Reviews (8)

Fake memoir
This story was probably constructed from a number of real memoirs, other sources like films, and Jung's and the author's imagination.Helmut Jung may have been a soldier on the Eastern Front but what he claims to have seen there owes more to imagination - perhaps the author's - than reality.Units composed of seven foot Mongols? (p. 297).Really. In the fifty or so books I have read about the German-Russian war nobody else noticed such units. In the same chapter, a description of the capture of a group of female Russian soldiers appears to have been lifted from the film version of 'Cross of Iron'.There are numerous other elements traceable to other sources throughout ths ridiculous book. Avoid wasting money on this 'memoir'.You will learn nothing about the real experience of combatants on the Eastern Front that you haven't already read elsewhere.

A Work of Fiction
I agree with some of the other reviewers that this is most likely a work of fiction.There is no real information given about the supposed author, Helmut Jung, other than his "incredible" wartime exploits. There are too many mistakes in the book about Jung's training and service to believe this is anything more than a piece of fiction put together by the American writer...it doesn't read or feel right.Save your money and buy "Black Edelweiss" for a real biography of a German soldier.

The Jekyll and Hyde of german wwii memoirs
First of all, this book is 464 pages long, apart from a small paragraph about Mr. Jung at the end there is nothing else, you get what you pay for, 464 pages of reading material. There are also no photos. Now, this memoir is a rollercoaster of emotions, paradoxes, anomalities, irregularities and some simply senseless and hard to believe asseverations by Mr. Jung and the author, who should have at least researched a little bit more, edited a bit better and should have gotten himself a good grammar dictionary, unless that is, he chose to leave the book as it is to keep the element of reality present. At times Mr. Jung sounds so real and truthful you can't help but pity him at others you could swear he is a jew posing as a german soldier. Now I don't blame Mr. Jung for his mental lapses (most people don't remember what they did 2 weeks ago) so after so many years one can understand his memory lapses. However mistaking the 6th army for the 10th at Stalingrad is preposterous to say the least. His asseveration that the SS went around shooting wounded german soldiers from penal batallions is simply hard to believe. During the actions of our Blue division in Russia we had a squad of men assigned to follow up behind the main body of troops checking the russian dead behind us and making sure they stayed very dead, for these vermin were treacherous and they would fake death in order to shoot us in the back. The Waffen SS had a similar way of dealing with russians (read Blood Red Snow). Also we were forbidden from building fires at night no matter how cold it might be (this was a sure way to have snipers pick everyone off one by one, have our positions identified by artillery spotters), yet he claims they would build this huge fires and huddle around at night! The war in the east was a metaphysical encounter of extreme ideoligies, the far right on our side and the far left on theirs. We alone had the sole opportunity of stoppping the spread of communism within our grasp and were betrayed by the very western civilization we sought to safeguard and preserve for the new generations. One look at the map of Europe after wwii will tell you who really won and for what purpose the western powers really fought and shed so much young blood. Mr. Jung was as caught up in this hell as the rest of us were and like us he did what he had to do to survive, however a man should have convictions and a sense of belonging to his nation and while he did his share, he did it for himself... we did it for our people, our nation and for western civilization. To those of you who might find this offensive I remind you of the words Julius Streicher spoke to the hangman at Nuremberg in 1946, "someday the russians will do this very same thing to all of you". Time proved him right.
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Subjects:  1. 1926-    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Campaigns    6. Eastern Front    7. Europe - Germany    8. Germany    9. Heer    10. Historical - General    11. Jung, Helmut,    12. Military    13. Military - World War II    14. Panzer-Division, 7    15. Personal narratives, German    16. World War, 1939-1945    17. Biography: general    18. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)   

Editorial Review

The Battle of Iwo Jima, fought in the winter of 1945 on a rocky island south of Japan, brought a ferocious slice of hell to earth: in a month's time, more than 22,000 Japanese soldiers would die defending a patch of ground a third the size of Manhattan, while nearly 26,000 Americans fell taking it from them. The battle was a turning point in the war in the Pacific, and it produced one of World War II's enduring images: a photograph of six soldiers raising an American flag on the flank of Mount Suribachi, the island's commanding high point.Read more

Reviews (454)

