The History Book Club discussion

Hi Terri and Andre, two good posts there with some very relevant points and I agree with you both. I tend to agree with Terri that when a book seems to offer nothing more than over the top commentary and the enemy is seen as nothing more than cardboard cut-outs it losses something although the high stress levels of combat must be hard to portray in a book as well. I found "House to House" a great read, some what like "Black Hawk Down" and must reads for anyone interested in modern conflict accounts.

by David Bellavia

by Mark Bowden

Don't get me wrong though Andre. :-) I did indeed enjoy
by David Bellavia. I hope it didn't come across as if I didn't.
In my review of it I think I did remark that the Bellavia in the closing narrative was a different man than he was in Fallujah, and he did see that sometimes he was a bit hardcore.

I think, Rick, you nailed it on the head there with the 'cardboard cut-outs'.
I don't like the books that feel like a heartless and brutal game of skirmish/paintball. I have read some military books where the author can see that the 'human meat' in the street are actually people's children and fathers and wives. And I have read others, where the author is too de-sensitized.

I completely understand that different people have different coping mechanisms. Truly I do. But I find that some authors are better than others when it comes to translating those outlooks to paper.

And, on a totally unrelated side note; I really enjoyed Bellavia's description of the white phosphorus in the streets. That is the first book I have read where it has been described in such detail.
To get it on your boot and have it keep eating through to the bone? Ouch.

Oh, and P.S...out of control truck driver, Andre? :-)
You'll have to tell me more about this road rage incident one day. I'd love to hear how it got so out of control. Or wasn't it a road rage incident? Just a crazed truck driver.

Damn, I think I'll have to find my copy of "One Bullet Away" or "Generation Kill" and move them to the top of my reading pile! It seems "One Bullet Away" offers a very well written and compelling story, might have to read that one first :)

by Nathaniel Fick

by Evan Wright

Wellll...you know...Kristi and I are doing a buddy read of One Bullet Away approx 1st of February. And Tasha (new member of The History Club as of today), is hoping to get the book in time to join us also.

Just putting it out there...:-)

by Nathaniel Fick
or maybe I should post the Commonwealth edition which is the cover of the one I will be reading;

I'll definitely be reading One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer with you guys but now I'm also thinking I may bump House to House: An Epic Memoir of War up on the list too!

by David Bellavia

by Nathaniel Fick

to Terri, in 52:
Don't worry, I got you.
All I'm saying is that in the middle of a fire fight you often won't have the chance/time/energy to see things objectively, especially when the enemy is in hiding or uses civilians for cover while he tries to nail you down. I think such a situation is best described by David Bellavia.

David Bellavia

lol...wow, this is such a great thread! I agree with Terri, it's hard to read the authors who treat their adversary as "Cardboard Cutouts". I also think it's partially about the skill of the author in translating a actual event onto paper for everyone to read, not necessarily about what happened in the heat of battle. I see your point Andre about the heat of battle, but there is a way to relate it on paper that feels more real, maybe it's just about the Author's ability as an author, and not so much about the actual event. Because you can read 2 different accounts and get to entirely different feels for the time and place and vibe. Great points!

I am absolutely going to add
by David Bellavia
to my TBR list...right up there at the top.

Hi Kristi, I'm glad that you, Tasha and Terri are enjoying yourselve's here and I'm pretty sure you will really enjoy David Bellavia's account in "House to House", I'll be keen to hear what you think once you have finished reading it.

by David Bellavia

I just ordered

by David Bellavia

Also ordered:

by Mark Bowden

by
Nathaniel Fick

I think this group is going to be bad for me ;)

Hehe! Not bad, so much, as, um, yeah, you were right, we're bad. We'll all help, I am sure, to break your bank balance. :-D

I am lucky that there is a good selection at the library and they have a really quick library exchange program.
But if they don't come through on library exchange with Joker One and Night Stalkers that I mentioned earlier, then I will have to buy them.

by Donovan Campbell
Michael J. Durant

Hi Tasha, I don't think you'll be disappointed with the three books you have just ordered, the first two I know are very good accounts and the third sounds just as good.

by David Bellavia

by Mark Bowden

by Nathaniel Fick

Rick, I was wondering how we go about doing a buddy read in The History Book Club.

