
Spec Ops: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare: Theory and Practice by William H. McRaven
military
history
non-fiction
military-history
Cyberspies: The Secret History of Surveillance, Hacking, and Digital Espionage
Gordon Corera - 2015
The book is rich with historical detail and characters, as well as astonishing revelations about espionage carried out in recent times by the UK, US, and China. Using unique access to the National Security Agency, GCHQ, Chinese officials, and senior executives from some of the most powerful global technology companies, Gordon Corera has gathered compelling stories from heads of state, hackers and spies of all stripes.Cyberspies is a ground-breaking exploration of the new space in which the worlds of espionage, diplomacy, international business, science, and technology collide.
Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander
Gary Berntsen - 2005
As disturbingly eye-opening as it is adrenaline-charged, Jawbreaker races from CIA war rooms to diplomatic offices to mountaintop redoubts to paint a vivid portrait of a new kind of warfare, showing what can and should be done to deal a death blow to freedom’s enemies.
Last Stand: Famous Battles Against the Odds
Bryan Perrett - 1991
This best-selling collection gathers 13 examples of such battles, which often influence entire campaigns. Alongside less well-known cases, appear some of the most unforgettable campaigns: Napoleon at Waterloo, the Alamo, Little Big Horn, Rorke's Drift, and Arnhem Bridge. "...part of the...Cassell Military Classics series...hair-raising stories of military skirmishes throughout history."--Library Journal.
Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power
Victor Davis Hanson - 2001
Offering riveting battle narratives and a balanced perspective that avoids simple triumphalism, Carnage and Culture demonstrates how armies cannot be separated from the cultures that produce them and explains why an army produced by a free culture will always have the advantage.
The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21st Century
Thomas X. Hammes - 2004
And we have done so three times - in Vietnam, Lebanon, and Somalia. This form of warfare has also defeated the French in Vietnam and Algeria, and the USSR in Afghanistan.As the only Goliath left in the world, we should be worried that the world's Davids have found a sling and stone that work." - Chapter 1, The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21st Century. The War in Iraq. The War on Terror. These types of "asymmetrical" warfare are the conflicts of the 21st century - and show how difficult it is for the world's remaining superpower to battle insurgents and terrorists who will fight unconventionally in the face of superior military power. This change in military conflict may seem sudden.
A Rumor of War
Philip Caputo - 1977
Caputo landed at Danang with the first ground combat unit deployed to Vietnam. Sixteen months later, having served on the line in one of modern history’s ugliest wars, he returned home—physically whole but emotionally wasted, his youthful idealism forever gone.A Rumor of War is far more than one soldier’s story. Upon its publication in 1977, it shattered America’s indifference to the fate of the men sent to fight in the jungles of Vietnam. In the years since then, it has become not only a basic text on the Vietnam War but also a renowned classic in the literature of wars throughout history and, as the author writes, of "the things men do in war and the things war does to them.""Heartbreaking, terrifying, and enraging. It belongs to the literature of men at war."--Los Angeles Times Book Review
Six Silent Men, Book Two
Kenn Miller - 1997
It was a bitter pill. After working on their own in Vietnam for more than two years, the Brigade LRRPs were ordered to join forces with the division once again.But even as these formidable hunters and killers were themselves swallowed up by the Screaming Eagles' Division LRPs to eventually become F Co., 58th Infantry, they continued the deadly, daring LRRP tradition. From saturation patrols along the Laotian border to near-suicide missions and compromised positions in the always dangerous A Shau valley, the F/58th unflinchingly faced death every day and became one of the most highly decorated companies in the history of the 101st.
Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War
Paul Scharre - 2018
Today around the globe, at least thirty nations have weapons that can search for and destroy enemy targets all on their own. Paul Scharre, a leading expert in next-generation warfare, describes these and other high tech weapons systems—from Israel’s Harpy drone to the American submarine-hunting robot ship Sea Hunter—and examines the legal and ethical issues surrounding their use. “A smart primer to what’s to come in warfare” (Bruce Schneier), Army of None engages military history, global policy, and cutting-edge science to explore the implications of giving weapons the freedom to make life and death decisions. A former soldier himself, Scharre argues that we must embrace technology where it can make war more precise and humane, but when the choice is life or death, there is no replacement for the human heart.
