Books to read

I recently read "Sowers of Thunder, (Robert E. Howard) and The Prince (Machiavelli) and was wondering if anyone had any other examples of books in this type of theme. cheers

Sun Tsu's "The Art Of War" is an amazing book.

It's best to be taken in a few times (it's a short read). The first time you read it, you take Sun Tsu's advice as rather bland and obvious pieces of tactics.

However, the second time you read it, it is recommended that you savor each entry and try to picture a scenario for each one. If you do this, you are sure to find many, many layers embedded in each piece of advice.

There are versions of his book that depict Sun Tsu's original text (translated into English, of course) followed by the authors own personal interpretation. These are less fun to read, but often give you insights you may have missed.

It's a great book for business grads, as well, because many of his lessons translate into legitimate business tactics.

Thanx khan, I also have Machiavelli's art of war, I had read sun tsu's art of war but will follow the advice you gave to picture a scenario, and look for the embedded layers. appreciate your response m8

well for total war Clausewitz is quite informative. Nevermind that he talks about some centuries later than M2, his thought are good for any century. Shaposhnikov's The brain of the army is good for every tw player too

Originally Posted by Kara Kolyo

well for total war Clausewitz is quite informative. Nevermind that he talks about some centuries later than M2, his thought are good for any century.

I heartily concur. Clausewitz has so many original and very deep concepts like friction and the fog of war. It is also recommended for business.
I would add to this list the memoirs of George Patton. Though this falls more into a historical genre he gives ample opinions that quite good on overall stategy.

cheers thankyou for those choices, will definatly give them a look

Roots of Strategy, edited by Brig. Gen. T.R. Phillips is a pretty good place to start on the issue.

It contains:
The Art of War by Sun Tzu - 500 B.C.
The Military Institutions of the Romans by Vegetius - 390 A.D.
My Reveries Upon the Art of War by Marshal Maurice de Saxe - 1732
The Instruction of Frederick the Great for His Generals - 1747
The Military Maxims of Napoleon

The dates at each entry are as listed in the title page.

unbelievable, thank you all so much for the choices, many thanks and rep to you all

"The Thirty Years war Europe In Fire" By Lars Ericson Wolke,Göran Larsson and Nils Erik Villstrand(All of them swedish historians]
It's a book about the first European Great War.A war when armies from all the corners of europe met on the battlefield.
The war affected all parts of europe ,So big armies had never been essembled.
never before had so many humans died on the battlefields.

The People behind the war,Emperors and kings,politicians and Generals, are all presented in personal portraits.
common soldiers and their families faith is also described in the book.
More then 350 ilustrations and maps showing diffrent aspects of the war that burned Euorope in over 30 years.
The autors are all Leading historians that have The thirty years war as their main area
My friendly regards/Carl VD

Has anyone recommended the "Gorin No Sho" yet?
Book of Five Rings, by swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, still widely read by Japanese businessmen to this day.
Also, the 'Hagakure' is a very interesting read.

"The Many Adventures of Winnie Poo"

exelent read......


And For the more mature ppl on this forum I can recoment

"Stalingrad" by A. beevor

Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong

Or

Hitler by Joachim C.Fest

The Art of Maneuver - Airland Battle Theory
Robert Leonhard
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Maneuver-W...5236169&sr=8-1

Outstanding book that discusses the roots of the US Airland battle program in the Arab Israeli wars. Moves forward then to talk about how the US struggled with technology and a program for fighting Russians on the plains of Europe. Goes back in time to look at the concept of Schwerpunkt and how the US military used that to shape how the army was re-organized, etc. Obviously this book is dated now because of the focus on handling Low Intensity Conflicts or Conflicts Less Than War.

Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World: Equipment, Combat Skills and Tactics
by Matthew Bennett (Author), Jim Bradbury (Author), Kelly DeVries (Author), Iain Dickie (Author), Phyllis Jestice (Author)

http://www.amazon.com/Fighting-Techn...5236485&sr=1-1

This one has always looked really intriguing to me but I've never pulled the trigger on it. This one has a similar focus as well...I cannot decide which one to get though

Warfare in the Medieval World
Brian Todd Carey

http://www.amazon.com/Warfare-Mediev...71FNCB1HY81YR9

Finally...

The Campaigns of Napoleon
David Chandler

http://www.amazon.com/Campaigns-Napo...5236718&sr=1-1

This thing is a massive hardcover with tons of fantastic maps. It covers everything you ever wanted to know about Napoleon's battle demeaner, strategy, and approach to strategy plus a whole lot more. The book starts with Napoleon's military training and goes directly into the Northern Italian Campaign he waged. Chandler's writing is pretty dry, but I've used this book less as a cover-to-cover read than as a "by my computer to kill a few minutes" skipping around using the extensive Indexes.

Other people have mentioned some great books here. This should give you QUITE a pile of books to read!!

The Art of War by Baron de Jomini is considered one of the essential works in military theory. It was a staple among American Civil War generals.

http://www.amazon.com/Art-War-Baron-...5243805&sr=1-1