Do you get Bentley to set up a thread for One Bullet Away in this Military - Iraq/Afghanistan section?

How does it work? It would be great to have a thread where Kristi, Tasha and myself (and you too if you can fit it in..and Andre who has already read it) could discuss the book.



Nathaniel Fick

Hi Terri,

I will let Bentley answer that question as he is the head moderator for the site, he will most likely send you a message to discuss the options :)

I would be happy to set up the buddy read thread. Which one of you wants to be the lead?

Tell me the date that you want to start the read and I will include a Intro about the book and the start date and end date. How long do you want to take to read the book.

Hmmm. I'm not sure I could do the lead. I am only new and have never done anything like that before. So, I won't put my hand up unless absolutely necessary.
Anyone else keen to put their hand up to lead?

Unless someone changes plans, start date would be 1st of Feb.

I would only need a week to read it, as would most people I think, but on the off chance someone couldn't start exactly on the 1st, then maybe a fortnight? What is the usual time frame you are used to seeing? 2 or 3 weeks?

I'm sort of already booked out with books to read in February with a friend but if no one else can take the lead I can try and move my schedule or read two books at the same time to cover both of my commitments :)

Usually for a buddy read; we put up a month. So since February is a short month - the entire month of February; if you all get done with it sooner; great - but who knows you may pick up folks along the way. I think Terri you should be the lead. I will set up the thread and then you can kick it off; I will put up the first post to get it started. It is not like moderating a book here; it is pretty much like what you are doing now. Just talking with your friends; however if you mention other books and authors; you do have to still add the citations. Let me know quickly and just because you have never done something like this before does not mean you cannot do it or you shouldn't try.

If we can do the book in a week I'll join in and help Terri with the lead, if she likes or I'm about to finish my current book so I can start "One Bullet Away" in a few days time, mark sections out for discussion and start things along on 1st Feb, would that help?

by Nathaniel Fick

Alright. You twisted my arm. I'll do it.
But I am a learner pilot guys, so be gentle with me. :-)

Oh, wow, so you can squeeze it in, Rick? No pressure mate. If you get too bogged down, there's no pressure.

Some guidance as the read leader would be much appreciated if you want to help me.

Just a sec, I have to check my calender to see what day 1st/2nd even is.....
Next Tuesday. Kristi said that she would get her copy on Friday (this Friday).
Option One: I can't see any reason why it can't be pushed back to the next Friday. The 4th of feb.

Does that suit you, Rick?

Or Option Two: We start it on the 1st of Feb, and Rick you start early and prep the buddy read threads.

Either way works for me and I venture Kristi and tasha.
You pick which Option fits in with your schedule the best.

Hi Terri, I'll be more than happy to help if needed but I am pretty sure you'll have no problems at all :)

Okay, Bentley, the start date of 1st of Feb has been settled on.

Start date Tuesday, 1st of Feb.
Read length to Monday, 28th of Feb.

How about you guys start it on a Monday - the 31st.

The threads will be set up and you start as you are able during the week of the February 1st - 4th.

It will be Terri and Rick as leads. Sign up on the intro thread if you are will to try it out. Buddy reads are very informal.

Monday 31st is fine. :-)

Sounds great, thanks Terri for the suggestion and thanks Bentley for setting it up :)

Your thread is set up and ready to go.

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/4...

Also folks, Terri and Aussie Rick make sure to check this thread every day during the reading period because you may get new posters and every poster needs to be responded to. In fact, you have a new one now.

Hi Bentley, I'll do my regular troll through the posts and respond as required.

OK, good for both of you.

Here are a few independent reviews of "One Bullet Away" that may entice others to join the buddy read in February:

Buddy Read for One Bullet Away

by Nathaniel Fick
Reviews:
“A memorable cinematic passage is contained in the movie Full Metal Jacket, wherein a new squad of marine recruits arrives at boot camp and is immediately dressed down, singly and collectively, by their drill sergeant. The episode is so dramatic that one almost forgets that the paramount reason behind the rough treatment afforded to the recruits is to decondition their self-preservative reflexive actions for battle, while simultaneously making them tough enough and hard enough to be still standing at the end of the day. ONE BULLET AWAY: The Making of a Marine Officer, completes the circle, and thensome.

