Here are 100 books that Fields of Fire fans have personally recommended if you like
Fields of Fire.
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I love the Marines. After spending 12 years trying to join the Corps, with numerous rejections, I graduated from Parris Island at 31. As much as I love the Marines, I love reading and writing more. Reading and writing foster deep thought and wisdom in ways that coding, calculating, and puzzle-solving canāt. Having worked as a newspaper reporter, a military analyst, and a Marine, I couldnāt help but loathe the foolish ideas that made the wars on terror so frustrating. I have faith in the Marine Corps (āSemper Fidelisā), and I believe reading thoughtful books can make Marines wiser.
This is my favorite book because Halberstam works so hard to help us understand the intellectual, moral, and personality flaws plaguing the architects of Americaās Vietnam debacle.
I believe Marines must understand the civilians who hold the reins if the Corps is to become wiser. This book tells a tragic story, but wisdom and moral courage surface occasionally. Several bright moments belong to Gen. David Shoup, the 22nd Commandant of the Marine Corps.
I love the time he did his best to tell wonkish officials in the Kennedy Administration that their delusional plans for meddling in Cuba (what became āThe Bay of Pigsā incident) didnāt square with his military experience (he had earned a Medal of Honor at Tarawa during World War II).
David Halberstamās masterpiece, the defining history of the making of the Vietnam tragedy, with a new Foreword by Senator John McCain.
"A rich, entertaining, and profound reading experience.āāThe New York Times
Using portraits of Americaās flawed policy makers and accounts of the forces that drove them, The Best and the Brightest reckons magnificently with the most important abiding question of our countryās recent history: Why did America become mired in Vietnam, and why did we lose? As the definitive single-volume answer to that question, this enthralling book has never been superseded. It is an American classic.
I love the Marines. After spending 12 years trying to join the Corps, with numerous rejections, I graduated from Parris Island at 31. As much as I love the Marines, I love reading and writing more. Reading and writing foster deep thought and wisdom in ways that coding, calculating, and puzzle-solving canāt. Having worked as a newspaper reporter, a military analyst, and a Marine, I couldnāt help but loathe the foolish ideas that made the wars on terror so frustrating. I have faith in the Marine Corps (āSemper Fidelisā), and I believe reading thoughtful books can make Marines wiser.
This enormous biography of Douglas MacArthur mesmerized me, but I kept wondering, āWhy would Manchester, a Marine combat veteran, write about such an un-Marine-like Army general?ā Then I got to the part about Inchon, the daring amphibious landing MacArthur devised to alter the Korean Warās trajectory.
Manchester wrote glowingly of the Marines who executed MacArthurās plan. However, throughout the book, he wrote more glowingly about MacArthurās idiosyncratic genius. I realized something. The Marines were tough enough to make Inchon successful but not smart enough to think it up. It took a general from another service to provide the vision.
Inspiring, outrageous...A thundering paradox of a man. Douglas MacArthur, one of only five men in history to have achieved the rank of General of the United States Army. He served in World Wars I, II, and the Korean War, and is famous for stating that "in war, there is no substitute for victory." AMERICAN CAESAR exaines the exemplary army career, the stunning successes (and lapses) on the battlefield, and the turbulent private life of the soldier-hero whose mystery and appeal created a uniquely American legend.
Iām pretty well qualified to provide you with a list of five great books about men at war because, frankly, Iāve spent half my life reading them and the other half trying to write them (you be the judge!). My degree in Military Studies was focused on the question of what makes men endure the lunacy of war (whether they be āgoodiesā or ābaddiesā), and it was in fiction that I found some of the clearest answersāclue: itās often less about country and duty and more about the love of the men alongside the soldier. In learning how to write, I also learned how to recognize greatāenjoy!
This has to be one ofāif not theāgreatest single book Iāve ever read about war in the ancient world. I read the first ten pages, and I was interested; then I read the next forty, and I was utterly hooked. As a description of an elite military force holding out against overwhelming odds it fascinated me, but as a human story of the way Spartan society worked to produce those warriors, imbued with heroism, honour and humour in equal amounts I was simply blown away.
Itās fair to say that this book has been my greatest influence all the way through my writing career. I dare anyone with an interest in the genre to read this and then deny that they were informed, entertained, and (perhaps darkly) amused by the story and its payoff. This is God-tier writing, plain and simple, and, not for no reason, the closest thing theā¦
In the Sunday Times bestseller Gates of Fire, Steven Pressfield tells the breathtaking story of the legendary Spartans: the men and women who helped shaped our history and have themselves become as immortal as their gods.
