Battle at Best

S.L.A. Marshall was an official historian for the Army during World War II, Korea and served as an advisor in Vietnam. Most of his work deals with the mental, physical, and emotional problems men faced in combat. He always wanted to show what did not work and why tactics failed in the hopes that people would learn from past mistakes. With that goal, Marshall tends to focus on the "bad" side of combat -- men dying needlessly and commanders who botched operations. Battle at Best is not one of his normal books. Marshall culled his interviews (all his research was carried out in the field with combatants who had just finished an action) and came up with examples that show great heroics. Instead of focusing on what went wrong, SLAM delves into what went right and how officers and men came to make the correct decisions. I am a great fan of Marshall's work and this, along with Men Again Fire, is the most enjoyable and enlightening books that I have read.