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World War I books from a different perspective (1 Viewer)

mr. furley

Footballguy
i'm reading John Keegan's The First World War right now... as per usual, when i get on a topic of interest i usually spin off in to a few other books that follow the theme.

this time i'd like to know if anyone knows of books about WWI written from the perspective of some of the smaller involved parties. i'd like to read a book written about the Indian involvement in the Western Front. or the Turkish part of the war. maybe even the Australian.

anyone know of a good book/books that cover one of those angles?

TIA

 
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I can't recommend a particular book, but there is not doubt that the Gallipoli campaign was traumatic for Australia and New Zealand, since so many of their troops were involved there.

I do remember that 25 years or so ago someone ran a contest for the best news headline (fake). The winner was: ARCHDUKE FRANZ FERDINAND FOUND ALIVE...World War I fought in vain

 
I don't have any recommendations but I just bought this book off of ebay. Do you happen to have any Vietnam War book recommendations?

 
I don't have any recommendations but I just bought this book off of ebay. Do you happen to have any Vietnam War book recommendations?
David Halberstam's The Best and the BrightestNeil Sheehan's A Bright Shining Lie

Those are two GREAT books on Vietnam. Enjoy.

 
I don't have any recommendations but I just bought this book off of ebay. Do you happen to have any Vietnam War book recommendations?
i don't unfortunately. i've read a handful of books and watched so much footage of it that my interest has moved on i guess.. though SK's recommendations piqued my interest.(eta: i did scoop Vietnam: A History by Stanley Karnow at a book sale a couple seasons ago but haven't read it yet.. ran across it on Amazon when i was checking on SofaKing's rec's)

 
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A good read for the lead up to WW1 is "The Guns Of August", by Barbara Tuchman, I believe.

Warning: This book is looooooooong.

 
I don't have any recommendations but I just bought this book off of ebay. Do you happen to have any Vietnam War book recommendations?
i don't unfortunately. i've read a handful of books and watched so much footage of it that my interest has moved on i guess.. though SK's recommendations piqued my interest.(eta: i did scoop Vietnam: A History by Stanley Karnow at a book sale a couple seasons ago but haven't read it yet.. ran across it on Amazon when i was checking on SofaKing's rec's)
Karnow's book is great.
 
Thanks. I put all of them on my list.

(sorry to hijack this thread)

 
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no worries

i'm interested in any and all recommendations for war-related history books. not just US involved conflicts.

i'd like to read more about some significant regional wars through history that maybe we don't hear a lot about. the conflict in Kashmir, the war in Timor.. i'd like to read about the Afghan/Soviet war.. the French/Algerian war, etc.

 
no worries

i'm interested in any and all recommendations for war-related history books. not just US involved conflicts.

i'd like to read more about some significant regional wars through history that maybe we don't hear a lot about. the conflict in Kashmir, the war in Timor.. i'd like to read about the Afghan/Soviet war.. the French/Algerian war, etc.
Likewise. In college I had some classes on US involvement in Latin America while all of the "dirty wars" were being fought. I need to go dig those up and give them a re-read. For the Soviet/Afghan war all you need is this

 
no worries i'm interested in any and all recommendations for war-related history books. not just US involved conflicts. i'd like to read more about some significant regional wars through history that maybe we don't hear a lot about. the conflict in Kashmir, the war in Timor.. i'd like to read about the Afghan/Soviet war.. the French/Algerian war, etc.
There is a very good series of books by Alan Eckert, the Winning of America series, which covers the westward expansion during the period from the French and Indian War up to and through the War of 1812. It's written like a novel, but is nonfiction. Excellent accounts of the players from those conflicts, like Pontiac, Tecumseh, Blue Jacket, William Henry Harrison, some George Washington, the Iroquois League, Simon Kenton, Daniel Boone, etc.
 
