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Recommendations based on Jarhead : A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battlesby Anthony Swofford
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
by Stephen E. Ambrose
An epic narrative of the American soldiers of Easy Company during World War II.
As good a rifle company as any, Easy Company, 506th Airborne Division, US Army, kept getting tough assignments–responsible for everything from parachuting into France early DDay morning to the ... (Goodreads)
Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War
by Mark Bowden
A detailed account of the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, where US soldiers fought Somali militia in a brutal urban warfare.
On October 3, 1993, about a hundred U.S. soldiers were dropped by helicopter into a teeming market in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia, to abduct two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord. The action ... (Goodreads)
Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the New Face of American War
by Evan Wright
A journalist embedded with a Marine battalion during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, providing a raw and unfiltered account of modern warfare.
Another nameless town, another target for First Recon. It's only five in the afternoon, but a sandtorm has plunged everything into a hellish twilight of murky, red dust. On rooftops, in alleyways ... (Goodreads)
We Were Soldiers Once... and Young: Ia Drang - The Battle that Changed the War in Vietnam
by Harold G. Moore
An account of the Battle of Ia Drang in Vietnam, told from the perspective of the soldiers who fought it.
Each year, the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps selects one book that he believes is both relevant and timeless for reading by all Marines. The Commandant's choice for 1993 was We Were Soldiers ... (Goodreads)
D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Battle for the Normandy Beaches
by Stephen E. Ambrose
A comprehensive account of the pivotal World War II invasion of Normandy.
Now illustrated with an extraordinary collection of over 125 photos, Stephen E. Ambrose’s D-Day is the definitive history of World War II’s most pivotal battle, June 6, 1944, the day that changed the ... (Barnes & Noble)
American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History
by Chris Kyle
An inside look at the life of the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history.
From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. The Pentagon has officially confirmed more than 150 of Kyle's kills (the previous ... (Goodreads)
The Basketball Diaries
by Jim Carroll
A teenage boy's struggles with addiction and his journey of self-discovery.
The urban classic coming-of-age story about sex, drugs, and basketball. Jim Carroll grew up to become a renowned poet and punk rocker. But in this memoir of the mid-1960's, set during his ... (Goodreads)
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster
by Jon Krakauer
A gripping narrative of the 1996 expedition on Mount Everest that resulted in tragedy.
When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. ... (Goodreads)
Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan
by Sean Parnell
An account of a US Army infantry platoon's extraordinary courage and camaraderie in the face of overwhelming danger during the war in Afghanistan.
Acclaimed for its vivid, poignant, and honest recreation of sixteen brutal months of nearly continuous battle in the deadly Hindu Kesh, Outlaw Platoon is a Band of Brothers or We Were Soldiers Once ... (Barnes & Noble)
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
by Anthony Bourdain
A humorous and unflinching account of life in restaurant kitchens, exploring the culture and camaraderie of the culinary world.
A deliciously funny, delectably shocking banquet of wild-but-true tales of life in the culinary trade from Chef Anthony Bourdain, laying out his more than a quarter-century of drugs, sex, and haute ... (Goodreads)
Miracle in the Andes
by Nando Parrado
A harrowing tale of survival and resilience in the Andes Mountains.
In the first hours there was nothing, no fear or sadness, just a black and perfect silence. Nando Parrado was unconscious for three days before he woke to discover that the plane carrying his rugby ... (Goodreads)
Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
by Erik Larson
Story of the 1900 Galveston hurricane, and one man's desperate struggle to save his city.
September 8, 1900, began innocently in the seaside town of Galveston, Texas. Even Isaac Cline, resident meteorologist for the U.S. Weather Bureau failed to grasp the true meaning of the strange ... (Goodreads)
One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer
by Nathaniel Fick
A firsthand account of a Marine officer's journey from training to combat in Iraq, exploring the complexities of leadership and war.
If the Marines are “the few, the proud,” Recon Marines are the fewest and the proudest. Nathaniel Fick’s career begins with a hellish summer at Quantico, after his junior year at Dartmouth. He leads ... (Goodreads)
Undaunted Courage: The Pioneering First Mission to Explore America's Wild Frontier
by Stephen E. Ambrose
Epic tale of exploration and adventure as Lewis and Clark traverse the American wilderness.
'This was much more than a bunch of guys out on an exploring and collecting expedition. This was a military expedition into hostile territory'. In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson selected his ... (Goodreads)
The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea
by Sebastian Junger
A harrowing account of a fishing boat's journey into the heart of an epic storm.
