What are the Forum members reading (3 Viewers)

[Cairnbeg]

...finally found the time to finish reading :- "Benedict Arnold's Army, The 1775 American Invasion of Canada during the Revolutionary War" by Arthur S. Lefkowitz.....it was nice to read a more factual account of this period of the AWI.........especially after recently reading the wonderful fictional account:- "Arundel" by Kenneth Roberts...nice to compare both styles...both good books...

...as I am recent to the study of the AWI I can only assume that all the AWI details in the Lefkowitz book are correct.....not so for details relating to a Scots officer at Quebec, who was previously involved in the Jacobite Rebellion....(wrong dates of battles and incorrect detail about the 'King of England')...but that's just me being über nit-picky....

...moving on to the next stage of the AWI with:- "The Battle of Brooklyn 1776" by John J. Gallagher...

...so far I am pleased with the selection of AWI related books that I have read....based on recommendations from others...(thanks for those!)

 

[Terp152]

Finished The Great Bridge (Brooklyn Bridge) and started Walter Lord's The Lonely Vigil about the Coast Watcher's service. Written in 1977, so he was able to interview many of the actual participants. To be followed by Martin Clemens Alone On Guadalcanal. Ordered Frist Team At Guadalcanal and pre-ordered The Fleet At Flood Tide by James Hornfischer, Pacific War 1944-1945. Chris

 

[lancer]

Finished The Great Bridge (Brooklyn Bridge) and started Walter Lord's The Lonely Vigil about the Coast Watcher's service. Written in 1977, so he was able to interview many of the actual participants. To be followed by Martin Clemens Alone On Guadalcanal. Ordered Frist Team At Guadalcanal and pre-ordered The Fleet At Flood Tide by James Hornfischer, Pacific War 1944-1945. Chris

I really enjoyed The Great Bridge. Incredible what the bridge builders went through. -- Al

 

[ivanmoe]

Ordered Frist Team At Guadalcanal[...]

Chris, as a precursor to this one, I'm sure that you must have read The First Team. "Part 2" is similar in that the world of USN fighter squadrons is still quite small and intimate, revolving around only a handful of units. Every combat action gets analalyzed and every loss briefly memorialized. What's so different is the nature of the action itself. As carriers get lost, Wasp and Hornet sunk, Saratoga and Enterprise disabled, the VF are put ashore to help defend the island. Instead of the "raids" or "battles" that typified the first six months of the war, the struggle becomes one of attrition. Lundstrom conveys this masterfully in his very satisfying exposition of the combat and the participants. It's a terrific book and a great read.

-More

 

[Terp152]

Chris, as a precursor to this one, I'm sure that you must have read The First Team. "Part 2" is similar in that the world of USN fighter squadrons is still quite small and intimate, revolving around only a handful of units. Every combat action gets analalyzed and every loss briefly memorialized. What's so different is the nature of the action itself. As carriers get lost, Wasp and Hornet sunk, Saratoga and Enterprise disabled, the VF are put ashore to help defend the island. Instead of the "raids" or "battles" that typified the first six months of the war, the struggle becomes one of attrition. Lundstrom conveys this masterfully in his very satisfying exposition of the combat and the participants. It's a terrific book and a great read.

-More

Thanks Moe, looking fwd to reading this one. Chris

 

[Cairnbeg]

...finished with "The Battle of Brooklyn 1776" by John J. Gallagher...a fine book with good maps and nice illustrations....a recommended read...

...next, "Under The Guns, New York 1775-1776" by Bruce Bliven Jr...1st Edition HB from 1972....direct from New York itself....I couldn't find a suitable edition in the UK....I like the inclusion of the fold-out period map....all the better to help with the detail of the story...

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[Cairnbeg]

….in hindsight I should have read "Under The Guns, New York 1775-1776" by Bruce Bliven Jr before "The Battle of Brooklyn 1776" by John J. Gallagher….the dates on the covers of the books should have been clue enough….but never mind, in doing so I didn’t disrupt the reality time-line continuity, or some such thing! :wink2:

…anyway, what am extremely fine and well written book “Under The Guns” turned out to be…..lots of detail, written in a very engaging manner, much different from the purely military / battle AWI books that I have read so far…

…this book helped to give me a good perspective of what the inhabitants of New York City faced during 1775-76, the decisions that were considered….up to the point of the announcement of the Declaration….ending with the sails of the British fleet appearing between Staten Island and Long Island, leading eventually to the Battle of Long Island / Brooklyn….

…I was so taken by the style of writing by the author, Bruce Bliven Jr, that I now have an earlier book of his to read, “Battle of Manhattan”, printed in 1956……hardback, consisting of only 128 pages….

 

[theBaron]

Over the past three weeks, I read, "A Game of Thrones" (it was OK, sort of Tolkien for contemporary American adult audiences-explicit sex and cussing) and a re-read of Christopher Duffy's "The Army of Frederick the Great" (this gives me inspiration to paint). Right now, I'm reading Nicholas Monserrat's "The Cruel Sea", it's pretty good. The novel definitely has the tone of the author's own experience, and his time and place.