no worries i'm interested in any and all recommendations for war-related history books. not just US involved conflicts. i'd like to read more about some significant regional wars through history that maybe we don't hear a lot about. the conflict in Kashmir, the war in Timor.. i'd like to read about the Afghan/Soviet war.. the French/Algerian war, etc.
There is a very good series of books by Alan Eckert, the Winning of America series, which covers the westward expansion during the period from the French and Indian War up to and through the War of 1812. It's written like a novel, but is nonfiction. Excellent accounts of the players from those conflicts, like Pontiac, Tecumseh, Blue Jacket, William Henry Harrison, some George Washington, the Iroquois League, Simon Kenton, Daniel Boone, etc.
;)
 
There's a great book about Mustafa Kemal...But I guess you know all about that.
:goodposting:
Sorry, I thought you were being sarcastic about my comment about Australia and New Zealand.There is a good book on Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) the general who led the Turkish troops which repelled the Gallipoli invasion and later founded modern Turkey. I believe it is by Kinross.
:thumbup:when i read your post it triggered two memories1) Mel Gibson2) a paragraph in the Keegan book about the Australians at Gallipoli. he's only touched on the Turks a very little.... so far. i think he's largely going to concentrate on the British/French/German war rather than attempting to touch on all aspects. with his amount of detail, that sort of endeavor would wind up being 3000 pages.
 
having a hell of a time finding a book that focuses specifically on the Indian experience (not American Indian) in WWI.

 
The series of books that I want to get on WWI is by Hew Strachan. What got me interested is that these books are the basis for the excellent WWI series on either Military Channel or History Channel that I've been watching. You'll like them I believe, furley, because, at least as presented on TV, there are episodes that show different perspectives of the war, including for example one called "Jihad" that focuses on Turkey. I would imagine that the books are equally balanced in their treatment of the war.

 
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noted

what i'm noticing in reading reviews for a lot of these history books on Amazon is that they seem to be "professional" reviews. i.e., reviews bought and paid for by the author's agent or something.

something doesn't seem right.

 
notedwhat i'm noticing in reading reviews for a lot of these history books on Amazon is that they seem to be "professional" reviews. i.e., reviews bought and paid for by the author's agent or something.something doesn't seem right.
There's some of that, but Amazon also has private individuals who rate things. I try to pay more attention to that. There are also some people who really dig writing reviews on Amazon and who write a lot of them - not my idea of a fun time but whatever.
 
I would recomend The Struggle for Mastery in Europe: 1848-1918 By A.J.P. Talyor. While not really a WWI book it really sets the stages for the development of alliances that led to WWI. Tracing everything back to revolutions of 1848. The book primarily focuses on diplomatic aspects of the period with less focus on battles but it is still very interesting.

Also, does an excellent job of covering Italian and German unification.

http://www.amazon.com/Struggle-Mastery-Eur...y/dp/0198812701

 
I think the tricky part here is getting "other perspectives" books written in English. That's not a problem with British or Australian publications, and perhaps some Indian ones. Can you read any other languages?

 
no worries

i'm interested in any and all recommendations for war-related history books. not just US involved conflicts.

i'd like to read more about some significant regional wars through history that maybe we don't hear a lot about. the conflict in Kashmir, the war in Timor.. i'd like to read about the Afghan/Soviet war.. the French/Algerian war, etc.
There is a very good series of books by Alan Eckert, the Winning of America series, which covers the westward expansion during the period from the French and Indian War up to and through the War of 1812. It's written like a novel, but is nonfiction. Excellent accounts of the players from those conflicts, like Pontiac, Tecumseh, Blue Jacket, William Henry Harrison, some George Washington, the Iroquois League, Simon Kenton, Daniel Boone, etc.
Battle Cry of Freedom takes this same tactic on the Civil War, if you're interested someday. (Sorry, I've forgotten the author's name but the title's right.)

 
no worries

i'm interested in any and all recommendations for war-related history books. not just US involved conflicts.

