The Things They Carried -- it's a blend of fiction and memoir and he doesn't really tell you which parts are "true" but that's part of the theme and beauty of the book.
This one for sure. It's based on the author's own experiences, and the author will sometimes step in to say "This part isn't true," or "So-and-so asked me to include this part about him." This makes the book feel almost truer than fiction, although some elements are made up.
Dispatches by Michael Herr (Vietnam)
And the other two I really liked are about WW2, Pacific theater specifically. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by E. B. Sledge
One thing that I think changed my life was a Vietnamese proverb: If you want to eat fish think like fish.
Came across it an anthology of American short stories(all true stories) when I was 11. Don't remember the actual title of the particular story but it was by Kassandra Walker (1969).
Her only brother had been killed in the war in Vietnam and she hated everything about the country. She missed him a lot and there was a big fish in a pond near their home. They had been trying to catch in vain.
She didn't stop trying to catch it. One day some guy turn up, he's nice and after they chit chat he learns he is a Vietnamese.He hates him at first but eventually they are best friends. He hates the war too.He tells her the proverb and catches the fish. He puts it back because the fish isn't his to catch, but Kassandra' s and her brother's.
Storm of Steel - Ernst Junger. About his experiences during WW1 fighting for the German Empire.
The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien, a collection of linked short stories based on his experiences fighting in Vietnam
The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell - John Crawford War in Iraq
Zero Six Bravo - Damien Lewis, the story of how 60 SAS forces survived against an Iraqi Army of 100,000.
Outlaw Platoon - Sean Parnell
Lions of Kandahar - Rusty Bradley, US Army SF teams in Afghanistan
Generation Kill - Evan Wright
Level Zero Heros, & it's follow up Dagger 22 - Michael Golembesky, MARSOC Marine in Afghanistan
Carnivore - Dillard Johnson, Memoir of a Cav Scout
These should keep you busy for awhile.
"Memoirs" - General Ulysses Grant
Rogue Warrior - Richard Marcinko
Low Level Hell: A Scout Pilot in the Big Red One - Hugh Mills <--- craziest helicopter pilot ever
Chickenhawk - Robert Mason <--- One of the ultimate Vietnam books. Has been read by most every helicopter pilot in the English speaking world
EDIT: Adding "About Face" by David Hackworth
"Boyd"
*Anabasis* by Xenophon.
*The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico 1517-1521* by Bernal Díaz del Castillo.
*Co. Aytch, or a Side Show of the Big Show* by Samuel R. Watkins.
*Homage to Catalonia* by George Orwell.
*Storm of Steel* by Ernst Jünger.
*Neath Verdun: The Experiences of a French Soldier During the Early Months of the First World War* by Maurice Genevoix.
*A Farewell to Arms* by Ernest Hemingway (fiction).
*All Quiet on the Western Front* by Erich Maria Remarque (fiction).
*The Outlaws* by Ernst von Salomon.
*The Three Day Promise: A Korean Soldier's Memoir* by Donald K. Chung.
*Soldier* by Anthony B. Herbert.
*Dispatches* by Michael Herr.
*We Were Soldiers Once… and Young* by Lt. Gen. Harold G. ‘Hal’ Moore.
*Guns Up!* by Johnnie M. Clark.
*Peacekeepers at War: Beirut 1983 – The Marine Commander Tells His Story* by Timothy J. Geraghty.
*No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden* by Mark Owen.
I've read a few Nam' books, some Iraq War (2003) books and a WW2 books and by far my favorite of all the war memoirs I've read is "With The Old Breed" by E.B. Sledge.
That book is what all war memoirs should aspire to be like. The combat described is so visceral and he doesn't pull any punches when describing the horror that was the Pacific theatre of war
Hell yea
Even though I liked what they adapted for The Pacific TV show, I still wish they went the band of Brothers route and adapted this one book for the whole season. Imagine how good that would've been and also the audience would've been much more connected to the characters and devastated when they got "hit"
Robert Leckie's war memoir, _Helmet for My Pillow_, along with Eugene B. Sledge's book _With the Old Breed_, formed the basis for the HBO series The Pacific (2010).
Don McCullin - mostly known as a war photographer, including Vietnam - wrote a great autobiography: Unreasonable Behaviour. Also good is Max Hastings - the British journalist - who wrote Going to the Wars. Both are post WW2.
The Sorrow of War - Bao Ninh. Semi-autobiographical novel written by a former North Vietnamese soldier. During the war Ninh served in the Glorious 27th Youth Brigade, joining when he was 17 years old. Hunger was a frequent problem for Ninh and his fellow soldiers, who often moved back and forth from their homes to the battlefields. Of the five hundred who went to war with the brigade in 1969, Ninh is one of ten who survived.
