Best literature for modern warfare

[RadioFreedeath]

As part of a project I'm working on, I am looking for good books, shows, games etc that accurately portray modern warfare.

Obviously there is a lot of different ways this can go. My concern is that most modern examples of actual combat tend to involve modern militaries against insurgents or third world nations. What good examples are there that portray war between top level powers? For example a modern Chinese American conflict.

I picked up a copy of Tom Clancy's red Storm rising. I havnt started it yet but it seems good although probably out of date at this point.

Additionally I seem to find a lot of literature on special forces actions but that seems a limited part of any major modern war.

What else would you recommend me? Both fiction and nonfiction . Would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[KuboCaskett]

I think Ghost Fleet by P.W. Singer might suffice, though it's implied to take place at least 15 years into the future; but at least it has a conflict between China and the USA (though Russia is somehow involved on the side of China).

 

[FriendlyGhost]

Another couple of books which are a bit out-dated but good are Cauldron by Larry Bond (1994) and The Third World War by General Sir John Hackett (1988).

A more recent one which I haven't read yet but which seems to be generally well-regarded, though with a few problems, is War With Russia by General Sir Richard Shirreff (2016).

 

[RadioFreedeath]

Are these books pretty good at portraying the tactical and strategic thought process that goes into modern warfare?

 

[FriendlyGhost]

Cauldron is more like Red Storm Rising in that way - some good tactical stuff, to make it a good read, but not as in-depth on the (more boring) strategic bits. It's a long time since I read The Third World War but I seem to remember that it was more realistic in portraying all the background stuff as well (but my memory's hazy, as I say). If I can find where it's hiding on one of our bookshelves, I'll check it again and let you know.

 

[galveston bay]

Are these books pretty good at portraying the tactical and strategic thought process that goes into modern warfare?

try this one

"The War That Never Was" ... which is written like one of the timelines you see on this forum

https://www.amazon.com/War-That-Never-Was/dp/0918339790

heavy emphasis on naval but it does discuss strategy, air power and of course strategy. It kind of feels like someone played a LOT of "Harpoon" (computer game for naval warfare 80s-recent past) or did a lot of table top gaming and wrote up the war he played through.

 

[mudhead]

Ralph Peters: Red Army - a look at a central front WARPAC attack on NATO, told entirely from Soviet viewpoints. V good.

 

[Johnestauffer]

There are 3 books by Larry Bond that address war in the current era
CAULDRON - war in Europe
VORTEX - war in South Africa
RED PHOENIX - war in Korea
they were written between 1989 - 93 so some parts are a bit dated but the narrative is good
If you are interested in naval warfare there is a series written by David Poyer about the career of a naval officer - the current books in the series, THE CRUISER, TIPPING POINT, ONSLAUGHT deal with the command of an AEGIS cruiser in a confrontation with China - these books are very contemporary and deal with real world weapons systems and cyber warfare alone with conventional naval action