What are the Forum members reading (2 Viewers)

[OzDigger]

I read several books at a time, not because I'm clever I just get bored reading the same book for too long. My wife reckons I have a short attention span - except where models are involved. I counter that if she were a 'model wife' I would pay more attention to her, I'm so glad she never reads this stuff

One of the more interesting volumes I'm currently reading is 'The Fall of France' by Julian Jackson which covers before and after the Nazi Invasion of 1940. It seems the Brits, French and Belgians spent more time fighting amongst themselves which allowed Adolph and his buddies to basically waltz in and take over a few countries for the price of one. We were lucky those stubborn Brits held out like they did.

 

[nasirkasmani]

I read several books at a time, not because I'm clever I just get bored reading the same book for too long. My wife reckons I have a short attention span - except where models are involved. I counter that if she were a 'model wife' I would pay more attention to her, I'm so glad she never reads this stuff

One of the more interesting volumes I'm currently reading is 'The Fall of France' by Julian Jackson which covers before and after the Nazi Invasion of 1940. It seems the Brits, French and Belgians spent more time fighting amongst themselves which allowed Adolph and his buddies to basically waltz in and take over a few countries for the price of one. We were lucky those stubborn Brits held out like they did.

to be honest Matt, if there were a natural bridge connecting Britain to Europe, my honest opinion stands that British Empire would have been in trouble.

At that time, Great Britain's army were stretched all across the empire, and last i read, the German's were sending feelers to the IRA to cause mayhem by terrorizing the local populace.

 

[chiefs70]

I just finished A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn The Last Great Battle of the American West by James Donovan. I have read several books on the Little Big Horn campaign but this is the best hands down. His wealth of resources - of both sides - is exhaustive and his writing style is extremely engaging. Donovan does an excellent job of presenting the information and providing a different interpretation of much of the evidence to produce an excellent and very even handed account.

I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the American Frontier Wars during the late 1800's.

Eric

 

[Louis Badolato]

I just got the newest novel by Frank Barnard, "To Play the Fox". This is the third novel by Barnard (following "Blue Man Falling" and "Band of Eagles"), himself an RAF veteran, about RAF pilots Kit Curtis (a well to do Brit) and Ossie Wolf (an American Volunteer), this one (as is obvious from the title) set in North Africa, fighting Rommel's forces. I really enjoyed the first two, and plan on dropping everything to start reading this one tonight.

Well, I finished it, and frankly, it was just allright, not good or very good like the first two novels. This book lacks the fighter pilot scenes that made the first two books so great, this time Kit is a photo-recon pilot and Ossie is mixed up in flying a captured Fiesler Storch for a hush-hush spy-commando unit. Kit's character demonstrates he hasn't learned anything about the nature of war, despite being mixed up in it for years, or the Nazi's, and Ossie again is the one that gets the job done. I give it at best 1 and a half to two stars out of 4.

 

[nasirkasmani]

i'm interested in the book IT NEVER SNOWS IN SEPTEMBER.
it's about the operation Market-Garden from the germans' perspective.
anybody read it yet?

 

[Louis Badolato]

Have any of you ladies and gentleman ever read F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack novels? As I have stated many times, my favorite authors are Rudyard Kipling and George MacDonald Fraser, but as much as I love their great characters, like Danny Dravot (the Man Who Would be King), Harry Flashman and Dand MacNeil, my favorite literary character will always be Repairman Jack. Jack is a character who, due to several early experiences culminating in the killing of his mother by a teenager's prank, decides to live "off the grid" without a social security number or an official identity, "fixing things" for a living. When the police or other representatives of officialdome fail to bring justice, for a fee Jack is happy to "fix" things -- Jack's law of social dynamics states that for every action, there should be an equal and opposite reaction, but sometimes that doesn't happen without a little push, and that's where Jack comes in. Jack is introduced in a horror novel entitled "The Tomb", wherein he gets mixed up with the supernatural horrors known as "Rakosh" - the Indian version of the boogie man. The novel takes you from the Indian Mutiny (where an ancestor of several of the characters, including Jack's client and his unofficially adopted daughter murders a family of Hindu priests/priestesses [who happen to be the keepers of the Rakosh] in order to steal a fortune in jewels, thereby launching the revenge of the surviving family members, children at the time on his decendents) to Manhattan in the 1980's. During "The Tomb", you also learn the history of Jack, and how he became a "Repairman". This book has been followed up by several others, some involving the supernatural, others involving straight "fix it" jobs. I recently read a "prequel" called "Jack" which takes place when Jack is a 13 year old boy, and which ties Jack to other characters from F. Paul Wilson's books (a common practice - Jack's father was a sniper trained by Sgt. Nacht, a character from Nighkill). If you like either Horror or action adventure, I highly recommend this series!

