Veterans Day: 10 Classic American War Books (POLL)

In honor of Veterans Day, we've put together a list of 10 great American war books. These range from the timeless classics to the modern, from those that you probably read in high school to those that are more famous for being movies. Which are your favorites? Vote or let us know in the comments section below.

Catch-22, Joseph Heller

1961, on World War II

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Comments

[Mahi Joe]

Just finished reading "Reporting Vietnam" Vol. 1 & 2. Great journalism from the Vietnam War by American journalists. I would also like to suggest, if not already suggested, "The Cat from Hue" which is another great work during the Vietnam War by a journalist who actually was there at the time to report.

[gulopartisan]

A classic only soldiers seem to know about: Willi Heinrich's Cross of Iron. He also wrote an extraordinary novel about the siege of Stalingrad.

And anyone reading about the Civil War should look for Ambrose Bierce's short stories, often collected as In Midst of Life. The sentiments can get a bit repetitious (they were not meant to be read together), but they are to Stephen Crane as a muddy river is to teenage Platonism.

[ICorpsDoc]

I have read all but one. And I cannot quibble with any of them inc the one I did not read.

But gald to see Dispatches on the list.

While I love The Things They Carried it is Dispatches above all VN books for me.

I must have read it 8 or 9 times. Haunting.

[cavallo]

"Born on the Fourth of July," by Ron Kovic

"Johnny Got His Gun," by Dalton Trumbo

"365 Days," Ronald Glasser, M.D.

[LincolnBrigader]

Trumbo, as you may already know, was blacklisted by the HUAC committee, and I think they jailed him, too. They said it was for "contempt of Congress." Trumbo later said the charge was justified--because he indeed held that Congress in contempt. Before all that, Trumbo wrote the screenplay for one of my favorite war movies: Sahara (1943, I think), starring Humphrey Bogart, Joel McCrea and a young Lloyd Bridges. Later, Trumbo was able to come out of the blacklist and actually be credited as screenwriter for another classic: Spartacus, starring Kirk Douglas, Peter Ustinov and Charles Laughton.

[Citizen54]

Just watched Sahara the other night. Excellent movie. And as you might expect, a bit on the progressive side (for example, the clear disdain for the Nazi soldier who insults the African (Libyan?) soldier.

[Mike169]

If I could suggest a few out of World War I the end of which was today - 91 years ago.

Henri Barbusse "Le Feu"
Robert Graves "Good-bye to All That"
Edmund Blunden "Overtones of War"
Ernst Junger "Storm of Steel"
Erich Marie Remarque "All Quiet on the Western Front"
Siggfried Sassoon - Sherston Trilogy