"Takes readers into the maelstrom and shows nature's splendid and dangerous havoc at its utmost". October 1991. It was "the perfect storm"–a tempest that may happen only once in a century--a ... (Goodreads)
The Blind Side
by Michael Lewis
Story of an underprivileged African-American teen who is rescued and mentored by a wealthy white family.
The #1 New York Times Bestseller "Lewis has such a gift for storytelling…he writes as lucidly for sports fans as for those who read him for other reasons." —Janet Maslin, New York Times When we first ... (Barnes & Noble)
John Adams
by David McCullough
Biography of the second President of the United States and his contributions to the founding of the nation.
The enthralling, often surprising story of John Adams, one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived. In this powerful, epic biography, David McCullough unfolds the adventurous ... (Goodreads)
If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home
by Tim O'Brien
A reflective memoir of war from the perspective of a young soldier.
Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found, here, A CLASSIC FROM THE, NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF, THE THINGS THEY CARRIED, Before writing his award-winning Going After Cacciato , Tim ... (Goodreads)
The Seven Storey Mountain
by Thomas Merton
Autobiography of a man's journey from a privileged upbringing to becoming a Trappist monk. A spiritual classic.
One of the most famous books ever written about a man’s search for faith and peace. The Seven Storey Mountain tells of the growing restlessness of a brilliant and passionate young man, who at the age ... (Goodreads)
Flags of Our Fathers
by James D. Bradley
A tribute to the brave soldiers who raised the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima during WWII.
In this unforgettable chronicle of perhaps the most famous moment in American military history, James Bradley has captured the glory, the triumph, the heartbreak, and the legacy of the six men who ... (Goodreads)
No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden
by Mark Owen
A first-hand account of the mission that killed Osama Bin Laden, detailing the training, planning, and execution of the operation.
From the streets of Iraq to the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips in the Indian Ocean, and from the mountaintops of Afghanistan to the third floor of Osama Bin Laden's compound, operator Mark Owen ... (Goodreads)
The Places in Between
by Rory Stewart
A pilgrimage across Afghanistan, uncovering the country's forgotten history.
Stewart arrives in Afghanistan in January 2002, beginning his journey in Herat and proceeding on foot to Kabul . He is initially accompanied by two armed guards, Qasim and Abdul Haq, at the ... (Wikipedia)
Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission
by Hampton Sides
True story of the remarkable rescue of prisoners of war in the Philippines during WWII.
On January 28, 1945, 121 hand-selected U.S. troops slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Their mission: March thirty rugged miles to rescue 513 POWs languishing in a hellish camp, among them ... (Goodreads)
The Forgotten Soldier
by Guy Sajer
A memoir of a German soldier's experiences during WWII, depicting the horrors of war.
Forgotten Soldier recounts the horror of World War II on the eastern front, as seen through the eyes of a teenaged German soldier. At first an exciting adventure, young Guy Sajer’s war becomes, as ... (Goodreads)
The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
by Thomas L. Friedman
An exploration of the rapid globalization of the world, and the implications of this shift.
When scholars write the history of the world twenty years from now, and they come to the chapter Y2K to March 2004 , what will they say was the most crucial development? The attacks on the World ... (Goodreads)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
by Jean-Dominique Bauby
A paralyzed man's memoir, transcribed through blinking his left eye.
On December 8, 1995, Bauby, the editor-in-chief of French, Elle, magazine, suffered a stroke and lapsed into a coma . He awoke 20 days later, mentally aware of his surroundings, but physically ... (Wikipedia)
A Rumor of War
by Philip Caputo
A firsthand account of the Vietnam War by a Marine, recounting its devastating impact on his life.
The 40th-anniversary edition of the classic Vietnam memoir—featured in the PBS documentary series The Vietnam War by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick—with a new foreword by Kevin Powers. In March of 1965, ... (Goodreads)
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72
by Hunter S. Thompson
A wild journey through the 1972 US presidential election, tackling issues of politics and power.
Hilarious, terrifying, insightful, and compulsively readable, these are the articles that Hunter S. Thompson wrote for, Rolling Stone, magazine while covering the 1972 election campaign of President ... (Goodreads)
With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
by Eugene B. Sledge
A soldier's harrowing account of his experiences in World War II.
In his own book, Wartime, Paul Fussell called With the Old Breed "one of the finest memoirs to emerge from any war." John Keegan referred to it in The Second World War as "one of the most arresting ... (Goodreads)
Flyboys: A True Story of Courage
by James D. Bradley
The story of nine American airmen shot down over Chichi Jima during World War II and their brutal treatment by the Japanese.
Over the remote Pacific island of Chichi Jima, nine American flyers-Navy and Marine pilots sent to bomb Japanese communications towers there-were shot down., Flyboys, a story of war and horror but ... (Goodreads)
