What are the Forum members reading (1 Viewer)

Currahee Chris said:
Currently reading "Lawrence in Arabia"- I cannot seem to put this book down- if anyone out there is looking for a terrific read on the man and a very comprehensive over view of the circumstances surrounding his "War", this is your book!!!
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Started The Seven Pillars of Wisdom many yrs ago but never finished. Chris
 
Ordered Gary Schroen's First In. He was CIA station chief about to retire and asked to stay on to lead CIA effort to aid the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan after 9/11. Portrayed briefly in the move 12 Strong, which I saw today. Chris
 
.....my continuing reading through the period of the AWI has recently consisted of getting to grips with the events of the Southern Campaigns……starting with some general histories…..each of which are definitely recommended….

“From Savannah to Yorktown – The American Revolution in the South” by Henry Lumpkin……a slightly over-sized book, filled with illustrations (a good percentage of which are coloured)…..and a selection of maps….nicely written and easy to follow….but please don’t take that to mean it lacks any sufficient informative detail of the events….

“This Destructive War – The British Campaign in the Carolinas, 1780-1782” by John S. Pancake…..a very fine book…..plenty of detail…..I liked the inclusion of area maps printed to the inside of the front and rear covers which certainly helped with my poor level of the geography of the States….

“The Road to Guilford Courthouse – The American Revolution in the Carolinas” by John Buchanan……the level of detail in this book took things up to a higher level….certainly for the stories involving each of the main leading characters, regarding their strengths & failings as leaders….I appreciate the fact that this was done in an even-handed way for both sides….a thoroughly engaging book……and of these three books, this one certainly brought home just how much of a ‘civil war’ the Southern Campaign was….

….the next book will be: - “A Devil of a Whipping – The Battle of Cowpens” by Lawrence E. Babits……which is the start of reading singular battle related histories….
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Just purchased to read in 3 weeks time when the GLW (good lady wife) and I take a weeks R&R in the High Country at Bright. For those of you who have seen the movie "The Man From Snowy River" you will understand the countryside we will be relaxing in.

(1) Cannister On, Fire by Bruce Cameron. A two volume set on the Operations of the Royal Australian Armoured Corp in Vietnam.

(2) Thunder Of The Hooves by Kenneth Hollis. The history of the 12th Light Horse Regiment from establishment, thru Gallipoli and Gaza/Beersheba campaigns.

(3) Allenby's Gunners by Alan Smith. British Artillery action in the Sinai/Palestine theatre of WW1 including Gaza/Beersheba.

All three books about my two of my favourite subjects, The Australian Light Horse and Aussies In Vietnam especially Tank/Cavalry operations.

Cheers Howard
 
….the past few weeks of reading have included the following fine AWI related histories…

“A Devil of a Whipping – The Battle of Cowpens” by Lawrence E. Babits
“Long, Obstinate, and Bloody – The Battle of Guilford Courthouse by Lawrence E. Babits & Joshua B. Howard

….both books convey the events on the day of each battle in a manner that was both engrossing and detailed……exactly what I needed to bring to life this period of the AWI….and by keeping my reading in a sequential order, I have just (this morning) finished reading…

“The Guns of Independence – The Siege of Yorktown, 1781” by Jerome A. Greene

….I thoroughly enjoyed how this book flowed, with step-by-step details of how the combined American & French armies closed in around Cornwallis at Yorktown, then pulled in the noose and laid out the many redoubt & battery locations and offers a fine example of the use of 18th century artillery en masse…..a quality battle history book……nice maps supported by many photo’s…..

…but it doesn’t end there….not yet…..history kept going…..and hopefully the next book will help explain that.....tonight’s reading is to be:-

“After Yorktown – The Final Struggle for American Independence” by Don Glickstein

...my learning journey regarding the history of the AWI has personally been very rewarding...

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Just got done "the Killer Trail"about the Voulet-Chanoine Central African Mission in 1898-99 which ended up with these officers murdering a superior officer and they themselves being murdered by their own troops and the political scandals that followed. Now I am starting Tippu Tip,a arab-swaheli Zanzibari slaver who carved out a large kingdom in the Congo.
Mark
 
marco55 said:
Just got done "the Killer Trail"about the Voulet-Chanoine Central African Mission in 1898-99 which ended up with these officers murdering a superior officer and they themselves being murdered by their own troops and the political scandals that followed. Now I am starting Tippu Tip,a arab-swaheli Zanzibari slaver who carved out a large kingdom in the Congo.
Mark
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Hi.
Judging by the depth of your titles I guess you have also read King Leopold's Ghost and Heart of Darkness. Am I correct?
MikeNick
 
Just started Peter ackroyd’s Foundation. It’s the first book in his history of England series. I started with the English civil war and am. Is going backwards. This one starts with “cave men”!
 