i'd like to read more about some significant regional wars through history that maybe we don't hear a lot about. the conflict in Kashmir, the war in Timor.. i'd like to read about the Afghan/Soviet war.. the French/Algerian war, etc.
There is a very good series of books by Alan Eckert, the Winning of America series, which covers the westward expansion during the period from the French and Indian War up to and through the War of 1812. It's written like a novel, but is nonfiction. Excellent accounts of the players from those conflicts, like Pontiac, Tecumseh, Blue Jacket, William Henry Harrison, some George Washington, the Iroquois League, Simon Kenton, Daniel Boone, etc.
Battle Cry of Freedom takes this same tactic on the Civil War, if you're interested someday. (Sorry, I've forgotten the author's name but the title's right.)
Very interested. Thanks!
 
no worries

i'm interested in any and all recommendations for war-related history books. not just US involved conflicts.

i'd like to read more about some significant regional wars through history that maybe we don't hear a lot about. the conflict in Kashmir, the war in Timor.. i'd like to read about the Afghan/Soviet war.. the French/Algerian war, etc.
There is a very good series of books by Alan Eckert, the Winning of America series, which covers the westward expansion during the period from the French and Indian War up to and through the War of 1812. It's written like a novel, but is nonfiction. Excellent accounts of the players from those conflicts, like Pontiac, Tecumseh, Blue Jacket, William Henry Harrison, some George Washington, the Iroquois League, Simon Kenton, Daniel Boone, etc.
Battle Cry of Freedom takes this same tactic on the Civil War, if you're interested someday. (Sorry, I've forgotten the author's name but the title's right.)
It is by James McPherson. It is an excellent one volume history of the civil war and probably the best 1 volume history of the War. He also has another book on the War that only disects letters home by soldiers who fought in the war. That is also a great book. Can't remeber the name.

 
I think the tricky part here is getting "other perspectives" books written in English. That's not a problem with British or Australian publications, and perhaps some Indian ones. Can you read any other languages?
i can barely master English :thumbup: you're right though there are a ton of books out there on the Turkish experience at Gallipoli written in their language (Turkish??) but they, apparently, aren't translated.i've noticed that any information, in English, about the Gurkhas are kind of folded in to books about the British. which is not really very helpful. :hot:
 
i'm reading John Keegan's The First World War right now... as per usual, when i get on a topic of interest i usually spin off in to a few other books that follow the theme.

this time i'd like to know if anyone knows of books about WWI written from the perspective of some of the smaller involved parties. i'd like to read a book written about the Indian involvement in the Western Front. or the Turkish part of the war. maybe even the Australian.

anyone know of a good book/books that cover one of those angles?

TIA
I just finished this book last month. I find Keegan to be fairly neutral and covers as much ground as possible. Another great book by him is 'War Without Hate' about N. Africa in WWII.Still in WWII, try 'The Fall Of Berlin' by Anthony Beevor. I just got 'Stalingrad' for Christmas by Beevor too.

An interesting read is 'The Wages of Guilt', is a book about how Germany and Japan have reacted socially post-WWII. A good read.

Albeit a novel, 'The Wars' by Timothy Findlay is a Canadian perspective of WWI. I found it very sobering.

 
i'm reading John Keegan's The First World War
I just finished this book last month. I find Keegan to be fairly neutral and covers as much ground as possible. Another great book by him is 'War Without Hate' about N. Africa in WWII.
:banned: this is my first Keegan book. i ####ing love it. it's exactly what i hoped it would be. i'm adding 'War Without Hate' to my Amazon list. :bag:

(eta: this book is my two guys named Bierman and Smith :shrug: wrong book maybe?)

