Book picks similar to
A Country Such as This by James Webb


fiction
historical-fiction
military-fiction
military

About Face: Odyssey Of An American Warrior


David H. Hackworth - 1989
    Hackworth presents a vivid and powerful portrait of a life of patriotism.From age fifteen to forty David Hackworth devoted himself to the US Army and fast became a living legend. In 1971, however, he appeared on television to decry the doomed war effort in Vietnam. With About Face, he has written what many Vietnam veterans have called the most important book of their generation.From Korea to Berlin, from the Cuban missile crisis to Vietnam, Hackworth’s story is that of an exemplary patriot, played out against the backdrop of the changing fortunes of America and the American military. It is also a stunning indictment of the Pentagon’s fundamental misunderstanding of the Vietnam conflict and of the bureaucracy of self-interest that fuelled the war.Heavily decorated Colonel Hackworth narrates his life and disillusionment during Vietnam. Orphaned before he was a year old, he found his home at 15 in the Army. In Korea, heroism gave him a battlefield commission at 20. During the Cold War, he commanded at the Berlin wall and the Cuban missile crises. But Vietnam led to disillusionment.

This Kind of War: A Study in Unpreparedness


T.R. Fehrenbach - 1963
    Partly drawn from official records, operations journals, and histories, it is based largely on the compelling personal narratives of the small-unit commanders and their troops. Unlike any other work on the Korean War, it provides both a clear panoramic overview and a sharply drawn "you were there" account of American troops in fierce combat against the North Korean and Chinese communist invaders. As Americans and North Koreans continue to face each other across the 38th Parallel, This Kind of War commemorates the past and offers vital lessons for the future.

Once Upon a Distant War: David Halberstam, Neil Sheehan, Peter Arnett--Young War Correspondents and Their Early Vietnam Battles


William Prochnau - 1995
    "Prochnau . . . tells a Vietnam story we haven't heard before. . . . Complex, witty, and humane."--Tobias Wolff. of photos.

A Field of Innocence


Jack Estes - 1987
    He was a kid, eighteen years old. Married, broke, flunking out of college-and about to become a father. The Marines seemed like a good way out. He figured the Nam couldn't be any worse than home. He was wrong.Publishers Weekly says "Chilling...It tells how a youngster from Portland, Oregon matured in the crucible of combat...The reader is given a sense of what it's like to fight an unseen enemy who might appear anytime, anywhere and start shooting from ambush." Karl Marlantes, New York Times best selling author of "Matterhorn" calls "A Field of Innocence", "Powerful ...and riveting."Tim O'Brien, New York Times best selling author of "The Things They Carried" says, "With its raw realism and heartbreaking honesty...one of the finest Vietnam memoirs."Kirkus Review says A Field of Innocence is "Exciting and Impressive."

The Great Pacific War: A History of the American-Japanese Campaign of 1931-33


Hector C. Bywater - 1925
    Written 16 years before Pearl Harbor, Bywater, a leading naval authority during the period between the two world wars, prophesied: A Japanese surprise-attack attacks U.S. naval forces in the Pacific while negotiations between the two countries are still in progress. Japanese troops simultaneously invade the Philippines and Guam. Recognizing their limits, the Japanese hold off from any attempt to capture Hawaii. Instead, they retire the main body of their battle fleet and establish a nearly invulnerable web of iron in the Western Pacific!Author Biography: Hector C. Bywater was murdered in 1941

World's End


Upton Sinclair - 1940
    First published in 1940, the story covers the period from 1913 to 1919. This is the beginning of a monumental 7,340 page novel, the story of Lanny Budd, a young American, beginning in Europe in 1913. It is also an intimate record of a great world which fell victim to its own civilization. A new world was about to be born.