Recently finished rereading 'Overlord' by Max Hastings, which I really like, and am currently reading Robert Leckie's 'Strong Men Armed', about the USMC in the Pacific. In the pile to be read, I have recently added a trio of books on the 1943 battle for Kharkov. The first one is a detailed study by George Nipe,'Last Victory in Russia: The SS-Panzerkorps and Manstein's Kharkov Counteroffensive February-March 1943'. It was published in 2000 by Schiffer and is the usual good-quality production on slick paper and well illustrated. It is 368 pages. The second title is more focused on a single unit, 'Platz der Leibstandarte: The SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Division "LSSAH" and the Battle of Kharkov January-March 1943' by George Nipe & Remy Spezzano. It is a 2002 publication by RZM Imports. Has very high production values, slick paper, heavily illustrated, 295 pages. It has 8 color portraits to go with the biographical sketches of 8 key figures that include Hausser, Dietrich, Meyer, Wunsche, Witt, Stadler, Weiser, and Peiper. It is a beautifully done book that is more photo than written history. The third book is very much a photo history, 'The Battle of Kharkov: Winter 1942-1943', by Jean Restayn. Published in 2000 by Fedorowicz, it is 410 pages, slick paper, and illustrated with photos on almost every page, with a color section that has some armor, aircraft, insignia profiles, and maps. None of the 3 books can be called inexpensive but shopping around and patience can save you some bucks. Unfortunately, the book 'Platz der Leibstandarte' was a somewhat limited printing and can be quite pricey but will be worth it to the East Front/Kharkov enthusiast. -- Al
 
….I have finally reached the end of my quest to learn about the events of the AWI…….not that I’ve actually given up reading books on the subject…..any future AWI books will be to sharpen up on the finer detail…

…the last official book in my pile was:- “After Yorktown – The Final Struggle for American Independence” by Don Glickstein……a revelation for one who previously thought that the affair ended with Yorktown….

“After Yorktown” is a wonderfully engaging collection of short chapters covering a multitude of AWI events spread out across the globe….from the final (un)civil conflicts in the South and the vicious actions along the Frontier, to battles in the Caribbean, to Gibraltar, and then the last AWI related battle in far off India between the American allies and the British…..not simply a ‘colonial’ conflict, it was truly a ‘global’ conflict….
Definitely a recommend read….

….I also found time today (a dreich day) to read:- “The West Point History of the American Revolution”….released quite recently…..the book itself is profusely illustrated with lots of colourful images and maps…..a nice enough basic overview on the subject (when compared to the more detailed books that I have read)……more of a ‘coffee table’ kind of book….it does have approx. 30 pages of notes that provide a good list of more books to read…
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Cairnbeg said:
….I have finally reached the end of my quest to learn about the events of the AWI…….not that I’ve actually given up reading books on the subject…..any future AWI books will be to sharpen up on the finer detail…

…the last official book in my pile was:- “After Yorktown – The Final Struggle for American Independence” by Don Glickstein……a revelation for one who previously thought that the affair ended with Yorktown….

“After Yorktown” is a wonderfully engaging collection of short chapters covering a multitude of AWI events spread out across the globe….from the final (un)civil conflicts in the South and the vicious actions along the Frontier, to battles in the Caribbean, to Gibraltar, and then the last AWI related battle in far off India between the American allies and the British…..not simply a ‘colonial’ conflict, it was truly a ‘global’ conflict….
Definitely a recommend read….

….I also found time today (a dreich day) to read:- “The West Point History of the American Revolution”….released quite recently…..the book itself is profusely illustrated with lots of colourful images and maps…..a nice enough basic overview on the subject (when compared to the more detailed books that I have read)……more of a ‘coffee table’ kind of book….it does have approx. 30 pages of notes that provide a good list of more books to read…
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After Yorktown sounds very interesting and I may pick up that one. Thanks for the review. I am waiting delivery of The Shoemaker and the Tea Party. An account by an actual participant in that epic event of the prelude to the AWI. Also getting The Men Who Lost America, views from the British side of the war and Washington's Crossing, Pulitzer Prize winner of the New Jersey campaign, which save the American army from defeat. Chris
 