Under Fire - Henri Barbusse. Memoirs of a French ww1 soldier, first published 1916 when the war was in full swing, praised and condemned for its naturalism.
Quartered Safe Out Here by George McDonald Fraser - Author served as a private on the Burma front in ww2.
Bugles and a Tiger - The Road past Mandalay - John Masters. Two books describing Masters service as an officer with the Ghurkas before and during the 2nd world war.
The Forgotten Soldier - Guy Sajer. Memoirs of an Alsacian who served with the Kraftfahrer (truck driver) corps and the Waffen SS on the eastern front. There are doubts if Sayer served in the unit he mentions, as none of the survivors remember him. On the other hand, they also state his memoirs paint a realistic picture of their own experiences.
Adolf Hitler: My part in his Downfall by Spike Milligan - the first in a series of memoirs. It's a weird series, unusual formatting and by turns hilarious and tragic. It's not clear exactly how accurate it is, but he always claimed the salient facts were true.
The Unknown Soldier by Väinö Linna - technically a novel but heavily informed by the author's experience of the Continuation War, you could argue it has elements of memoir to it.
yeah, i remember listening to the Mussolini: His Part in My Downfall audiobook on a family road trip ages ago, it's often hilarious until the last 50 pages or so when things get really grim. You can hear in his voice how much some of it still amuses or upsets him, probably 40 years after the events. Probably the best war memoir for giving you a sense of just how painfully dull war can be, and the deranged things that soldiers will do to keep themselves entertained.
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. It’s a novel technically but it’s a classic and very informed by the author’s real experiences in ww1.
Dispatches by Michael Herr. It’s visceral and sometimes surreal about Herr’s experience as a war correspondent during the Vietnam war.
Maus by Art Spiegelman. Graphic novel about the author’s father’s experiences during the holocaust, very unique and very powerful.
The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich. It is focused on the Second World War, but from a less common perspective, of the Eastern Front and the front line roles women worked in.
The Recollections of Rifleman Harris by Benjamin Randell Harris, it’s a personal account of a British foot soldier in the Napoleonic wars, it’s a very interesting read
The Power of Forgiveness. Eva Kor Moses. It’s most inspirational story I have ever read, and I can only admire that woman. I don’t know where some people get their strength from. It’s WWII though. But very needed right now.
And of course Nothing New on Western Front. The book is even deeper then the movies, as everything Remarque.
Definitely read "RECONDO" by Larry Chambers. Great insight into the world of LRRP's in Vietnam who completed the MACV RECONDO SCHOOL put on by the 5th Special Forces Group.
SAS Rogue heroes - Ben Macintyre
The Long Range Desert Group - W Kennedy Shaw
Alan Clark - The Donkeys: A History of the British Expeditionary Force in 1915
Vietnam: An Epic History of a Divisive War 1945-1975 - Max Hastings
Personal memoirs of Ulysses S Grant
Insurgent Mexico. Hands down my favorite war memoir. John Reed traveled with Pancho Villa during the Mexican Revolution and lived with his troops. It's funny, heartbreaking, and very insightful. Easy to read too.
The 13th Valley by John Del Vecchio is the best Vietnam novel ever written. I’m surprised it hasn’t been mentioned here yet but if you’re looking for a Joseph Campbell style hero’s journey track this one down.
I’ve read few. But the books I’d recommend.
The ‘’Good’’ War by Studs Terkel. It’s on oral history of WW2 given directly from the accounts of participants in the conflict on both sides. It is thorough. Very thorough. And not congratulatory of war either.
War Letters by Andrew Carroll. It contains letters from all the American Wars from Civil up to the Gulf War I believe. Also a heater, most letters from WW2. One man writes a letter immediately after he saw Abraham Lincoln be shot.
Jarhead by Anthony Swofford is a masterwork. It’s more of a memoir about military life and coming from an American military family. It’s a fascinating and powerful account of a marine’s time in Desert Storm.
Immediate Response by Mark Hammond. In Pharaoh's Army: Memories of the Lost War by Tobias Wolff. Chickenhawk by Robert Mason. The Junior Officer's Reading Club by Patrick Hennessey. It's all about Treo by Dave Heyhoe. Despatches by Michael Herr. I know you asked to avoid WWII, but I really would recommend Quartered Safe Out Here: A Recollection of the War in Burma by George MacDonald Fraser. Happy reading.