I just got 'Stalingrad' for Christmas by Beevor too.
have this one too. great book. :thumbup:
Albeit a novel, 'The Wars' by Timothy Findlay is a Canadian perspective of WWI. I found it very sobering.
adding (it's actually Findley for anyone else who is interested)
 
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i'm reading John Keegan's The First World War
I just finished this book last month. I find Keegan to be fairly neutral and covers as much ground as possible. Another great book by him is 'War Without Hate' about N. Africa in WWII.
:thumbup: this is my first Keegan book. i ####ing love it. it's exactly what i hoped it would be. i'm adding 'War Without Hate' to my Amazon list. :thumbup:

(eta: this book is my two guys named Bierman and Smith :shrug: wrong book maybe?)

I just got 'Stalingrad' for Christmas by Beevor too.
have this one too. great book. :thumbup:
Albeit a novel, 'The Wars' by Timothy Findlay is a Canadian perspective of WWI. I found it very sobering.
adding (it's actually Findley for anyone else who is interested)
Another Keegan book is 'The Face of Battle'. It provides excellent descriptions and comparisons of Agincourt, Waterloo and the Somme, which all happened within the same region. The first third of the book is about the history of military historians and their philosophies. It's a bit tedious and could be skipped, however, when you get into the meat of the book, it's a page-turner.Currently reading 'To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World'. Very good.

I love my military history books. I've go 'Running With Scissors' on deck so as too mix some things up a bit.

 
The series of books that I want to get on WWI is by Hew Strachan. What got me interested is that these books are the basis for the excellent WWI series on either Military Channel or History Channel that I've been watching. You'll like them I believe, furley, because, at least as presented on TV, there are episodes that show different perspectives of the war, including for example one called "Jihad" that focuses on Turkey. I would imagine that the books are equally balanced in their treatment of the war.
This is my favorite period of history (esp. the origins of the Great War) and my number one graduate course to teach. Strachan's work is THE best thing out there. One of the most thoroughly researched and best written accounts on any period of history. Each volume is a treasure. I love the Taylor work mentioned as well, though I believe having Tuchmann's 'Guns of August,' and Jannen's 'Lions of July,' (in the opposite order than I listed -- obviously) as a background greatly enhances the Taylor piece.For a core look, I would add:

The World Crisis -- Churchill (Grand Summary; Naval look)

The Experience of World War I -- Winter (Introductory work)

Origins of the First World War -- Joll (best overview, IMO; text I often use)

For a look at other fronts:

The Eastern Front 1914-17 -- Stone (a look at his bibliography can send you many places)

War of Lost Opportunities -- Hoffman (more on the Eastern Front)

The ******* War; The Mesopotamien Campaign -- Barker

The Gardeners of Salonika -- Palmer (almost imposible to find; nice look at the Balkan front;writing style is difficult)

There are other great books that concentrate on the Naval campaign (and arms race), the air batles, and the ground works. Just ask and I will do my best to help.

Oh, I also assigned my kids 'Dreadnought' by Robert K. Massie this term. A well written piece that views the naval arms race and relationship between the Germany and Britain (and the other Powers to a lesser extent) through biographical sketches of the major players involved. It ignores far too many things to be a great History book, but offers a good, albeit long, read for those with an interest in the period and a wonderful look at the people and the times just after the turn of the century.

 
Oh, I also assigned my kids 'Dreadnought' by Robert K. Massie this term. A well written piece that views the naval arms race and relationship between the Germany and Britain (and the other Powers to a lesser extent) through biographical sketches of the major players involved. It ignores far too many things to be a great History book, but offers a good, albeit long, read for those with an interest in the period and a wonderful look at the people and the times just after the turn of the century.
I've always found that particular arms race to be very fascinating given the relatively confined area that those two navies were based in (Baltic and North Sea) and the fact that seemingly every keel laid down carried so many repercussions and generated a response from the other side. It was the culmination of centuries of development of the "big gun" ships, and it was the last war in which they dominated. Great subject - I'm going to go check out that book.
 
I was hoping Hunterbeer would chime in!

Also by Keegan is a "Field of Battle: The Wars for North America". Written from a European point of view.

