Brad, I found Lundstrom's books on The First Team and the companion one on the Guadalcanal campaign to be very good reads. Good writer. Shattered Sword is a fantastic work and a game changer in understanding why Midway unfolded the way it did. Possibly my favorite WW2 book. -- Al
What are the Forum members reading (6 Viewers)
- Thread starter Deitz
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Combat
Brigadier General
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"One of Us" - an interesting account of the massacre in Norway a few years back. Some parallels to the Timothy McVeigh OK City attack and recent incidents. The books focuses not only on the nut behind the attack but also his victims.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/25/the-inexplicable
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/25/the-inexplicable
theBaron
Major
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Parshall and Tully give a strong acknowledgement to Lundstrom, that his research inspired them to take a new look at the battle in the way that they did. Whenever I'd read "Shattered Sword", it would occur to me to get "First Team". I've had it on my wish list at Amazon for a while, but only now acted on it. I also picked up a Philip K. Dick anthology, too, so you can see, I'm all over the place.
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Brad
Lol. So am I. Military history is my thing, but good Sci Fi will catch my attention too. I like Heinlein, Herbert, Bradbury, Dick, Howey, and others. Also a Robert E. Howard fan, who did a lot of work outside of Conan. -- Al
Just finished a new book on the Lafayette Escadrille called "First to Fly: The Story of the Lafayette Escadrille, the American Heroes Who Flew for France in World War 1", written by Charles Bracelen Flood. I was disappointed in it. It is the first book length treatment of the Escadrille that I have seen done in a while (not counting Osprey and Albatros efforts) and I was expecting better things. The book is choppy. It contains 30 chapters in only 266 pages, including introduction, bibliography, and index. Some of the chapters are as brief as 3, 4, or 5 pages, hardly room to develop the subject. There are some anecdotes of interest and a couple of lesser known photos, but on the whole there are several older, far superior histories of the Escadrille available. I would opt for Flammer's 1981 book "The Vivid Air", Herbert Molloy Mason's 1964 "The Lafayette Escadrille", or Ed Jablonski's 1966 "Warriors With Wings". There is also the bible on the subject, "The Lafayette Flying Corps" by Nordhoff and Hall (authors of "Mutiny on the Bounty" fame) that is 2 volumes and just recently become available in PB reprints. -- Al
Just finished one and now into another. The finished one is 'Mitsubishi Zero: Japan's Legendary Fighter' by Peter Smith. I enjoyed this book for what it is, a written history of the Zero from birth to death. It is not a technical history and is only minimally illustrated with a section of photos. Smith has done a lot of research in terms of names, numbers involved, and actions engaged. The only complaint I have is the editing could have been better. Some sentences are oddly constructed and some just don't make sense and there are some glitches in number conversions, but nothing major. The book I am now reading is a book called 'Stay the Rising Sun: The True Story of the USS Lexington, Her Valiant Crew, and Changing the Course of WWII' by Phil Keith. Just started this history of CV-2 but so far it has been well done. About half the book appears to be the Lexington's involvement in the Battle of the Coral Sea (quite naturally) and I look forward to this section but I am still in pre-war activities. There is a section of photos and a Order of Battle for Coral Sea. There is an odd editing error in the photo section where there are two photos of Lexington's flight deck, the first purporting to be taken at 11:30 hours on May 8, 1942, while under attack and the second purporting to be taken at 1700 hours, same date, as the crew prepare to abandon ship. In reality they are the same picture, cropped a little differently. Don't know which time is correct. -- Al
ivanmoe
Command Sergeant Major
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Lundstrom's two books really focus on USN fighter squadrons. Because there were just eight such squadrons at the start of the war, there were, likewise, a limited number of pilots to man the approximately 150 aircraft on hand. This characteristic of naval aviation, circa 1942, allows the author to drill down pretty deeply into the subject matter. A particularly poignant aspect of the books are the brief eulogies that Lundstrom extends to each pilot-casualty as he is lost. If a flyer is shot down, dies in a hospital, or simply disappears, Lundstrom pauses and memorializes the decedent. These are likely the best detailed and well documented books that will ever be written on the subject.
-Moe
Terp152
Major
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Finishing book two, Finders, Keepers, of new Stephen King trilogy (book three not yet written) on audio book during drive to work. Good std detective series thriller, no super natural stuff.
