OT - Book (Non Fiction) Review/Recommendations Thread

[Adm.Lee]

The only thing worth dying for

The only thing worth dying for: how eleven Green Berets forged a new Afghanistan by Eric Blehm.

I haven't finished it yet, but this is about ODA 574, which choppered into southern Afghanistan, met up with Hamid Karzai, and took apart the Taliban around Kandahar. It's a great read, and it certainly seems like a thing a Twilight players' group would do.

[Caradhras]

Researching for my latest project (running a campaign of players being British riflemen in the napoleonic Peninsula War), I have been reading this :-

http://www.amazon.com/Rifles-Years-Wellingtons-Legendary-Sharpshooters/dp/0571216811/ref=sr_1_12ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268832294&sr=8-12

It is a great read into the 'real lives' of men who fought in this period. Not sure how much Bernard Cornwells Sharpe series (books + TV) got around the World, but this is the facts behind the stories.

[headquarters]

hehe

Sean bean makes agood Sharpe.Read some of them -watched others .All in all good stuff.

Researching for my latest project (running a campaign of players being British riflemen in the napoleonic Peninsula War), I have been reading this :-

http://www.amazon.com/Rifles-Years-Wellingtons-Legendary-Sharpshooters/dp/0571216811/ref=sr_1_12ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268832294&sr=8-12

It is a great read into the 'real lives' of men who fought in this period. Not sure how much Bernard Cornwells Sharpe series (books + TV) got around the World, but this is the facts behind the stories.

[Targan]

Sean bean makes agood Sharpe.Read some of them -watched others .All in all good stuff.

Agreed.

[Marc]

Sean bean makes agood Sharpe.Read some of them -watched others .All in all good stuff.

I've watched some of the episodes of Sharpe, too. Although I must admit that I still have some problems to understand 100% the spoken English, depending of accent of the character. The same happens to me with Anzacs. Sometimes it's a little frustrating... Anyway I have enjoyed Sharpe, though I remember an absurd argument of one of the episodes regarding a Spanish revolt in relation with an old relic-banner. Ah! Those inevitable topics!

[Raellus]

I'm taking a bread from How Rome Fell to read the WWII memoir, With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge. As an enlisted Marine, Sledge fought on Peleliu and Okinawa. His first-hand account of the battles makes for gripping reading. I highly recommend it. Apparently, this book was one of several used as the basis for the HBO miniseries, The Pacific.

[Adm.Lee]

Found it at the library....

HOGs in the shadows: combat stories from Marine snipers in Iraq by Milo S. Afong. I'm partway into it, and it is well-written. It's a collection of reports from different snipers and teams.

I also picked up one by a British sniper, but I forgot the title-- Prince of Wales' Regiment, I remember that much.

I'm not a sniper-fanatic, but they do make for good reading pretty often, and as very small teams, they make for good RPG fodder. I can't remember the last time I tied a PC group in knots with a sniper.....

[Raellus]

I heard an interview this morning on NPR with Sebastian Junger, author of A Perfect Storm, about his new book, War. It's about an American platoon manning a remote outpost in Afghanistan that endured near constant combat for several months. It sounds really interesting and I really enjoyed his earlier work. I usually wait for books to come out in paperback but I may end up springing for this one.

Anyone here read it already

[pmulcahy11b]

Sean bean makes agood Sharpe.Read some of them -watched others .All in all good stuff.

Another one of those cases where I have the books and haven't touched any of them yet...

[Targan]

When I watched Sharpe on TV it reminded me of The Man Who Would Be King (film) based on the Rudyard Kipling story of the same name (The Man Who Would Be King). Anyone here seen that film It was truly excellent, made a big impresion on me as a kid. It starred Sean Connery and Michael Caine. I can't recommend it highly enough.

[TiggerCCW UK]

[U]

I also picked up one by a British sniper, but I forgot the title-- Prince of Wales' Regiment, I remember that much.

I think you're talking about 'Sniper One' by Dan Mills. Good read.

[headquarters]

yes.

When I watched Sharpe on TV it reminded me of The Man Who Would Be King (film) based on the Rudyard Kipling story of the same name (The Man Who Would Be King). Anyone here seen that film It was truly excellent, made a big impresion on me as a kid. It starred Sean Connery and Michael Caine. I can't recommend it highly enough.

saw it - a great movie .I love the story and the production and all looks great too.

[Rainbow Six]

When I watched Sharpe on TV it reminded me of The Man Who Would Be King (film) based on the Rudyard Kipling story of the same name (The Man Who Would Be King). Anyone here seen that film It was truly excellent, made a big impresion on me as a kid. It starred Sean Connery and Michael Caine. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Yep, seen it a few times...it's one of my favourite films...

[Adm.Lee]

I think you're talking about 'Sniper One' by Dan Mills. Good read.

Yep, that's it.

I finished 'HOGs', it was pretty good. Nearly all of the stories are from 2003-04, and only one from '05.

[HorseSoldier]

The Village and Once a Warrior King are both about Vietnam, but about low and slow counter-insurgency work, rather than big search and destroy operations or sexy LRRP work on the wrong side of the Cambodian border. Very good primers, I think, for a game or scenario where PCs put down roots in some surviving settlement.

Most anything about Rhodesia puts me in mind of how things might look in those places where a central government is still intact and fighting against enemy forces or marauder bands. War on a shoestring budget.