 
Oh, I also assigned my kids 'Dreadnought' by Robert K. Massie this term. A well written piece that views the naval arms race and relationship between the Germany and Britain (and the other Powers to a lesser extent) through biographical sketches of the major players involved. It ignores far too many things to be a great History book, but offers a good, albeit long, read for those with an interest in the period and a wonderful look at the people and the times just after the turn of the century.
I've always found that particular arms race to be very fascinating given the relatively confined area that those two navies were based in (Baltic and North Sea) and the fact that seemingly every keel laid down carried so many repercussions and generated a response from the other side. It was the culmination of centuries of development of the "big gun" ships, and it was the last war in which they dominated. Great subject - I'm going to go check out that book.
Also "Castles of Steel" by the same author delves into detail tabout the North Sea and other battles of WWI.
 
no worries

i'm interested in any and all recommendations for war-related history books. not just US involved conflicts.

i'd like to read more about some significant regional wars through history that maybe we don't hear a lot about. the conflict in Kashmir, the war in Timor.. i'd like to read about the Afghan/Soviet war.. the French/Algerian war, etc.
There is a very good series of books by Alan Eckert, the Winning of America series, which covers the westward expansion during the period from the French and Indian War up to and through the War of 1812. It's written like a novel, but is nonfiction. Excellent accounts of the players from those conflicts, like Pontiac, Tecumseh, Blue Jacket, William Henry Harrison, some George Washington, the Iroquois League, Simon Kenton, Daniel Boone, etc.
Battle Cry of Freedom takes this same tactic on the Civil War, if you're interested someday. (Sorry, I've forgotten the author's name but the title's right.)
It is by James McPherson. It is an excellent one volume history of the civil war and probably the best 1 volume history of the War. He also has another book on the War that only disects letters home by soldiers who fought in the war. That is also a great book. Can't remeber the name.
;) I was going to edit my post with the author now that I'm home, but you beat me to it. If you have the title of that other mcPherson book, PM me with the title. TIA. :D
 
Surely I'm not the only one to have read "Seven Pillars Of Wisdom".

"With Lawrence in Arabia" by Lowell thomas is basically the same story only told with more cool pictures and less words.

 
no worries i'm interested in any and all recommendations for war-related history books. not just US involved conflicts. i'd like to read more about some significant regional wars through history that maybe we don't hear a lot about. the conflict in Kashmir, the war in Timor.. i'd like to read about the Afghan/Soviet war.. the French/Algerian war, etc.
I'm currently reading Alistair Horne's "A Savage War of Peace" on the French/Algerian war. I just finished Thomas Ricks' "Fiasco," in which he wrote that a lot of the US generals in Iraq are stuyding the French/Algerian war because of the similarities between the two conflicts, and how Horne's book was on all of their reading lists. I'm only about 40 pages into Horne's book, but it is good so far.ETA: Another smaller war that is interesting to read about is the Opium Wars. I would skip the recent book that came out and instead read Jack Beeching's book on that conflict.
 
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I don't have any recommendations but I just bought this book off of ebay. Do you happen to have any Vietnam War book recommendations?
David Halberstam's The Best and the BrightestNeil Sheehan's A Bright Shining Lie

Those are two GREAT books on Vietnam. Enjoy.
:confused: Excellent Vietnam books.

