Reddit mentions of IRA: The Bombs and the Bullets: A History of Deadly Ingenuity

Haven't been reading any deep strategic stuff lately, I recently finished Flak in World War II. It's a fairly light read, but I haven't seen too many books specifically focusing in on WW2 era air defense.

Speaking of air defense, or more specifically defeating air defense. I found The Hunter Killers to be a great read. It's about the development of the first "Wild Weasels" in Vietnam.

For those interested in the IED/Counter-IED aspect of insurgencies IRA: The Bombs and the Bullets is a must read IMHO. It's a history of the tools/technology and tactics used on both sides of the conflict in Northern Ireland, and it does an amazing job of breaking down the technical aspects in a way that the average person can understand.

For those interested in mercenary operations, Four Ball, One Tracer is a really cool read by a senior officer from the merc outfit "Executive Outcomes" who fought in Sierra Leone and Angola.

And I'll just throw the last four in together. All are WW2 accounts of early EOD techs (then known as Bomb Disposal). WW2 was the first time that unexploded ordnance, primarily bombs and naval mines, became a big enough problem that dedicated units were trained and organized to deal with them and modern EOD directly descends from that. If you're interested in where modern EOD got its start, these are some good reads.


Captains of Bomb Disposal 1942-1946. Covers US Bomb Disposal units in the ETO.

Courage Beyond Duty: Stories of Courage from Allied Bomb Disposal Operatives

Disarming Hitler’s V Weapons: Bomb Disposal - The V1 & V2 Rockets. The EOD side of dealing with V1s and V2s, pretty good read.

All Mine, Memoirs of a Naval Bomb & Mine Disposal Officer.