Author Nathaniel Fick is among the best of the best, a former captain in the United States Marine Corps First Recon Battalion. ONE BULLET AWAY is Fick's unflinching account of his recruitment into the Marines, his advancement, and his service on the fronts of Afghanistan and Iraq. He gives the reader an up-close and personal view of what it is like to be a soldier. One element of military training that is often lost upon the layman is the importance of the history of warfare and of soldiering; as Fick notes here, marines learn from the mistakes of those who have gone ahead. Every marine accordingly has an obligation to ensure that the sacrifices of those who have preceded them are not in vain.

Fick's account of his role in modern warfare, which constitutes the balance of the book, is anecdotal at its most interesting, ranging from accounts of bravery, courage, and compassion to the occasional stupidity of commanders for whom the battlefield is more of a concept than reality. One comes away from this memoir with the feeling that, as with most things, it is miraculous when any project proceeds to completion successfully. In ONE BULLET AWAY, however, the stakes are much higher.

Fick elected to forego re-upping with the Marines, an understandable decision considering the events recounted here and their personal aftermath for him. ONE BULLET AWAY is a highly readable, personal memoir that rings and resonates with bravery, clarity and truth.” - Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub (Bookreporter.com)



“When I first grabbed this title, I wasn’t really sure what to make of it. Described as the "making of a Marine officer" I had some doubts whether it would be a self-serving autobiography or something more. Thankfully, this book becomes much more as it follows the career of Nathaniel Fick from his first day of Officer Candidate School in 1998; to his leadership of a heavy weapons platoon and a recon platoon; to his decision to finally leave the Corps after liberating Iraq.

There are three components of his story; Officer Candidate School and other training courses; his deployment to Afghanistan; his deployment to Iraq. All three were equally interesting to digest. Fortunately, the section on training did not dwell on the suffering and needless abuses at the hands of over-zealous instructors a la Full Metal Jacket. He describes many aspects of the pain and confusing routines he had to endure, but he puts things into the perspective of a seasoned Marine officer looking back through time (Q. Why did we have to learn to put our belt buckles on at just the precise angle? A. The attention to detail will keep me from killing my Marines in combat!). Fick survives a host of advanced training programs, and can safely be described as one of the best of the best in the US fighting forces. While still not a combat veteran, Fick in no way resembles the hapless LT Gorman from the movie Aliens.

Now, imagine you are a fresh lieutenant, you’ve got your first command, you are just settling into routine aboard a Marine amphibious ship parked in an Australian port – when 9/11 rains down upon you. The sense of anticipation and stress of being on the very tip of the sword that would strike back is palpable in Fick’s writing. Some chaotic encounters with the Taliban ensue in the bleak desert near Khandahar, Afghanistan. Fick experiences the first sights of death and destruction which accompanies any war — and he sees the gruesome results of heavy laser-guided bombs. He begins to see just how lethal modern war really is. Fick and his men do their jobs but you can begin to see the scars war inflicts upon even the best soldiers.

The sections on the Iraqi deployment are especially timely given the current state of affairs over there and Fick gives us a glimpse at those first critical days after Iraqi liberation as the country spiraled into chaos, looting, and worse. In one snapshot immediately after major combat ended, Fick’s recon platoon is holed up in a palm grove for the night when they witness an amazing display of tracers dancing throughout their field of vision. Iraqis shooting Iraqis. Looters shooting homeowners. Homeowners shooting looters. None of it directed at the Americans. While the war seemed to be over, there was much killing waiting to be done.