For World War l from another perspective try

this one: Unknown Soldiers: The Story of the Missing of the First World War

by Neil Hanson

From Publishers Weekly

In this powerful, painful, unforgettable story of the madness and futility of war, British author Hanson (The Confident Hope of a Miracle) follows three ordinary warriors—British, German and American—through the logic-defying charnel house that was WWI. All died at the second Battle of the Somme in 1916 and end up among the war's nearly three million whose bodies remained unidentified. Making brilliant use of poignant, literary letters of these men and others, Hanson conjures a world that's hard for the modern reader to fathom. The casualty rate during the Great War was appalling: "Dead bodies were used to build the support walls for the fortified ditches; yellowing skulls, arms, legs could be seen packed tight into the dank, black soil...," writes Alec Reader, the British soldier. Hanson takes the reader directly into the horror of trench warfare. "Dead and wounded soldiers, dead and dying animals, horse cadavers, burnt-out houses, shell-cratered fields, devastated vehicles, weapons, fragments of uniforms—all this is scattered around me, in total confusion," writes German Paul Hub. "I didn't think war would be like this." Vivid, sobering and without macho swagger or sentimentality, Hanson lets the voices of the unknowns speak across a bloody century with lessons for the new one. 16 pages of b&w photos, map.

From Booklist

This haunting and heartbreaking account drives home the oft-repeated adage that the death of millions is a statistic but the death of a single individual is a tragedy. To honor the approximately three million fallen soldiers who were never identified in World War I, Hanson relates the individual stories of three young men--a German, an Englishman, and an American. Each of them was lost in the general area of the Somme River, certainly one of the most blood-soaked areas on the western front. Utilizing their diaries and letters to sweethearts and families, Hanson relates their individual experiences and provides a moving testament to the futility of the war. Each man came from an "ordinary" background and seemed to share an innocent faith in the justice of the struggle. Inevitably, as the war grinds to a stalemate and the meatgrinder of trench warfare progresses, one senses their feelings of slow disillusionment and even despair. This emotionally wrenching tribute brings home the fury and horror of the war as experienced by common soldiers who fell victim to it.

 
Well, I have purchased the Keegan WW1 book and Battle Cry Freedom. Should receive them soon. I am definitely going to check out the Vietnam recommendations too.

Great thread guys.

 
Tom Servo said:
no worries

i'm interested in any and all recommendations for war-related history books. not just US involved conflicts.

i'd like to read more about some significant regional wars through history that maybe we don't hear a lot about. the conflict in Kashmir, the war in Timor.. i'd like to read about the Afghan/Soviet war.. the French/Algerian war, etc.
There is a very good series of books by Alan Eckert, the Winning of America series, which covers the westward expansion during the period from the French and Indian War up to and through the War of 1812. It's written like a novel, but is nonfiction. Excellent accounts of the players from those conflicts, like Pontiac, Tecumseh, Blue Jacket, William Henry Harrison, some George Washington, the Iroquois League, Simon Kenton, Daniel Boone, etc.
Battle Cry of Freedom takes this same tactic on the Civil War, if you're interested someday. (Sorry, I've forgotten the author's name but the title's right.)
It is by James McPherson. It is an excellent one volume history of the civil war and probably the best 1 volume history of the War. He also has another book on the War that only disects letters home by soldiers who fought in the war. That is also a great book. Can't remeber the name.
:shrug: I was going to edit my post with the author now that I'm home, but you beat me to it. If you have the title of that other mcPherson book, PM me with the title. TIA. :shrug:
Sent you a PM. But wanted to post the name here as it is a good read. For Cause and Comrades. Here is a link to amazon about the book.http://www.amazon.com/Cause-Comrades-Why-F...TF8&s=books

 
i'm reading John Keegan's The First World War right now... as per usual, when i get on a topic of interest i usually spin off in to a few other books that follow the theme.

this time i'd like to know if anyone knows of books about WWI written from the perspective of some of the smaller involved parties. i'd like to read a book written about the Indian involvement in the Western Front. or the Turkish part of the war. maybe even the Australian.

anyone know of a good book/books that cover one of those angles?

TIA
I read this book not too long ago. The one thing it made me want to read more about was Attaturk.
 
in the bibliography Keegan mentions that there was no "official" accounting of the war by the Turkish gov't.

does that mean there are no books out? not just gov't documents.. but books written by that nations historians? at least accurate accountings?

i also see that they fought a 4 year war with Greece that spun off of WWI. i'd be interested in that. anyone got a recommendation?

 

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