Best classical military history
938022
Caesars Gallic Wars is almost pure military history, relating the conquest of Gaul by the Romans in the 50s BC, the subsequent revolts, and their repression. It is a brutal tale and, while it has its heroic moments, is not for the faint-hearted. But it is also noteworthy for its accessibility and readability. Caesar may have written two thousand years ago, and he may have been a military man addressing a public well versed in the contemporary art of war, yet his account remains completely intelligible to the modern lay reader. His battle accounts are far clearer than those of many a classical Greek writer. This is partly a question of the books direct, unadorned style. But it is also because so much irrelevant detail is stripped out. Greek writers were interested in what corps from what city faced what other corps on what wing. Caesar just gives use the legions, the barbarians, and the gore.

Embedded in the military narrative is some ethnographical detail about the Gauls, Britons, and Germans. Though the Gallic Wars is not a single source, it certainly was a propaganda account, however, and it is hard to tell what to trust. Caesar writes that druids practiced human sacrifice, for example. This sounds likely true, but it is also reeks of stigmatisation. (Nor does the otherwise excellent introduction explain. If anyone knows of archaeological evidence on that, please feel free to post a comment.) The Gauls motivations are sometimes difficult to understand  one suspects Caesar is less keen to tell us that their constant rebellions were not so much due to pride as to despair at Roman raping, pillaging, enslaving, and military requisitioning to the point of famine. Among other matters I found of both interest and surprise is the contemporary role of Germanic auxiliaries, and the presence of German tribes in Gaul already at the time. And I finally understood why Vercingetorix chose to surrender at Alesia, something which had never made sense to me. But no spoilers: the Gallic Wars must be read as the captivating story it remains.
2260953
If ever there was a history book that you couldn't put down , this is it . The plotting and behind the scenes action is blended with clash of metal , the recoil of catapults and the wailing of those caught in the tempest of ancient Middle East politics , religion and power struggles . From such details as the consequences of one of the Roman soldiers decidng to "moon" the crowds gathered at the Temple , to the upheavals throughout the Roman Empire as Nero and his following Emperors fall one after the other in rapid succession . Eventually Rome being stabilised by the general in charge of the Judean war , Vespasian , becoming emperor . A classic of military history but also an exciting read .
2450231
Generally, text books on history dwell on military history. One rarely gets an insight into people, their characters, views, ambitions, fears, life styles,etc, in short,  all the ingredients that make history vibrant for the reader. Robert Harris, in his Roman Triology, Imperium, Conspirate and Dictator, gives a wide panaroma of the Ancient Rome. His research on Roman history is most admirable. He  presents all round charecters, smooth running action, and plenty of suspence. Both Cicero and the first person narrator Tiro is superbly drawn characters.  I only wish that he  has eliminated some of the characters to make less confusing reading. By the way the books on the triology can be read in any order; each is complete on its own.
1121761
If you could have only one book on Greek heavy infantry warfare, this would be it.  It examines every facet of the warrior's life in war and peace, in combat and at ease, including gear, appearance, tactics, and personal experience in battle.  Gave a very easy-to-read introduction to hoplite battle tactics, and the plates supplement the text well.  The plate commentary is extremely detailed.
2986503
This is among the top five among the dozens of military history books I've read.  It manages to give just enough detail to be fascinating, while not encumbering the reader with endless details of unit movements, etc. Dec. 16th is both Beethoven's birthday, and the anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, and I often use the occasion to reread parts of MacDonald's books.  Instead of footnotes, it has chapter by chapter lists of sources, which I am also exploring.  For example "The Damned Engineers" is both a chapter title, and a book by Janice Holt Giles (now out of print, and rather pricey).
1253556
This is the book you need if visual representations of military units in the Roman world are what you are looking for. I have bought nearly all of the Men-at-Arms Series books and I always find this Encyclopedia (which I'll refer to as IEURW) in my hands when a quick reference is needed.

Don't get me wrong, the MAA Series books are great and have far more literary details than the IEURW if that's even possible for such a large book. The IEURW is so scarce on details that I often have to use the MAA and other books I have to get more info on the pictures I am looking at. Things like; how often did the men wear this type of armor, at what point did this helmet stop being worn, which tribes used this type of shield, etc. are only mentioned generally and in broad terms in the IEURW forcing me to look at other references. Don't look for details on specific tribes or cultures in the IEURW either. There are a few highlighted ones in there but for the most part, Celts are all lumped together, Germanics all one bunch, Celt/Iberians yup... Don't get me started on the eastern cultures.

Even with the literary short-comings of this book, really it is the pictures that are the reason people seek out this book. You cannot beat the number of images it has of the various armor, weapons, helmets, shields, etc. I'd say this book is the exact opposite of the MAA books. In the MAA's, there are the usual 8 or so plates and that is the extent of the visual aids you get to go along with the history lesson. The IEURW is the opposite, far more images than historical text.

