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Movie Theater Anyone Read A Good NON-Fiction Book Lately?
- Thread starter Sean the Nailer
- Start date
House to House by SSgt. David Bellavia
He leads 3rd Plt, Alpha Co in the first move into Falluja in'04. One of the few reads I couldn't put down. Intense, graphic and heartbreaking. Excellent book.
Also, if you're a motorcycle road racing fan, Guy Martin's Autobiography is great too, easier to read than actually try to listen to the heavy Irish accent of his lol.
He leads 3rd Plt, Alpha Co in the first move into Falluja in'04. One of the few reads I couldn't put down. Intense, graphic and heartbreaking. Excellent book.
Also, if you're a motorcycle road racing fan, Guy Martin's Autobiography is great too, easier to read than actually try to listen to the heavy Irish accent of his lol.
"Force Recon Command" - smarter than your typical "war stories" book.
"That Non-Violent Stuff Will Get You Killed" - breaks through the surface level, pop-culture history of the civil rights movement. It chronicles the armed resistance of black Americans through history, and how that side of history as been ignored. It puts a much more human spin on the civil rights movement - demonstrating that blacks used the best available political tactics, nonviolent or otherwise, to achieve freedom, rather than the modern narrative that they just sat there and took it until white liberals came to their rescue. The book's cover reads like it's all about guns (probably to sell books), but it's not. It's about history.
"That Non-Violent Stuff Will Get You Killed" - breaks through the surface level, pop-culture history of the civil rights movement. It chronicles the armed resistance of black Americans through history, and how that side of history as been ignored. It puts a much more human spin on the civil rights movement - demonstrating that blacks used the best available political tactics, nonviolent or otherwise, to achieve freedom, rather than the modern narrative that they just sat there and took it until white liberals came to their rescue. The book's cover reads like it's all about guns (probably to sell books), but it's not. It's about history.
I've been wanting to read Jack Hinson's "One Man War" Here's a wiki link for Jack Hinson. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Hinson
Wow, thanks for the lead. Bought it on Amazon Kindle for $10 just now. Just came back from Gettysburg where we toured the battlefield for a day with a licensed battlefield guide and came away with an amazing experience and a new appreciation for Civil War history.
If you get into the whole "longrifle" thing here's some more reading. Some super interesting rifles.
What was amazing was that Sutkus was offered a job as a mecernary sniper for the US but refused and went with his future wife to the Soviet gulag until the early 90's!
"Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" where tin cans take on the Japanese Imperial Navy battleships and cruisers and WIN! These sailors/airmen should have won a bushel of medals including CMO.
Tribe- by Sebastian Junger it's a quick book but, a great representation of the sense belonging and why when anyone that's lived or worked in a tribe like setting IE military, police, first responder and such feels the need for that always. And how it effects us more than we think.
"The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer. Story of a young German solider and the brutal conditions he lived through.
2 excellent ones I'm reading right now
Autopsy of the Clinton campaign. Authors are lefties so know that going in but very interesting book.
I'm listening to this one while driving in the car---very good so far.
Autopsy of the Clinton campaign. Authors are lefties so know that going in but very interesting book.
I'm listening to this one while driving in the car---very good so far.
The Outpost by Jake Tapper.
Don’t worry about Tapper being a leftie... this book was recommended to me by John Hawes and Tapper is pro military and was a gentleman all the way during his interviews
Don’t worry about Tapper being a leftie... this book was recommended to me by John Hawes and Tapper is pro military and was a gentleman all the way during his interviews
"Intrepid's Last Case" by William Stevenson.
Quite the book, and the tangents discussed regarding defecting spies, active spies, the 'mis-information' given BY active spies who've "climbed the ladder" and touches on just a hint of the chaos that it brings/brought. Many are discussed in this book, and Kim Philby plays no small roll.
But the political 'powers' at the time, and their mis-handling of so much that is still being dealt with to this day.
One thing that is so paramount, though, is the fact that humans tend to "thats' different, so it must be bad" .... starts as a child and never leaves some.
