The Butter Battle Book -- Dr. Suess

Red Storm Rising - Tom Clancy (1986)

The prince is satire.

"Common Sense and Nuclear War - Betrand Russell
Russell-Einstein Manifesto
The Memoirs of Ulysses S Grant
War and Peace - Tolstoy
Thoughts of Peace in an Air Raid - Virginia Woolf
The Prince - Mac...."

Ugh...can we be ANY more pretentious?

The Prince is satire? Really??? Where did you come up with that?

(Bear in mind that this is stuff I teach and regularly discuss with colleagues. I don't recall ever hearing one of them say that it was satire)

'Charlie Brown Gets Screwed By Lucy Once Again': Vols 1 - 287
(Story of my life, though it doesn't actually involve a baseball.)

Sorry - Charles Shultz (author/cartoonist/wit/psychologist/ taker-apart of the American psyche of the time, missed.) Excuse me if you're still alive. For 10c, Lucy can sort out the non-death post-trauma.

Well, machavelli worked for the florentine republic for something like 15 years, and may have mentioned his love of republics once or twice in his volumes and volumes of books about how great republics are. Then tyrannical mediccis come in topple the gov, and then in exile he writes the short pamphlet (compared to his other writing) the prince about how you have to be a monster to run a country. Prolly in some kinda fucked up scrawl from having his arms personally broken by medicci family. Then spends rest of life talking about how great republics are.
Its like the SCUM manifesto, its good satire if alot of people dont get it. funny at least.

"popular rule is always better than the rule of princes" -machavelli

http://www.unt.edu/honors/eaglefeather/2007_Issue/kniatt4.shtml
"the end justifies the means." A much more accurate translation from the original Italian is something more like "one must consider the end," which kind of means something totally different.
http://books.google.com/books?id=Yuhs9xSmuDAC&pg=PA31&dq=Si+guarda+al+fine&hl=en&ei=iZKCTIaXIMP68AbP1rz4AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Si%20guarda%20al%20fine&f=true

"popular rule is always better than the rule of princes" -machavelli


http://www.unt.edu/honors/eaglefeather/2007_Issue/kniatt4.shtml


"the end justifies the means." A much more accurate translation from the original Italian is something more like "one must consider the end," which kind of means something totally different.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Yuhs9xSmuDAC&pg=PA31&dq=Si+guarda+al+fine&hl=en&ei=iZKCTIaXIMP68AbP1rz4AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Si%20guarda%20al%20fine&f=true

Ah sorry if that was confusing

@Timur: http://3eanuts.com/

Red Storm Rising paints an accurate portrait of (hypothetical) modern conventional war a la 1986.

Books on war that I have recently read and enjoyed
GRR Martin: A Song of Ice and Fire (I'm 700 pages into book 5, probably the best fantasy series I have ever read.)
N Machiavelli: The Prince (Wrote an 18 page essay on this for Highschool Grade 12 Polisci a few years back. I was the only kid in the class who defended Machiavelli and argued that his book was ethical and moral and defended the less ethical parts of the book. Essay got a 98% and as a result I had the highest grade in the class for the next 3 months.)
B Cornwall: Agincourt (This I read for pleasure after it was given to me as a birthday present, I found it rather enjoyable)
C Iggulden: Emperor (Fantastic series about Julius Ceaser, Iggulden is my favourite historical fiction author for a reason. However 3 years ago I dropped the series 3 books into it due to time constraints and haven't managed to pick it up since)
C Iggulden: Conqueror (Historical fiction about Genghis Khan. This one I managed to finish. After finishing this I picked up Emperor, so I read 7 books in a row by C Iggulden. According to the wiki article there is now a 5 book in that series out, so I might read that some time.)
S Tzu: Art of War (I'm sure everyone on this site has heard of it. Honestly I found it rather dull, I got more into Machievelli then I did get into Tzu. Which is surprising because I voluntarily read Art of War but the Prince was required reading for an elected I took last year.)

Girls und Panzer (This is a manga/anime, however given that you said book not novel, I elected to include it. Its about your steoretypical highschool anime chicks with that added bonus that they participate in tank battles for sport. I'm finding the series to be hilarious and it does provide a lot a decent information about WW2 tanks, even if it has a ton of unrealistic parts)

This is all books that I have read/enjoyed in the last 4 years about diplomacy or war.