"Flags of Our Fathers" - A Timely Look at a Bloody Battle in Our History
Quite a while ago, Nick Olmsted, a graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy, recommended that I read "Flags of Our Fathers." I am glad that I finally got around to taking his advice. This story struck me on many levels at once, and this seems to be an opportune time to share some of my thoughts about this remarkable book, written by James Bradley, the son of one of the six Marines whose iconic picture of the raising of the flag over Iwo Jima riveted a war-weary nation.
A hard book to read.
World War II seems such a long time ago for so many of us. Most Americans today weren't yet born when it took place. For this reason, I believe everyone old enough to comprehend its stories should read this book. James Bradley and Ron Powers have written a heart-pounding record of the thirty-five bloody days it took to wrest Iwo Jima (Sulfur Island) from the Japanese. The photograph of the raising of the American flag on Mt. Suribachi (1/400th of a second's space in time) is recognized around the world. The men who raised it: John "Doc" Bradley (the author's father);Harlon Block; Rene Gagnon; Ira Hayes; Franklin Sousley; and Mike Strank became instant heroes (though Block, Sousley and Strank died not long after). Bradley, Hayes and Gagnon lived to tell the tale, though both Hayes and Gagnon would die with the pain of their experiences on Iwo Jima seared into their psyches to the point they could not live with it successfully.
1/400th of a second in time
"It's funny what a picture can do":1/400th of a second in time.
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Biography    3. History    4. History - Military / War    5. History: World    6. Iwo Jima, Battle of, Japan, 19    7. Iwo Jima, Battle of, Japan, 1945    8. Marines    9. Military    10. Military - Pictorial    11. Military - United States    12. Military - World War II    13. Military History - World War II    14. Photographs    15. Pictorial works    16. United States    17. World War II    18. History / Military / World War II    19. Photographs: collections    20. Second World War, 1939-1945    21. World history: Second World War   

Reviews (12)

"Flags of Our Fathers" - A Timely Look at a Bloody Battle in Our History
Quite a while ago, Nick Olmsted, a graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy, recommended that I read "Flags of Our Fathers." I am glad that I finally got around to taking his advice. This story struck me on many levels at once, and this seems to be an opportune time to share some of my thoughts about this remarkable book, written by James Bradley, the son of one of the six Marines whose iconic picture of the raising of the flag over Iwo Jima riveted a war-weary nation.
A hard book to read.
World War II seems such a long time ago for so many of us. Most Americans today weren't yet born when it took place. For this reason, I believe everyone old enough to comprehend its stories should read this book. James Bradley and Ron Powers have written a heart-pounding record of the thirty-five bloody days it took to wrest Iwo Jima (Sulfur Island) from the Japanese. The photograph of the raising of the American flag on Mt. Suribachi (1/400th of a second's space in time) is recognized around the world. The men who raised it: John "Doc" Bradley (the author's father);Harlon Block; Rene Gagnon; Ira Hayes; Franklin Sousley; and Mike Strank became instant heroes (though Block, Sousley and Strank died not long after). Bradley, Hayes and Gagnon lived to tell the tale, though both Hayes and Gagnon would die with the pain of their experiences on Iwo Jima seared into their psyches to the point they could not live with it successfully.
A full 5 stars !!
It is kind of funny how I came up with this book. I was looking to buy some books on WWII and after deciding on 2 books, I was short 25 cents to recieve the free shipping. So, I looked for another book that was cheep in price and picked this one. Out of the three books I purchased, Flags Of Our Fathers was the first one I read thinking I will get through this before I get to the good ones. Boy was I wrong. This book was just so good! I could not put it down! I would find myself up and still reading at 1am in the morning. I would strongly reccomend this book to anyone! Now I am going to purchase the newest version (bigger with nice cover) to have as a keepsake. Take my word for it, buy the book and you will not regret it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. History    3. History - Military / War    4. Iwo Jima, Battle of, Japan, 1945    5. Military    6. Military - United States    7. Military - World War II    8. Photographs    9. Photography    10. Pictorial works    11. World War II - East Asia    12. World War, 1939-1945    13. History / Military / World War II   

Reviews (200)

Biased
I read Flags of Our Fathers and enjoyed it more than Flyboys.Bradley has a writing style that is difficult at times as has personal biases come through very clearly.As one other reviewer has written, I found it very odd that he often referred to MG Curtis LeMay as "Curtis."As someone writing about military history, Bradley should have more respect for the uniform and should not call a two star general by his first name like he is talking about one of his golfing buddies.This was very distracting.I also found the first couple of chapters of his history lesson very tedious and unfocused - so much so that I nearly quit reading the book.The latter chapters pick up the pace and are insightful.Bradley also devotes too much time attempting to demonize the American firebombing tactics.Thankfully Bradley's bias and negativity toward the Navy and Army is not as pronounced in Flyboys as in FOOF.This bias is especially odd considering his father was a Navy Corpsman.

