Holy Bible- I wen to a private school for middle school and having someone explain the back story or explaining the parable and why helped.

With the old breed-Eugene Sledge

Night-Eli Weisle

The Day After Roswell.

Poli Viejo

Like a couple of others, I’m struggling a bit with the word “indispensable,” but I’m about 2/3 through a book that I planned to review for the Forum later. This seems like a good time.

The book is a new release in Military History by Hampton Sides:
“On Desperate Ground;
The Marines at the Reservoir”

For a history buff, I knew surprisingly little about the Korean War, especially considering that my father-in-law was a U.S. Army Korea vet.

This is the story of vainglorious leadership in the form of Douglas McArthur (who “never spent a single night on Korean soil” during the War), and reckless leadership by his Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. “Ned” Almond.

I learned about (then) Maj. Gen. Oliver Prince Smith, commander of the First Marine Division. The author calls Smith “one of the great underrated generals in American history.”

The focus is on the First Marines and their battles in the vicinity of Chosin Reservoir. As well as Gen. Smith’s brilliant extrication of his Marines and U.S. Army soldiers from Chosin. Smith’s famous quote: Retreat, Hell! We’re attacking in a different direction!

Incredible story. Highly recommended

Already been mentioned twice, and it meets the test of indispensable because we must never forget those who fought, suffered and died to keep the country free.

There are many books from which to choose, but you couldn't go wrong with The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors

For starters:

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, Susan Cain. Information for everyone.

Why the West Has Won (aka Carnage and Culture), Victor Davis Hanson. Why (and how) the West and the Western way of war conquered the world.

The Islam in Islamic Terrorism, Ibn Warraq

The War on Cops, Heather Mac Donald

Common Sense and others, Thomas Paine

Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now, Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Economics in One Lesson, Henry Hazlitt

Black April, George J. Veith. The betrayal and fall of South Vietnam.

Reclaiming History, Vincent Bugliosi. The JFK murder.

Ordinary Men, Christopher R. Browning. Ordinary German men turned murderers by the Nazi system.

The Soviet Tragedy: A History of Socialism in Russia, 1917-1991, Martin Malia

Alone in the Wilderness.

Just ordered two from this list.

Indespensable is a pretty heavy word. My suggestion might not fit, bit if great reading, non-fiction military navy history is allowed, this goes on the list -

Edward Ellsberg -

The Far Shore -about the buildup to D Day.
Under the Red Sea Sun - Eritrea during WW2, salvaging a port destroyed by the Italians before surrendering it.

Ellsberg was a US Navy Officer, graduate of the class of 1914 USNA. Focus was marine salvage, lots of hard hat diving. Books are his first hand experience. He also wrote a few fiction books, same subject area. Also did a biography on John Paul Jones which was excellent.

The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason. The grandfather of all personal finance books.

The biography of Corrie Ten Boom.

She was a death camp survivor. I think the name of the book is "The Hiding Place", but I might be mistaken.

In the same vein as this is "Coming Out Of The Ice"
American son of Russian immigrants. Father works for Ford during WW2 I think. Ford pays them to go back to Russia to help set up Ford factories in Russia for the war effort.
Family gets caught up in Stalin's purges and son is sent to Siberia. He eventually escapes.
Going off memory from 20 years ago.

quote:

Originally posted by ibexsig:
The Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. The original is three large volumes and I highly recommend it.

Anybody who reads the whole trilogy and can still defend communism/socialism/Marxism has a heart of stone.

Plus, you will gain a great understanding of the unbelievable suffering the Russian people have suffered over the past 100 years.

One of the books that I have carried everywhere both stateside and overseas, and have read numerous times is:

One Tough Marine: The Autobiography of First Sergeant Donald N. Hamblen, USMC.

Book by Bruce H. Major Norton and Donald N. Hamblen

A great book on perseverance and overcoming great odds. After a parachute accident where he got tangled up in high voltage power lines and his leg had to be amputated five inches below the knees he fought to remain in the Marines. Within 11 months, he passed all of the arduous physical tests and was going to the field, parachuting, and scuba diving with First Force Recon Company.

Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon

Back in the mid 90s I was assigned to work a homicide case with a detective in our department (they needed a Spanish speaking officer for the case). While working the case, the detective told me about this book - he said "It's probably the best book written about working murder cases."

I read it - fantastic. The book led to two tv series Homicide - Life on the Streets and the Wire.

With The Old Breed by Eugene Sledge.

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William Shirer.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason. The grandfather of all personal finance books.

Phenomenal book and one I definitely consider indispensable. This book changed my life.

Another book that really impacted me was Viktor Frankl's 'Man's Search for Meaning'. Frankl was a Jewish neurologist and psychiatrist who was sent to concentration camps by the Nazis. He wrote 'Man's Search for Meaning' about his experience in Auschwitz.

In the 20th Century Robert Hutchins and Mortimer Adler were associated with the Great Books project, which attempted to identify and republish the most important--and still relevant--books that contributed substantially to the development of Western Civilization.

The Great Books

As a fan of American history, I consider the following to be indispensable:
1. The Federalist Papers
2. De Tocqueville's Democracy in America
3. Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations (published in 1776 and had a huge influence on America)
4. Civil War History: my personal favorite is Bruce Catton's trilogy: Mr. Lincoln's Army, Glory Road, and A Stillness at Appomattox.
5. Biographies of important Americans, of which I recently have been fond of Chernow's biographies of Washington, Hamilton, and Grant.

quote:

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William Shirer.

And "Collapse of the Third Republic" is also a good one to go with it. It paints a good picture of how the events that led to WWI precipitated The Great War and sowed seeds that made WWII happen.

The Longest Day-Cornelius Ryan
A Bridge Too Far -Cornelius Ryan
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Profiles In Courage-John F. Kennedy
Various Lincoln biographies
The Mind of Adolph Hitler-Walter Langer
American Ceasar Douglas MacArthur-Manchester
The Onion Field-Joseph Wambaugh
Officer Down Code 3-Pierce Brooks
Medicolegal Investigation of Death- Spitz and Fisher

Thank you for the excellent replies. Lots to consider. Yes indispensable is a very high bar. I thought it would be an interesting exercise.

As expected, the forum did not disappoint.

The Story of Civilization, by Will and Ariel Durant

Chickenhawk by Robert Mason. The gold standard of Vietnam helicopter pilot stories.