Ultimately, we learn that the challenge of a Marine officer is doing his job while keeping his men alive; "Don’t get your Marines killed in combat!" However, as with every army throughout history, there are good leaders and there are bad leaders. As a good leader, Fick is often ordered into situations he knows to be wrong; driving doorless HUMVEES through hostile towns; leaving wounded children to chaos and without hope of rescue; watching as his superiors did insane things "to get in on the action" such as trying to call artillery strikes on his own men! Fick, ever concerned for the safety and well-being of his men, does his duty but often has issues with superiors who seem less than concerned about sending him on missions that were needlessly dangerous or just plain wrong. This leads to some introspection on whether he is cut out for a career in the Corps. His final decision and the reasoning behind it ties the whole book together and helps us assemble the final pieces — not just about the making of a Marine officer but also that of an honorable man.

Great writing and great storytelling. This book is well worth your time.” - Armchair General Magazine



“There are few books by young infantry platoon commanders that provide valuable personal insights into combat leadership and decision-making at that level of command in modern war. Nathan Fick’s One Bullet Away is one of them. The book is a very honest, personal and easy to read story of his life in the United States Marine Corps during the 1998- 2003 period. He comes across as a mature, well-educated and thoughtful young man, who is motivated to join the United States Marine Corps in order to meet personal needs for challenge and adventure and to prove himself as a warrior. Fick was motivated to become a Marine Corps officer (and warrior) while majoring in the classics at Dartmouth College.

One Bullet Away begins by covering his training to become an officer and his subsequent specialist training courses. It then describes his deployments as a weapons platoon commander on operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan during 2001-02, and as a reconnaissance platoon commander in Iraq during the first half of 2003. The title One Bullet Away is a graphic reminder that junior leaders involved in close combat on the battlefield are only one bullet away from the possibilities of death, life-altering wounds or promotion to replace a lost colleague. The descriptive writing clearly indicates that Fick is sensitive, has a sense of perspective and can think deeply about what his experiences mean. His account also demonstrates that he has the necessary confidence, motivation and combination of physical and mental toughness needed by a young man who has to lead others in combat. Being the commander of first a weapons platoon and then a reconnaissance platoon, rather than a rifle platoon, it appears that Lieutenant Fick was somewhat blessed in commanding very experienced non-commissioned officers and highly motivated soldiers. They had generally good morale and the can-do attitude that avoids most of the leadership problems normally confronting young rifle platoon commanders.

It is Fick’s sensitive and thoughtful nature, together with his sense of personal achievement, that eventually leads him to decide to resign from the Marine Corps in 2003, following his tour of duty in Iraq and promotion to captain. Interestingly, the officer who replaces him is killed in action in Iraq on a subsequent tour of duty. In recent times the terms ‘complex warfighting’, ‘threeblock war’ and ‘strategic corporal’, ‘have become trendy concepts to describe the way armies have to operate and fight on contemporary and future battlefields. One Bullet Away takes us past this terminology and into the real world of the ‘strategic subaltern’, dealing with the realities and problems faced daily by platoon commanders during combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. His graphic accounts explore the human aspects of close combat, including being shot at; carrying out security operations; actually fighting ‘the three-block war’ in an urban environment; and commanding a mounted infantry reconnaissance platoon on mobile operations in Iraq.

Fick’s descriptions and observations include his thoughts concerning certain battlefield decisions made by his immediate superiors. He felt they sometimes appeared to have little empathy with the situations actually facing his platoon and relied on rank rather than leadership to impose their decisions. Fick considers such unsatisfactory decisions constrained his ability to effectively plan and command his platoon’s operations. It would be interesting to hear the probably contrasting view from his commanders at the time.

The situations Fick describes, especially concerning real ‘three-block war’, should be of considerable interest to military leaders at all levels in all modern armies. In Iraq, for example, Fick commanded his platoon on dispersed, mobile, operations often under tight time constraints. Radio communications were extensively used to direct his operations and by him to attempt to clarify his orders. At times, having drawn the attention of his superiors to the situations his platoon confronted, Fick believed he was faced as a commander with making on-the-spot decisions that risked contradicting overall US national aims and ethics. An obvious question arises. Fick comes across as a highly educated, well-trained, motivated, thoughtful and competent ‘strategic subaltern’. If he had problems getting the message across to his immediate superiors during complex warfighting on a net-worked battlefield, how would our military systems and our ‘strategic corporals’ cope in similar situations in the future? We should avoid the easy temptation of believing that our situation would be different just because we are Australians.