It is the perfect supplement to look up a type of armor or weapon that you might have read in another book or use as a visual to paint that mini figure for your table-top game. My 5 yr old likes to look at the colorful pictures inside and I could definately see one who only likes to read books with lots of pictures would have a ball with this one. I have seen people trying to sell their copies of this book for over $100 but don't fall for it. For some reason, maybe because it is highly sought after, they don't publish near enough copies of this book to keep up with demand. Just be patient and wait for the regular $23 price which is what I got it for on Amazon in December of 2013. Anything over $30 you've paid too much!
3983665
"Montcalm and Wolfe" is simply a wonderful work of history.  Francis Parkman is considered by many scholars to be the greatest American historian ever.  This book is his masterpiece, written in 1884 as the  final volume of his multi-volume work "France and England in North  America."  It  tells the story of the Seven Years' War (also known as the French and Indian War), which is  probably the most historically decisive war ever fought on the North  American continent.

Parkman writes with precision, eloquence, and  objectivity.  With his vivid and fast paced narrative, he demonstrates a  wonderful flair dramatizing history.  At the same time, his tremendous  knowledge about this vast and complex subject is evident on every page.  For me, the most fascinating parts of this book were the chapters which  described  the conflict for Acadia, and the ultimate forced evacuation of  the Acadians by the British; Braddock's defeat; and the battles of  Louisbourg and Quebec. Parkman's descriptions of these key events, and the  personalities behind them, make them seem to come alive.

Parkman writes  in the romantic style popular in the late nineteenth century; yet, his  prose is of such high quality that it never seems dated.  In fact, as I was  reading, I found it difficult to remember that "Montcalm and  Wolfe" was written over a century ago! This book, which  is already a timeless classic,  is essential reading for those interested  in the Seven Years' War. Most highly recommended.
4885689
I am quite enjoying this book and thought I'd give a little bit more information on it so that you can decide whether to fork over your hard earned cash.  This book is part of a series and Volume One contains treatises by the following authors:

Sun Tzu
Vegetius
De Saxe
Frederick
Napoleon

Besides the treatises themselves there is an "Editors Foreword" which gives a brief two-page history of how these works fit historically into the literature of warfare.

There is also a synopsis of the contents which lists each work individually.  Additional information is provided here as well.  For example the synopsis for the "Art of War" states, amongst other things, that it was written about 500 B.C. And that it is still held in reverence today (as of 1940 A.D.) in China and Japan.

But what is really useful and wonderful are the thoughtful introductions to each work.  For instance, we are told in the  introduction of "De Re Militari" that even as late as the 15th Century that there were as many as 150 extant manuscripts.  (A huge number in historical terms.)  He goes on to say something about Vegetius, Emperor Valentianian (to whom the book was dedicated), and the Roman Empire.

In addition -- and this is the part I found well worthwhile -- the editor explains how the popularity and usefulness of the strategy went in and out of favor as technology changed.  He writes:

"It is a paradox the De Re Militari, which was to become a military bible for innumerable generations of European soldiers, was little used by the Romans for whom it was written."

Also,

"Cavalry had adopted the armor of the foot soldier and was just commencing to become the principal arm of the military forces. The heavy armed foot-soldier, formerly the backbone of the legion, was falling a victim of his own weight and immobility, and the light-armed infantry, unable to resist the shock of cavalry, was turning more and more to missile weapons.  By one of the strange mutations of history, when later the cross-bow and gun-powder deprived cavalry of its shock-power, the tactics of Vegetius again became ideal for armies....

For someone like me who is not a military expert, this sort of information allows me to understand how the advice was used by others in later centuries.

Four Stars. [B+]. Interesting material with valuable editorial commentary.  Minus points for the fact that some material from the originals has been omitted.  The editor notes that it was of little interest, but I'd rather make that decision myself.
3892924
Excellent historical account.  Detailed and balanced.  This is military history at its finest.  If you are looking for elegant prose, then you won't find it in this book.  If you want a detailed account of the US armed forces in the Gulf during the tanker war, then this is it!
2094959
Osprey has done very good coverage of Napoleonic battles in their campaign series mostly about the Spanish campaigns. I own several and Talavera is my favorite by far! many people hounded Osprey for years to cover this battle in their campaign series and they finally cracked under the pressure. it is a very good read and tells you a lot in 96 pages on the bloodiest battle of the Peninsular war. a very good read to us  Napoleonic war nerds.
1852747
outstanding book on gaming 19th C. battles in Europe.  Everything you need is here to get started.  I think this may be the best overall book of his, and I have them all except the Napoleonic one.  If you've any interest in this period, including even the American Civil War, definitely grab it before it goes out of print!  The Napoleonic book is quite hard and expensive to get.
3158277
The quality and literary standing of this work by ancient Greek writer Thucydides on the Peloponnesian War should go without saying. This is a timeless classic still relevant today, and one does not have to read far to understand why this is still on so many reading lists. Just as an example, reading the Athenian speech at Sparta in Book 1 (in response to the Corinthians request for Spartan assistance), one can almost feel like a modern American could be giving a similar speech and making similar points.