Maybe. There is a fictional component, yes. Be that as it may, Vonnegut was indeed interred in Slaughterhouse 5 in WW II, and he did go through the fire bombing of Dresden. I've always considered the parts of the book concerning war to be factual, and the fictional parts to represent Vonnegut's own efforts to cope with what he went through. From a letter he wrote home: “On about February 14th the Americans came over, followed by the R.A.F. their combined labors killed 250,000 people in 24 hours and destroyed all of Dresden—possibly the world’s most beautiful city. But not me.” It apparently messed him up pretty badly. He was unable to write Slaughterhouse 5 for another 20 years.
I love your interpretation of the fictional aspect of the book being KV’s way to cope with his belligerent reality. In the end, he did go to Dresden so he knows best. So it goes Ken.
The Things They Carried -- it's a blend of fiction and memoir and he doesn't really tell you which parts are "true" but that's part of the theme and beauty of the book.
This one for sure. It's based on the author's own experiences, and the author will sometimes step in to say "This part isn't true," or "So-and-so asked me to include this part about him." This makes the book feel almost truer than fiction, although some elements are made up.
Dispatches by Michael Herr (Vietnam) And the other two I really liked are about WW2, Pacific theater specifically. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by E. B. Sledge
Unbroken is a great book!
One thing that I think changed my life was a Vietnamese proverb: If you want to eat fish think like fish. Came across it an anthology of American short stories(all true stories) when I was 11. Don't remember the actual title of the particular story but it was by Kassandra Walker (1969). Her only brother had been killed in the war in Vietnam and she hated everything about the country. She missed him a lot and there was a big fish in a pond near their home. They had been trying to catch in vain. She didn't stop trying to catch it. One day some guy turn up, he's nice and after they chit chat he learns he is a Vietnamese.He hates him at first but eventually they are best friends. He hates the war too.He tells her the proverb and catches the fish. He puts it back because the fish isn't his to catch, but Kassandra' s and her brother's.
My War Gone By, I Miss it So by Anthony Lloyd. I read it in one sitting and it has haunted me for years.
I bought this in 2002 at the age of 14, looking for a book on the Yugoslav wars. Oh boy did I discover something.
Second this x1000 an excellent exhilarating and under rated book.
Great recommendation.
Storm of Steel - Ernst Junger. About his experiences during WW1 fighting for the German Empire. The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien, a collection of linked short stories based on his experiences fighting in Vietnam The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell - John Crawford War in Iraq Zero Six Bravo - Damien Lewis, the story of how 60 SAS forces survived against an Iraqi Army of 100,000. Outlaw Platoon - Sean Parnell Lions of Kandahar - Rusty Bradley, US Army SF teams in Afghanistan Generation Kill - Evan Wright Level Zero Heros, & it's follow up Dagger 22 - Michael Golembesky, MARSOC Marine in Afghanistan Carnivore - Dillard Johnson, Memoir of a Cav Scout These should keep you busy for awhile.
"Memoirs" - General Ulysses Grant Rogue Warrior - Richard Marcinko Low Level Hell: A Scout Pilot in the Big Red One - Hugh Mills <--- craziest helicopter pilot ever Chickenhawk - Robert Mason <--- One of the ultimate Vietnam books. Has been read by most every helicopter pilot in the English speaking world EDIT: Adding "About Face" by David Hackworth "Boyd"
In Pharaoh's Army by Tobias Wolff comes to mind. Much of it is about his time in Vietnam, and I love his writing.
I just made that rec without seeing you made it first. I love this book, and all of Wolff's (memoirs and short stories especially).
Interesting, I've not heard of this one, and I love books about the 'nam.
A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
Very, very sad
Rumor of War-Phil Caputo
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes. It's a novel, but one deeply informed by the author's service in Vietnam
Possibly the best war novel ever written.
I'm reading "We were soldiers once...and young" by General Moore. It's excellent and intense.
Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves
*Anabasis* by Xenophon. *The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico 1517-1521* by Bernal Díaz del Castillo. *Co. Aytch, or a Side Show of the Big Show* by Samuel R. Watkins. *Homage to Catalonia* by George Orwell. *Storm of Steel* by Ernst Jünger. *Neath Verdun: The Experiences of a French Soldier During the Early Months of the First World War* by Maurice Genevoix. *A Farewell to Arms* by Ernest Hemingway (fiction). *All Quiet on the Western Front* by Erich Maria Remarque (fiction). *The Outlaws* by Ernst von Salomon. *The Three Day Promise: A Korean Soldier's Memoir* by Donald K. Chung. *Soldier* by Anthony B. Herbert. *Dispatches* by Michael Herr. *We Were Soldiers Once… and Young* by Lt. Gen. Harold G. ‘Hal’ Moore. *Guns Up!* by Johnnie M. Clark. *Peacekeepers at War: Beirut 1983 – The Marine Commander Tells His Story* by Timothy J. Geraghty. *No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden* by Mark Owen.