 

[lancer]

i'm interested in the book IT NEVER SNOWS IN SEPTEMBER.
it's about the operation Market-Garden from the germans' perspective.
anybody read it yet?[/
i read this title years ago when it first came out. you will not be dissapointed in it. it is the best Arnhem title on German viewpoint. combine with A Bridge Too Far and you get a real good picture of the whole operation from both sides.-- lancer

 

[nasirkasmani]

i'm interested in the book IT NEVER SNOWS IN SEPTEMBER.
it's about the operation Market-Garden from the germans' perspective.
anybody read it yet?[/
i read this title years ago when it first came out. you will not be dissapointed in it. it is the best Arnhem title on German viewpoint. combine with A Bridge Too Far and you get a real good picture of the whole operation from both sides.-- lancer

A Bridge Too Far was excellent.

thanks lancer, i'll check Amazon for pricing then.

 

[uksubs]

i'm interested in the book IT NEVER SNOWS IN SEPTEMBER.
it's about the operation Market-Garden from the germans' perspective.
anybody read it yet?

Picked the book up of ebay but not read it yet + the other twenty books I've got on Market-Garden
I'm just started reading Sturmgewehr book witch is all about the Mp44

 

[L Flowers]

Besides "A Bridge Too Far", Cornelius Ryan also wrote "The Last Battle" abut the Battle of Berlin.

For music lovers out there, you might want to check out "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Timothy English. He writes about stolen melodies, ripped off riffs and as he puts it, "The secret history of rock and roll". A lot of surprises and it is a quick read.

 

[HistoryfortheAges]

"The Crucible of War" which concerns the French and Indian War and seeds planted for the American Revolution.

 

[chiefs70]

I have now started reading Blossoms in the Wind: Human Legacies of the Kamikaze by M.G. Sheftall. The book is an in-depth look at culture that spawned the kamikaze and delves into the psyche of the men who took up its cause in the name of country and honor. So far it is quite an interesting look which reveals the humanity of kamikaze pilots - from honor to fear to duty.

Eric

 

[nasirkasmani]

I have now started reading Blossoms in the Wind: Human Legacies of the Kamikaze by M.G. Sheftall. The book is an in-depth look at culture that spawned the kamikaze and delves into the psyche of the men who took up its cause in the name of country and honor. So far it is quite an interesting look which reveals the humanity of kamikaze pilots - from honor to fear to duty.

Eric

sounds great Eric.

whilst i despised Japan's WW2 atrocities, there is no getting away that what the Kamikaze pilots did smacked of the highest possible sacrifice to the country.

A big pity them and the waffen SS were on the wrong side.

 

[theBaron]

...A big pity them and the waffen SS were on the wrong side.

I agree, I think those units represent examples of how the human capacity for self-sacrifice can be enlisted, like so many other of our nobler qualities, in the service of the evilest of causes.

 

[marco55]

I'm just started reading A Voyage Long and Strange about the early explorers In North America.You would be suprised how many people think nothing happened in North America until Jamestown,Quebec and Plymouth were founded.
Mark

 

[bromhead]

Just Finished "Shrouds of glory,atlanta to nashville w Hood", started " war without mercy" race and power in the pacific war,,American and Japanese racial drawings,propaganda,films,cartoons and documents of the time.

 

[chiefs70]

I agree, I think those units represent examples of how the human capacity for self-sacrifice can be enlisted, like so many other of our nobler qualities, in the service of the evilest of causes.

Good point, Brad. I think your observation points to why many of us have an interest/fascination with soldiers who fought on the "losing" side. Most of us on this board are citizens of countries who, in the last 70 years, have engaged in a war/conflict which generally had a sort of justifiable action (however tenuous that may be in some cases) and we tend to be fascinated by those we see as serving a morally questionable position. As all things in life, the "why" is a very complicated thing that rarely draws its motivation from politics or ideology as much as the soldier's sense of self and concept of duty and self-sacrifice for family and friends.

Eric

 

[Combat]

Just finished "For the Thrill of It" by Simon Baatz. Recounts the famous murder case of Leopold and Loeb in the 1920's. Interesting story, but not much new here.

 

[lancer]

finished "For Cause And For Country: A Study of the Affair at Spring Hill and the Battle of Franklin". written by Jacobson & Rupp. an outstanding account. in my opinion, the best account that has been done.-- lancer

 

[sammy719]

I'm just finishing up reading (My Fathers War) a very nice book,it really gives a perspective on what our fathers who fought in WWII went through, and the problems alot of them faced when they came home, it really hit home with me because my father hardly ever talked about the war and he was in Europe FROM 44-46 and saw alot of crazy stuff from what my older brothers told me, so the book was not only a good read but very informative on questions I had about my father......Sammy