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Breakerchase is a Canadian student majoring in History, and has an interest in military history from 1700 to 1991, particularly the 1980s during the Cold War and the latter half of the 19th century. As such, I do go around and try to fix up stereotypes of the WWII and post-war Soviet military found in the various pages.
Suggested books and reading materials for military history and wargaming
Guerrilla/Unconventional Warfare
- Asprey War in the Shadows
1815-1905:
From Waterloo to Mukden.
Books:
- Ascoli, David. A Day of Battle: Mars-la-Tour. London: Harrap, 1987. (Tactical-level history of the Franco-Prussian War.)
- Farwell, Bryon. Queen Victoria's Little Wars. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 1972. (Covers all of Britain's wars from 1837 to 1901, with a focus on the human element, and easy to read!)
- Farwell, Bryon. The Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Warfare: An Illustrated World View. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 2001. (Start your inquiries here...)
- Menning, Bruce W. Bayonets Before Bullets: The Imperial Russian Army, 1861-1914. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1992.
Cold War Gone Hot 1980s:
These are sources which I recommend for anyone interested in NATO vs. Warsaw Pact in the Cold War, or anyone interested in the last era of industrial mechanized warfare. I've kept out the more popular books like Red Storm Rising, Surovov's Inside the Soviet Army and David C. Isby's Weapons and Tactics of the Soviet Army since they portray the Soviet military in a stereotyped and inaccurate manner. I also try to say away from sources with an obvious NATO all-powerful bias or those that think too much of having air power and better technology as the end-alls of military capability.
Books:
- Bellamy, Chris. The Future of Land Warfare. Kent: Croom Helm, 1987. (Don't let the title fool you; the book has good overview on the factors affecting land warfare and the military art of the opposing blocs, plus other land powers like India and the PRC. One would disagree with his conclusions that a European war would regress back into a WWI-like stalemate, at least for the 1980s.)
- Donnelly, Christopher N. Red Banner: The Soviet Military System in Peace and War. Croydon: Janes’ Information Group, 1988. (This is the best book you'll find covering the Soviet military in the 1980s. Not recommended; it is mandatory for anyone wishing to understand the USSR military above the usual Cold War [and Post-Cold War] stereotypes and propaganda.)
- Hands, Jeremy, and Robert McGowan. Try Not to Laugh, Sergeant-Major. London: Futura, 1984. (Hilarity Ensues with the British Army of the Rhine in West Germany.)
- McDonough, James R. The Defense of Hill 781: An Allegory of Modern Mechanized Combat. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1988. (The Defence of Duffer's Drift with the setting switched to the mechanized battlefield of the 1980s, and a mechanized battalion task force over an infantry platoon.)
- Messenger, Charles. Combat Roles 3: Anti-Armour Warfare. London: Ian Allen, 1985. (Has a general overview of how NATO planned to conduct a tactical defense, but ignore everything the author says about the Soviets.)
- Peters, Ralph. Red Army. New York, NY: Pocket Books, 1989. (The best piece of WWIII fiction around. Focuses on "men in battle" over shiny weapons and technology.)
- Polmar, Norman, and Kenneth J. Moorse. Cold War Submarines: The Design and Construction of U.S. and Soviet Submarines, 1945-2001. Washington D.C.: Potomac Books, 2001. (A balanced technical overview on American and Soviet submarines—the U.S. Navy isn't portrayed as being ten feet tall, but is a little weak on the human element.)
- Schofield, Carey. Inside the Soviet Army. London: Headline, 1991. (Published as Inside the Soviet Military in the United States. This title focuses on Soviet military life in the 1980s. Make sure you don't mistake this for "Viktor Suvorov"'s book.)
Journal articles:
- Glantz, David M. "The Development of the Soviet and Russian Armies in Context, 1946–2008: A Chronological and Topical Outline." Journal of Slavic Military Studies 23, Issue 1 (2010): 27-235. (Has a general overview of Soviet military developments from the end of WWII to the end of the Cold War. Check out Parts IV and V for the 1980s stuff.)
Online stuff:
- How the West Would Have Won
 (Richard N. Armstrong goes into all the details of a Soviet offensive and the NATO defense, and shows his work.)
- Initiative Soviet Style
- Red Thrust Star (Editor recommends the articles written by Lester Grau, Mike Gress, Ron Bonesteel, Michael Orr, Charles Dick and Trevor Waters.)
- Studies from the Soviet Army Studies Office
- TRADOC Heavy Opposing Force Handbooks (Published after the Cold War, but based upon a better and more sophisticated understanding of the Soviet Army. Much better than the old FM 100-2 series published in 1984. One purely interested in Cold War/1980s matters can ignore the references to the "future battlefield".)
Dealing with "technological superiority"
Online stuff:
Pages which I've started:
Leave your vandalisms here, comrades.
- It's always fun talking to you about all matters military, especially the Soviets in Eastern Europe around the 1980s. I can't remember the last time I learned this much on the subject. Cheers! —Sabre's Edge
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