1776

I greatly enjoyed 1776: http://books.simonandschuster.com/1776/David-McCullough/9781... (http://books.simonandschuster.com/1776/David-McCullough/9781416542100)

How can there be 71 comments and not one mention of G. K. Chesterton? Go out, right now, and check out The Everlasting Man and Orthodoxy from your local library. I would also throw out there Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew Crawford, as something to inspire makers & engineers without being a technical book. If you like history, David McCullough's biography John Adams is a masterpiece (also see 1776 by the same author). I can't think of anything else that hasn't already been mentioned.

I've been waiting years for someone to ask this question :) Wishlited this last night on amazon: Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power by Victor Davis Hanson Have read these and enjoyed these: General Warfare theory: History of Warfare by Keegan Intel: Intelligence and War by Keegan Counterinsurgency: "Ghost Wars" by Steve Coll. For a really enjoyable experience read "The Great Game" by Hopkirk first. The Civil War deserves it's own category. Watch the PBS dvds, actually buy them. If you're hungry for more dig into "The Civil War" by Shelby Foote is hefty but it's satisfying. 1776 is a classic. "Blind mans bluff" is a great book about submarine warfare. For more current stuff Robert Kagan is probably the most informed pundit on war and military strategy. WW-II "The Last Lion" books 1 and 2 are about Churchill and they involve lots of military strategy. You should also check out "The gathering storm + the other six books Churchill wrote on WWII. Man I could go on forever. I have "Panzer General" and "Caesar's Conquest of Gaul" on my nightstand... Enjoy...…

The best I've read wasn't a strategy book per se. 1776 - http://www.amazon.com/1776-David-McCullough/dp/0743226712 by David McCullough was full of useful insights on General George Washington and how he used his smarts to defeat the enemy. He wasn't a great strategist, but very pragmatic (like counting the number of shoes on the feet of his “army’ to asses their battle readiness) and willing to take risks. It book was also entertaining as Hell.