While this is a book that can be read by all who have a deep interest in the complexities of modern land warfare, its real worth lies in its value for junior officers. One Bullet Away should be read by those who are or aspire to be junior combat arms officers. It should also be read by those who train and lead them. To my knowledge the closest Australian equivalents to this book are Pat Beale’s Operation Orders, covering his platoon and battalion command experiences during Confrontation in Borneo and Vietnam respectively, and Gary McKay’s In Good Company about his time as a platoon commander in the latter war.” - Reviewed by Ian Kuring (Australian Military Historian)

Thanks for those reviews, Aussie Rick.

Another new book due out soon on 'Operation Enduring Freedom':


by Tim Ripley

I already posted these on a similar thread, but these are the best books I know of about the war in 2001 (fought not by large numbers of ground troops but small teams of CIA operatives and special operations forces supported by indigineous militia and air power).

by Charles H. Briscoe(no picture)

by Donald P. Wright(no picture)

by U.S. U.S. Senate(no picture)

by Center of Military History(no picture)

by Sean M. Maloney(no picture)

by

by

by Benjamin S. Lambeth(no photo)

by Pete Blaber(no photo)

by Gary Berntsen(no photo)

by Dalton Fury(no photo)

by Doug Stanton ( no photo)

by Gary Schroen(no photo)

by Michael Smith(no photo)

by Ahmed Rashid

by Douglas J. Feith(no photo)

by Richard A. Clarke

by Tommy Franks(no photo)

by Seth G. Jones(no photo)

by

by Billy Waugh(no photo)

by Jennifer E. Sims (no photo)

by

Thank you again but remember three parts to a citation: you did a great job with the ones that did not have photos; on the ones that do have photos you have to go in twice and add the link which is the author's name in linkable text like you added in the no photo ones.

But a great effort.

by Donald Rumsfeld

by Eric Blehm

by George Tenet

by Peter L. Bergen


Jerome, you have added some terrific books and you have done a great job on the ones where the author's photo is missing. Perfect.

On the citations of the ones with photos you have to add three parts: book cover, author's photo and then go in again and add the author's link which is the author's name in linkable text like you have in the no photo ones. You even have the word by added perfectly. Great effort and progress.

102 Days of War: How Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda & the Taliban Survived 2001

by Yaniv Barzilai (no photo)

Synopsis:

Almost ten years before Osama bin Laden was killed, the United States had the opportunity of a decade to decapitate and decimate the organization that so ruthlessly enacted the deadliest foreign attack on American soil in the nation's history. During the battles that raged across Afghanistan in the 102 days after 9/11, CIA officers and special operations forces allied with local Afghan resistance forces to topple the Taliban and go after al Qaeda. Yet bin Laden escaped while al Qaeda and the Taliban endured the initial onslaught.

In 102 Days of War, Yaniv Barzilai takes the reader from meetings in the White House to the most sensitive operations in Afghanistan to explain how America's enemies survived 2001. Using a broad array of sources, including interviews with U.S. officials at every level of the war, Barzilai concludes that the failure to destroy al Qaeda and kill bin Laden when he was cornered in the mountains of Tora Bora in Eastern Afghanistan was not only the result of a failure in tactics but, more importantly, the product of failures in policy and leadership.

Barzilai also explores critical moments in the U.S.-Pakistani relationship as Pakistan pivoted toward the United States but hedged its bets. As Operation Enduring Freedom draws to an inconclusive end, 102 Days of War provides a new level of understanding about the successes and failures at the start of America's longest war.

The Afghan War: Operation Enduring Freedom 2001-2014

by Anthony Tucker-Jones (no photo)

Synopsis:

Drugs, war and terrorism were the unholy trinity that brought the US-led air campaign crashing down on the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in October 2001 in Operation Enduring Freedom, and this photographic history is a graphic introduction to it.

The immediate aim was to eject the Taliban from power, and to capture or kill the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his supporters whom the Taliban were sheltering. The decade-long war that followed, first against the Taliban regime, then against Taliban insurgents, is one of the most controversial conflicts of recent times.