Rebels, Volume 1: A Well-Regulated Militia


Brian Wood - 2015
    With the War for Independence playing out across the colonies, young Seth and Mercy Abbott find their new marriage tested at every turn as the demands of the frontlines and the home front collide. Not merely rehashing the tales of the most famous men of the time, Rebels details the epic story of the colonists, explorers and traders, wives and daughters, farmers and volunteer soldiers who, in a few short, turbulent years, created the brand-new nation of America. With the American Revolution in the national zeitgeist, creators Brian Wood ("The Massive, DMZ, Northlanders") and Andrea Mutti ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Avengers") deliver a gripping piece of historical fiction with Rebels. Praise for the series: Thrilling . A comic with heart. --"COMIC BEAT" Rebels is a great & beautiful book! Read issue 1 & can't wait for the next one! "Matt Kindt, MIND MGMT" A fresh take on a familiar historical era. -- "LOS ANGELES TIMES/ HERO COMPLEX" The New World comes to life in a way you ve never see in it before. A comic. --"MAN CAVE DAILY" Like nothing you read in your school textbooks. --"NEWSARAMA" Rebels is a rare treat in the world of comic books today . The book offers a great start to a more intimate story of our country s founding, and is something that speaks a lot of truths about the state of our nation then and now. --"THE NERDIST" In Rebels, Wood focuses on the politics behind the war and the roiling discontent of the British colonists that eventually boiled over into eight years of bloody conflict . [Wood and c-creator Mutti] have produced a historical drama that s straightforward and easy to follow, but that doesn t shy away from exploring stickier issues like class divides, the role of women in the colonies, and the complex distinction between friend and foe. -"-VULTURE" Poignant and so incredibly powerful. --"POPMATTERS" One of Wood's biggest strengths is creating rich, believable characters with clear voices and "Rebels" is no different . Andrea Mutti delivers fast-paced action and panels full of emoting, active characters with spot-on design work Though it's set against the backdrop of the American Revolution, Wood and Mutti's "Rebels" is about basic human rights and the freedom to grow into a person or a country on one's own time. --"COMIC BOOK RESOURCES" An epic historical fiction that embodies the spirit of the American revolution like no other comic, has before. Wood has a proven track record for telling pulse pounding emotional stories. --"BLOODY DISGUSTING" You'll definitely want to check out [Wood s] latest creator-owned series. Rebels focuses on the many sides of the Revolutionary War conflict. [and] given Wood's track record with historical and politically-charged comics, we're expecting another winner. --"IGN" The art really steals the show in Rebels. Andrea Mutti s attention to detail and character design perfectly captured the 1770 s and the colonies. He was able to display his diverse talent by drawing serene forests of New Hampshire to the intense scenes of violence in the courthouse. Jordie Bellaire s colors are, naturally, beautiful and push the art to a different level. -"COMICOSITY" Fascinating. -"COMICVINE" Rebels #1 is a historical comic telling a story much different than what most publishers are producing. It is an exciting look back at a different time and an overlooked chapter in the American Revolution. History buffs will enjoy the story with its references to the overall big picture of the revolution. But the humanity of Seth Abbott and his family and friends give the story significance in how it affects everyday life. --"EXAMINER" The detailed and historically accurate artwork of Andrea Mutti (with the reliably rich coloring work from Jordie Bellaire) that really brings this to life. --"MENTAL FLOSS" Captivating. --"UNLEASH THE FANBOY" Excellent. -"FLICKERING MYTH" Andrea Mutti does a fantastic job of showcasing how bristly, dirty and violent fighting for freedom can be. -"BLOODY DISGUSTING " Very highly recommended. -"Si Spurrier" Brian Wood may be the best history teacher you never had. --"PASTE MAGAZINE" Absolutely entertaining, and thought-provoking. In today s world where we're still debating liberty and tyranny, Rebels is yet another timely relevant comic, much like . Demo, Channel Zero, Mara, The New York Four, DMZ, and more. --"GRAPHIC POLICY " "A welcome breath of fresh air. Rebels #1 is that rare comic book that makes historical fiction come alive. --"FREAK SUGAR" Engrossing, enlightening and entertaining. --TECH TIMES I m looking forward to it. --FANBOY COMICS A masterful recreation of America in the 18th century. Mutti has beautifully constructed historical Vermont with verdant forests, large farms, and serene towns that capture the ruralness of American culture at the time. His careful attention to clothing and weaponry shows an understanding of the era while Jordie Bellaire s (Everything) coloring brings the rustic feel of the century to life. . Even without Wood s dialogue the art is able to take readers back in time and give them a sense of the political tensions of the period. --GEEK CHIC LITE An action packed and dynamic first issue that sucks you in and doesn t let go. If this issue is any indicator then Rebels is going to be a very special and memorable series. --GEEKED OUT NATION"