Finished Snow and Steel, about battle of Ardennes and now half way into J Eisenhower's Bitter Woods. Always wanted to read that classic account. Chris
Finished Snow and Steel, about battle of Ardennes and now half way into J Eisenhower's Bitter Woods. Always wanted to read that classic account. Chris
Today I received one of the more interesting and really neat books that I have gotten in a while. It is called "The Gettysburg Cyclorama: The Turning Point of the Civil War on Canvas" by Chris Brenneman and Sue Boardman. It is 220 pages and is heavily illustrated with photos of the battlefield and the paintings from the cyclorama itself. It is really interesting and I highly recommend this book if you have any interest in Gettysburg and the cyclorama. The best part for me is the photos that were taken to base the painting on. These photos are then compared with the battlefield today and the cyclorama itself. The painting has been refurbished and the resulting new detail is fantastic. I had no idea that the painting had such detail and just how accurate it is. Great book. -- Al
Terp152
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Thanks for the review Al. Will be adding this one to my list. Visited the Gettysburg Cyclorama, and the one at Atlanta many times over the yrs. Always impressed with both. Chris
Terp152
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AL, rec'd my copy and very interesting history of the various Cyloramas. Looking fwd to seeing the refurbished Gettysburg Cyclorama. Have you seen the Atlanta version of the battle of Atlanta? Thanks again for the recommendation. Chris
theBaron
Major
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I finished the "Lost Regiment" series up through Book 8. Now I'm reading my way through, "The Philip K. Dick Reader", an anthology of short stories, including, "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale", "The Minority Report", and "Second Variety", which were all made into feature films, along with his "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"
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Brad
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Brad
Glad you liked the book, Chris. I really enjoyed it. I have not seen the Atlanta cyclorama in person and have only seen snippets of it in pictures. Like to see someone do a book treatment like the Gettysburg one. -- Al
Blackbob
Specialist
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Hello the World,
I am currently reading:-“ Fred’s War, A Doctor in the Trenches”. If you don’t know it would highly recommend. It is based on the photographs taken by Fred Davidson, who was the medical officer of 1st Cameronians and Robert Money an officer with the battalion, covering this battalions part in the early stages of WW1. These photographs were taken against orders from the high command but were probably quietly approved of by their commanding officer, who appears in a number of the pictures. You may also recognise some of them as being held by on file by The Imperial War Museum or used as front cover images by authors writing about WW1. It is written by Andrew Davidson who is Fred’s grandson. The pictures capture the manner in which soldiers had to live, fight and sadly for the man at the front too often die. It was interesting to read that on occasion officers refused to follow stupid commands given by those not aware of the circumstances that were prevailing at the time.
Douglas
I am currently reading:-“ Fred’s War, A Doctor in the Trenches”. If you don’t know it would highly recommend. It is based on the photographs taken by Fred Davidson, who was the medical officer of 1st Cameronians and Robert Money an officer with the battalion, covering this battalions part in the early stages of WW1. These photographs were taken against orders from the high command but were probably quietly approved of by their commanding officer, who appears in a number of the pictures. You may also recognise some of them as being held by on file by The Imperial War Museum or used as front cover images by authors writing about WW1. It is written by Andrew Davidson who is Fred’s grandson. The pictures capture the manner in which soldiers had to live, fight and sadly for the man at the front too often die. It was interesting to read that on occasion officers refused to follow stupid commands given by those not aware of the circumstances that were prevailing at the time.
Douglas
theBaron
Major
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I'm now in the middle of "A Whisper in the Reeds: The Terrible Ones-South Africa's 32 Battalion at War". I knew of the guerrilla war in South-West Africa, but I never read any detailed accounts of any actions in it. It's a very interesting account of the experiences of a signals officer and his tour, including the Battle of Savate. I recommend it highly.
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Brad
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Brad
Enjoyed the heck out of 'Stay the Rising Sun'. Lots of details pre-war that I didn't know and some wartime details I wasn't aware of, as well. Well worth the purchase and time to read. Some minor stuff I found really interesting like the fact Robert Heinlein (author of Stranger in a Strange Land) served aboard Lady Lex and the not so minor part Stanley Johnston (author of Queen of the Flat-tops) had in almost exposing the fact that the US had cracked the Japanese codes. Liked the pre-war 'Fleet Problems' section. All in all a great read. -- Al