And yet it could easily be said that those whom it DOES leave, simply aren't aware of it to begin with. Think about that one, eh?
Quite the book, and the tangents discussed regarding defecting spies, active spies, the 'mis-information' given BY active spies who've "climbed the ladder" and touches on just a hint of the chaos that it brings/brought. Many are discussed in this book, and Kim Philby plays no small roll.
But the political 'powers' at the time, and their mis-handling of so much that is still being dealt with to this day.
One thing that is so paramount, though, is the fact that humans tend to "thats' different, so it must be bad" .... starts as a child and never leaves some.
And yet it could easily be said that those whom it DOES leave, simply aren't aware of it to begin with. Think about that one, eh?
For the biography lovers and my fellow leathernecks...just started reading “Chesty”...hard-charger!
A bit different than most books listed, but I recently finished “ Living with a SEAL” by Jesse Itzler... a good, light-hearted read with some kick-in-your-ass motivation if you need it.
Not long ago, I finished reading "Intrepid's Last Case". As with the rest of the 'docu-books' about him, there was a number of interesting points made. Not to mention a few things that are unexpected twists that did affect how things are today.
I think I wrote these up in another thread here, but anyway, here's a few:
Rogue Warrior, This was his first and the best of his books IMO.
Point Man, story of a seal in VietNam, probably my favorite
Marine Sniper, if you're here and you haven't read this, you should
Feet Wet, stories from a naval aviator going from the Langely, to F-14s
Rogue Warrior, This was his first and the best of his books IMO.
Point Man, story of a seal in VietNam, probably my favorite
Marine Sniper, if you're here and you haven't read this, you should
Feet Wet, stories from a naval aviator going from the Langely, to F-14s
Posted this in the other book thread but read "1051" by Millard Hileman.
Millard Hileman was a POW in the "custody" of the Japanese in WWII. He's the great uncle of a friend of mine. My friend was shot down in OEF, and subsequently did several more tours in both E and I. Some families man up and go to war, some families make excuses.
God bless America
Millard Hileman was a POW in the "custody" of the Japanese in WWII. He's the great uncle of a friend of mine. My friend was shot down in OEF, and subsequently did several more tours in both E and I. Some families man up and go to war, some families make excuses.
God bless America
Journal of a Trapper by Osborne Russell. Non fiction, diary. No chatter or opinions. Just like he wrote it, while he wrote it.
https://user.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/html/ruslintr.html
https://user.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/html/ruslintr.html
Im still reading THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH.. One of the best books I have ever read. It shows you how the Nazis came into power.
"KILL ZONE" by Craig Roberts. Gives an interesting perspective on who may be responsible for JFK's assignation. Still people out there that think Oswald did it all.
D
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Almost done with "The Arms of Krupp" by William Manchester. Very long at about 950 pages, but extremely good. Krupp was the leading armament family in Germany going back to the 1600's. The more I read about Germany, especially during WWII, never ceases to amaze me the depths of depravity of the German society.....
sounds like I need to read this one because I have a long term interest in the HIT and know JFK entered a Kill Zone as identified by CIA and Army assassination squads.
That sounds like an excellent and interesting book. Thanks for the heads-up, and I'll add it to my 'list'. I'm assuming that the "Krupp Bullet" is in there with it's own chapter?
Sounds like a good read, long is o.k. as long as its interesting. And William Manchester is one of my favorite writers.
Anyone read "The Creature from Jekyll Island"? The books online are expensive, must be out of print.
I was lucky and found it at the local library. It looks like the Kindle edition is also relatively expensive ($17), so it may just be that the publisher has set a higher price for the book. Or it may very well be out of print.
The current collection.
So far I have read:
13 Hours
American Sniper
The Last Punisher
Lone Survivor
The Reaper (digital)
The rest are in the backlog to get to. Not sure which one to start next. Of those pictured, any recommendations on what I should pick up next? Any others to add to the collection/ wishlist on amazon?
