Military Books

History has always been my academic life. I joined the military book club. I quit it after I exhausted every book they offered that wasn't WWII. Here are some of my favorites.

This book I had the school purchase a classroom set with our discretionary book money. When ordering it they could find it only under the business category. It's required reading for CEO's and football coaches. Every modern day author on military history refers to or quotes from this book.
"The object of war is peace."

The next enlightening book was by a captain in the British army, who wrote this book between WWI and WWII. The British ignored it and the German's followed to the Allies regret until they embraced it's tenets as well. Major point: The indirect approach works the direct approach doesn't.

This book was given to me by a very good friend. I wound up reading a number of his books and he is the most respected military historian of the last few decades. It is a detailed description of three battles: Agincourt, Waterloo and the Battle of the Marne. The changes in weapons, scope and size of each battlefield as well as medical abilities to save lives in fascinating.

This book explained why this war degenerated into trench warfare.  Lack of communication over such a large battle front. It took wires to link phones, which were quickly broken. Commanders became reluctant to follow up victories in one area without knowing what was happening on their flanks. This problem was solved in WWII with wireless communication.

A comprehensive look at warfare through history. I love his quote that "The Mongols figured out that threatening to invade a country paid as they were bribed not to."

The opening on this book praises the United States and the way we fight wars, or at least how we fought them before Vietnam. He assessment of our fighting ability that we considered it like anything else as a job, get it done and get out. 
Then we got mired down in logistical wars. Next year we will have soldiers going to fight in Afghanistan that weren't even born when the Twin Towers fell.
He gives a detailed account of the Battle of Little Big Horn here, better than I've ever read elsewhere.