"Red Storm Rising paints an accurate portrait of (hypothetical) modern conventional war a la 1986."
Speaking of Tom Clancy, I watched the movie Hunt for Read October based on his book. It is one of my favourite war movies so the book is probably good, but Tom Clancy's books are kinda long and I haven't had any motivation to read them, lol

krellin - reading books is pretentious

No, just YOUR list of books, which no normal people sit down and read on any regular basis...but which people will spit out in a list when they think they will impress people.

Then again, generally speaking, the forums are mostly full of peacocks seeking attention, so no surprise. Your pretentiousness is insanely normal and boring around here...

These are the type of books I regularly read, and I don't want to impress anybody, just recommending them as great, influential and inspiring books

I'm all for education, all for reading, all for (especially) knowing history, etc...but even if the information contained in those books is "good", it is hardly practical information, hardly a "good read" (famous/classic does not automatically or even usually equate to "well written")...

I usually have multiple books that I'm reading at any given time on my nook/phone/tablet - but when I'm not working, I prefer something entertaining.

To any "normal" person in society, you reading list is ridiculous pretentious.

I also call "bull" on your "I dont' want to impress anybody" with your reading list. that's why you posted it - to get positive feedback on your selections.

Nah believe it or not I don't care what people think of me entirely, but I do think that people might like to read some of the books on the list who don't know about them. Can we have one thread without a huge argument krellin? I just want to talk about books in this thread. Can you recommend any with the themes of war and diplomacy and tactics?

What's pretentious is listing "The Butter Battle Book." No normal people sit down and read that on any regular basis. They just spit out Dr. Seuss (which Alecsandryr didn't even spell right, probably copying over a typo from a college syllabus without reading the book) on a list when they think it will impress people.

You young peacocks think you can just name-drop a famous author and it will make you sound smart. Just because Dr. Seuss is famous doesn't automatically mean everything he wrote is "good," "well written," or practical information. Normal people read "Green Eggs and Ham" or "The Cat In the Hat." Only ridiculous pretentious people list obscure titles like "The Butter Battle Book."

Butter side down, bitches.

It would be like if in 100 years stephen colbert was celebrated as republican thinker

Listing Proust on here would be pretentious. But if you like diplomacy, I don't think it's pretentious to read the books I listed as they're quite relevant (and not very obscure)

lol Syn, you may not *think* your list is pretentious...but to average Joe walking down the street, your a pretentious douchebag by suggesting that is your reading list.

As for diplomacy, how have any of those book helped you in diplomacy, and more than, say, Asimov's Foundation series, or John Steakley's Armor, or The Guadalcanal Diary (for a little war history), or Harry Turtledove for alternative history (since Diplomacy is "alternative" outcomes to WWI), etc.

If you want to read a book to help you in Diplomacy, "How to Win Friends and Infuence People" is your #1 book.

All your crap is pretentious crap because you want to be an "intellectual". Sadly...based upon your forum discussion...you are certainly no more of an intellectual than any other person around here mind-farting in the forums because they're bored...

Now- don't get me wrong - it's an impressive list, and I really don't mean to be insulting you -- I'm just saying it's a pretentious list. Read what you will ...but the reality is society at large would think you pretentious.

SYn - I'm not arguing, by the way. How come if someone states an opinion that is contrary to you it is "an argument". It's called a "discussion". The discussion is that your list is pretentious. that's not an argument. If it is an argument, it is only because you are apparently terribly unaware of society at large, and social norms.

Okay, no problem. I haven't read any of the books you've listed, by the way. So thanks for sharing. With regards to psychology, my favorites are Keirsey's "Please Understand Me", and "The Mask of Sanity" by Hervey Cleckley. What is How to Win Friends.. about? Is it a glorified self-help book?

@ Syn - I think Keirsey's "Please Understand Me" (or possibly a more accessible book on Meyers-Briggs) is essential for Diplomacy, at least f2f diplomacy. Last f2f game I played was with a total Diplomacy noob who was an expert in Meyers-Briggs. He wasn't great tactically but he owned everyone in negotiations because he could read personality like a book, and he got in on a draw at the end. The EOG with him was great, he was saying stuff like, "I knew Bryn was an INFP, so when Tim threatened him I could see Bryn's emotional withdrawal and I knew that was the moment to offer Bryn emotional support and ask for an alliance".

if you're playing f2f i reccomend paul eckmans book on microexpressions, though I forget the title