Good Morning Gentlemen and Ladies. I have come down with a desire to study and know more about the military history (from personal interest) and I am coming to you for help. I need book or author suggestions.
My focus being
Great Military Leaders and their tactics- Example but not limited to Caesar, Alexander, Khan, Napoleon. I have thought about autobiographies but I know those can obviously be biased.
Great Military or Warrior Cultures- This list sparked my interest ( https://www.realmofhistory.com/2016/09/08/10-greatest-ancient-warrior-cultures/ )
This itch began with learning about Chesty Puller and what he read for his military knowledge. Also books like the "Art of War". I have done my own searching but because of either my lack of knowledge or the mass amount of information, I am having a hard time finding what I'm looking for. I want to start off reading about some of histories greatest leaders and then branch from there to their civilizations.
I feel like I want broad and accurate history to read and then if something sparks I can have something more specific to look into, myself. I am just having a hard time discerning what books to read and where to look for them. I hope I am being clear enough and that you have some suggestions. I will continue to look on my own!
Thank you for your time!!
**I'm an adult, college degree, reading level is not an issue, my location may be as I live in a small town, in rural Nebraska so resources are limited. (Basically- I'm not a kid asking for help on a college report lol)
Good morning (afternoon now) to you too.
A book I would strongly recommend if you are especially interested in medieval swords is the fantastic Records of the Medieval Sword by Ewart Oakeshott. This is the most complete and extensive book on specifically medieval swords you'll be able to find. If you have ever seen a typology used for distinguishing varieties of arming swords and longswords, it was almost certainly Oakeshott's. Mr Oakeshott also wrote the brilliant book The Archaeology of Weapons: Arms and Armour from Prehistory to the Age of Chivalry. This book studies the development of weapons overtime and is much less specialised than Records of the Medieval Sword, although there is of course overlap. His "A Knight and His Armour/Weapons/Horse" series is also highly regarded, but I haven't read any of them myself.
As a side note, I had heard that James Elmslie had been developing a typology for falchions, and possible messers, but his book has not yet been published and his website is currently being rebuild. Something to keep an eye on, if you're interested.
I would also recommend Livy's account of the second Punic war. Now Livy was born some 150 years after the the second Punic war, so it's to be taken with a grain of salt, but I still think it is a fascinating telling of the history. Hannibal is my favourite military commander. He is known by most for having marched 40 elephants over the Alps to attack Rome, but that's the least of his accomplishments. His tremendous victories at Trebia, Trasimene and Cannae, his 15 year long game of cat and mouse in Italy, and his eventual defeat at Zama, are the stuff of legend.
If you would like a general introduction to Roman history I would recommend Mary Beard's SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome. Her focus isn't specifically military history but it's just such a good introduction that I had to share it.
My favourite period and location in history, however, is Anglo-Saxon England. Alfred the Great by Justin Pollard and The White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the Great by Benjamin R. Merkle are excellent accounts of King Alfred's rule and his resistance against the Vikings as King of the last free Kingdom of the English.
For more Viking age English history I can also recommend Offa and the Mercian Wars by Chris Peers which, despite being painted as a biography of Offa, is mainly a history of Mercia's struggle against the Welsh, against the rival English Kingdom of Northumbria and the period known as the Mercian supremacy, when Mercia became the dominant kingdom on the island.
You might also like The Warrior Queen: The Life and Legend of Aethelflaed, Daughter of Alfred the Great by Joanna Arman. A bit too much of a feminist bias in this book, in my opinion, but still worth a read. Æthelflæd, the Lady of the Mercians, undoubtedly deserves recognition for her rule of Mercia and continuing her father's resistance against the Vikings. I would also love to read at some point a good book on Alfred's grandson Æthelstan the Good, the first true King of England. If you happen to know of one please let me know!
Finally, and this truly is just me indulging myself, I can recommend The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles translated by Michael Swanton. Great source of historical accounts from the period. The chronicle was started in 891 but it records from as far back as 60 BC until 1154. Obviously 891 onwards is when it is most reliable.
Anyway, I hope this helps. I know I'm not quite hitting the marks you wanted but I'm afraid I think this is the best I can offer. Hope you enjoy some of my recommendations!
Please feel free to direct me to another thread that my be archived in r/AskHistorians. I looked but I didn't see my specific interest voiced elsewhere.