My favorites have been 13 hours and The Last Punisher. Both excellent and hard to put down.
So far I have read:
13 Hours
American Sniper
The Last Punisher
Lone Survivor
The Reaper (digital)
The rest are in the backlog to get to. Not sure which one to start next. Of those pictured, any recommendations on what I should pick up next? Any others to add to the collection/ wishlist on amazon?
My favorites have been 13 hours and The Last Punisher. Both excellent and hard to put down.
If you dont have/ haven't read Horse Soldiers, I highly recommend it. Great book!!!
Thanks for the recommendation, added to the “to buy list”
12 Strong was a good movie, means I should like the book and actual story much more.
It's WAY out in left field compared to what a lot of you guys are reading, but I just finished up 'Ignition!' by John D. Clark. It's a brief (and informal) history of liquid rocket fuel development from the early 1900s through the mid 60s or so. Much of it is pretty dry scientific stuff, but there's a few interesting stories and anecdotes along the way. There's a few stories about things going very, very wrong that are pretty entertaining in hindsight, but there's one particularly infamous passage, discussing Chlorine Triflouride (CTF):
"All this sounds fairly academic and innocuous, but when it is translated into the problem of handling the stuff, the results are horrendous. It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that's the least of the problem. It is hypergolic with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water —with which it reacts explosively. It can be kept in some of the ordinary structural metals — steel, copper, aluminum, etc. —because of the formation of a thin film of insoluble metal fluoride which protects the bulk of the metal, just as the invisible coat of oxide on aluminum keeps it from burning up in the atmosphere. If, however, this coat is melted or scrubbed off, and has no chance to reform, the operator is confronted with the problem of coping with a metal-fluorine fire. For dealing with this situation, I have always recommended a good pair of running shoes. "
He goes on to relate the story of a spill of a one ton bottle of the stuff at a chemical plant, and the liquid CTF proceeding to eat through 12" of reinforced concrete and an even greater portion of the underlying gravel. Nasty stuff.
"All this sounds fairly academic and innocuous, but when it is translated into the problem of handling the stuff, the results are horrendous. It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that's the least of the problem. It is hypergolic with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water —with which it reacts explosively. It can be kept in some of the ordinary structural metals — steel, copper, aluminum, etc. —because of the formation of a thin film of insoluble metal fluoride which protects the bulk of the metal, just as the invisible coat of oxide on aluminum keeps it from burning up in the atmosphere. If, however, this coat is melted or scrubbed off, and has no chance to reform, the operator is confronted with the problem of coping with a metal-fluorine fire. For dealing with this situation, I have always recommended a good pair of running shoes. "
He goes on to relate the story of a spill of a one ton bottle of the stuff at a chemical plant, and the liquid CTF proceeding to eat through 12" of reinforced concrete and an even greater portion of the underlying gravel. Nasty stuff.
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Currently reading "Hue, 1968" by Mark Bowden. It chronicles the events leading up to the Tet Offensive and ultimately the NVA and Viet Cong's siege of the city. It also goes through in detail the pain staking process of retaking the city. Very good so far.
Havnt read it recently, but by far my favorite book is "With the Old Breed" written by Eugene Sledge. Sledge was a Marine with Kilo Co, 3/5 during WW2. He wrote the book telling what he experianced during that time.
Another good one is "Ghost Soldiers" and tells the story of an elite Army unit that was tasked with rescuing American POW's who were taken captive by the Japanese when they overtook the Phillipines.
Havnt read it recently, but by far my favorite book is "With the Old Breed" written by Eugene Sledge. Sledge was a Marine with Kilo Co, 3/5 during WW2. He wrote the book telling what he experianced during that time.
Another good one is "Ghost Soldiers" and tells the story of an elite Army unit that was tasked with rescuing American POW's who were taken captive by the Japanese when they overtook the Phillipines.
I'll have to read that one. I had a roommate in high school who's father was a codetalker during the war. Very interesting character (roommate and his dad both). They were from Chinle Arizona. Wonder if they're still there.....?
Frank