Desire to moralize reaches too far
I assume that the author is attempting to show that war creates an environment in which morally degenerate acts become much more likely, if not all but inevitable, on all sides of the conflict.In doing so, however, the author very frequently stretches the blanket of history too far, as when he suggests that the Japanese would have remained forever content to be isolated on their home islands if the American fleet had not paid an uninvited visit to Tokyo Bay in 1853-54 and taught the Japanese the foreign policy advantages of a strong navy.While most historians would agree that the U.S. Navy's visit served the royal court with a wake-up call regarding the existence of a world beyond Japan, that is not the same thing as assuming that without this visit no other internal or external events over the next 70 years would have spurred the Japanese to look beyond their shores and trade an isolationist philosophy for an imperial one.
Fascinating!
I found this to be a fascinating account of the war in the Pacific, and I was impressed with the fact that the author imparts a deep appreciation for America and the sacrifices our soldiers made but can still step back and look objectively at the mistakes on both sides.Does examining our own faults release the other side from responsibility for their crimes, as some other reviewers seem to feel?I don't believe so; I think it's healthy for us to examine our history so we don't make the same mistakes again.It's too bad that some people lump any critique of our own actions into the "pop-revisionist history" category.
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Subjects:  1. Atrocities    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Chichi Island    6. History - Military / War    7. Japan    8. Military    9. Military - Aviation    10. Military - United States    11. Military - World War II    12. Military History - World War II    13. Prisoners Of War    14. Prisoners and prisons, Japanes    15. Prisoners and prisons, Japanese    16. World War, 1939-1945    17. Biography & Autobiography / Military   

Reviews (52)

For Those Fans of 'Band of Brothers' That Want More.
The book is Dick Winters Memoirs and as such is a rehash of Ambrose's "Band of Brothers" from his point of view.As such the reader gets another look at the events in the History of Easy Company from the Book and the Movie from the Normandy Campaign to the end of the War.
Medal of Honor for Major Winters
Best book ever.The hard thing is to remeber while reading this book is this is a true story.After reading this great book and you feel compelled as I you can go to the Major Winters wen site and sign a petition for him to receive the Medal of Honor.I should note that this is not being endorsed by Major Winters which is consistant with his character. [..]

Winters' Story...In His Own Modest Words
Like most other readers, I purchased this book on the strength of Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers and the popular HBO series of the same name. So when I saw that Winters was publishing his memoirs, I knew that I'd get around to reading it sooner or later.
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Subjects:  1. Aerial operations, American    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography And Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Campaigns    7. General    8. Military    9. Military - General    10. Military - United States    11. Military - World War II    12. Personal narratives, American    13. Western Front    14. World War II    15. World War, 1939-1945    16. History / Military / General   

Reviews (2)

Insightful and Riveting and Revealing
I read this book over the course of one weekend, it was that good. The book gets to the heart of what our severely wounded veterans face from the exact time of the injury on the battlefield to the care they receive in our military hospitals, to their day to day recovery, relationships with their families and how they cope with the loss of not only a limb but in some cases, their whole identity.This book made me realize how much they really do lose and sacrifice to defend this country no matter where or when.I have a new appreciation for the true heroes of our day, the men and women of our military, especially the heroes who lose limbs in the line of duty.

A Must-Read for the Wounded and All Who Care About Them
With great insight and compassion, Michael Weisskopf brings us the stories of the amputees of this generation's wars.Weisskopf himself lost his dominant hand while embedded with soldiers in Iraq in preparation for Time's 2003 Person of the Year edition. He picked up a grenade that landed in his vehicle and awoke to a whole new life: Ward 57 of Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
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Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Embedded war correspondents    3. History    4. History: World    5. Iraq War, 2003-    6. Military    7. Military - Iraq War    8. Military - United States    9. Modern - 21st Century    10. Personal narratives, American    11. United States    12. Weisskopf, Michael    13. Wounds and injuries    14. History / Modern / 21st Century   

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Military    5. Personal Memoirs    6. Specific Groups - Male Gay Studies    7. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs   

Reviews (56)

