By Col. William D. Bushnell, USMC (Ret)

Whether you like your military history with a personal touch, or you prefer deep dives into the nations, conflicts, and causes that have made the modern world, the below books have you covered.

You can order the books through the links in the titles below; MOAA is an Amazon Associate and earns money from qualifying purchases, with the revenue supporting The MOAA Foundation.  

Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape and the Making of Winston Churchill

By Candice Millard. Doubleday, 2016. ISBN 978-0-385-53573-1.

Best-selling nonfiction author Millard tells the remarkable true story of young Winston Churchill as a war correspondent in the Boer War in 1899, being captured after an ambush, his imprisonment in Pretoria, his bold solo escape, and his overland journey 300 miles to freedom in Portuguese East Africa. 

This is great adventure well told, revealing Churchill's motivations for risk-taking and glory-hunting, a far cry from the portly fellow of Downing Street 40 years later.

Military History for the Modern Strategist: America's Major Wars Since 1861

By Michael O'Hanlon. Brookings Institution Press, 2023. ISBN 978-0-8157-3983-8.

O'Hanlon is a historian and researcher at the Brookings Institute, focusing on defense, security, and foreign policy issues, as well as being the author of 20 books (including The Art of War in the Age of Peace).

Here he examines American wars (Civil War to Afghanistan) to determine causes, phases, won or lost, why, and most important, how they could have ended differently. He concludes with "Three Lessons," a chapter lucid and sobering, and certain to be required reading by all military officers.

Iran's Qods Force: Proxy Wars, Terrorism, and the War on America

By Owen L. Sirrs. Naval Institute Press, 2022. ISBN 978-1-68247-805-9.

Sirrs is an intelligence officer with the Defense Intelligence Agency. This excellent book details the organization, mission, and activities of Iran's Qods Force, which is the elite, secret overseas wing of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps.

Sirrs vividly describes how the Qods Force uses unconventional warfare (propaganda, proxy actors, terrorism, overt and covert actions) to destabilize Iran's enemies, especially the West, and promote Iranian "hegemony over the Middle East." He cites numerous examples, e.g. al-Qaeda, Khobar Towers, assassinations, America's 9/11, and its associations with Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Russia. Excellent.

The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams

By Adam Lazarus. Kensington Publishing, 2023. ISBN 978-0-8065-4250-8.

This is a true story that will make military men and women feel good about the friendships they've forged during their service. Lazarus writes nonfiction books about people, and this one reveals the 50-year friendship between two men: one a Marine aviator, astronaut, and senator, the other a Marine aviator and world-famous baseball player. 

Both veterans of World War II, they flew as wingmen during the Korean War in 1953. Lazarus describes their spectacular careers as well as their unique combat experiences as Marine aviator, and the bond that cemented their special friendship.

The Allies Strike Back, 1941-1943: The War in the West

By James Holland. Atlantic Monthly Press, 2017. ISBN 978-0-8021-2560-6.

Prolific British military historian Holland has produced the second volume in his World War II trilogy, following the first volume, The Rise of Germany, 1939-1941, in 2015. Holland's narrative is masterful in its detail and readability, covering America's entry into the war, air and naval campaigns, civilian morale, industry, European and African land warfare, the invasion of Russia, and the allied attacks on the German heartland.

The third volume, The Long March to Victory, 1943-1945, has not yet been published.

Col. William D. Bushnell, USMC (Ret), is a regular contributor to MOAA.org and Military Officer magazine.