Act of War: Lyndon Johnson, North Korea, and the Capture of the Spy Ship Pueblo


Jack Cheevers - 2013
    Packed with advanced electronic-surveillance equipment and classified intelligence documents, the USS Pueblo was poorly armed and lacked backup by air or sea. Its crew, led by a charismatic, hard-drinking ex-submarine officer named Pete Bucher, was made up mostly of untested sailors in their teens and twenties.On a frigid January morning while eavesdropping near the port of Wonsan, the Pueblo was challenged by a North Korean gunboat. When Bucher tried to escape, his ship was quickly surrounded by more patrol boats, shelled and machine-gunned, and forced to surrender. One American was killed and ten wounded, and Bucher and his young crew were taken prisoner by one of the world’s most aggressive and erratic totalitarian regimes.Less than forty-eight hours before the Pueblo’s capture, North Korean commandos had nearly succeeded in assassinating South Korea’s president in downtown Seoul. Together, the two explosive incidents pushed Cold War tensions toward a flashpoint as both North and South Korea girded for war—with fifty thousand American soldiers caught between them. President Lyndon Johnson rushed U.S. combat ships and aircraft to reinforce South Korea, while secretly trying to negotiate a peaceful solution to the crisis.Act of War tells the riveting saga of Bucher and his men as they struggled to survive merciless torture and horrendous living conditions in North Korean prisons. Based on extensive interviews and numerous government documents released through the Freedom of Information Act, this book also reveals new details of Johnson’s high-risk gambit to prevent war from erupting on the Korean peninsula while his negotiators desperately tried to save the sailors from possible execution. A dramatic tale of human endurance against the backdrop of an international diplomatic poker game, Act of War offers lessons on the perils of covert intelligence operations as America finds itself confronting a host of twenty-first-century enemies.

Bloody Iced Bullet


Andrew McGregor - 2014
     Leutnant Hausser, a young experienced infantry officer with the 76th Infantry Division is assigned with a handful of men to the south of Stalingrad. As the fighting heightens in the city, the officer and his men are sent to bolster the defences of their allies, the Romanians. The front is relatively quiet, most believe the Russian Army is finished. The end of the bitter war in the east may only be days away. Thinking of loved ones and home, they await the conclusion of the battle, comforted by promises that the victorious outcome will decide the war…that it will soon be all over. It may only be a matter of time before they see their families again. Daily life has become more relaxed, in warm bunkers and well dug defences, they write letters and socialise with their allies. It may soon be time to go home. As the German Sixth Army discovers just how vicious the fighting in Stalingrad can become, they take troops from their flanks in final attempts to take the city before the onset of 'another bitter Russian winter.' One last push will finish the Russians once and for all. The German Air Force, the Luftwaffe, has virtually driven the Red Air Force from the skies. The Russian high command, STAVKA, are secretly planning to turn the tide of the war in the southern sector of the front as they see the weaker German allies occupy defensive positions either side of the city that holds Stalin's name. As the Russian offensive engulfs the flanks around Stalingrad, the young officer and his men desperately begin a battle for survival against bitter temperatures and time, oblivious to what the overall picture may be…and what their future holds. Not everything is as it seems in the deepest cold of winter as a small group of men combat nature and a vicious and cunning enemy motivated by revenge to survive and escape. With temperatures dropping to minus 25 to 35 degrees Celsius and a vicious struggle for survival against both nature and the cruelties of war, the portrayal of individual human reaction to fate and historical events is a gripping insight into the soldier on the frontline, thousands of miles from the decisions that will forge their individual destinies. Having spent thirty years studying World War 2 and in particular, the Russian Front, these offerings are based on historical fact. The characters are fictitious, attempting to portray a realistic account of what the battle would have been like for individual soldiers. All units and actions are in accordance with actual events, including propaganda, deployment and individual division engagements. Bloody Iced Bullet is available as an E-Book on Kindle, paperback in US book stores and via mail order across the world. The author aims to provide a thoroughly enjoyable and imaginative reading experience at an affordable price for the reader. All three works from the author's World War 2 Series concentrating on Stalingrad have achieved Best Seller status on Amazon in the UK and many more stories are outlined. Imagination is personal, free and to be cherished.

