101 War Books

There have been wars since pre-historic ages. The history of mankind is the history of wars. All attempts to abolish it have failed so far Eternal peace has so far remained a dream of the philosopher and the idealist. The universality and the permanence of war have led many to justify it. While some consider war as a necessary, others condemn it as unmixed evil. Let us here examine both these points of view and form our own conclusion.

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There are people who point out that war is necessary because it is the law of nature. It is inherent in the scheme of things. They quote Darwin who has shown that there is a constant struggle for survival in all nature, both animate and intimate. In this struggle for existence only the fittest service and the weak and the infirm go the wall. Thus, war is necessary for the progress of mankind. Without it there can be no development of humanity, or the human civilization. It is war that brings out manly qualities. Heroism and self-sacrifice are all developed through war.

Besides this, war is necessary to check the rapid growth of population. As Malthus has proved, population ever tends to outstrip the production of food. War takes off the surplus population and so helps in maintaining the balance between population and food supply.

War is also useful from the point of view of national unity. It is the fear of war that compels the people to stand solidly united against the common enemy. This was clearly proved when China invaded India in October 1962. Many inventions are made during war-time that proves very useful even in times of peace. For example, penicillin, invented during the Second World War, has been serving humanity ever since. Sometimes, wars are necessary for national and individual honor. Such just wars undertaken for just causes are always necessary, and not to fight them shall be cowardice. For Example, If China or Pakistan attacks India again, it would be the duty of every Indian to take up arms to defend the honor of his motherland.

But the pacifists have their reasons for considering war an evil, an unmixed evil. War causes wide-spread destruction of life and property. Thousands are maimed and wounded. Thousands are made widows and orphans. The horrors of war are so many and of such magnitude than they cannot be described in words. Not only is there mass killing and destruction of crops and property, but there is also a deliberate spread of falsehood and hatred. People become brutal and selfish, crimes increase and morality suffers.

Whatever may be the arguments in favor conventional wars, there can be no doubt a modern war fought with atomic weapons cannot but be an unmixed evil. Those who justify war, point out that it is good for the development of the nation and the individual. But in the Third World War, if fought with atomic weapons, it is the certain that all human civilization would cease to exist. As Einstein, the world famous scientists, has pointed out, a Fourth World War would be fought with sticks and stones. An atomic war is the enemy of all humanity and human civilization. It is an unmixed and not a necessary evil. No good can possibly come out of it.

