You can't understand the Revolution without the French and Indian/Seven Years War as context. The best popular book for this history by far is Fred Anderson's Crucible of War. The NY Times's review appropriately calls this "The War to Begin All Wars."

Want to see the The Last of the Mohicans as it actually happened? Want to be able to drive through upstate NY, western PA, Quebec, and see the geopolitical map of North America with fresh eyes? Want to understand 18th c. siege warfare? Want to understand the roots of the American Revolution? Then read this important book.

Anderson's grabber starts with a young George Washington's first command on the Virginia frontier at Jumonville's Glen in 1754. Washington lost control of his men, who massacred a contingent of wounded French emissaries, and this led to a sequence of events that drew in all the major powers over a conflict of who would possess North America. Anderson:

"One of the wounded, a thirty-five-year-old ensign named Joseph Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville, identified himself as the detachment's commander. Through a translator he tried to make it known that he had come in peace, as an emissary with a message summoning the English to withdraw from the possessions of His Most Christian Majesty, Louis XV. The letter he carried would make everything clear. His interpreter would read it.

"As the combatants' adrenaline levels subsided and the wounded men moaned, the translation went badly. The letter had to be read a second time, and Washington turned to take it back to his own translator. As he withdrew, Tanaghrisson stepped up to where Jumonville lay. "Tu n'es pas encore mort, mon père," he said; Thou art not yet dead, my father. He raised his hatchet and sank it in the ensign's head, striking until he had shattered the cranium. Then he reached into the skull, pulled out a handful of viscous tissue, and washed his hands in Jumonville's brain.

"The tall Virginian who until that instant had thought himself in command did nothing while the Half King's warriors, as if on signal, set about killing the wounded. Within moments only one of the Frenchmen who had been hit in the firefight was left alive. ...

"So extraordinary indeed were the events that followed from this callow officer's acts and hesitations that we must begin by shaking off the impression that some awesome destiny shaped occurrences in the Ohio Valley during the 1750s. For in fact the presence of French troops and forts in the region, the determination of Virginia's colonial governor to remove them, and the decisions of the French and British governments to use military force to back up the maneuverings of colonists deep in the American interior all resulted from the unusually powerful coincidence of some very ordinary human factors: ambition and avarice, fear and misunderstanding, miscalculation and mischance. How such a combination could produce a backwoods massacre is not, perhaps, hard to imagine. How that particular butchery gave rise to the greatest war of the eighteenth century, however, is less easy to explain. To understand it, we must first chart the paths by which the interests of the Iroquois Confederacy, the government of New France, the governor of Virginia, and a group of Anglo-American land speculators all converged, in the spring of 1754, at the spot where the Allegheny joins the Monongahela and the Ohio's waters begin their long descent through the heart of America to the Mississippi, and the sea."

This is very helpful. An individual seeking to shore up woefully inadequate military history knowledge faces an avalanche of paper. A few starting places are very much appreciated.

I wonder what you thought of the HBO miniseries of Band of Brothers? Also, your opinions of the work on the Revolution of John Ferling, on Vietnam of Halberstam, and your preferred source for a general history of WWII (not purely the U.S. experience)?

If you want to avoid US-centric for WWII, B.H. Liddell Hart's now classic 'History of the Second World War' is hard to beat. A bit ponderous at times (and he basically gives England credit for victory), but a thorough piece of scholarship that is readable. And he covers every theater in depth - whether you care or not (I'm talking to you China-Burma).

Similarly titled to the 'A War to Be Won' that you are reading is 'There's a War to be Won,' by Geoffrey Perret - also very good. I never tire of the story of George Marshall - the most underrated American figure of the 20th century.

Recently I reread 'The GI Offensive in Europe,' Peter Mansoor's (yes, GEN Petraeus' chief of staff in Iraq) excellent study of the building and training of the US Army's 89 divisions during the war. Mansoor set out to rebuff the commonly-held conceit that the Wehrmacht was superior to the US Army in 1944/45. He succeeded, sort of.

A prime holder of that common conceit is the outstanding Sir Max Hastings, whose most recent books on WWII, 'Retribution,' and 'Armageddon,' stand alongside his previous classics such as 'Overlord.' His book on the Falklands War is also a great primer on that fascinating conflict. In the introduction he describes the difficulty of trying to understand what soldiers felt like heading towards the beach on D-Day while writing 'Overlord,' only to find himself heading towards a beach in an open landing craft across Falkland Sound as a war correspondent.

Sir Max has become a mentor of sorts to the brightest rising star in the US military history world - your former WP colleague Rick Atkinson. The first two volumes of his triptych on the US Army in WWII, 'An Army at Dawn,' and 'Day of Battle,' prove that there is still great ground to uncover. Atkinson tells the story thoroughly, from private to general and from small unit tactics to strategic decisions. Masterful. My 90 year old father-in-law, a WWII paratrooper, worries that he won't live long enough to read the final volume!

One different and wonderful book is David Brinkley's semi-memoir, 'Washington Goes to War.' Funny and informative, as of course was Brinkley. A particular treat if you have lived in the district.

