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Im not sure what level youre at, but I assume undergrad (sorry if Im wrong!) There is actually a huge movement in history, it got started in the 80s and 90s, called the post-modern approach to history. I think A LOT of postmodernist historiography is bullshit, but they do have one or two good ideas. One thing they do do, which is useful, is they question what a source is, exactly? As Im sure youre aware, most "modernist" (or traditional) history is based off of primary sources, which are written documents usually found in archives. Postmodernists argue that those sources are no better than an oral source, a picture or painting, an artifact, etc.

What that means for you, is you could base your paper (research) off of Oral sources, if you so choose. Now, I dont know what kind of university the U of Ill. is, but some historians dont really accept this school of thought. Thus, Id strongly recommend you ask your professor before using non-traditional sources in a paper. But if they OK it, you could do oral interviews of your Moroccan classmate, her family, and other members of the local Moroccan community. Then, instead of writing the "Be-all-end-all Military history of the Spanish-Moroccan War", youd writing something like "The Moroccan War in the popular memory of Moroccan-American immigrants." or something like that. It changes the story, but if youre locked into that topic, itd be an excellent way to go. If you do decide to take the popular memory route, I would also recommend reading History Wars: The Enola Gay and Other Battles for the American Past. The book discusses popular memory in the context of World War Two, and the Atomic Bombings. It discusses the tension between historians, some of whom say the bombings were immoral or even criminal, and people who experienced the event (or were related to veterans, who experienced the event), whose popular memory is different. Its an interesting discussion, which at its heart discusses the conflict between what we, as historians, say, and what people remember about an event.

But regardless of what you do, GOOD LUCK! If you have any questions, reply to this comment, or PM me, and Ill help as I can.

OK- Here is the crash course for learning what SOG was, what they did, and how they did it, written by the few men who actually survived!

There is a FANTASTIC new book called wE few just came out and is fantastic. Manages to intertwine constant humor with suicidal missions. author is legit hilarious at the right times, and somber when things went wrong, 100% top recommend.

And you can never go wrong with Secret Commandos, and

Across the Fence

on the ground

SOG

The Dying Place

By Honor Bound: Two Navy SEALs, the Medal of Honor, and a Story of Extraordinary Courage The SEAL Tom Norris was a part of MacvSOG, and his feats are the most amazing from the entire war

whiskey tango foxtrot) RT Alabama had 12 men facing off against over 3000 NVA for an entire day

SOG Chronicles: Volume One

Stryker, Black, Plaster, and Norris have been active in telling the story of SOG for a few decades after it was all declassified in the 90's.

Not many historians have that nice, rolling narrative style of Mr. Foote. It's so easy to read and it tells the story in a compact, but intimate way with a focus on the people and their motives.

To answer your question I would look at histories written by journalists such as Barbara Tuchman - Guns of August. I also like S.C. Gwynne's Empire of the Summer Moon, Hampton Sides Blood and Thunder, and Ghost Soldiers. Lot's of good narrative histories out there - just keep looking and share any new good ones with Reddit! Good luck!

Thanks for your help mate.

While he was serving in Greece? I do not. My assumption is whatever advisory unit we sent there. During WWII and campaigns in Europe, he was in the 3rd U.S. Infantry Division (North Africa, Italy, Southern France into Germany). A division is a large element, so I am not sure what his experiences in that might have been that led onto the assignment in Greece.

On a side note, further research online has led me to these:

Dissertation covering U.S. advisory in Greece as part of series of analysis of similar U.S. efforts: https://calhoun.nps.edu/bitstream/handle/10945/47833/15Dec_OLavin_Brian.pdf?sequence=1

This book: https://www.amazon.com/Instilling-Aggressiveness-Advisors-Leadership-1947-1949/dp/1500500186

Although I think I found come criticisms online of the central theme of the book (Theme: Greek military found success because of US advising, Criticism: Greeks largely did that on their own). I cannot find the criticism now. The book seems pretty old- I wonder if one can find it online for free?

Thanks again.

The Iraq War is an older book about OIF but is well written and my old BN actually is in there by name for what we did in Basra in 03'. Thunder Run is a good book focused specifically on the 2003 invasion before Iraq turned into an endless quagmire,

https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Victories-Memoirs-Hitlers-Brilliant/dp/0760320543
Very good book in my opinion, FM Erich von Manstein was Hitler's greatest strategist

Yes.

See: http://www.amazon.com/Sowing-Dragons-Teeth-Byzantine-Dumbarton/dp/0884022242

This is a historical military manual that includes very detailed plans for heavy cavelry attacks. The used a wedge but a blunt one:

> __ oooo

> _oooooo

> oooooooo

Part of the troupes were lancers other carried maces. The book also includes analysis on how effective it was militarly and things like that.

You might look into Indian military history & armor of India. I don't know anything about it but it looks like it might be interesting.
For ex http://smile.amazon.com/Arms-Armour-Traditional-Weapons-India/dp/8174363408/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0X83C0YPPAJ187XJJQCB