Which one book sparked an interest in military history or collecting ?

[Escht]

For me it was THE BITTER WOODS ,  sat in the school library reading this book back in the early 70's.  It sparked an interest in me for the Ardennes that 50 yrs later is still there........ 3 yrs after first seeing this book on the library shelf I was walking the actual area for real....... back in 1974 the Ardennes was almost a forgotten battlefield.  I was amazed that I could read about a small unit action and then go and stand on that spot and still find traces of equipment , munitions and positions........... my main ara of interest was the Northern Flank of the battle and surprisingly I never bothered too much with Bastogne.......... always felt like it was too populated unlike where I was used to walking around forests for hours on end.

[Longhorn92]

Wore this book out when I was in elementary school. It’s still on my shelf.

[stratasfan]

Oh . . . this:

 

 

We got this at a library booksale when we were young, and it sat for years, and then about 15 years ago, I really wanted to read on the French Resistance, and picked it up. This this in massive! I worked on it and plowed through. took me almost a year (especially as I had to take a month off it when I read Oradour). I think this is amazing and still has a prized place on my special shelf. :) Definitely the thing that shot me into my passion for the FR! 

[CPT Tuttle]

Mine was "Up Periscope" by Robb White, published in 1956 and later made into a pretty good movie starring James Garner and Alan Hale ("Skipper!").

 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

For me it was this book:

 

Published in 1983 it had a huge number of photographic examples. (Years later, as a more experienced collector, I found that some of the identifications of American items were incorrect. But, on balance, still a great book!)

[BILL THE PATCH]

This was my big influence

[Proud Kraut]

Concerning collecting it were these two books (plus the German issue of "Military Collectables", Cobra6 already has posted).

 

 

 

 

[Hookemhorns88]

I have always been interested in history but did not get into "military" history until I read "Here is Your War" by Ernie Pyle.  I bought it for $4.00 on December 14, 1991.  His style of writing about the common soldier, making it personal, got me interested in learning more so I started reading all about the War.  My great uncle (WW2 vet), learning of my interest in the War, gave me all of the items that he had from the War which got me started and hooked on collecting.

 

The below images are of that book:

 

[Doctorofwar]

Colby books had a big influence on me. Out of the many he wrote, these two probably got read and reread the most and sparked my interest in collecting.  I’m thankful that my elementary school libraries always had a good supply of these books to keep my young self occupied.  

[Persian Gulf Command]

In 1976 I ordered a Mohawk Arms Inc. catalogue from my Military Modelers.  I remember saying to myself  "wait you mean you can buy real WW2 items?".  Up until that moment I thought the only way to see these things was in my dad's foot locker or in the movies.  If only I knew that I should have bought everything I saw in the catalogue when it arrived.  It didn't matter because my dad would never have allowed me to spend any money on that stuff.