Prost!
Brad

 

[BHogan]

Just finished Tim Cook's At the Sharp End, which covers the exploits of the Canadian Corps from 1914 until the end of the Battle of the Somme. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the Great War! I'm taking a break from the First World War to read Nick Lipscombe's Wellington's Guns, which covers the Royal Artillery in the Peninsular War and Waterloo. After I've finshed reading Lipscombe's book, I'll read Cook's Shock Troops, which covers the Canadians from the end of the Somme to the end of the war. Lots of reading ahead!

Cheers,

Brendan

 

[Cairnbeg]

...what an absolute joy it was to have read "Battle of Manhattan" by Bruce Bliven Jr......128 pages of wonderful writing, period landscape drawings, great maps on the inside of the end covers of the battle.....a gem of a wee book...

...moving on to the next (more meaty) book, "Washington's Crossing" by David Hackett Fischer...been looking forward to reading this....

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[theBaron]

I just finished "The Cruel Sea" last night. It's a good novel, and Monserrat depicts service aboard the small escorts in the North Atlantic pretty vividly. And the story has some punches, that hit just like events hit real people during war. It makes me want to get his other books. I'm waiting, though, for a two-volume biography of Washington to arrive, "All Cloudless Glory", and that'll be my next read.

Prost!
Brad

 

[bradleyl30]

I just finished "The Cruel Sea" last night. It's a good novel, and Monserrat depicts service aboard the small escorts in the North Atlantic pretty vividly. And the story has some punches, that hit just like events hit real people during war. It makes me want to get his other books. I'm waiting, though, for a two-volume biography of Washington to arrive, "All Cloudless Glory", and that'll be my next read.

Prost!
Brad

I loved that book by Monserrat. Thanks for reminding me of it.

 

[Terp152]

Finishing The Fleet At Flood Tide, by James Hornfischer. Good material on the Marianas Campaign but rushes thru Philippenes, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.
Just rec'd three vols of eight of Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Good reference material for all commissioned USN ships.
Chris

 

[lancer]

Just got a new book called "Pickett's Charge: A New Look at Gettysburg's Final Attack" by Phillip Tucker. I'm a couple of chapters in and I am already hugely enjoying this read. Thomas takes to task the assumption that it was a doomed assault from the get-go and so far he is making an outstanding case for the assault being well thought out, planned, and nearly successful. It is very interesting. -- Al

 

[Terp152]

Just got a new book called "Pickett's Charge: A New Look at Gettysburg's Final Attack" by Phillip Tucker. I'm a couple of chapters in and I am already hugely enjoying this read. Thomas takes to task the assumption that it was a doomed assault from the get-go and so far he is making an outstanding case for the assault being well thought out, planned, and nearly successful. It is very interesting. -- Al

Al, you can never read too many books on Gettysburg. ^&grin Chris

 

[lancer]

Al, you can never read too many books on Gettysburg. ^&grin Chris

A collector could make a lifelong pursuit of just the books done about Gettysburg. I believe there are over 30,000 that have been done. I have around 18. ^&grin -- Al

 

[Cairnbeg]

...finished reading "Washington's Crossing" by David Hackett Fischer....it certainly helped with my learning of the affair of Trenton and Princeton....lots of detail...especially with the many appendices.....and because these particular events are viewed as a 'turning point' in history my next book will cover the same subject...

...it appears on many recommended lists....first edition printing from 1973..."The Winter Soldiers" by Richard M. Ketchum...I have already read one of Ketchum's earlier books, "Decisive Day - Bunker Hill"...so it seems natural to follow it with this....

...my home library is rapidly filling up with many AWI books still to be read.....lots to learn, and enjoying it all...

 

[Go for Broke]

Just finished reading, The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien. A very different Vietnam war book with hardly any fighting. The book starts off with what kind of equipment a platoon carries, how much and its weight...food, ammo, grenades, weapons, etc. But what the book is really about, is how the soldiers react to different events in the war. As the book unfolds, The Things They Carried, was the war in their heads. I highly recommend this book.
I also read, If I die in a Combat Zone by the same author. Not as good as, The Things They Carried. I see myself reading this book again.

 

[hotel3alpha]

Just finished reading, The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien. A very different Vietnam war book with hardly any fighting. The book starts off with what kind of equipment a platoon carries, how much and its weight...food, ammo, grenades, weapons, etc. But what the book is really about, is how the soldiers react to different events in the war. As the book unfolds, The Things They Carried, was the war in their heads. I highly recommend this book.
I also read, If I die in a Combat Zone by the same author. Not as good as, The Things They Carried. I see myself reading this book again.

GFB,

Read The Things they Carried by Tim O'Brien in college and was stunned by the book. We spend a week deciphering the ending in class. Excellent read.

John from Texas

 

[Go for Broke]

I know a Vietnam combat veteran and this book and others really help me understand PTSD. The anger. The anxiety. I don't interact with him anymore. I couldn't take it, but always think of him and care about this guy. We used to go hunting and we'd get out of the truck like we were in a hot LZ. His war stories were better than most war books. He went through a lot.