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**Debbie** · 19 Feb 07,, 20:19

Quite the reading list - very good. I sent you a PM on a book that you should avoid and the reasons why.

**Bigfella** · 19 Feb 07,, 21:10

Shek,

Where do you get the time fella? Seriously!

Looks like a pretty impressive list. I'm familiar with most of those texts either by personal experience or reputation, but there might be one or two more I can suggest that help to illuminate some or other aspect of the war. I'll get back to you soon.

**Shek** · 19 Feb 07,, 21:20

Originally posted by Bigfella View Post

Shek,

Where do you get the time fella? Seriously!

Looks like a pretty impressive list. I'm familiar with most of those texts either by personal experience or reputation, but there might be one or two more I can suggest that help to illuminate some or other aspect of the war. I'll get back to you soon.

Remember, the majority are wish list items and not in the read category! As I stated, my eyes are bigger than my schedule, and with books like Sheehan's and Karnow's averaging 800 pages, it's certainly slow going.

It may not be the most effective for retention, but between 20 pages per ice skating lesson and jazz/tap lesson, and reading for a bit before bedtime, I'm able to cruise through books like those in a few weeks. What I really need to be doing is spending the extra time to write up reviews for them so if I ever go back for a PhD, I don't have to recover ground that I've already covered before.

**cato** · 19 Feb 07,, 23:09

Shek,
That is a formidable list, indeed! Makes me want to hop off the train of life at the next station, grab a half rack, hit the beach and read till I can't see straight! There are some fantastic personal narratives out there. Off the top of my head, the two best are The Sorrow of War, by Boa Ninh, and In Pharoah's Army, by Tobias Wolf. Ninh was a NVA infantryman, and Wolf was a young SF sergeant advising an ARVN artillary battallion. Certainly not academic history, but valuable reads nonetheless.
Thanks,
Cato

**Shek** · 19 Feb 07,, 23:16

Originally posted by cato View Post

Shek,
That is a formidable list, indeed! Makes me want to hop off the train of life at the next station, grab a half rack, hit the beach and read till I can't see straight! There are some fantastic personal narratives out there. Off the top of my head, the two best are The Sorrow of War, by Boa Ninh, and In Pharoah's Army, by Tobias Wolf. Ninh was a NVA infantryman, and Wolf was a young SF sergeant advising an ARVN artillary battallion. Certainly not academic history, but valuable reads nonetheless.
Thanks,
Cato

Those were additions to my wish list based on a post of yours from strategypage.com ;)

The media and Vietnam titles are prior additions based on recommendations from bigfella.

I find myself looking forward to retirement and having time to dedicate to reading. :) Too bad that that's many decades off

**Guest** · 11 Mar 07,, 19:32

Shek,

Is your master's degree is in military history related field, and is your PhD is such a field??

**glyn** · 11 Mar 07,, 20:54

Originally posted by Shek View Post

I find myself looking forward to retirement and having time to dedicate to reading. :)
Too bad that that's many decades off

You may laugh about it now, but the time will come one day:)

**Shek** · 19 Mar 07,, 19:56

Originally posted by glyn View Post

You may laugh about it now, but the time will come one day:)

I can't wait until the toughest decision for the day is whether to play golf or read :)

**Shek** · 19 Mar 07,, 20:00

Originally posted by xerxes View Post

Shek,

Is your master's degree is in military history related field, and is your PhD is such a field??

Xerxes,

I only have a MA, and it is in "Strategic Studies," which I would best describe as being a blend between military history and the policy world. I hope to pursue a PhD one day, but time will be my biggest constraint in that endeavor, as writing the dissertation is a full time job in and of itself.

The biggest thing I learned in graduate school is that I actually know very little, and it's truly amazing to see the breadth and depth of thought/knowledge that some people possess.

**Guest** · 20 Mar 07,, 01:24

Originally posted by Shek View Post

Xerxes,

I only have a MA, and it is in "Strategic Studies," which I would best describe as being a blend between military history and the policy world. I hope to pursue a PhD one day, but time will be my biggest constraint in that endeavor, as writing the dissertation is a full time job in and of itself.

The biggest thing I learned in graduate school is that I actually know very little, and it's truly amazing to see the breadth and depth of thought/knowledge that some people possess.

If I ever do a phD it will be also in political science/history, or something related to that. Research is a lot of fun, espacially if you like what you are doing. But graduate degrees as great they are in terms depth of knowledge that they will give you, IMO they are quite useless. I have a master degree specialized in computational fluid dynamics for viscous flow. and I have yet to get employed. IMO graduate degrees are only good as hobby and as way to push oneself boundaries even further for one's satisfaction.

**Bigfella** · 20 Mar 07,, 09:22

Originally posted by xerxes View Post

If I ever do a phD it will be also in political science/history, or something related to that. Research is a lot of fun, espacially if you like what you are doing. But graduate degrees as great they are in terms depth of knowledge that they will give you, IMO they are quite useless. I have a master degree specialized in computational fluid dynamics for viscous flow. and I have yet to get employed. IMO graduate degrees are only good as hobby and as way to push oneself boundaries even further for one's satisfaction.

Xerxes,

As someone who is currently undertaking a PhD in history I would offer you some advice.....if I were not gibbering unintelligibly in a corner & talking to Elvin the sock puppet. imnotcrazyimnotcrazyimnotcrazyomnotcrazy.

But seriously folks, a PhD is a magical learning experience and I have loved much (if not all) of the time I have spent so far. It does, however, take over your life. It is tough enough to do while holding down a job. I couldn't imagine what it would be like if I had a wife & kids.

**T_igger_cs_30** · 20 Mar 07,, 10:33

Originally posted by Shek View Post

I can't wait until the toughest decision for the day is whether to play golf or read :)

Oh thats an easy decision......when its light Golf............when its dark reading

**dave lukins** · 20 Mar 07,, 12:51

Originally posted by T_igger_cs_30 View Post

Oh thats an easy decision......when its light Golf............when its dark reading

So ,that's where I've been going wrong...Light,play...Dark,read..think I've got it now!!!

**glyn** · 20 Mar 07,, 15:04

One book that gave me an insight into the Vietnam war was 'Chickenhawk' by ? Mason. It rang true from first to last page. The author was a helicopter pilot who flew the early model Bell UH-1 Iroquois 'Hueys' there.
The US lost 2,711 Hueys in VN, with the vast majority (2,591) being from the US Army.
(AH-1 Huey Cobras are not included in the above figures. 292 of these were lost also).
Another book that impressed me was Thud Ridge by Col Jack Broughton. He flew the USAFs Republic F-105 Thunderchief . Designed for WW3s expected sophisticated environment, they were used as long-range, (mostly) low level bomb trucks and 397 didn't come back. The scale of that war was far greater than most people realise. All told, the aviation losses total no less than 8,588 machines.

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