World War I The African Front by Edward Paice

I was always curious about what happened in Africa during WW I so I picked up Paice's work.  It is very informative and enjoyable.  Let me boil it down for you.  In the early years of the 1900's a bunch of European countries had colonies in Africa.  They all knew each other and got along to a certain extent.  When the war started, they didn't really have anything against each other but they felt they needed to form up and try and kill each other anyway.  So the English brought in a bunch of Indian soldiers, paired them with a bunch of South African soldiers, recruited a shit ton of locals, and commenced chasing the Germans and their locals all over hell's half acre.  The Germans didn't really have the men or equipment to kick the English out of Africa, so they contented themselves with kicking their asses then beatin' feet.  When the war ended, a large English contingent was still trying to wrestle to the ground a very small German contingent that had given them fits for years.

Now here's the kind of idiotic thing about WW I in Africa.  The British Army had a little over 11,000 men killed in all of WW I in Africa.  the Germans had even fewer.  The total Allied and German dead for the battle of the Somme alone, which took place in France over a period of 4 months in 1916, was over 300,000.  More men died in that battle in single days than in the entire war in Africa.  It almost seems like a joke.  I say almost because one group of people paid dearly during the war in Africa.  Of course, it was the locals.  Hundreds of thousands of black African non-combatants gave their lives serving (not always of their own accord) the combatant armies.  The British barely gave a damn and the Germans absolutely did not care at all.  This was the true tragedy of WW I in Africa.

-Nats

Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell

So you think your life sucks.  Got a crappy job, shitty car, bitchy wife.  At least you don't live in the 1400's.  As far as I can tell, there is exactly nothing good about being alive in the 15th century.  Cornwell shows us this is his brilliant work about the English victory over the French (who, shockingly, actually lost as opposed to simply surrendering) outside the small French village of Agincourt.

Henry V's stunning victory over a numerically superior French force is brought to life in Agincourt.  The graphic reality that Cornwell portrays for us is shocking in it's utter brutality.  War is hell now.  War back then was infinitely worse.  Be prepared because this one gets a little tough to stomach at times.  Cornwell's works are always masterfully researched so as to give the reader a crystal clear vision of life in the period being portrayed and Agincourt is no different.  The story is engrossing and the historical accuracy is fascinating.  This piece is so good on so many different levels that you'll have a hard time putting it down.  So go buy Agincourt and enjoy.  Just don't do it right before or after eating....

-Nats