The Second World War by Antony Beevor

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

Six years starting in 1939-1945, historian tells of causes, operation and violence. My only conclusion to this book is:  War is Hell.

Audio:  37 hours

Print:  880 pages

Sniper’s Honor by Stephen Hunter

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

She was a sniper in World War 2 on the side of the Russians. She raised the fury of the two powerful leaders. Half the book tells her story and half tells about Bob Lee Swagger who seventy years later is hired to find out how and why she just disappeared.  At the end he found out she escaped to a country down under and lived out her life in peace.  414 pages.

The War Below: The Story of Three Submarines That Battled Japan by James Scott

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

This book tells of the war operation of three American submarines in the second world war. All about hunting Japanese merchant ships that moved war materials to Japan. Planning and attacking these ships and surviving Japanese escort and destroyer depth charges dropped on them. 324 pages.

Drift by Rachel Maddow

If you watch the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC, you know that she has a penchant for sharp-witted humor.  In Drift, Maddow applies her skills for in-depth research to the story of the growth of presidential power and the U.S. military from the end of WWII to current day.  Her main premise is that over time, Congress and our presidents have allowed a drift from strong Congressional oversight of the use of our military forces, to our current state where we are perpetually at war, and this condition seems normal.  She describes very clearly but with a good dose of her sometimes sarcastic wit how successive presidents have skirted Congressional review of use of the military, the outsourcing of support of the military mission and what she sees as the detrimental effects of an overly large military infrastructure.  The text reads like an expanded script from one of her shows; she tries to take the reader into the scene of each of the decisions on which she bases her argument.   Overall, a thought provoking discourse on the past 60 years of American history.  She concludes with a list of eight ways in which we can bring use of the military back under greater restraint. 252 pages