'Breathtakingly brilliant . . . this is a work of rare genius. Savour it!' DAVID GEMMELL
'A tale worthy of Homer, a timeless epic of man and war, exquisitely researched and boldy written. Pressfield has created a new classic' STEPHEN COONTS
'A really impressive book - imaginatively framed, historically detailed and a really gripping narrative' ***** Reader review
Annie Kurtz joins the Marines, deploys to Afghanistan, and has to make a split-second decision. She can follow her orders. Or she can follow her conscience. Nick Willard is a journalist who has pined for Annie since they were in prep school together. While doing his job, he discovers whatā¦
I am a Professor Emeritus of History at the United States Naval Academy, where I taught for thirty years, including a four-year term as History Department Chair. I was the first person to win both the Naval Academyās Teacher of the Year award (1988) and its Researcher of the Year award (1998). I received the Navy Meritorious Service Award in 1989 and the Superior Civilian Service medal four times. In 1994-95, I was a Professor of Strategy at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, England. After retirement, I returned to the Naval Academy in 2012 as The Class of 1957 Distinguished Professor of Naval History.
The Second World War marked the apogee of American naval power, and there are many wonderful books about it, especially about the Pacific War. One of the many such books is James D. Hornfisherās book, which is a dramatic telling of the furious engagement off the island of Samar during the Battle for Leyte Gulf in 1944 when a small group of destroyers stood up to a Japanese battleship-cruiser force.
āThis will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can.ā
With these words, Lieutenant Commander Robert W. Copeland addressed the crew of the destroyer escort USS Samuel B. Roberts on the morning of October 25, 1944, off the Philippine Island of Samar. On the horizon loomed the mightiest ships of the Japanese navy, a massive fleet that represented the last hope of a staggering empire. All that stood between it and Douglas MacArthurā s vulnerable invasion force were the Roberts and the other small ships of a tiny Americanā¦
Iām pretty well qualified to provide you with a list of five great books about men at war because, frankly, Iāve spent half my life reading them and the other half trying to write them (you be the judge!). My degree in Military Studies was focused on the question of what makes men endure the lunacy of war (whether they be āgoodiesā or ābaddiesā), and it was in fiction that I found some of the clearest answersāclue: itās often less about country and duty and more about the love of the men alongside the soldier. In learning how to write, I also learned how to recognize greatāenjoy!
The book starts off with the hero, Arimnestos of Platea, as the son of a farmer and ends with him, a cold-blooded and rational killer of men, proven in battle and with a terrible revenge yet to be taken. On one level, I found it to be a strong story taken from Greek history at the time of the Persian invasion, but I also marveled at the strength of Cameronās characterization, his deeply detailed descriptions of war and battles, and most of all the undeniable fact that his re-enactment interest means that he knows just what itās like to fight to the point of exhaustion in bronze armor or in a Greek phalanx.
By the end of this book, there was no choice. I was straight into the next, and this series is perhaps the strongest Iāve ever read on war in the ancient world, taking in Marathon, the navalā¦
In the epic clash of Greece and Persia, a hero is forged - a monumental novel from the author of the Tyrant series.
Arimnestos is a farm boy when war breaks out between the citizens of his native Plataea and their overbearing neighbours, Thebes. Standing in the battle line for the first time, alongside his father and brother, he shares in a famous and unlikely victory. But after being knocked unconscious in the melee, he awakes not a hero, but a slave.
Betrayed by his jealous and cowardly cousin, the freedom he fought for has now vanished, and he becomesā¦
Iām pretty well qualified to provide you with a list of five great books about men at war because, frankly, Iāve spent half my life reading them and the other half trying to write them (you be the judge!). My degree in Military Studies was focused on the question of what makes men endure the lunacy of war (whether they be āgoodiesā or ābaddiesā), and it was in fiction that I found some of the clearest answersāclue: itās often less about country and duty and more about the love of the men alongside the soldier. In learning how to write, I also learned how to recognize greatāenjoy!
OāBrien performed some sort of alchemy in turning a previously dry and underpopulated section of the historical fiction genre into literary gold, at once gripping and supremely well-written. One follows the adventures of a Royal Navy Commander and his Irish doctor friendāa man with a secret lifeāthrough the war at sea in the Napoleonic era, and I found the balance between naval exploitsāJack Aubrey being a swashbuckler of renownāand period history made for fascinating counter-points.
Over and above that, I loved the way OāBrien built an ensemble cast and proceeded to draw the reader into their lives, making the death of any one of them a personal loss. I know that I benefitted from learning this writing trick and used it myself in my Empire series, and I know at least one other Roman author who did much the same. Wonderful stories that kept me coming back, and this isā¦
This, the first in the splendid series of Jack Aubrey novels, establishes the friendship between Captain Aubrey, R.N., and Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and intelligence agent, against a thrilling backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. Details of a life aboard a man-of-war in Nelson's navy are faultlessly rendered: the conversational idiom of the officers in the ward room and the men on the lower deck, the food, the floggings, the mysteries of the wind and the rigging, and the roar of broadsides as the great ships close in battle.
I became an author because I loved books and wanted to craft my own. Here are five books I consumed first as a reader and then as a writer, methodically noting what made these books brilliant in style, depth, and plot. If you enjoy thrillers or science fiction and are looking for books to hone your craft as a writer, here are my choices.
This book is the book that made me decide to become an author. I was always a voracious reader and crazy about all things technologicalāspace exploration, airplanes, naval warfare, you name it. In my mind, there was no way anyone would want to read a book about my interestsāuntil Tom Clancy showed it absolutely could be done and singlehandedly created a new genre of fiction with one book.
