Welcome to the first annual military history reading challenge. The idea is pretty simple between now and
November 11 read 3 nonfiction books on military history topics. Sounds simple enough doesn't it? So what is military history? For the purposes of this I'm willing to take a broad perspective. Your titles could include any of the following:
- Histories of wars, battles and campaigns from any time period.
- Material on weapons, uniforms, tactics and strategy.
- Memoirs and biographies of those who participated in conflicts.
To avoid current events the actions discussed should have taken place prior to 2001
[actually on second thought let's change this to 2005]. I'll be posting in the next few days some links to recommended reading on various conflicts. If you know of a good one or have any questions feel free to leave a comment. I hope to be able to encourage some who are new to the topic to try some military history as well as those who already do read on the topic to try something different.
If you want to participate then post a list of your three titles on your blog with a link back to this post. Then put the link to your booklist in Mister Linky.
Posts
12 comments:
I'll take you up on it. I love military history, I love reading, and I need to do more of it. It'll be a challenge to get in 3 books before August 11th, but I'll do my best.
Question, does it have to be historical books on military events, or can it be historically important books on the military/war? (i.e. The Art of War?)
You have until November 11 actually. Sure it can be books on war as well.
This sounds interesting to me too (thanks for the link BTW), but I do have some questions. What is the end result? Say 10 of us decided to read 3 books each. Do we review the books we've read or just mention them and link back to your contest? Is it to point readers in the direction of some interesting new books, or something else entirely? I review Civil War books quite often, but if I join this contest I will definitely be reading some other books from my military history library, probably one on the naval war of 1812, one on the Meuse-Argonne offensive in World War 1, and a third to be determined. Also, and I apologize for my ignorance, but what is Mister Linky?
The idea is to read three books and write up reviews on your blog. They can be as formal or informal as you like. I'll be posting messages in the upcoming weeks for each of the three reviews with the AutoLink form.
The idea is to encourage people to do some reading. It also can help people find books they didn't know existed. It can give a little more traffic to your blog.
Mister Linky is the form box in this post. You may have to have JavaScript switched on to see it.
I get it now...just after having entered my blog's URL in Mister Linky. I'll enter your contest by typing up a post here shortly and entering it in Mr. Linky the correct way. Feel free to delete my incorrect entry.
Will do, not a problem.
I have entered the challenge. The post I linked to will be available in about 3 hours, early on the morning of July 28. I chose to read the following, all Civil War books:
1. Unfurl Those Colors!: McClellan, Sumner, and the Second Army Corps in the Antietam Campaign by Marion V. Armstrong
2. The Battle of Shiloh and the Organizations Engaged by D.W. Reed
3. One Continuous Fight: The Retreat from Gettysburg and the Pursuit of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, July 4-14, 1863 by Eric J. Wittenberg, J. David Petruzzi, and Michael F. Nugent
Brett Schulte
TOCWOC - A Civil War Blog
Thanks for participating Brett. Some very interesting choices there.
Oh, I want to participate! Give me a little time to organize my titles. Thanks for doing this! :)
Take as much time as you need.
Hi jmnlman,
I just have a question about a possible book that I was wondering if it would be acceptable for this challenge: Because Every Life Is Precious: Why an Iraqi Man Risked Everything For Private Jessica Lynch. (I haven't posted my review for this book yet because I'm not sure if it would qualify.
Please let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Jessica
Certainly that book would qualify. Go right ahead. There are so many facets of that controversy I'm sure the Iraqi perspective would be quite interesting.
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