A fine description of war by many views...
341246
I've read many of Jeffs & his Dad's books.  I've enjoyed all of them.  I particularly enjoy the style.  A first-person account that make me feel like we're talking one on one.  The books are an easy read and detailed in a very personal manner.  I enjoy the "Generals" point of view as much as I do the "grunts".  I've gotten lost many an evening in the events and words of the soldiers.  I recommend these works to anyone interested in our country's history.
1365084
A good book. It gives the authors view of the war, from his early days,as a replacement through many exciting battles and patrols, to the war's conclusion. It's interesting to see how his cynicism increased as the war progressed. He is a good man. Recommended.
3053709
"The Pity of War" is not a light read.  If you are not already well-versed in the history of World War I and the several decades prior to it, then go somewhere else before purchasing this.  If you want a military history, this is not your book, although it has some great chapters on the subject.  When reading this, you should not expect a book written for the general history audience.  Ferguson has a definite thesis to argue, so this is not just a retelling of old stories.  If, however, you already know World War I pretty well and you want some new material to think about, then check out this book.

Ferguson argues that the British Empire had no compelling interest in joining World War I.  As more of an economic historian, Ferguson tends to base much of his argument on numbers.  If you are not a numbers-person, some of this book will be tedious and dry.  Personally, I moved back and forth in my appreciation of the book.  Some chapters are solid, but others tend to plod on.  For me, there's only so many pages I want to read about trade deficits and loan rates before my mind checks out.  That said, the evidence is strong and if you can wade through it, it does all tie together in the end.

One of the big things Ferguson does when arguing his central thesis is debunk myths.  If you are like me and you've studied much about World War I, you'll know how mythic much of the history is.  It's nice that he takes a stand with some viewpoints that are unlikely to earn him brownie points with other scholars.

I'd say this is definitely more of a winter book.  It's best for when you have much time to dedicate to sitting in doors.  Having just taken it to the beach this past weekend, I'll say it's not the best for reading in the sand.
4421702
This is a different kind of book about war. It's highly philosophical, but easy to read. The end position is somewhere in the middle, but usefully so.
2388542
In this blinding, dizzying portrayal of platoon of our modern warriors, Sebastian Junger gives an intimate look at internal aspects of combat.  Unlike many tales of war which either glorify or rebuke combat, Sebastian Junger brings us inside the violence, drama and danger of combat from a personal and journalistic perspective.  The reader is left to draw their own conclusions.

In abandoning current  "journalistic standards" of phony objectivity, he brings us his personal experience with fear, hope and pain while trying to remaining an observor from the actual combat.  I am reminded of the great works of war corrospondents in years past that freely provided personal narrative.

The stories of conflict, horror fill the pages like a raging firefight and the reader is shellshocked. Some have complained that the story is hard to follow but I rather think it is the point. War is hell and chaos.

Junger has created a lasting monument to the modern soldier that should be required reading for every leader who puts our men into conflict.  "War" does not take a political side, it simply records the truth of a warrior's life.

Highly recommended
1909850
Sirmons diary of his days during the last year of the Great War provides another account of the American experience of these turbulent years. Its a memoir best read alongside a history that provides an overview of the American military engagement. Because Sirmons diary was written for himself  and hence there is little explanation or context that might provide that larger overarching portrait. This focus on the single experienced, as it is lived, in its immediacy, is what gives this accountand so many othersa poignancy and sense of recapturing the moment, unfettered by interpretation or being read through the lens of hindsight. But it also can leave (understandable) gaps in the present-day readers knowledge; especially if the reader might lack a decent knowledge of the general life at camp, the major fronts where the American armies were stationed, and the significant battles in which the American forces participated. Having that knowledge, I think, allows for a richer understanding of Sirmons diaryto have the immediacy of his experiences, yet at the same time be able to pull back and place it in wider picture. The diary is quite factual and straight-forward; there is a little more introspection in the last two sections (perhaps because the author was going back and working from notes/memory, following being wounded). But the casual mentions of popular war-time songs, jokes, and popular entertainments are an easy connection for the modern reader; those are quite delightful and show how the American soldier interacts with the popular culture of his day.  Its a diary worth reading and I am sure at some point I will return to it.
3290749
Every time I think I have read my last war related book someone else commes along and provides a different view. Well done.
4602771
I really liked the way one situation was viewed from so many different people. In the end it makes you look at war and the view of the soldier in a different perspective.
2949533
The About the Author section above notes a couple of Peter Hart's previous works on World War One but, strangely, neglects to mention his first titles which dealt with the war in the air (Bloody April, Aces Falling). I suspect most of us come to this period initially through an interest in early aerial warfare, and Peter Hart's books are unsurpassed on this subject.

As might be expected of the Oral Historian of the Imperial War Museum, most of these earlier books are liberally laced with personal quotations which bring a human element to the greater operational narrative. Also, as might be expected, they are heavily Anglocentric--almost exclusively concerned with the British experience. This volume is no exception in that latter regard, and also uses personal quotations (if I am not mistaken, some of  which are duplicated in his most recent prior title, The Somme), though not quite as liberally as his other works.

