Greatest war novelist

Whirlwind.

I think the Magic Army was written by Leslie Thomas. Another of his books, The Dearest and the Best is a good read.

Regards,

kev35

A/ Geoffrey Jenkins: A Twist of Sand

B/ John Harris: The Sea Shall Not Have Them

C/ Any Wilbur Smith (not strictly speaking a war author but a damn good read never the less)

D/Any Sven Hassle

4/ (Author??) The Magic Army

Bomber I’ve got but not read for years.
Goodbye, Mickey Mouse, also by Deighton wasn’t bad either.
Glide Path, Arthur C. Clarke.
Hammond Innes’, I think, first book which I’ve forgotten the name of.

Not tried the other two, but vague memories about Piece of Cake when it was on the telly.
Were there complaints about distortion of the truth, or similar? From the comments on this board, it would seem if there were any, they were aimed at the TV production, not the novel.
I’ll look out for them.

What I first remembered was a series called Fighter Squadron or similar which were production line novels and terrible.

None of these really answer the original question about the author.
It seems there are several one-offs but no good/successful series.

Originally posted by dhfan

My main interest is WW2 and aerial conflict. The few novels I’ve read on the subject are invariably crap.

Derek Robinson – Piece of Cake
Len Deighton – Bomber
Robert Radcliffe – Under an English Heaven

You are reading the wrong books DH

Moggy

no i haven’t and i missed it on ITV – DOH !!!

sounds good though – i reember ages ago sharp being on TV as well – that was good then

rabie 😉

Have you read Horatio Hornblower Rabie? From what I’ve heard, the Sharpe series is Hornblower on land..

read all sharp books – very good mate buy them second ahnd in apperback to save the pennies

arthur – its about a napolenoic britsh officer who came from very poor background – first few are about india, then he is writting the intervening peroid – then there are about 10 or 15 books abut the napolenoic war, especailly the iberian campaign

rabie 😉

I believe I was reading the bear and the dragon, terrible terrible piece of literature, and he actually said that the Apache has a 20mm gun. Man, he’s getting old, time to go back to real estate Mr. Clancy.

Originally posted by Viper01

I’ve perceived rumors indicating that Tom Clancy has employed a support team assigned to provide him with assistance during the writing processes. Can anyone confirm or contradict this assertion?

Regards,

Viper01 [/B]

I heard that when Clancy wrote Hunt for Red October he had a Navy guy proof read it and edit out all the inaccurate parts (deleting entire pages at times) and then provided accurate technical senarios to replace it, hence it became a hit for its realism. I personally dont see why anyone would read fiction war novels as war history itself has no shortage of drama. I will mention one good one though which is Das Boot by Lothar Gunter Bucheim. He served on U-boats and so his book gives a realistic look at what it was to fight in these boats. The depth charge attacks are particularly well written as the sonar operater gives out heading and movements of attacking destroyers
and the Captain reponds with headings
to the boat. You really get a 3-D picture of the manervering and it gives an excitement to the idea of comanding ship.

For those of you who like RN sea stories set in the time of Nelson I would suggest the Jack Aubrey/ Stephen Maturin series of novels by Patrick O’Brian. They number 22 and are best read in order.

O’Brian is on a par with C. S. Forester. They two main charactures are highly developed and are both flawed just enough to make them highly interesting.

Regards

Sauron

I assume that’s a different Sharpe than Tom Sharpe…

Although it’s been a while since i’ve read them, i rarely laughed so hard when reading a book.

Doh, kev you’re absolutely right, it’s Sharpe. I was getting that name confused with the Sharps carbine. hehe.

I used to read a lot of sven hassle. I got all the book’s, don’t know what, ones were actually written by him but here is a list if the ones I have, O,G,P,U prison, Court martial, the bloody road to death, blitzfreez, reign of hell, ss general, assignment Gestapo, liquidate Paris, march battalion, Monte casino, comrades of war, wheels of terror and legion of the damned. Another good auther is Desmond Bagley, although not really war related, his book flyaway is a very good read, and , I know he got a slating from certain people, but I did enjoy reading Bruce Barrymore Halpenny’s series of ghost stations book’s. I don’t read much non-fiction any more, and am waiting for the un-censored version of enemy coast ahead to come out at the end of the month, as for my favourite author…..well….its got to be, Robet Rudhall his battle of Britain film books are supurb.

Google.

I’ve read all the Sharpe series except for the last couple, and long before the tv series was aired. I can’t comment about their historical accuracy but I found them to be an enjoyable read.

Regards,

kev35

Anyone ever read the Sharps company series of books? I’ve always been interested in Napoleonic warfare, but never got around to reading that series.

Regards,

google

I’d have to agree with Snapper on the Vietnam authors, particularly Webb and delVecchio. The 13th Valley is a classic. Also enjoyed ‘Going After Cacciato’ which was a fantasy set in Vietnam.

dhfan mentions John Harris. Some of his books are superb. One about the siege of Habbaniyah? is a good read but his best has to be ‘Covenant With Death.’ A fictional account of a pals battalion in the First World War. The relationship between Fenner and Sarn’t Major Bold, the death of Corker, the way the battalion conduct themselves on July 1st is beautifully and accurately portrayed. One of the finest books I have ever read.

Michael Shaara’s ‘Killer Angels’ was mentioned by someone as well. Again, superb characterisation and another which deserves to become a classic.

As for Clancy? I think he lost his edge when he started the Op-centre series.

Regards,

kev35

Originally posted by Flanker110
Who the hell is Sven Hassel??? :confused:

“Wheels of Terror” one bloody good read, Sven Hassel didnt pull any punches in any of his stories, stories that were based loosely on his own wartime experiences.

Hassel was Danish by birth , the only other title that I can remember by him was SS General, check ’em out you wont regret it.

Dave

Haven’t read any Sven Hassel for years although there’s quite a few in boxes upstairs somewhere. Explains why they seemed to be written by two (or more) different people. I always assumed it was a different translator.

John Harris is very good.

Clive Cussler I agree. Great escapism. Look forward to new ones appearing.

Douglas Reeman’s good if you like naval stories but despite the number he’s written, he’s only got a couple of plots.

My main interest is WW2 and aerial conflict. The few novels I’ve read on the subject are invariably crap.

Anybody read “Storm of Steel” a WWI biography by Ernst Junger , excellent book.

Tom Clancy’s newer books are crap and drivel- he could use an editor. I hate reading 800 page books of boredom. Red storm rising and red october were his heyday, he should put da pen away now.

Ink, AQOWF was written by Eric Maria Remarque.

I personally like Michael Shaara’s Killer Angels, not 100% historically accurate, but good!