His research was so accurate that he was accused of spilling classified information about our submarine capabilities and tactics. But no, he was just an insurance agent from Owings, Maryland, who touched a 220-volt wire in my soul that made me decide, āSomeday Iām going to do that, too!ā
Tom Clancy's rich imagination and his remarkable grasp of the capabilities of advanced technology give this novel an amazing ring of authenticity. It is a thriller with a new twist, a "military procedural" with an ingenious, tightly woven plot that revolves around the defection of a Soviet nuclear submarine--the USSR's newest and most valuable ship, with its most trusted and skilled officer at the helm.
A deadly serious game of hide-and-seek is on. The entire Soviet Atlantic Fleet is ordered to hunt down the submarine and destroy her at all costs. Theā¦
Iām pretty well qualified to provide you with a list of five great books about men at war because, frankly, Iāve spent half my life reading them and the other half trying to write them (you be the judge!). My degree in Military Studies was focused on the question of what makes men endure the lunacy of war (whether they be āgoodiesā or ābaddiesā), and it was in fiction that I found some of the clearest answersāclue: itās often less about country and duty and more about the love of the men alongside the soldier. In learning how to write, I also learned how to recognize greatāenjoy!
If the other four books Iāve recommended are founded in grim reality, this oneās that guilty pleasure that an ancient world author might not want to be caught reading. But, if war is a timeless and undeniable fact of human existenceāand it seems to be right nowāthen Marko Kloosās story of men and women at war in the 22nd century, with an enigmatic alien species as the enemy, is pretty much timeless, too.
Yes, thereās a high-tech kit, but itās never the McGuffin, and the same themes as everāduty, honor, and the planetācome to the fore. Easy to read but never lazy, I found this series as gripping as the others. If you (like me) read a lot of historical fiction but have a soft spot for sci-fi, then this is about as highly recommended as they come.
"There is nobody who does [military SF] better than Marko Kloos. His Frontlines series is a worthy successor to such classics as Starship Troopers, The Forever War, and We All Died at Breakaway Station." -George R. R. Martin
The year is 2108, and the North American Commonwealth is bursting at the seams. For welfare rats like Andrew Grayson, there are only two ways out of the crime-ridden and filthy welfare tenements: You can hope to win the lottery and draw a ticket on a colony ship settling off-world . . . or you can join the service.
I am a Professor Emeritus of History at the United States Naval Academy, where I taught for thirty years, including a four-year term as History Department Chair. I was the first person to win both the Naval Academyās Teacher of the Year award (1988) and its Researcher of the Year award (1998). I received the Navy Meritorious Service Award in 1989 and the Superior Civilian Service medal four times. In 1994-95, I was a Professor of Strategy at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, England. After retirement, I returned to the Naval Academy in 2012 as The Class of 1957 Distinguished Professor of Naval History.
For a broader perspective on the war in the Pacific, you cannot do better than Ian Toll's trilogy, beginning with Pacific Crucible (2012), then The Conquering Tide (2015), and finally Twilight Of The Gods (2020). If I had to pick one of these, I would choose the last one, where Toll really hits his full stride as a historian and storyteller.
On the first Sunday in December 1941, an armada of Japanese warplanes appeared suddenly over Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and devastated the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Six months later, in a sea fight north of the tiny atoll of Midway, four Japanese aircraft carriers were sent into the abyss. Pacific Crucible tells the epic tale of these first searing months of the Pacific war, when the U.S. Navy shook off the worst defeat in American military history and seized the strategic initiative.
Ian W. Toll's dramatic narrative encompasses both the high command and the "sailor's-eye" view from the lower deck. Relying predominantlyā¦
Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was a young boy who made model airplanes and hung them on his bedroom ceiling with fishing lines and thumbtacks as if the planes were dogfighting. The aircraft were inspired by a movie called The Battle of Britain and were the same Messerschmitts, Spitfires, and Hurricanes. The boy grew up and began writing books for a living, making it his mission to help people love history as much as he did. One day, it dawned on him to write about his long-ago planes and their epic battle. I am that boy, and that's when I wrote my book.
I write stories about famous people and moments in history. I like to strip down the narrative and make history read like a top-notch thriller. But to do that, I need to stand on the shoulders of authors who devoted ten or a dozen years to researching and writing the detailed lives of a subject they adore. I do not have the attention span to spend so long on one character.
I love this book because William Manchester (and Paul Reid, who stepped in to finish the book when Manchester died) loves Winston Churchill. What he wore, how he spoke, who he loved, what he drank. It is hundreds of pages of gorgeous detail, waiting for a long winterās reading night.
This is the second in William Manchester's masterly 3 volume life of Winston Churchill. It contests the favoured view that Churchill's finest hour was as Britain's wartime leader, viewing his greatest period as a statesman during 1932 to 1940, ignored in Parliament and disowned by the social and political establishment as a warmonger, he stood his ground, both in the Commons and outside of it, maintaining his principles until ultimately he succeeded in drawing the country behind him. He is seen as a man with limitations who could be unkind and callous, indiscreet and reckless to the point of foolhardinessā¦