By Col. William D. Bushnell, USMC (Ret)

From iconic land and sea battles across the centuries to new perspectives on Vietnam, the Civil War, and World War I, these five vintage works make perfect fall reads.

You can purchase the books at the links in the titles below – note that some links may point to updated versions/reprints, or to hard-to-find (and expensive) originals. No selections have audiobooks available. MOAA is an Amazon Associate and earns money from qualifying purchases, with the revenue supporting MOAA Charities. 

Visit MOAA’s Professional Reading List for more great reads.

War Without Heroes

By David Douglas Duncan. Harper & Row, 1970.

Acclaimed combat photographer Duncan (1916-2018) has captured “the comradeship that binds men together when they are fighting a common peril,” with stunning black-and-white photos of Marines in combat in Vietnam – Cua Viet, Con Thien, and Khe Sanh.

Duncan’s photos and narrative masterfully portray men under fire.

The Great Battles of Antiquity: A Strategic and Tactical Guide to Great Battles That Shaped the Development of War

By Richard A. Gabriel and Donald W. Boose Jr. Greenwood, 1994.

Historians Gabriel and Boose examine 31 wars, campaigns, and battles from Megiddo in 1479 B.C. to Constantinople in 1453 A.D., discussing armies, organization, logistics, leadership, military strengths and weaknesses, and military victories and defeats.

This excellent reference work includes an expansive bibliography.

The Great War in Africa, 1914-1918

By Byron Farwell. W.W. Norton & Company, 1986.  

Historian Farwell (1921-1999) covers World War I in Africa, especially military operations against Germany’s African colonies – Togo, Cameroon, and the campaign in East Africa.

Battles, disease, logistics, and uneven leadership reveal just how harsh battlefield conditions really were in a theater often ignored. See also Guerilla by Edwin P. Hoyt.

The Military Legacy of the Civil War: The European Inheritance

By Jay Luvaas. University Press of Kansas, 1988.  

Military historian Luvaas (1927-2009) focuses on the American Civil War through the eyes and writings of European military observers (British, French, German), what they saw, wrote, thought, and concluded from their unique positions with both armies.

Luvaas also discusses what they learned, how European armies were influenced, and why some “lessons learned” weren’t “learned” at all.

Conquest of the Seas: The History and Adventure of Sea and Ships

By Frank C. Bowen. Robert M. McBride & Company, 1940.  

Bowen’s (1894-1957) comprehensive history covers the sea and seafaring from early Greek mariners to 20th-century maritime development. Subjects include European naval wars, ships and seamen, maritime trade, exploration, piracy and smuggling (“sea lawbreakers”), ship construction, steel and steam innovations, and key sea battles.

Very detailed. Hard to find, but worth the effort.

Col. William D. Bushnell, USMC (Ret), is a regular contributor to MOAA.org and Military Officer magazine.