General Patton: A Soldier's Life


Stanley P. Hirshson - 2002
    Hirshson creates the most balanced portrait of Patton ever written. General Patton: A Soldier’s Life reveals Patton as a complex soldier capable of brilliant military maneuvers but also of inspiring horrendous acts with fiery speeches. It explains Patton’s belief in a soldier’s Valhalla, connects the family’s wealth to one of America’s bitterest labor strikes, and disputes the usual interpretation of Patton’s relief from command of the Third Army.While investigating this complex man, Hirshson has uncovered surprising material about a series of civilian and military massacres in Sicily, attempts to exploit Patton’s diary after his death, and Patton’s relations with top Allied generals. In this meticulously documented volume, Patton comes to life.

Why Marines Fight


James Brady - 2007
    They have fought from the Revolutionary War to Afghanistan and Iraq, in famous battles become bone and sinew of American lore. But why do Marines fight? Why fight so well? Why run toward the guns? Now comes a thrilling new book, pounding and magnificent in scope, by the author some Marines consider the unofficial “poet laureate” of their Corps.James Brady interviews combat Marines from wars ranging from World War II to Afghanistan, their replies in their own individual voices unique and powerful, an authentically American story of a country at war, as seen through the eyes of its warriors.  Culling his own correspondence and comradeship with hundreds of fellow Marines, Brady compiles a story---lyrical and historical---of the motivations and emotions behind this compelling question. Included are the accounts of Senator James Webb and his lance corporal son, Jim; New York City police commissioner Ray Kelly; Yankee second baseman (and Marine fighter pilot) Jerry Coleman, and of teachers, firemen, authors, cops, Harvard football players, and just plain grunts, as well as the unforgettable story of Jack Rowe, who lost an eye and other parts and now grows avocados and chases rattlesnakes. Their stories poignantly and profoundly illustrate the lives and legacies of battlefront Marines. Why Marines Fight is a ruthlessly candid book about professional killers not ashamed to recall their doubts as well as exult in their savagely triumphant battle cries.  A book of weight and heft that Marines, and Americans everywhere, will want to read, and may find impossible to forget. Praise for James Brady The Scariest Place in the World“[A] graceful, even elegant, and always eloquent tribute to men at arms in a war that, in a way, never ended.”---Kirkus Reviews“James Brady has done it again.  A riveting and illuminating insight into a dark corner of the world.”---Tim Russert, NBC’s Meet the Press The Coldest War“His story reads like a novel, but it is war reporting at its best---a graphic depiction, in all its horrors, of the war we’ve almost forgotten.”---Walter Cronkite“A marvelous memoir. A sensitive and superbly written narrative that eventually explodes off the pages like a grenade in the gut . . .taut, tight, and telling.”---Dan Rather The Marine“In The Marine, James Brady again gives us a novel in which history is a leading character, sharing the stage in this case with a man as surely born to be a gallant warrior as any knight in sixth-century Camelot.”---Kurt Vonnegut  The Marines of Autumn“Mr. Brady knows war, the smell and the feel of it.”---The New York Times

The Praetorians


Jean Lartéguy - 1961
    Mentioned by General Peter Pace as one of the inspirations for his surge strategy in Iraq.

Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character


Jonathan Shay - 1994
    Shay examines the psychological devastation of war by comparing the soldiers of Homer's Iliad with Vietnam veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Although the Iliad was written twenty-seven centuries ago it has much to teach about combat trauma, as do the more recent, compelling voices and experiences of Vietnam vets.

Sioux Dawn


Terry C. Johnston - 1990
    His Plainsmen series brims with colorful characters, fierce battles and compelling historical lore.The Civil War was over, and a great westward march began. Settlers and soldiers poured out of the East along the Bozeman Trail, cutting deep into sacred Sioux hunting grounds. For Red Cloud and his warriors, there would be no choice but to fight for their ancestral rights.Seen through the eyes of gruff Sergeant Seamus Donegan, here is the historically accurate tale of a tragic opening to the war between two great civilization: the Fetterman Massacre of 1866.

Britannia's Fist: From Civil War to World War: An Alternate History


Peter G. Tsouras - 2008
    'Britannia's Fist' is the story of powerful historical personalities who come together as America goes into total war mobilization in the fight for its life against the power of the British Empire.