I had some concern that he may have been over-reaching in attempting a one-volume comprehensive overview of the British combat history in WWI.  However, though appropriately focused on the Western Front, the author very successfully gives an appreciation of the global scale of that conflict.

Not bogged down in the "lions led by donkeys" calumny which has dominated the perception of that war for the better part of a century, this work benefits from the more recent scholarship and reinterpretation of that conflict.  The author presents the case for this reinterpretation within the context of the grand strategic debates of the time succinctly and convincingly.

If you have never read one of Peter Hart's WWI histories, you owe it to yourself. They are unmatched for clarity, readability and insight. This volume is no exception.
1992264
I found this book both informative and in many ways refreshing.  There are too many narrative accounts that tend to slide past what it meant to be a member of the Continental Army on a day-to-day basis--and what fighting the war meant to the individual soldiers who did it.

On the other hand, there were more than a few oddly jarring notes in a work which purports to break new ground.  Early on, Chadwick exclaims that "Hundreds of residents of Charlestown [Mass]...raced out into nearby streets and meadows to watch the fighting...."  Maybe so, but since the town was being burned down to the ground, more likely they were fleeing for their lives.

A few pages later, in describing the battle on Breed's (misnamed Bunker's) Hill, Chadwick declares that "...throaty cheers from the Americans despite cannonballs exploding around them."  Well, eighteenth century cannonballs did not explode.  Common shells did, but field guns fired solid shot and canister which did not include explosive properties.

There are not very many of these sloppy errors, fortunately, but the fact that some are present suggests a certain carelessness with detail.  In a book that hopes to open a new and somewhat revisionist approach to studying the war, this can be a problem.
1732007
War poetry for the history afficionado told from a British point of view -- my favorite poems in this collection are Postcard from Stalingrad and Letter to a Loved One, both of which bring into the pale light of afteryears a woman's perspective. I know there were many brave women who joined each conflict, and were conscripted during WWII as WRNs and WAAF and so on in England, but they are not included in this gritty collection of war stories. I especially noted the inclusion of German young soldiers and airmen, who, like the Allieds, had no choice but to fight and perhaps die for their country's call. As someone whose father served in WW II and returned to Canada with PTSD or "shell shock" as it was called back then, I can appreciate the realism of the bloody mess that war is, and Porter has not tried to sugarcoat nor glorify war. It's a unique collection of snapshots of war that presents the reality and comradeship, necessity and ultimate futility of the battle. For American readers, the Vietnam War was a uniquely American conflict and not represented in this collection. The Royal Navy and RAF are heavily represented and bomb demolition experts, as well as, interestingly, one poem written from a Japanese point of view, a Kamikaze pilot who survived with lifelong guilt for surviving. The letters home are particularly well done, I thought. Something to remember on this evening of November 11, when some of us wear poppies and many still mourn for loved ones or comrades lost in yet another senseless war, as Porter points out, fought by young men and women and orchestrated like chess pieces by old generals. Some real gems in this collection -- which rhymes!
4679918
This is a novel  approach to understanding some wars. Lee posits that the concept of brother versus barbarian limits battlefield carnage, even if it is brother versus brother, and in the Revolutionary War (the American name for it, there are others!).

The wars described illustrate his point. English versus Irish, savage and barbaric (on both sides). Americans versus Indians, savage and barbaric. British versus American, brotherly. Union versus Confederate, brotherly--but Confederates versus Union black soldiers, not so much(Note: formally Great Britain did not exist prior to the union with Scotland after 1700, so the use of "English" and "British" varies).

The book is complicated by his concept that four factors determine the kind of war--capacity, control, calculation and culture. His book really makes a solid case for this, but I remain unconvinced; culture alone can account for the civil and the barbaric in a war context. It is still a well-written and thoroughly researched book. Linking the sequence from the Anglo-Irish wars, through colonial Indian wars, the Revolution and the US Civil War is an interesting and informative approach. Perhaps there is an Anglo American way of war. The reader will come away with something new, whether agreeing or disagreeing with the author's interpretation.
3771129
It brings home the effect of war on those that participated directly and on those that stayed home.  Well presented.
2000128
Author Sebastian Junger spent about 5 months embedded with infantrymen in the Korengal Valley region in Afghanistan.  He ate, slept, patrolled, and fellowshipped (to a limited degree) with them.  So does "War" do for soldiers what Junger's "The Perfect Storm" did for fishermen?  I'm not sure.

The book is better than most in this genre'.  Junger is a talented observer and describer, and he was living the life at a level exceeding what most journalists take on.  It's enlightening, frightening, and heartbreaking at times.

