VANITY: Book Recommendations Wanted

[GodfearingTexan]

Ladies and Gentelmen, I'm writing in hopes that some of you could make a recommendation on books that deal with courage and adventure. Nonfiction books only please. I'm stationed out in the middle of nowhere and reading is my only real R&R. I'm especially interested in nautical adventures or adventures relating to the exploration of Africa or the Middle East. I've searched amazon for hours trying to find that sort of a book, but I have yet to find something worthwhile.

By the way, I recently read In the Heart of the Sea, the story about the whaleship Essex, and it was awesome. I highly recommend it.

Thank you.

[anonsquared]

Whoops - that last bit should be Who Lives, Who Dies and Why

[anonsquared]

Here’s the Amazon link for Deep Survival.
http://www.amazon.com/Deep-Survival-Who-Lives-Dies/dp/0393326152/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195449668&sr=1-1

[lastchance]

Rounding the Horn: Being the Story of Williwaws and Windjammers, Drake, Darwin, Murdered Missionaries and Naked Natives, a Deck’s Eye View of Cape Horn (Hardcover)
by Dallas Murphy

Down the Great Unknown: John Wesley Powell’s 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon
by Edward Dolnick

You would probably like any book by Naval Historian, Samuel Eliot Morison.

Grey Seas Under by Farley Mowat. His book Never Cry Wolf is also very good and very funny.

[Intolerant in NJ]

I recommend Michael Oren’s recent “Power, Faith and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present” - deals with our struggles with the pirates along the Barbary coast during the Revolutionary period, attempts of early explorers and missionaries to “civilize” the region, the Armenian massacres, and on and on - reads a lot like a novel with lots of personal stories along with analyses of the political considerations of those involved - entertaining and informative reading.....

[anonsquared]

Richard Halliburton - His Story of His Life’s Adventure
http://www.amazon.com/RICHARD-HALLIBURTON-ADVENTURE-LETTERS-MOTHER/dp/B000FEM5RM/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195450105&sr=1-6

All the Amazon Halliburton links:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/104-9093522-1312753?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Richard+Halliburton&x=0&y=0

[Huntress]

Anything by:

1. William Manchester, especially “The Arms of Krupp.”

2. Robert Massie, especially “Dreadnought,” which is about the Anglo-German naval arms race that lead up to World War I.

3. Jon Krakauer.

AND

Any biographies you can find about Admiral Sir John “Jackie” Fisher, a fascinating man who modernized the British Navy.

[goodnesswins]

bump for later

[Eagles6]

“With the Old Breed” by Eugene Sledge.

[texas booster]

http://www.amazon.com/Shackletons-Journey-Frank-Arthur-Worsley/dp/0393318648

Story by the captain of one of the Shackleton Antarctic journeys that landed in near disaster. Their main ships was crushed in polar ice and the group lasted over two years living off the land in the Antarctic.

Beyond incredible, its a great survival story that very few in any age could ever contemplate, much less survive with no loss of life.

[Grimmy]

http://www.usna.edu/Library/Marineread.html
USMC reading list. Just in case you don’t already have to read from it for job related purposes.

[nycgal]

“Into the Wild” is his latest. I haven’t read it but it’s been made into a movie that is in theaters now.

[VOA]

Aviation adventures, a stay at The Hanoi Hilton, and a lawsuit
against the US gov. for try to sneak out of promises to retired military
personnel. It’s all there in the book linked below:

American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day
by Robert Coram
http://www.amazon.com/American-Patriot-Life-Wars-Colonel/dp/0316758477/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195451245&sr=8-1

[Vicki]

My husband loved the mini-series about Captain Horatio Hornblower and they were based on books. I saw some of the series and it was really good.

[mojito]

The greatest true adventure story ever written is a first-hand account of the overthrow of the Aztec empire by Cortez: The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Diaz del Castillo.

The second greatest is Xenophon’s Anabasis or, The Persian Expedition.

Both are available from Penguin Classics on Amazon.

[donna]

If you’re in a pinch:

Classic books online - free

http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/

http://www.classicreader.com/alltitle.htm

[SShultz460]

Lone Survivor

The Forgotten Soldier

Don’t Tread on me: 400 years of American Military History

Do a combo. America Alone by Steyn and Londonistan by Phillips

Another combo: Crisis of Islam and What Went Wrong? by Bernard Lewis

[Stonewall Jackson]

If you are looking for some great books about adventure and history, try these books by Theodore Roosevelt.

Hunting the Grisly and Other Sketches

Naval War of 1812

African Game Trails

Hunting Trips of a Ranchman and the Wilderness Hunter

Rough Riders

America and the World War

Fear God and Take Your Own Part

Great Avdenture: Present-Day Studies in American Nationalism

Hero Tales from American History

Through the Brazilian Wilderness

True Americanism

The Strenuous Life

The Winning of the West (Four Volumes)

[denydenydeny]

Bing West's book about the battle of Fallujah, No True Glory, is very good. David Zacchino's Thunder Run, about the taking of Baghdad, is thrilling and gripping. David Hackworth's Steel My Soldiers' Hearts, about the Mekong Delta campaign in Vietnam, is excellent.

[RightOnline]

“23 Minutes in Hell” by Bill Wiese. Most profound.....and scariest, frankly.......book I have ever read.

http://www.strangdirect.com/xcart/product.php?productid=17366

[lawnguy]

Patrick O’Brian who wrote all the Aubrey/Maturin Series

I would also recommend this series. Beautifully written and historically right on target.

I also recommend the Flashman novels. Fun to read and also very close attention to detail.

I loved 1776 by David McCullough. Impossible to read it and not pray to God and thank Him for sending us those fine people at that time. I couldn't put it down.