One of the methods I use to nail exams is to cite books that I've read. It seems like a really simple method, but apparently I'm pretty much the only person in class who actually does it. Seriously, I will do footnotes in my exams. It's a technique, so to speak, that I picked up from working with sensitive information, which must often be cited in order to ensure accuracy and ability to find the original source. That particular method is pretty similar to citations and footnotes in academic work, only the work I do tends to be a lot more important than academic work, because - let's face it - a lot of academic work is nonsense that will never serve any actual purpose. (Strategic Studies, thankfully, does not fall into this category, especially not in the way that anthropology or sociology do.)
So, with my last set of exams coming up, I thought to myself, "Why not put together a list of the books that I've read that have informed my opinions on a variety of these topics, and review that list in order to ensure that I have plenty of books to cite while writing my essays?" Fortunately, a couple of weeks ago I decided to actually invest an hour or so into the
Goodreads account that I've allowed to lay fallow since 2007. I know, right? I went in and entered most of the books I've read since about 1996, maybe even a few before that, and then culled the list to include only those books which directly or indirectly apply to the subject matter. Here's my list:
A Bloody Business
Assault from the Sea
A Savage War of Peace
An Unorthodox Soldier
Another Bloody Century
Arabian Sands
Band of Brothers
Black Hawk Down
Bravo Two Zero
Ceasar Against The Celts
Citizen Soldiers
Dune
Faith of My Fathers
Guests of the Ayatollah
Heart of Darkness
How Did This Happen?
How the Irish Saved Civilization
Imperial Grunts
In the Service of the Sultan
Inferno
Intelligence Power in Peace and War
Iron Coffins
Islamic Imperialism
Legionnaire
Modern Military Strategy
No Easy Day
Orkneyinga Saga
Papa Bravo Romeo
Plutarch's Lives
Rising Sun
Rogue Warrior
Shadow War
Starship Troopers
The Agricola and the Germania
The Civil War
The Conquest of Gaul
The Evolution of Nuclear Strategy
The Prince
The Return of History and the End of Dreams
Sea Power
Thinking About Nuclear Weapons
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Warfighting
World Politics and the Evolution of War
I obviously won't cite all of these books, but if a couple of them are on my mind at the right time, it'll help. Totally worth the effort, I tell you what.
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