Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief Lawrence Wright Scientology is a religion I didn’t understand, and this book delves into its history. It’s a great example of how the more we can understand about people we don’t understand, the better chance we have for avoiding conflicts. |
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With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa E.B. Sledge "As you know JFK fought in the Pacific war as commander of a PT boat so I think he would have been fascinated by Sledge’s memoir (initially published in the early 1980s). I’ll let film maker Ken Burns, who did a series about the Second World War, speak for me about this book. “In all the literature of the Second World War there is not a more honest, realistic or moving memoir than Eugene Sledge’s”" The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien "A hybrid work of fiction and nonfiction, part memoir, and part fiction about the Vietnam War. These short stories demonstrate the impact of war on individuals. I think JFK would have been fascinated because he had repeatedly overruled advisors who recommended sending combat units to Vietnam, although he did increase the number of US advisors. Six weeks before his assassination he announced that he would be withdrawing 1000 US advisors from South Vietnam by the end of the year with a view towards removing them all by 1965. This, of course, did not happen." The Liberation Trilogy-An Army at Dawn: The War in N Africa 1942-1943 Rick Atkinson "All three books manage to combine dramatic and moving descriptions of combat with an insightful analysis of strategy and tactics. JFK’s older brother Joseph was killed in action in Europe while flying a dangerous mission, and I’m sure this personal connection would have led JFK to Atkinson’s trilogy." The Liberation Trilogy - The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy 1943-1944 Rick Atkinson "All three books manage to combine dramatic and moving descriptions of combat with an insightful analysis of strategy and tactics. JFK’s older brother Joseph was killed in action in Europe while flying a dangerous mission, and I’m sure this personal connection would have led JFK to Atkinson’s trilogy." The Guns at Last Light: The War in Europe 1944-1945
Rick Atkinson "All three books manage to combine dramatic and moving descriptions of combat with an insightful analysis of strategy and tactics. JFK’s older brother Joseph was killed in action in Europe while flying a dangerous mission, and I’m sure this personal connection would have led JFK to Atkinson’s trilogy."
Street Without Joy Bernard Fall "The late Dr. Bernard Fall’s best work on Indochina. I carried this book in my pack in Vietnam to read and re-read and occasionally scare the crap out of myself when we would transit the pass where the Viet Minh ambushed Group Mobile 100 in last days of the French war." This Kind of War T.R. Fehrenbach "The best single volume history of the Korean War. Col. Fehrenbach’s work is unflinching and impeccable. I carried this fat volume in my pack in Vietnam as well!" Gates Of Fire Steven Pressfield "Mr. Pressfield tells the story of the 300 Spartans who held off thousands upon thousands of Persians at the pass….and tells it so vividly that by the end you are ready to sign on as a Spartan yourself!" The Praetorians, The Centurions Jean Larteguy "Two interlocking volumes that tell the story of the French paras captured at DienBienPhu and their trial by fire at hands of the Viet Minh. Those who survive return to fight in Algeria, using the torture tactics used against them on the Algerian rebels. Ultimately they drift into the plot to assassinate President Charles de Gaulle. Very well written stories in these two books. If they intrigue you see if you can find a lesser known Larteguy book titled Yellow Fever." Barrack Room Ballads
Rupyard Kipling "No reading list for warriors would be complete without a volume of Kipling. I love this one for a short dedication at the front in which Kipling celebrates his years covering the British Indian Army. Kipling’s words illustrate and illuminate my own years covering America’s soldiers and Marines at war: “I have eaten your bread and salt; Drunk your water and wine. The deaths you’ve died I watched beside, and the lives you’ve lived were mine.”" Skippy Dies Paul Murray "Skippy Dies Paul Murray Skippy, our main character, dies on page 6 of this novel, and the rest of the book spans the hilarious/tragic moments in a Catholic boarding school leading up to his death. In a plot that’s half Dead Poet’s Society half The Sandlot, a group of libido-driven, insult-spewing, catholic school boys experiment with drugs, girls, and time travel." Red Harvest Dashiell Hammett "The inspiration for movies like Fist Full of Dollars and Yojimbo and Last Man Standing, this is a noir about a detective pinning all the gangs in one town against each other. This is a badass book, and it’s written in a perfect noir voice that has since been parodied/copied by everyone." Why Does The World Exist? Jim Holt "This book seeks to answer the question posed in its title. The author decides by page 30 that the question is not a scientific nor purely religious one, but something that must be considered through the lens of philosophy. It sounds difficult (and, at times, it is) but Holt carries you through the complicated math and philosophy with a kind of nerdy excitement that’s contagious." Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar Cheryl Strayed "Cheryl Strayed became famous for her book Wild, about a hike along the Pacific Crest Trail following a divorce and the death of her mother, but after all that living she spent time as an anonymous advice columnist for a website called The Rumpus. BEFORE you judge me: this is not a “gushy” book. Open it up, and see for yourself Strayed’s no-bullshit approach to helping people out." The Watchmen
Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons "Maybe you’re reading too many novels and think comic books aren’t “smart” literature. Or maybe you’ve read too many issues of Spiderman without picking this book up. In any case, this Graphic Novel about semi-retired superheroes is a near-perfect piece of art. Moral quandaries! Meta-comics within a comic! Lessons about grief and loss! Plus: murder and suspense." |