Just finished The Saga Of Smokey Stover. USN Wildcat and Hellcat pilot. Participated in Midway, Guadalcanal, and Truk battles with 4.5 victories. Shot down by flak over Truk Feb 1944, washed ashore, captured and beheaded with 6 other fliers. He left a diary and can be seen in scenes from the '44 film Fighting Lady which was used to write his story in '68. Includes pictures of mother and father at a plaque dedication to their son on the USS Yorktown in 1958. Chris
 
All,

Fatal Treasure by Jedwin Smith, a super intense story about Mel Fischer's quest for the Spanish Galleon the Atocha. I love treasure stories. This is a quality respite since the last four months have been reading academia books and journal articles like:

Perpetual Menace by William Walker
Assessing the Quality of Democracy by Diamond and Molino
Making Democracy Work by Robert Putnam
Mandates and Democracy by Susan Stokes
The Logic of Collective Action by Mancur Olsen
Nuclear Statecraft by Francis Gavin
Liberal Democracy and Political Science by James Ceaser
*Confronting the Bomb by Lawrence Wittner
Presidential Impeachment and New Political Instability in Latin America by Anibal Perez
Forecasting Nuclear Proliferation in the 21st Century Volume 1 AND 2 by Potter and Mukhastzhanova
*Stalin The Court of the Red Czar by Simone Montefiore
*Children of Light, Children of Darkness by Reinhold Neibuhr
*Alexanders Schlotzenytzen's 1978 Harvard Commencement Address

Plus...I don't know another 20 or so journal articles.

John from Texas

*Very good reads outside of Academia
 
Just got my hands on a book I've had on my list for a while. It is written by John Tully, co-author of 'Shattered Sword'. The book is titled 'Battle of Surigao Strait', one of the 4 separate actions that make up the whole Battle of Leyte Gulf. It was published in 2009 by Indiana University Press and is 329 pages with maps and ills. It is the story of the last surface battle between capital ships of WW2 (and since, for that matter). Thrilled to have gotten this, and as it is the only real separate book on the action at Surigao, I look forward to it's contents. -- Al
 
lancer said:
Just got my hands on a book I've had on my list for a while. It is written by John Tully, co-author of 'Shattered Sword'. The book is titled 'Battle of Surigao Strait', one of the 4 separate actions that make up the whole Battle of Leyte Gulf. It was published in 2009 by Indiana University Press and is 329 pages with maps and ills. It is the story of the last surface battle between capital ships of WW2 (and since, for that matter). Thrilled to have gotten this, and as it is the only real separate book on the action at Surigao, I look forward to it's contents. -- Al
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Read that one (Surigao Strait) last yr and think you will like it Al. Chris
 
…this was my alternative to what the rest of the world was doing (watching the football)….only because we’re not there!

…enjoying the sunshine (and a glass or two of a Balvenie 12), reading through a couple of books by David Fletcher…

“British Battle Tanks – World War I To 1939”……a well-illustrated history of the invention of the ‘tank’…what a shock it must have been to see these lumbering metallic beasts crossing the deadly trench systems….

…the above is being followed by – “British Battle Tanks – British-Made Tanks Of World War II”…Matilda’s, Crusader’s, Valentine’s, Churchill’s, Cromwell’s, etc….

…there is to be a related third release later this year, covering the British ‘US-Made’ tanks…..

…all-in-all, a well-written coverage of the important British tank developments of the first half of the 20th century….

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Just finished reading James Comey's A Higher Loyalty . . . the best read I've had for a long time. Politics aside, it is a primer on integrity and leadership that should be required reading for everyone aspiring to management. These are the values taught by my family that have both served me well and caused much frustration by those who did not accept them. My father, a senior officer in the USNR, provided little direct guidance as to leadership, but what he did was invaluable: (1) Take care of your people, (2) Listen to your Petty Officers, and (3) Never ask your people to do something you wouldn't do yourself. This is essentially what Comey did both in the Department of Justice and the FBI. As to the politics . . . it's a strong tsestimony as to why we need statesmen and women and not politicians at all levels of government.

Bosun Al
 
Right my nephew and I are reading Geoffroi de Charny’s “The Book on Chivalry”

For those not familiar, he was a 14th Century knight who fought and died at Poitiers while defending the French King and the Oriflamme. Many Englishmen fell to his sword while trying to capture both. Many on both sides of the Hundred Years War considered him the epitome of knighthood and chivalry.

Do members have recommendations on books about Poitiers, Agincourt and the whole conflict?
 
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