Military History Books
recommended by historians and military historians
Last updated: September 27, 2024
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Jack Tar: Life in Nelson's Navy
by Lesley Adkins & Roy Adkins -
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Operation Pedestal: The Fleet that Battled to Malta, 1942
by Max Hastings -
3
Destroyer Captain: Memoirs of the War at Sea, 1942-45
by Roger Hill -
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How to Build an Aircraft Carrier: The Incredible Story of the Men and Women Who Brought Britain’s Biggest Warship to Life
by Chris Terrill -
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The Cruel Sea
by Nicholas Monsarrat
The best books on Warships, recommended by Jim Carter
The best books on Warships, recommended by Jim Carter
Life on board a warship entails physical danger, close-knit community, and an unusual combination of cutting-edge technology and generations-old tradition. We asked Jim Carter, the author of Hearts of Steel, to recommend five of the best books on warships—from military history to naval biography.
The best books on World War I, recommended by Jonathan Boff
It’s been more than 100 years since World War I ended, but there is still very little consensus about what caused it, or what its consequences were. Historian Jonathan Boff talks us through the latest books and best modern interpretations of World War I.
The best books on Thucydides, recommended by Johanna Hanink
The Greek historian and general Thucydides wanted his History of the Peloponnesian War “to be a possession for all time.” In that, he’s been remarkably successful, with his name still echoing in the corridors of power. But what lessons should we take away from his great work? Translator and classicist Johanna Hanink talks us through books to better understand Thucydides and the mythical Athens he lived in and wrote about.
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Performing the Great Peace: Political Space and Open Secrets in Tokugawa Japan
by Luke Roberts -
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The Taming of the Samurai: Honorific Individualism and the Making of Modern Japan
by Eiko Ikegami -
3
Tour of Duty: Samurai, Military Service in Edo, and the Culture of Early Modern Japan
by Constantine Vaporis -
4
Musui's Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai
by Teruko Craig (editor and translator) -
5
Lust, Commerce, and Corruption: An Account of What I Have Seen and Heard, by an Edo Samurai
Mark Teeuwen and Kate Wildman Nakai (eds)
The best books on Samurai, recommended by Michael Wert
The best books on Samurai, recommended by Michael Wert
The samurai, Japan’s warrior caste, have been embraced by popular culture and made their way into films, comic books and video games. But who were they really? Michael Wert, professor of East Asian History at Marquette University and author of Samurai: A Concise History, recommends the best books to learn more about samurai, literally ‘one who serves.’
The best books on Aviation History, recommended by Joseph Corn
The historian and author pilots us through a century of aviation, from the excitement that greeted the first airplanes to the transformative role of World War II.
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Westphalia: the Last Christian Peace 1643-48
by Derek Croxton -
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Monro, His expedition with the worthy Scots regiment (called Mac-Keyes-regiment) levied in August 1626
by Robert Monro -
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Wallenstein: His Life Narrated
by Golo Mann -
4
European Weapons and Warfare 1618–1648
by Eduard Wagner -
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Tagebuch Eines Soldners Aus Dem Dreissigjahrigen Krieg
Peter Hagendorf (ed. Jan Peters)
The best books on The Thirty Years War, recommended by Peter Wilson
The best books on The Thirty Years War, recommended by Peter Wilson
It was a war that devastated Europe and left more than one-fifth of the German population dead. The complex peace agreement that ended it, the Treaty of Westphalia, is still credited with establishing our modern state system. Peter Wilson, Chichele Professor of the History of War at Oxford University and author of the most recent general history of the war, Europe’s Tragedy: A New History of the Thirty Years War, recommends books to read for a nuanced picture of Europe’s cataclysmic 17th-century conflict.
The best books on The Opium War, recommended by Julia Lovell
The 19th century opium war marked the clash of the world’s great empires of the age – Britain and China. Historian Julia Lovell says its legacy of Chinese humiliation is still felt keenly in Beijing.
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Pendulum Of War: Three Battles at El Alamein
by Niall Barr -
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The Desert War: The Classic Trilogy on the North African Campaign 1940-43
by Alan Moorehead -
3
Rommel
by Desmond Young -
4
Montgomery and the Eighth Army
by Bernard Montgomery and Stephen Brooks (ed) -
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The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain
by Stephen Bungay
The best books on El Alamein, recommended by Simon Ball
The best books on El Alamein, recommended by Simon Ball
Churchill hailed the Allied victory at the Battle of El Alamein as “the end of the beginning” for Hitler in World War II. But in that very same speech, he downplayed its significance. Historian Simon Ball separates clichés from facts and chooses the best of the vast number of books written about El Alamein, the Desert War and World War II in general.
The best books on Reportage and War, recommended by Martin Bell
The former BBC war reporter picks out essential reading on the Bosnia and Vietnam wars and explains why a book of poetry speaks more to him about the reality of conflict than any other writing
Andrew Exum recommends the best books for Understanding the War in Afghanistan
The US has repeatedly misdiagnosed the war in Afghanistan. Former soldier, Andrew Exum, tells us about flawed policy, unhappy outcomes and what could and should have been different.