List of 101 must read Books on War

1. The World Wars by Paul Dowswell, Ruth Brocklehurst, Henry Brook, and Jane Chisholm
2. The First World War by John Keegan
3. The Second World War by John Keegan
4. The Ancient World at War by Philip de Souza
5. War: The Definitive Visual Guide by DK Publishing
6. The 33 Strategies of War (Joost Elffers Books) by Robert Greene
7. WAR by Sebastian Junger
8. THE ART OF WAR by Sun Tzu
9. The Forever War (Vintage) by Dexter Filkins
10. The Art Of War by Sun Tzu
11. The War: An Intimate History 1941-1945 by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns
12. A Patriots History of the United States: From Columbuss Great Discovery to the War on Terror by Larry Schweikart, Michael Allen, and Patrick Girard Lawlo
13. Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes and Ray Porter
14. The Art Of War by Sun Tzu and Lionel Giles
15. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
16. Whirlwind: The Air War Against Japan, 1942-1945 by Barrett Tillman and Mel Foster
17. Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific by R. V. Burgin, William Marvel, and Sean Runnette
18. A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon (Vintage) by Neil Sheehan
19. The War of the Worlds by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
20. The Third Reich at War by Richard J. Evans
21. Love and War: Finding the Marriage You’ve Dreamed Of by John Eldredge and Stasi Eldredge
22. War Beneath the Waves: A True Story of Courage and Leadership Aboard a World War II Submarine by Don Keith
23. Winston’s War: Churchill, 1940-1945 by Max Hastings
24. The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898 by Evan Thomas
25. The Ghost War by Alex Berenson
26. A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent by Robert W. Merry and Michael Prichard
27. World War One: A Short History by Norman Stone
28. War is a Racket: The Antiwar Classic by America’s Most Decorated Soldier by Smedley D. Butler
29. The Father of Us All: War and History, Ancient and Modern by Victor Davis Hanson
30. ArchEnemy: The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
31. War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges
32. The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of Homer’s Iliad and the Trojan War by Caroline Alexander
33. The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
34. Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century by P. W. Singer
35. Space Wars: The First Six Hours of World War III, A War Game Scenario by Michael J. Coumatos, William B. Scott, and William J. Birnes
36. Jesus Wars: How Four Patriarchs, Three Queens, and Two Emperors Decided What Christians Would Believe for the Next 1,500 years by John Philip Jenkins
37. Helfort’s War Book 4: The Battle for Commitment Planet by Graham Sharp Paul
38. The History of the Peloponnesian War: Revised Edition (Penguin Classics) by Thucydides, M. I. Finley, and Rex Warner
39. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
40. Wine and War: The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France’s Greatest Treasure by Donald Kladstrup and Petie Kladstrup
41. Masters and Commanders: How Four Titans Won the War in the West, 1941-1945 by Andrew Roberts
42. The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War (The Politically Incorrect Guides) by H. W. Crocker
43. War on the Run: The Epic Story of Robert Rogers and the Conquest of America’s First Frontier by John F. Ross
44. Jack Hinson’s One-Man War, A Civil War Sniper by Tom C. McKenney
45. On War by Carl von Clausewitz
46. The War After Armageddon by Ralph Peters
47. The Cold War: A New History by John Lewis Gaddis
48. A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918 by G. J. Meyer
49. Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East by Michael B. Oren
50. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States) by James M. McPherson
51. The War That Came Early: West and East by Harry Turtledove
52. Civil War by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven
53. War of Kings by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and Paul Pelletier
54. City of War by Neil Russell
55. The Thirty Years War: Europe’s Tragedy by Peter H. Wilson
56. A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America’s Last Years in Vietnam by Lewis Sorley
57. A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon by Neil Sheehan
58. The Art of War: The Ultimate Guide to Victory in Battle, Business, and Life by Sun Tzu
59. Invisible War, The: What Every Believer Needs to Know about Satan, Demons, and Spiritual Warfare by Chip Ingram
60. The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War on America by Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, and John Bolton
61. The Vietnam War: A Concise International History by Mark Atwood Lawrence
62. Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America (3rd Edition) by Morris P. Fiorina, Samuel J. Abrams, and Jeremy C. Pope
63. A War of Gifts: An Ender Story by Orson Scott Card
64. No Less Than Victory: A Novel of World War II by Jeff Shaara
65. The Killing Zone: My Life in the Vietnam War by Frederick Downs
66. War in High Himalaya: The Indian Army in Crisis, 1962 by D. K. Palit (Hardcover – July 1992)
67. Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 by Frederic P. Miller, Agnes F. Vandome, and John McBrewster
68. South Africa’s Border War, 1966-89 by Willem Steenkamp
69. The Origins Of War In South Asia: Indo-pakistani Conflicts Since 1947, Second Edition by Sumit Ganguly
70. Military Operations during the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus: Greek military junta of 1967? 1974, Cyprus dispute, Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Battle of Pentemili beachhead (1974), Cypriot National Guard by John McBrewster, Frederic P. Miller, and Agnes F. Vandome
71. The Great Gamble: The Soviet War in Afghanistan by Gregory Feifer
72. The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988 (Essential Histories) by Efraim Karsh
73. Israel’s Lebanon War by Zeev Schiff and Ehud Ya’ari
74. The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People’s Struggle by Ramzy Baroud, Kathleen Christison, Bill Christison, and Jennifer Loewenstein
75. Somali Civil War: Somalia, Somalian Revolution (1986?1992), United Nations Operation in Somalia I, Unified Task Force, United Nations Operation in Somalia II by Lambert M. Surhone, Miriam T. Timpledon, and Susan F. Marseken
76. THE GULF WAR CHRONICLES: A Military History of the First War with Iraq by Richard S. Lowry
77. The Collapse of Yugoslavia 1991-1999 (Essential Histories) by Alastair Finlan
78. Kargil War by Praveen Swami
79. In the Graveyard of Empires: America’s War in Afghanistan by Seth G. Jones
80. Gaza War by Frederic P. Miller, Agnes F. Vandome, and John McBrewster
81. The Collapse of Yugoslavia 1991-1999 (Essential Histories) by Alastair Finlan
82. Kargil War by Praveen Swami
83. In the Graveyard of Empires: America’s War in Afghanistan by Seth G. Jones
84. Gaza War by Frederic P. Miller, Agnes F. Vandome, and John McBrewster
85. The Winds of War by Herman Wouk
86. The Widow’s War: A Novel by Sally Gunning
87. The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle by Steven Pressfield
88. Wars, Guns, and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places by Paul Collier
89. Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America (3rd Edition) by Morris P. Fiorina, Samuel J. Abrams, and Jeremy C. Pope
90. A War of Gifts: An Ender Story by Orson Scott Card
91. The Steel Wave: A Novel of World War II by Jeff Shaara
92. The War On Success: How the Obama Agenda Is Shattering the American Dream by Tommy Newberry
93. The Savage Wars Of Peace: Small Wars And The Rise Of American Power by Max Boot
94. B.P.R.D. Volume 12: War on Frogs (B.P.R.D. (Graphic Novels)) by John Arcudi, Mike Mignola, Guy Davis, and Karl Moline
95. The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy’s Finest Hour by James D. Hornfischer
96. War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War by John W. Dower
97. The Untold War: Inside the Hearts, Minds, and Souls of Our Soldiers by Nancy Sherman
98. George, Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I by Miranda Carter
99. Endless War: Middle-Eastern Islam vs. Western Civilization by Ralph Peters
100. The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II by Jeff Shaara
101. The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One by David Kilcullen