But, accounts of some of these soldiers (maybe) seemed to not necessarily always ring true.  Having read some of the other reviews, and having had some life experience "on the front lines", I would pose a qualification to some of the raves of "realism" that other reviewers have offered.  It's an old paradox that has been posed in science.  It goes something like . . . the scientist alters the outcome of his observed subject, simply by the swaying effect of his having observed.  So, Junger's foray into the abyss is well described - but is is still an abyss with "that writer guy hanging around".  Some subjects will reserve and hold back.  Some will posture and embellish.  So the author's war observations are pretty candid, but methinks not necessarily what sometimes goes on without him on-scene.  Let your imagination run.

And . . . as we are still at war in Afghanistan as I write this, I can't help but note what an interesting and informative read this will be to the enemy.  It will doubtlessly find it's way into the Taliban camp, adequately translated into their language.  This is a valid concern and one that I'm not sure how to deal with.  The Army was eager to accommodate the author's access needs, and we now have the 21st century censorship taboo to honor.  I hope this book doesn't result in cost of American lives.

Still - War is unusually candid.  Timelines jump aroung and are hard to follow, and the personalities become likewise jumbled.  I wish the author/publisher would have included some maps of the Korengal Valley.  I eventually constructed a mind picture that seemed to jibe with the narrative, but it was a continual distraction.  But it's a safe way to vicariously live in the Korengal and patrol with the U.S. soldiers there.  I also appreciated Junger's side trips into the mentality and basic psychology of warfare and fear, along with some infantry tactics 101.

It's a good account - educational and reasonably non-judgemental.  Well written and was worth my reading time I think. Kudos to Junger for being willing to walk the walk to a great degree.  What he did was dangerous.
3532812
I have always been a student of history and have read many books on the wars of the 20th century to include WWII, Korea and Vietnam.  There are many ways of conveying the histories of these wars such as the works of the big picture such as Masters And Commanders by Andrew Roberts, The Six Volume Set of the Second World War by Winston Churchill or the three book trilogy of The Third Reich at War by Robert Evans which gives a comprehensive and detailed account.

 Quite on the other side of the spectrum are the writings of personal memoirs which give a detailed sketch of what it was like as an individual soldier in a combat setting.  Such books as Black Edelweiss by Johann Voss and Blood Red Snow by Gunter K. Koschorrek and The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer will tell the individual tales of combat and family background of common soldiers and field junior officers.

 With Mr. Gid B. Adkisson III convincing his father to bear all and tell a coherent story for all to hear as we see another bit of history unfold in a very well written book.  We learn of Gid Adkisson Jr.'s background and just how he ended up commanding troops from 1944 to 1945 with the 80th Division. His descriptions of virgin troops being molded into veteran troops are well told.  His development as a leader and officer makes the reader to continue to turn the pages to see what will happen next.

 Adkisson Jr. gives respect not only to his own men but also to the enemy when he tells several stories of the fact that the enemy was very much like himself and his men.  One such incident is told in the book below:
From Pages 123 and 124

Justin Baca
He slammed on the brakes, grabbed his rifle, sprinted to the nearest artillery crater, and jumped in. He ducked down below the edge of the crater as the damp dirt settled from the first round and was startled to find that someone else had also taken refuge there.  It was a German soldier, who was also armed and was just as startled as Justin.
 Each instinctively pointed his rifle at each other and waited. Either man could have ended the other's life in an instant, but neither could have anticipated what would happen next.

 Baca broke the tense silence. "You people are losing the war.  Why don't you lay down your rifle and become my prisoner?"

 "I know that we are losing," the young man replied, "but I am a German soldier, and I will fight to the death."
 "What good is it to die for a losing cause?"

 "My orders are to fight until the end, and that is what I intend to do."

 These two young men, neither of whom had yet seen his twentieth birthday, negotiated over this life-altering decision while ducking and wincing as the incoming rounds exploded around them.

 The barrage ended.  They glared at each other in silence.  They were at an impasse.  Each quietly resigned himself to the fact that each other was not going to relent.  At the same time, neither man was inclined to elevate the level of antagonism; part of their unspoken agreement was that they would, in the middle of a brutal war, part in peace.  It was a poignant moment, the stuff of movies.  Finally, Justin swung around, stood up, scampered out of the crater to his jeep and drove away.  Fearing reprimand, he never told anyone in his unit of this experience until years later, at one of our reunions.

This book has many other such stories and will indeed spur the reader on and in the end will leave the reader wanting more.  Great memoir!
42103
This book gives the war from the view of a warrior completely dedicated to Adolf Hitler.  The Aryan philosophy is explained and praised, and the battles with the Russians are given in detail.  The views of the peasants are presented, pro-Hitler, anti-Stalin, and opposed to anyone taking over.  The background of Stalin's campaign against the peasants and its effects are well described.
1595845
Initially, I was a bit put off by the size of the book, and the fact that I have done a deal of reading on the general subject.  However, once I got into it (very quickly) I was absorbed by the detail and the different view of the conflict than what I was accustomed to. The book presents the war from a dispassionate viewer, and does not flinch from calling cherished understandings/emotions/myths for what they were.  I recommend it to any serious reader of the subject.