Code Warriors: NSA's Code Breakers and the Secret Intelligence War Against the Soviet Union
Stephen Budiansky - 2016
The National Security Agency grew out of the legendary codebreaking programs of World War II that turned the tide of Allied victory by cracking the famed Enigma machine and other seemingly impenetrable German and Japanese codes. But things became murky in the postwar years, when our intelligence community found itself targeting not battlefield enemies, but suspected spies, foreign leaders, and even American citizens. Now Stephen Budiansky--a longtime expert in cryptology--tells the fascinating story of how the NSA came to be, and of its central, often fraught and controversial role in the major events of the Cold War, from the Korean War to the Cuban Missile Crisis to Vietnam and beyond. He also guides us through the fascinating challenges faced by cryptanalysts, and how they broke some of the most complicated codes of the twentieth century. A riveting, essential history of the underbelly of the Cold War.
The Men Who Stare at Goats
Jon Ronson - 2004
Army. Defying all known accepted military practice -- and indeed, the laws of physics -- they believed that a soldier could adopt a cloak of invisibility, pass cleanly through walls, and, perhaps most chillingly, kill goats just by staring at them. Entrusted with defending America from all known adversaries, they were the First Earth Battalion. And they really weren't joking. What's more, they're back and fighting the War on Terror. With firsthand access to the leading players in the story, Ronson traces the evolution of these bizarre activities over the past three decades and shows how they are alive today within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and in postwar Iraq. Why are they blasting Iraqi prisoners of war with the theme tune to Barney the Purple Dinosaur? Why have 100 debleated goats been secretly placed inside the Special Forces Command Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina? How was the U.S. military associated with the mysterious mass suicide of a strange cult from San Diego? The Men Who Stare at Goats answers these and many more questions.
Clausewitz: A Very Short Introduction
Michael Eliot Howard - 1983
His study On War was described by the American strategic thinker Bernard Brodie as not simply the greatest, but the only great book about war. It is hard to disagree. Even though he wrote his only major work at a time when the range of firearms was fifty yards, much of what he had to say remains relevant today. Michael Howard explains Clausewitz's ideas in terms both of his experiences as a professional soldier in the Napoleonic Wars, and of the intellectual background of his time.
Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World: Equipment, Combat Skills and Tactics
Matthew Bennett - 2005
The book explores the unique tactics required to win battles with the technology available, and demonstrates how little has changed in some respects of the art of war.The book is divided into five chapters covering the main elements of medieval warfare: infantry, cavalry, generalship, siege warfare, and naval combat. Each chapter features four major battles to demonstrate the strengths, pitfalls, and characteristics of the style of warfare.Using specially-commisioned color and black-and-white artwork to illustrate the battles, equipment, and tactics of the era, Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World shows in detail the methods by which armies, including Norman, Crusader, and Mongol forces, prevailed over their foes, and why other armies were less successful. The book is an essential companion for any reader interested in warfare in the medieval age.
The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia
Peter Hopkirk - 1990
Those engaged in this shadowy struggle called it 'The Great Game', a phrase immortalized in Kipling's Kim. When play firstbegan the two rival empires lay nearly 2,000 miles apart. By the end, some Russian outposts were within 20 miles of India.This book tells the story of the Great Game through the exploits of the young officers, both British and Russian, who risked their lives playing it. Disguised as holy men or native horsetraders, they mapped secret passes, gathered intelligence, and sought the allegiance of powerful khans. Some neverreturned.
George C. Marshall: Soldier Statesman of the American Century
Mark A. Stoler - 1989
From his first combat duty in the Philippines at the turn of the century, through both World Wars, into the cold war and the Korea conflict, Marshall was a key figure in devising and implementing U.S. military strategies and foreign policies. Stoler emphasizes the years 1939-1951, while Marshall served as World War II army chief of staff, special presidential representative to China, secretary of state at the beginning of the cold war, and Korean War secretary of defense.
The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: An Enduring Debate
Scott D. Sagan - 2012
The new edition, An Enduring Debate, continues the important discussion of nuclear proliferation and the dangers of a nuclear-armed world. With new chapters on the questions surrounding a nuclear North Korea, Iran, and Iraq and the potential for a world free of nuclear weapons, this Third Edition will continue to generate a lively classroom experience.