Great book. Also from JH, The Coddling of the American Mind
1491: Great insight at new discoveries about the Americas pre-Columbus and how what we're taught is school is wrong

Mig Pilot: Soviet MiG-25 pilot hates it so much in the USSR that he defects to Japan. We get to see the Russian's fast new jet for the first time and get a sneak peek into the Iron Curtain for the first time in the Cold War.

Black Ops by Ric Prado

Legendary CIA Operations Officer. From escaping Cuba at 10 to Air Force PJ then CIA this guy has led an exciting and amazing life.

Second MiG Pilot.

Somewhat related is America's Secret MiG Squadron: The Red Eagles of Project CONSTANT PEG
Book by Gaillard R. Peck Jr

Might be some who flew in that outfit or fought against them! 😉

Another good book along these lines is "The Meaning of Human Existence" by Edward O. Wilson. He was an ant expert and naturalist with great insight into human nature. He passed away Dec 26, 2021 at the age of 92.

On a related note, Skunkworks was another great aviation book. The stories Rich tells as Kelly Johnson's right hand man are awesome.

I just picked up "The Blond Knight of Germany" after it came highly recommended. I'm sure the story of military aviation's highest scoring ace will be fun to read.

A lot of these older gems you can find in Thriftbooks.com cheaper than amazon and in great condition.

Thanks for the book rec.
I just finished his book "Consilience". Wish I had read it years ago, but better late than never.
A thoughtful man (E. O. Wilson) who tried to understand the big picture.

”Fulcrum” was good book also.


Not that long of a read, but Military History magazine published an interview that Hartman had done years before.

“Top Guns of the Luftwaffe” and “Luftwaffe Fighter Aces”, and “The First and the Last” (by Galland) are decent as well.

Agree. "Candide" is a hoot.
A somewhat similar style used in poking holes in nationalistic pretentiousness is "The Good Soldier Svejk" by Jaroslaw Hasek. The ending is not really a finale as the author died before finishing it, but by then the reader can almost write a version of it himself.

CBreezy,

I don't read a great deal of fiction. However I have gleaned some great truths from fiction that are simply too complex to explain in non-fiction. A fictional narrative can reveal them more easily.
My point is that I have benefited by occasionally getting out of my reading comfort zone.
That being said would recommend a non-fiction book from 2017 by Timothy Snyder, "The Road to Unfreedom". Though coming up on 5 years old it still is one of the best books that comes to my mind for some insight into the crises involving Putin(AKA Russia), Ukraine, Western Democracy, and much more.
Snyder is not a simple narrative styled Historian. To get much benefit from reading his work requires one (well myself anyway) to pay attention and periodically pause to reflect on his arguments and conclusions.

Chickenhawk

The Count of Monte Cristo

Gulag Archipelago by Solzhenitsyn