I wanted to like it I really did
The first three chapters have nothing to do with the overall concept, its just some crazy manifest dynasty that's been rehashed time and time again.
Insightful and fair work
Behind the scenes of the hellish fights on Iwo Jima in 1945, another bloodshed was taking place just nearby. The American Air Force planned to fly B-29 strategic bombers from Iwo Jima to Japan, but it faced another peril, Chichi Jima. The island served as critical radar station to detect any enemy aerial activities for the Japanese and held even greater forces than infamous Iwo Jima. This book is a story about the fate of nine Chichi Jima raiders who were shot down, captured, slaughtered, and erased from the history until re-discovered recently.
Flyboys
I had a difficult time with this book. Having ready "Flags of Our Fathers", I had hopes this would be as well written and informitive. However, from early on this book came across as just another piece of "pagan liberal propoganda". The ethnic cleansing of American Indians by the United States was an early warmup of typical pagan propoganda and it headed downhill from there.
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Subjects:  1. Atrocities    2. Biography    3. Chichi Island    4. History    5. History - Military / War    6. Japan    7. Military    8. Military - Aviation    9. Military - United States    10. Military - World War II    11. Prisoners Of War    12. Prisoners and prisons, Japanes    13. Prisoners and prisons, Japanese    14. World War II - East Asia    15. World War, 1939-1945    16. Biography & Autobiography / Military   

Editorial Review

Over time, Tim O'Brien has used both art and artifice to shape his fictional accounts of Vietnam. Award-winning novels such as Read more

Reviews (24)

Wonderful!
I thought this book was very well composed and it make me realize the harsh raalities of the Vietnam war. O'Brien sure captured my heart and thoughts. I would highly recommend this book to any history fan!
Great memoir
This book, titled after a line in a military march song, is O'Brien's memoir of his time in Viet Nam. It's divided up into shorter essays--most narrative, some more philosophical--which together create the tangled web of dilemmas that Viet Nam was. The book chronicles O'Brien's tour of duty chronologically, from the pressure and shame that kept him from not fleeing to Canada when he adamantly opposed the war, throughbasic training and combat and his eventual move to a job in the back. Each essay tackles a theme or issue: friendship, courage, fear, getting a desk job, the morality of a shooting or not shooting a civilian who may or may not shoot you.
A must read for one who doesn't know much about 'Nam
"If I Die in a Combat Zone: Box Me Up and Ship Me Home" was very a well written book. I'm in a generation that doesn't know a whole lot about the Vietnam War. My idea of Vietnam is based off of the movie "Platoon". Tim O'Brien does an awesome job of portraying a soldier, and what each soldier has to put up with mentally and physically everyday.
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Subjects:  1. 1946-    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Historical - U.S.    5. Literary    6. Military    7. O'Brien, Tim,    8. Personal narratives, American    9. Vietnam War, 1961-1975    10. Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975    11. Biography & Autobiography / General    12. Reading Group Guide   

Reviews (50)

Books and bullets have their own destinies
My first impression upon completion of this classic World War I memoir is one of amazement. I am amazed that Mr. Junger-or anyone in those trenches-survived the hellish onslaught of trench warfare. In gruesome yet elegant detail, the author recounts his experiences as a front-line German soldier in his battles against the French and English. As the book proceeds, it seems that virtually everyone around Junger is killed or critically wounded. He is wounded himself on a regular basis, and between the constant sniping and merciless artillery bombardments, it is a wonder that anyone survived. There is no discussion of politics or even the reasons behind the war. It is simply the story of a front-line soldier doing his duty. Junger writes about his experiences in war as an almost mystical event that at times transcends the physical senses and becomes almost spiritual. I personally found this fascinating. And while the details of the book are often gruesome, the author's writing is downright exquisite. So whatever you think of him, Mr. Junger certainly had a way with words, and this memoir is a masterpiece that deserves the title of "Classic."
Very good
I enjoyed this book very much. In some reviews people comment that the book was hard to get for many years because it glorifies war. I didn't find that it glorified war. What I got was an incredible respect for any of the WW1 soldiers fighting in the trenches & Ernst Junger in particular. He wasn't just a regular trench soldier - many, many times he risked his life in daring raids on the enemy lines.
A hidden gem of a war novel
Storm of Steel is an unusual contradiction of a war novel. As a description of trench combat on the Western Front of WWI, this book has the immediacy and authenticity of direct reportage, or at least battlefield notes. It was written soon after the author's own service in the German army, and has the unconstructed feel of a series of direct experiences.
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Subjects:  1. 1895-    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Diaries    5. Fiction - General    6. General    7. Germany    8. Junger, Ernst - Prose & Criticism    9. Junger, Ernst,    10. Literary    11. Military    12. Military History - World War I    13. Personal Memoirs    14. Personal narratives, German    15. Soldiers    16. World War, 1914-1918    17. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs   

Reviews (182)

amazing
This book made me want to become a marine scout sniper. However, since I'm joining the Army....hahaha...well that's impossible. But this book shows you the thought process of a particular sniper, tactics, his heroism, dedication, FOCUS, and determination to do his job so that more marines could live. An amazing book, I would say. This book also gives you a clear picture of what a marine scout sniper's job is, although there wasn't too much of the recon part of it. This book gives you a mental picture of what's going on in Vietnam, almost like watching a movie. Entertaining, yet informative. Also talked about how they created the M40 sniper rifle and how they got rid of (i'm going out on a limb here) almost all of its weaknesses/faults.