To give equal time to the jarheads in the audience, William Manchester's 'Goodbye Darkness' captures the terror of combat in the Pacific. His prose is stunning.

Aside from WWII, and perhaps the best book on men at war in the 20th century - Harold Moore and Joe Galloway's 'We Were Soldiers Once, and Young.' Ignore the movie, the book is a searing look at intense combat in Vietnam, leadership, and the bonds of men against fire.

For the current War on Terror, uhhh... I mean Foreign Contingency Operations... Sean Naylor's book on the early days of the war in Afghanistan, 'Not a Good Day to Die,' will just plain make you mad. The specter of US combat troops in the 21st century pinned down without artillery support or adequate air cover is... well... infuriating to say the least. The hell with a Truth Commission on torture, I want to know who got relieved or went to jail for denying the 101st their artillery!

Finally,, as you start your study of post war US generalship I hope that you find time for 'Thunderbolt: Creighton Abrams and the Army of His Times' by Lewis Sorley. When I was a young armor officer I kept that book under my pillow at night.

Oops, I think that was 13.

Neil Sheehan's A Bright Shining Lie

and

Tim O'Brien's If I Die In A Combat Zone

Mr. Ricks,
Is there one definitive book that you would recommend that encompasses all of American history and wars? Or has a book like this been yet to be published.

Can't defend Ambrose on account of "D-day."

But, VIETNAM, "We Were Soldiers"

or perhaps better yet, "A Bright and Shining Line"?

"Dispatches?"

"Once upon a Distant War?"

Fehrenbacher's work is weird in many ways. Pre-Neocon neocon. Eric Hamel's "Chosin?"

Also, if The Nightingale's Song, why not The Long Gray Line?

A Rumor of War, of Caputo's chapter in his fine volume on war reporting - Means of Escape - on the fall of Saigon.

I'm not sure I'm even qualified to throw in my two cents here but I will try. For several reasons if I had to recommend just one book for the Civil War I would second Battle Cry of Freedom. Also I would like to agree with the selection of Naylor's Not a Good Day to Die. Not to subtract from the other works on Vietnam but I think it is important to add what took place on "the other side of the fence" and mention The Secret War Against Hanoi by Richard Shultz. A nice comprehensive study of SOG's covert operations.
edit-I meant to throw in McCullough's companion volume to John Adams, 1776. Narrow in scope but very enjoyable to read.

Naylor's Not a Good Day to Die is best contrasted with Bowden's Black Hawk Down - neither a good nor a bad thing, just something that is.

For a truly international history of the Second World War, I would go with Gerhard Weinberg's massive and magesterial A World at Arms. It's a bit heavy on the diplomatic dealings and manueverings, which is no surprise since Weinberg made his academic bones with an acclaimed two-volume study of Hitler's foreign policy. The book also does not delve as deeply into the operational aspects of the war as I would have liked. Those caveats aside, it sets a standard that is unlikely to be surpassed for some time to come.

As for a single volume that takes in the full sweep of the American military experience from colonial times to the near-present (it was published in 1994), I'd recommend For the Common Defense by Allan Millett and Pete Maslowski. It's meant to serve as a survey text for undergraduate and graduate-level courses on American military history, but anyone with an interest in the subject should find it well-worth the investment of one's time. Each chapter also includes a lengthy bibliographical essay, so the book makes an excellent starting point for further reading and study. Finally, I'll suggest another book that is a sentimental favorite from my graduate student days: The American Way of War by the late Russell Weigley. It's dated (original pub date of 1977 but still in print) and some of its central arguments have been shredded by more recent articles and books. Still, it's an intelligent and bracing study that examines the continuities and disjunctions in how the US has waged war over the years.

I highly second Stephen Thomas Smith and anon_anon on Michael Herr's masterpiece, Dispatches.

On Vietnam, David Maraniss, "They Marched Into Sunlight," looks alternatively at a protest in Madison and an ambush in Vietnam. The basis for an American Experience on PBS.

On the Mexican-American War, Paul Foos's "A Short, Off-Hand, Killing Affair" was a real eye-opener at several levels. Very rich, pays attention to ethnic, class and other dimensions of our fighting force.

On WWII: "Choices Under Fire: Moral Dimensions of World War II" by Michael Bess.

And "War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War," by John W. Dower is essential.

Also on WWII, Michael C. C. Adams, "The Best War Ever."

Adams has a book on WWI, "The Great Adventure: Male Desire and the Coming of World War I." Both his books are very broad in scope, looking at culture, society, ideas as well as battlefields. And both are on the short side, but extremely rewarding.

Also, Harry Stout, "Upon the Altar of the Nation: A Moral History of the Civil War."

Lots of good books on Iraq, but apart from the obvious ones anyone reading THIS blog will know, allow me to plug Martha Raddatz, "The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family." It's killer.

General: One of the strangest, but best, books on war or anything else I've ever read; it's indescribable, you'll just have to see for yourself: Sven Lindqvist, "A History of Bombing."