It has also seen the deployment of thousands of coalition troops and a huge range of modern military equipment, and these are the main focus of Anthony Tucker-Jones’s account. He covers the entire course of the conflict, from the initial air war, the battle for the White Mountains and Tora Bora, the defeat of the Taliban, the escape of bin Laden and the grim protracted security campaign that followed – an asymmetrical war of guerrilla tactics and improvised explosive devices that is going on today.

Operation Enduring Freedom from first to last by a man who was there.,

Iraq Full Circle

by Darron L. Wright (no photo)

Synopsis:

Col. Wright served three tours of duty in the Iraq War, commanding the last active combat brigade to withdraw from Operation Iraqi Freedom. His book personalizes the broader operational conflict we’ve all heard so much about, giving us a previously unknown insider command perspective that will fundamentally change how our nation thinks of the war.

For Col Wright, the Iraq war was a good war fought well. In his new book, Iraq Full Circle, he offers a first-hand assessment of the US Army’s eight year war in Iraq.

As battalion operations officer for an infantry battalion from 2003-2004 operating in the dangerous and volatile Sunni Triangle, followed by a tour of duty as a Brigade Executive Officer from 2005-2006 in Baghdad, Wright witnessed some of the harshest fighting seen during the war. He saw the evolution from ‘shock and awe’ to the ‘clear-hold-build’ strategy during the height of sectarian violence and was on-hand for the transition to COIN followed by the handover of security operations to the Iraqi Security Forces. In August 2010, Wright, as a deputy brigade commander, was among the last combat soldiers to leave Iraq as part of President Obama’s draw-down of troops.

While Wright does not hesitate to criticize the political and military leadership that failed to foresee the insurgency, or the errors in judgment that led to the dismantling of the Iraqi Army in 2003, his overall assessment of the war is that the US Army achieved what it was asked to do by two Presidents. Calling upon his experience—and the examination of thousands of after action reports, combat operations orders, and over 100 interviews—Wright pieces together a compelling and cohesive narrative of the war. Readers will be surprised to learn:

· Wright had a strong hunch beginning in September 2001 that he would be deployed to Iraq; he and his fellow Army leaders began preparing for an invasion soon after the 9/11 attacks.

· Army leaders were already implementing much of the COIN doctrine in 2004 and 2005, well before the official change in doctrine and the publication of the new field manual on COIN.

· For Wright and most other leaders at his level, President Bush’s troop “surge” in November 2006 was completely uncontroversial and utterly inevitable. They knew that clear-hold-build was the right strategy and would work but that they did not have enough troops to make it stick.

In his closing chapters, Wright discusses the growth and evolution of the Iraqi Security Forces, from an abjectly corrupt and militarily useless cohort in 2004 to a well-trained and stable entity capable of securing Iraq and providing for (mostly) safe and open national elections in 2010. He finishes his narrative with his thoughts on the future of Iraq, understanding that sectarian divisions persist, but that the Iraqi Security Forces have been well-trained by the US Army to secure Iraq’s future.

I've almost finished by Doug Stanton.

The movie is coming out in January and I should finish a week before its release in theaters.

That looks like a good read - here is an example of the book standard - you came mighty close.

by Doug Stanton

Thanks,

I've finished "The Horse Soldiers" and it was a good book. The story is somewhat hard to follow as it bounces back and forth between two teams constantly until nearing the end when you're following a third group that was involved in the battle at Mazar. After reading this, I could see how difficult it would be to tell the entire story on film. So, it looks like they only concentrated on the group fighting with General Dostum. I'll be seeing the film this weekend. I've heard it's pretty good.

I loved Doug Stanton's prior book about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. This story was much easier to follow, because it told was contained to one ship and its sailors. Unfortunately, there has yet to be a really good movie made about it. Two attempts have been made and while the first was good, it was only a TV-Movie. The second was Nicholas Cage-led mediocre film relegated to Direct-to-DVD.

by Doug Stanton
by Doug Stanton

Let me know about the film - I was thinking of seeing it myself and good job on the standard too and great adds.

Just finished Countdown bin Laden: The Untold Story of the 247-Day Hunt to Bring the Mastermind of 9/11 to Justice by Chris Wallace