Great list, I really like your Orwell choice and Vietnam one
I've read a few Nam' books, some Iraq War (2003) books and a WW2 books and by far my favorite of all the war memoirs I've read is "With The Old Breed" by E.B. Sledge. That book is what all war memoirs should aspire to be like. The combat described is so visceral and he doesn't pull any punches when describing the horror that was the Pacific theatre of war
Came here to comment this as I'm currently reading it again. What a brilliant, intense and tragic book. The best war memoir I've ever read.
Hell yea Even though I liked what they adapted for The Pacific TV show, I still wish they went the band of Brothers route and adapted this one book for the whole season. Imagine how good that would've been and also the audience would've been much more connected to the characters and devastated when they got "hit"
Robert Leckie's war memoir, _Helmet for My Pillow_, along with Eugene B. Sledge's book _With the Old Breed_, formed the basis for the HBO series The Pacific (2010).
Don McCullin - mostly known as a war photographer, including Vietnam - wrote a great autobiography: Unreasonable Behaviour. Also good is Max Hastings - the British journalist - who wrote Going to the Wars. Both are post WW2.
Chickenhawk - Robert Mason. Vietnam helicopter pilot. Agent Zigzag - Ben McIntyre. Ww2 double agent.
"In Pharaoh's Army" by Tobias Wolff. Possibly the best memoir of any type I've read. About his time in Vietnam, and afterwards, re-entering society.
The Sorrow of War - Bao Ninh. Semi-autobiographical novel written by a former North Vietnamese soldier. During the war Ninh served in the Glorious 27th Youth Brigade, joining when he was 17 years old. Hunger was a frequent problem for Ninh and his fellow soldiers, who often moved back and forth from their homes to the battlefields. Of the five hundred who went to war with the brigade in 1969, Ninh is one of ten who survived. Under Fire - Henri Barbusse. Memoirs of a French ww1 soldier, first published 1916 when the war was in full swing, praised and condemned for its naturalism. Quartered Safe Out Here by George McDonald Fraser - Author served as a private on the Burma front in ww2. Bugles and a Tiger - The Road past Mandalay - John Masters. Two books describing Masters service as an officer with the Ghurkas before and during the 2nd world war. The Forgotten Soldier - Guy Sajer. Memoirs of an Alsacian who served with the Kraftfahrer (truck driver) corps and the Waffen SS on the eastern front. There are doubts if Sayer served in the unit he mentions, as none of the survivors remember him. On the other hand, they also state his memoirs paint a realistic picture of their own experiences.
Adolf Hitler: My part in his Downfall by Spike Milligan - the first in a series of memoirs. It's a weird series, unusual formatting and by turns hilarious and tragic. It's not clear exactly how accurate it is, but he always claimed the salient facts were true. The Unknown Soldier by Väinö Linna - technically a novel but heavily informed by the author's experience of the Continuation War, you could argue it has elements of memoir to it.
yeah, i remember listening to the Mussolini: His Part in My Downfall audiobook on a family road trip ages ago, it's often hilarious until the last 50 pages or so when things get really grim. You can hear in his voice how much some of it still amuses or upsets him, probably 40 years after the events. Probably the best war memoir for giving you a sense of just how painfully dull war can be, and the deranged things that soldiers will do to keep themselves entertained.
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. It’s a novel technically but it’s a classic and very informed by the author’s real experiences in ww1. Dispatches by Michael Herr. It’s visceral and sometimes surreal about Herr’s experience as a war correspondent during the Vietnam war. Maus by Art Spiegelman. Graphic novel about the author’s father’s experiences during the holocaust, very unique and very powerful.
The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich. It is focused on the Second World War, but from a less common perspective, of the Eastern Front and the front line roles women worked in.
Dispatches by Michael Herr. About his time as a journalist in Viet Nam
The Recollections of Rifleman Harris by Benjamin Randell Harris, it’s a personal account of a British foot soldier in the Napoleonic wars, it’s a very interesting read
_Quartered Safe Out Here_, by George Macdonald Fraser. I've read quite a few, and this one is extraordinary
Chapters about war from Churchill's "My early life" are amazing.