Well-Written History, But...
Well-written history of a war and those who fought in it with heroism and skill, but I shouldn't have tried to read this. It's just too bloody for me, I guess, and I couldn't finish it. But that's nota comment on the quality of the book, just its subject matter, which turned my stomach and really, deeply, got to me. For anyone interested in an ultra-realistic account of a sniper's life in Vietnam, this is the book. It's among the most visceral, lingeringly disturbing memoirs on the subject of modern war I've ever held in my hands.

Sniper book that you can't put down
This book tell the story of Carlos Hathcock tours in Vietnam, an sniper in the top of his game with not equal, the book is full of his sniping mission and is a easy read. I can't recall a moment where I felt the story was dragging.
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Subjects:  1. Americas (North Central South West Indies)    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Commando operations    5. History    6. History: American    7. Military    8. Military - United States    9. Military - Vietnam War    10. Soldiers    11. United States    12. Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975    13. History / Military / General    14. The Americas    15. USA    16. War fiction   

Reviews (23)

Don't Drink the Koolaid
As a Marine who met John Boyd in the early 1980's, I can attest to the fact that he was clearly brilliant, irrefutably abrasive, and undeniably anti-authoritarian.To his credit, Robert Coram has captured those aspects of his personality well, and his biography reads like an exciting novel.
briliant thinker
Boyd was a genius fighter pilot. He reinvented air-to-air combat tactics in the 1950's, 60's, and 70's. Even today, his ideas on combat seem advanced.

The Fourth Generation Warfare Godfather
While experts on the 2nd Iraq War give credit for the quick victory to SECDEF Rumsfeld's deputies and the Bush Administration, the core foundation to maneuver warfare (and the key to the victory) was provided by the deceased Colonel John Boyd.His concepts of OODA (observe-orient-decide-act) forced the U.S. Military to change their thinking on command and control of armed forces and their interaction on the battlefield and beyond.This book, "The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War", is an outstanding biography of this amazing warrior. From his blue-collar upbringing in Erie, Pennsylvania to his battles in the Pentagon, the Ghetto Colonel help form the AirLand battle strategy of the 1980s (with the advent of the F-15/F-16), and Maneuver Warfare for the 1990s and 2000s (influencing USMC thinkers).
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Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Military    5. Military - Aviation    6. Military - Strategy    7. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Reviews (42)

The secret is out
very interesting look at the mystery that is delta force. this book is written by the founder and first commanding officer of the force and represents an intriguing look at what was formerly kept secret. look into the world of some of our country's most daring and important servicemembers. this blow-by-blow account reads like a novel, and sometimes you wish that is all it was.

Page turner. Essential for Spec-ops library.
I first thought that this book would probably be a bit dull, since it didn't have a lot of combat experiences in it, but is mostly about the formation of Delta. But it's now one of my favorite reads. A real page-turner, it only took me a couple weeks to get through it. I admit that it's enjoyment is probably limited to those with a serious interest in special ops. It has an honest and candid tone that lacks the the egoism of Marzcinko's book about SEAL Six. If your interested in learning more about Delta, I also reccomend reading Eric Haney's book, and Blackhawk Down. All three are very interesting and informative books, that take you inside, are hard to put down, and inspire profound respect for those who serve their country in this capacity.

How to sell the Army a new idea
"Delta Force" should be required reading for every ambitious careerist working for a large organization. Wearingcamo fatigues or gray-flannel suit, this fine treatise tells the ambitious what it takes to get things done in a large organization--in this case, the largest organization-the U.S. Army. And what it takes is a very smart, relentlessly driven maverick, just what these organizations abhor. Maverick General Billy Mitchell was court-marshaled for proving to the Navy that one aircraft could take out the fleet's largest ship.
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Subjects:  1. Army    2. Army.    3. Beckwith, Charlie A    4. Delta Force    5. History    6. History - Military / War    7. Military    8. Military - Intelligence/Espionage    9. Military Science    10. Modern - 20th Century/Nuclear Age    11. Operation Eagle Claw, Iran, 1980    12. Personal narratives    13. Political Terrorism    14. Special Forces    15. Technology    16. United States    17. United States.    18. War & Military    19. History / Military / General    20. Special & elite forces    21. USA