This Landmark edition brings unmatched illumination to the modern reader, particularly one that is navigating this text unassisted. There are so many good features in this edition that it is hard to single out one in particular for praise.

Around a dozen short (generally 4-8 pages) appendices written by experts provide the reader with background detail on ancient Hellenic culture that Thucydides assumed his readers would already have. These cover subjects like the functioning of the Spartan and Athenian governments, Trireme (ancient ships) warfare, land warfare, and a short history of the Persian conflict that occurred in the half century prior to this book.

Each small chapter has a sidebar with a short, succinct one or two sentence summary of the chapter. (These chapters are generally one or two to a pagevery short.) It is nice to be able to read the summaries before going through the stories themselves; this gives a reader the big picture so that he doesnt get lost in the thicket when reading the Thucydides text itself. I found these extremely helpful, especially when picking the book up again after leaving off in the middle somewhere.

The top of each page has a banner with the year, the place, and the event of interest, a further aid to keeping ones place as the action moves around from one place to another. There is also a very nice timeline in table form at the end of the book, summarizing what happened each year in multiple locationsthere is a lot going on here and there simultaneously.

One big plus is that there are dozens if not hundreds of outstanding maps, all of them showing enough detail to be useful while at the same time not appearing cluttered. Most of the place names in the text are tagged to footnotes at the bottom of the page that point to the proper map and its map coordinates. Other footnotes occasionally contain brief text to help illuminate a point the editor feels might be a little unclear to the uninitiated or the less historically informed.

A few reviewers here have taken exception to the particular translation used in this edition, which is a late 19th century translation that is still eminently serviceable. I myself did not find it dull or difficult whatsoever, particularly in conjunction with the sidebars accompanying the text.

If you are going to give Thucydides a try on your own, I strongly recommend giving this edition your consideration. Also, since you will want to be able to easily page back and forth frequently, and have the best possible view of the maps, my experience tells me that the Kindle would not be the way to goget a full-sized print edition (like I did).
2824019
I remember reading this book as a young child when I found it in my father's library and have wanted a copy of my own ever since. It has full page beautiful illustrations of warriors, armor, and war formations and advances all through antiquity. LOTS of photos of archeological finds in the areas of armor and armament. A treasure trove of info about advances in the realm of war in the classical world.
3064505
This book has a lot of information and the way it's written is just wholeheartedly beautiful. You will never find such a beautiful historical as this. Truly a masterpiece. It has nearly all of the Orders. It starts with explaining chivalry and the medieval world and then begins with the Hospitallers, Templars and one of my favorite stories, the Teutonic Knights.

It also has the other Spanish Orders. But they're rather short. If you want information on those, you'll nee to find elsewhere.
2234899
This book is in my opinion absolutely amazing.  Carl Von Clausewitz is one of the most intelligent military philosophers in all of Western Military history. To this day "On War" still contains the relevant goal of warfare and the means a country has at its disposal to achieve that goal.
I stringly recommend this book for any military historian, philosophist, or basically to anyone trying to get a r understanding on war as a whole. Although  must warn you of a few things.

1. Carl Von Clausewitz died before this book was completed he only had the chance to revise book 1 out of the total 8 so once you get passed book 1 you are essentially reading unrefined notes that at times contradict one another.

2. Since the book was written in the 1800s it can be a bit challenging to understand what Clausewitz means. Although its not very hard im just warning you that some words back then and now do not have the same meaning anymore so you will have to take a moment or two to think about the meaning of the text you are reading.

All in all I personally highly recommend thi book. It is just amazing and this translation comes with 45pages of introductory essays and in the back of the book it has a "Guide" to reading "On War". Although it doesn't cover entire chapters in detail it does give you a overall picture of each book.
659285
Th third volume of the incredible history series from Winston Churchill. The series, know as the History of the English Speaking Peoples is ambitious in scope. Volume 3 specifically deals with "The Age of Revolution". This includes the English Revolution of 1688, Napoleon at Waterloo, both Pitts, the War of 1812, the American Revolution, World War I, India and more. Wonderful series for any history or military buff, hard to find the really nice 1957 edition. These massive 2" thick books would be very expensive if produced today. I highly recommend this and the other two volumes.
2085079
I wish I had found a copy of the British history back in the 1970's when I was first starting to build working model artillery.

It is well written in true British detailed historical fashion, without being dry, yet tells a story that explains the development of British Ordinance by the British Army and Navy over a 2 century period.

Very detailed with many diagrams and illustrations, it is rather concise, but very informative.

A must have for any student of 18th and 19th century military studies!