Finally, "The Culture of Defeat: On National Trauma, Mourning, and Recovery" by Wolfgang Schivelbusch, looks at three societies that lost wars--the Confederate South, France after 1871, and Germany after 1918--and examines how they reckoned with defeat.

I especially agree with the endorsements of Millett, Murray and Weigley.

Not sure sure about 'Dispatches.' I've read it a couple of times but remain wary of it.

Thanks for the book suggestions--always welcome. I agree with previous posters who would add "A Bright Shining Lie" by Sheehan and "Goodbye Darkness" by Manchester to the list. Graves' memoir of the WWI trenches "Goodbye to All That" is also gripping and memorable.

Um, 'Catch 22' may have been set in WW2, but it was about the Vietnam War, just as 'MASH' was. Or 'Soldier Blue'. Or.... Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

My Vietnam classic was 'The Things They Carried'. One of the best stories ever about what it is to be a private soldier. I first encountered the title piece as a stand-alone short story, and it displaced 'Tip on a Dead Jockey' as my all-time favorite piece of short fiction. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

. . . where I did my undergrad work (Temple). At that time, being young and stupid, I had no interest whatsoever in the history of war or even of politics, so I never took any of his classes. But one night I was very early for a class and was waiting around, and Weigley was lecturing in the room across the hall. He was talking about Hitler and Greek and Shakespearian tragedy, and it was about the most fascinating thing I'd ever heard. Oh, how I wish I could do it all over again.

I did a review of Gene Fluckey's book for the Naval Institute. My one negative comment (for which Fluckey called me and chewed my ass out): his boat didn't seem to have anyone else in it, especially enlisted people. Very egocentric view of a team effort - admittedly led brilliantly.

While not top 10 from a historical importance POV, Neal Stephensons "Cryptonomicon" offers one of the better literary stories using WW2 and history as backdrop. Lots on the Enigma and the birth of the computer, as well as the worlds greatest US action hero, Bobby Shaftoe USMC. ;-)

A fun list, Tom. Thanks for doing it. Have to agree with those who list Sheehan's "Bright Shining Lie," as well as Atkinson's "Army at Dawn." And whatever Herr was on, "Dispatches" tells a gripping story.

Gen. Grant's memoir deserves a place on this list, as one of the very few readable memoirs of a senior commander in any war.

Also, I agree with the first poster on this thread who recommended Anderson's Crucible of War.

Big second for Tim O'Brien's stories in this outstanding book.

There have been some truly superb suggestions here, including a couple of books on my shelves that I should probably crack open and read again!

I was wondering if anyone here has read Jon Lee Anderson's The Fall of Baghdad - I feel I ought to know more about the early part of the Iraq invasion than I do, but I have heard mixed reviews about this one. Would anybody care to offer an opinion on it?

Thanks in advance

What's missing is a discussion of policy and politics development. Battlefield philosophy is well and good, but we also need to understand how we get to the battlefield.

My suggestion: First to Fight by Brute Krulak. Not an all encompassing policy-wonk book, but a highly readable study of how it really goes down in DC...

The Things They Carried is a work of fiction. O'Brien's non-fiction account of his own Vietnam experience is If I Die In A Combat Zone.

While we're on the topic of great books on war, I'd like a recommendation for a book on the Pacific theater of WW II that covers the Japanese war effort before Dec. 7, 1941. I'm interested in how the military took control of Japan, the Japanese invasion of China, the Kwangtung Army and how it was (at least as I understand it) a force independent of Tokyo, the conflict between the Imperial Army and Navy (which I understand was at times a real shooting war), and how Japan built up its forces before Pearl Harbor.

On the posted topic, I don't read a lot of books on the military, but one that I found fascinating was "When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler" by David Glantz. Prof. Glantz explained that the common misconception of the Red Army as nothing but mass attacks stemmed from its modus operandi of concentrating mass forces at the Wehrmacht's weak points. This required sophisticated transport capabilities and excellent intelligence. Prof. Glantz claims the Red Army ultimately employed the most sophisticated tactics of any side in WW II. "When Titans Clashed" gives you a revealing look at the Eastern Front that you don't get in other books.

It just occurred to me that no one complained about me leaving World War I out of my list. Any American candidates for this list from that conflict?

I haven't read extensively on WWI, but a couple of very good books are August 1914 by Barbara Tuchman, and John Keegan's book World War One.

'Chickenhawk' would be high on my list for Viet Nam memoirs, along with "We Were Soldiers Once, and Young." "Thud" for the offensive end of that peculiar air war. Maybe "Ravens" would cover FAC's and the 'secret war' side. I haven't gotten to 'Tiger Force', reportage on what happens when majors and colonel's go over to the dark side, and may never do so.

Hard to leave the hardfought publication of "The Pentagon Papers" out, when misdirection about our place in the Viet Nam war progression was such a big part of the looming defeat. Lt/Dr. Tom Dooley's personal account of the USN's 1954 Haiphong evacuation is lost in the mists of that dawn, when Hamburger Hill was still a raw wound...