Reading suggestions

I am a Captain in the Royal Gurkha Rifles, just returned from Helmand Afghanistan. I have been asked by my OC to put together a list of the top 100 military books a young officer should read in preparation for more tours in Afghanistan, general understanding of COIN and historical background. looking along the lines of 'The accidental guerilla', 'Learning to eat soup with a knife' 'Soldier Sahebs' 'Bugle and a tiger' and 'The Gamble'

Any suggestions?

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Originally Posted by YoungOfficer

I am a Captain in the Royal Gurkha Rifles, just returned from Helmand Afghanistan. I have been asked by my OC to put together a list of the top 100 military books a young officer should read in preparation for more tours in Afghanistan, general understanding of COIN and historical background. looking along the lines of 'The accidental guerilla', 'Learning to eat soup with a knife' 'Soldier Sahebs' 'Bugle and a tiger' and 'The Gamble'

Any suggestions?

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You should definitely start a thread just for this as there will undoubtedly be plenty of suggestions. Do check out the Small Wars Library and the US Armed Forces reading lists also.

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Originally Posted by YoungOfficer

I am a Captain in the Royal Gurkha Rifles, just returned from Helmand Afghanistan. I have been asked by my OC to put together a list of the top 100 military books a young officer should read in preparation for more tours in Afghanistan, general understanding of COIN and historical background. looking along the lines of 'The accidental guerilla', 'Learning to eat soup with a knife' 'Soldier Sahebs' 'Bugle and a tiger' and 'The Gamble'

Any suggestions?

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There are a number of reading lists of the type that you are looking for posted on this board. Try a search, and simply reviewing some of the existing discussions on recommended reading.

One of the more recent published lists is the Australian Army Counterinsurgency and Small Wars Reading Guide, put out in September.

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....As an academic, scholarly and professional specialisation, insurgency and counterinsurgency are newly ‘hot properties’, once again. Readers wishing to keep abreast of new work in the field might find it useful to monitor subsequent editions of the journals cited in these pages, but especially Small Wars & Insurgencies, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, and the online journal-cum-blog, Small Wars Journal, available at the time of publication at http://www.smallwarsjournal.com. It is also worth keeping a regular check on the publications of the US Army’s Strategic Studies Institute at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania: http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil

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I've just tried 'Advanced Search' with reading lists and it produces a number of hits. Some are in the RFI thread and others elsewhere.

I recollect there was a similar request recently, so the answer is here.

davidbfpo

Quote:

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Originally Posted by YoungOfficer

I am a Captain in the Royal Gurkha Rifles, just returned from Helmand Afghanistan. I have been asked by my OC to put together a list of the top 100 military books a young officer should read in preparation for more tours in Afghanistan, general understanding of COIN and historical background. looking along the lines of 'The accidental guerilla', 'Learning to eat soup with a knife' 'Soldier Sahebs' 'Bugle and a tiger' and 'The Gamble'

Any suggestions?

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The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan
and

The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War

Both would be a good start.

100 books? If your optempo is anything like the US then I hope they're all short books.