Canadian Army Reading List- 11+ Years Of Suggestions and Ideas

[chalk1]

  Sorry, I don't mean to drag this thread on, so I'll keep it brief.

  A great book I read a few years ago was already mentioned here in the first few pages by jungle et al., namely "The Forgotten Soldier" which is about a young man living in France who is drafted into the Wehrmacht due to (as far as I remember) the fact that his mother was German. This is in fact an autobiography, the author being a Mr. Guy Sajer. I found it to be an all around moving book in every aspect mentioned. In retrospect I find his manner of writing similar to LGen Roméo Dallaire's recent best-seller in that they both give very real human accounts of what they experienced (this being based on my limited reading experiences w/military lit.). I strongly suggest reading this, as it taught me that there can be good guys on both sides of a war.

  Also, I've been hearing a lot about Tom Brown's field books on tracking and so on. Any comment on these? I know a bit of his background, but I've yet to read this and would appreciate any feedback from experienced members.

 

[Infanteer]

I'm almost 100% sure that Guy Sajer's book is fiction.  See Michael Dorosh's website for the whole story.

 

[chalk1]

  Interesting...interesting...

  Thanks for that, Infanteer - I'll look up some more reading on it. I'm sure that you have noticed that there are quite a few points made in his favour as well?

 

[glock17]

I apologize ahead of time if these have already been mentioned, I'm at work and un-able to read the entire thread.The following are IMHO well written and factual accounts of some very tough soldiering.

1. Ortona: Canada's Epic World War II Battle

2. The Liri Valley: Canada's World War II Breakthrough to Rome

Both are authored by Mark Zuehlke and are available On-Line at Chapters.ca

Pro Patria - Stay Safe

 

[Mortar guy]

I am ready a great book right now which I recommend to anyone who liked James McDonough's Platoon Leader or books like that. Its called Steel My Soldiers' Hearts by David Hackworth. Excellent read and full of lots of good Infantry stuff!

Alex

 

[armyrules]

I'm almost finished reading Ortona by Mark Zuehlke and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in WWII non-fictional stories.

 

[patrick666]

I am in the middle of The Gothic Line by Mark Zeuhlke and find it a good, readable, narrative of the last offensive for the Canadians during WW2. I can't say it is very accurate but I find it to be worth reading and will be picking up the other two editions of the Italy trilogy by him.

Cheers

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Zuehlke is a poseur....see the reviews of LIRI VALLEY and ORTONA at www.amazon.com 

His stuff is readable, but for anyone interested in serious research, give him a wide berth.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

   Interesting...interesting...

   Thanks for that, Infanteer - I'll look up some more reading on it. I'm sure that you have noticed that there are quite a few points made in his favour as well?

I hear that Sajer is now a comic book illustrator and his identity has been confirmed.  I can't confirm the confirmation!  But, even if so, there are enough factual or translational errors in the book to make one shy away from using it as a serious reference.  Which is what Stephen Fritz did in his atrocious book FRONTSOLDATEN which was ostensibly a look into the lives of German soldiers in the Second World War, but actually turned into a giant cribbing of Sajer, with entire passages done verbatim.

I will second the notion from a page ago that the Soviet experience in WW II was vastly different than the stereotype of human waves like the ones Jude Law took part in on screen.  By 1944 they had developed, if I recall the argument correctly, an operational art which is something the Germans apparently never did.  Like all the Allied armies, they learned a lot from their early experiences and were very good by 1944 and getting better all the time.

 

[Infanteer]

The Germans did have an operational art - I think the weakness was the way it related to their excellent tactics (I remember reading this somewhere).

Most good histories I read state that by 1944 (if not 1943), the Soviets were the best at executing the operational art, hands down.  Indeed, most of the principles and terms that surround the concept were pre-War Soviet developments, IIRC.

 

[glock17]

Zuehlke is a poseur....see the reviews of LIRI VALLEY and ORTONA at www.amazon.com  

His stuff is readable, but for anyone interested in serious research, give him a wide berth.

  Thanks for the heads up Mike, read the reviews, seems you got some attention from the author.
Maybe he'll spend a little more time reasearching next time. Oh by the way, has Mark reviewed any of your work, I'd like to read that....LOL


Stay Safe

 

[Cpl.Banks]

August 1914...I know its not Canadian but its a very very good book, great for seeing the general confusion and incapability of the tsarist system to effectively fight a "modern war". (circa. 1914)

UBIQUE!!!!

 

[GLOCK 31]

Here are a few books that I have enjoyed, and learned certain skills with.