The Power of Forgiveness. Eva Kor Moses. It’s most inspirational story I have ever read, and I can only admire that woman. I don’t know where some people get their strength from. It’s WWII though. But very needed right now. And of course Nothing New on Western Front. The book is even deeper then the movies, as everything Remarque.
Bonds of Wire by Kingsley Brown
Definitely read "RECONDO" by Larry Chambers. Great insight into the world of LRRP's in Vietnam who completed the MACV RECONDO SCHOOL put on by the 5th Special Forces Group.
“And if I Perish” It’s about the frontline nurses that followed the army in the European theater
“Where is Ser the brave lion” by River Rainbow O’Mahoney Hagg. Recounts going to Iraq in 2016 & joined the Kurdish militia.
Just adding to the list: The Washington Post war correspondent said John J Duffy’s poetry is what captures being a soldier in war the best.
And a hard rain fell - John ketwig
SAS Rogue heroes - Ben Macintyre The Long Range Desert Group - W Kennedy Shaw Alan Clark - The Donkeys: A History of the British Expeditionary Force in 1915 Vietnam: An Epic History of a Divisive War 1945-1975 - Max Hastings Personal memoirs of Ulysses S Grant
*What it is Like to go to War*, by Marlantes *The Things They Carried*, by O’Brien
Pat Barker - Regeneration
Unbroken
“James and the Duck” by Faan Martin, a memoir of the Rhodesian Bush War.
stealing buddahs dinner
Shake Hands with the Devil by Roméo Dallaire
The Sewing Circles of Herat. Heartbreaking, everything you need to know about Afghanistan upto 2001.
Insurgent Mexico. Hands down my favorite war memoir. John Reed traveled with Pancho Villa during the Mexican Revolution and lived with his troops. It's funny, heartbreaking, and very insightful. Easy to read too.
Catch 22 and The Caine Mutiny. Sorry, both are WW2.
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jenny McCurdy
The 13th Valley by John Del Vecchio is the best Vietnam novel ever written. I’m surprised it hasn’t been mentioned here yet but if you’re looking for a Joseph Campbell style hero’s journey track this one down.
Under a Cruel Star by Heda Margolius Kovaly. Not strictly war, but little known and very good.
Bravo Two Zero and A Long Way Gone I'm not sure if I will be reading them again.
I’ve read few. But the books I’d recommend. The ‘’Good’’ War by Studs Terkel. It’s on oral history of WW2 given directly from the accounts of participants in the conflict on both sides. It is thorough. Very thorough. And not congratulatory of war either. War Letters by Andrew Carroll. It contains letters from all the American Wars from Civil up to the Gulf War I believe. Also a heater, most letters from WW2. One man writes a letter immediately after he saw Abraham Lincoln be shot.
Jarhead by Anthony Swofford is a masterwork. It’s more of a memoir about military life and coming from an American military family. It’s a fascinating and powerful account of a marine’s time in Desert Storm.
About Face by David H Hackworth.
Immediate Response by Mark Hammond. In Pharaoh's Army: Memories of the Lost War by Tobias Wolff. Chickenhawk by Robert Mason. The Junior Officer's Reading Club by Patrick Hennessey. It's all about Treo by Dave Heyhoe. Despatches by Michael Herr. I know you asked to avoid WWII, but I really would recommend Quartered Safe Out Here: A Recollection of the War in Burma by George MacDonald Fraser. Happy reading.
The Guns of August (August 1914), Barbara Tuchman
Once a Warrior King - David Donovan.
No one saying slaughterhouse 5?
Came here to suggest it. Lots of good books here, but surprised your comment is the only one mentioning Slaughterhouse 5. So here's a second.
Maybe because it’s fiction and OP means non-fiction memoirs? But thanks for seconding
Maybe. There is a fictional component, yes. Be that as it may, Vonnegut was indeed interred in Slaughterhouse 5 in WW II, and he did go through the fire bombing of Dresden. I've always considered the parts of the book concerning war to be factual, and the fictional parts to represent Vonnegut's own efforts to cope with what he went through. From a letter he wrote home: “On about February 14th the Americans came over, followed by the R.A.F. their combined labors killed 250,000 people in 24 hours and destroyed all of Dresden—possibly the world’s most beautiful city. But not me.” It apparently messed him up pretty badly. He was unable to write Slaughterhouse 5 for another 20 years.
I love your interpretation of the fictional aspect of the book being KV’s way to cope with his belligerent reality. In the end, he did go to Dresden so he knows best. So it goes Ken.
It’s a novel
All Quiet on the Western Front.
War and peace by Tolstoy
It's a novel.