The Encyclopedia of Outdoor Survival - ISBN 1-930983-19-0
This book shows great survival skills based on SAS techniques.  Covers broadly in every climate condition (Desert, winter, jungle, coastal, etc.)  A very good book and read.  You have to practice what you read about though, in order for it to be of any good.  It generally covers how to survive when you have little supplies.
SAS Survival Guide - ISBN 0-00-472302-3
Very similar to the Encyclopedia of Outdoor Survival but in a pocket guide size.  Covers a lot of different topics, but as with all survival guides they only brush the surface.  It will give a general knowledge about surviving, but you can further your skills greatly by looking into other books that are more specific on a certain area.  They were good for me as just an intro before moving onto more specific books. 
Knots and Splices - ISBN 1-55267-218-2
I enjoyed this book, because I only knew the basic knots before I looked at it.  And the knots I knew would not work in every situation that I would need to tie something up.  Splices, the same, came in handy a few times.  I could have made it with out, but knowing the right one for the job, helped.
Tactical Tracking Operations - ISBN 1-58160-003-8
I have always been interested in tracking, and can't really afford to take a class like Tom Brown's (maybe some day).  So this book was an interesting read.  Its based on Military and Police tracking.  An actual course would be better, but this book is still interesting to read.
The Ultimate Sniper - ISBN 0-87364-704-1
This is a very interesting book on sniping, and has lots of interesting information.  If you are not interested in sniping, then I wouldn't get this book, but if you are, its an interesting read.  Has some good things to think about and some useful info.  Since it was written in 1993, some of the data is out of date.  Written by Maj. John L. Plaster, USAR (RET.)
Janes Guns Recognition Guide - ISBN 0-00-712760-X
This book I enjoyed because it showed me more guns that I knew of.  It is sort of like an encyclopedia of guns, of all types.  One page per gun, and it covers, handguns, revolvers, SMG's, Assault rifles, bolt action, LMG's.  Gives basic info about them and certain details about how to identify them.  Good reference book, but it is missing guns.
Visual Guide to Lock Picking - ISBN 0-9709788-1-2
Covers how to pick basic locks, introcution to certain locks, and how they work.  Also about the tools of the trade.
How to Open Locks with Improvised Tools - ISBN 0-9666087-1-2
Exactly what the name says.  Dry read since it is a how to guide, but it is informative.  Lock picking is a hobby I enjoy but it has also come in handy.
Tao of Jeet Kune Do - ISBN 0-89750-048-2
Very good book for philosophy.  And the support of Mixed Martial Arts.  Don't get the book to learn JKD, cause thats not what its for.  Its good for philosophy and ideas to think about when in a conflict.  I would definitely recommend this book, but again not to learn JKD, instead for the philosophy and ideas to think about.
A Way to Victory - ISBN 1-58567-038-3
Miyamoto Musahi's guide to strategy.  Same concept as the Art of War by Sun Tzu, and On War by Clauswitz.  Interesting and compliments other books of the same idea.  I am reading it right now, as well as the Art of War (One of my copies, I have like seven Art of War variants, and I haven't been able to finish one. Dry reading but very interesting).  And I am in the process of ordering On War right now. 

Hope someone finds something they like from that list.

Robert

Robert

 

[kincanucks]

Wow this hasn't been added to for a while.

Picked up two very good books recently:

Masters of Chaos - The Secret History of the Special Forces by Linda Robinson.  A very good read thus far with some very interesting points of the US Special Forces.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1586482491/002-3298849-2580025?v=glance&n=283155

Rules of Engagement - A Life in Conflict by Col (ret'd) Tim Collins, the former CO of 1 R Irish.  Another good read so far and I certainly like his sense of humour.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2102-1626689,00.html

 

[orange.paint]

I actually read tested mettle, I wasted a good day reading it was was really disapointed.If you want the gyst of it find a fat career cpl in the smoking area to give you a messed up view on how he thinks the army should be run.

Just started into the storm by Tom Clancy so far an excellent read.makes for good reading awake with a 5 month old cutting 4 teeth. :crybaby: :crybaby: :crybaby: :crybaby: :crybaby: ;D

 

[patrick666]

"Total War - causes and courses of World War 2"

Very good book, so far, but it is hell for a slow reader like myself. It makes those 900 pages feel like 900 years - but worth every page. I'd recommend that to anyone looking to really inform themselves about how the world powers and their respective militaries acted and reacted.

Cheers,

Patrick

 

[from darkness lite]

Half way through "Biggest Brother - The Life of Major Dick Winters" by Larry Alexander.  So far I like.  Good first person view of key battles in WW2 and a good insight into what makes a leader a good leader troops will follow to h*ll and back.  Also touches on the Capt Sobel school of leadership.

FDL

 

[KwaiLo]

I know I am biased, as my grandfather wrote it, but - 'The Stretcher Bearers' by David Gordon - Pacesetter Press

"My experience with the 24th was with two different sections and what I wish to record, if only for my own benefit, is what it was like to be a stretcher bearer with a forward unit in action.  My experience in Italy was with a section attached to the Perth Regiment of the 11th Canadian Infantry Brigade (C.I.B.) in the 5th Canadian Armoured Division, 1st Canadian Corps, part of the British 8th Army."

What he was able to do was get copies of daily reports that he had prepared from the Unit War Diary.  These cover the period of Dec 3rd, 1944 to Jan 13th, 1945.  He also was able to review copies of maps with the RSM of the 24th, John Gee, to give him "a perspective not present during our activities".

With few books written about the Perths, and fewer about the men who carried their wounded comrades from the front, Canadian or otherwise, I recommend this book to all who want a view of daily life for one NSM in Italy 1944-45.

My grandfather passed away while working on a book about his experience in Holland with the D-Day Dodgers, and my uncle made a great effort to finish his work.  Unfortunately, it was not a published book.

 

[yak]

'On Killing' and 'On Combat' by Lt. Col. David Grossman are both worth reading.

'Ghosts of the Medac Pocket' by Carol Off

'Missing in Action: An RCAF Navigator's Story' by John Harvie - I've spoken with him - you have to admire someone who can bail out and then spend time in Buchenwald and come out with all his dogs still barking.

And if you like to bang a little - 'Get Tough' by Fairbairn - good both because it's old as the hills (1942), diagrams with the bad guys in German uniforms, and also because much of what it says is still taught as the foundation of many close quarter fighting programs.

abebooks.com works well to find old and out of print books, as well as used.  I think that might have been mentioned already.

 

[aesop081]

Has anyone read "A Military History of Canada" by Desmond Morton?

Pretty much anyone here who has had the pleasure of doing the OPDP or OPME.........