What are the Forum members reading (2 Viewers)

Just finished "Braddock's Defeat" by Charles Hamilton.

A compilation of two eye witness journals and one orderly's book of their recorded events of the Battle of Monongahela.

Kind of interesting......the accounts vary enough on their recorded information to allow three different points of view and several different aspects of the campaign from work details to the actual fight.

Each diary or journal speaks for itself as to what the writer considered pertinent to his personal account of what he saw.

Can't really recommend it other than the diary entries are unique and add a personal flavor to the campaign.

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I just started White Devil by Steven Brumwell, it looks promising.

The beginning is a very detailed account of the history of St. Francis and the Abenakis way of life.

Graphic in detail on Indian raids and atrocities against colonials and settlers.

It is very detailed in how alliances were formed by Indians and French.

I have learned so much about the Abenakis culture and way of life from it.

I'm pretty sure the latter part of the book is devoted to Robert Roger's raid on St. Francis and his nightmarish journey home with detailed accounts of being captured, tortured and cannibalism while escaping from the pursuing Indians in the frozen wilderness.

Slow, by author's style...........but good reading, lol...........only 1/2 through, but it's my kind of book.

I recommend this one so far.
 
Completing "Dien Bien Phu" (but i have already read "The Last Valley" , the definitive book on the theme) by Howard Simpson , and i'm reading the first chapters of "Empire" by Niall Ferguson, till now is really interesting, a break from the military literature.
 
"The Invasion of Japan" alternative to the bomb,,PROFessor not general ,John Skates.
An admitted revisionist view that the invasion "would not have been so bad" most likely due to the Professor not being in an LCI in the first wave at Kyushu. To my surprise his analysis and definiton of Ketsu -Go almost agrees with mine,national suicide,,so I agree there. The rest of the book is a large salt grain,a re read from my stored collection which im now and thankfully unstoring.
 
Bromhead: haven't heard of that one, will have to check it out. I checked on Amazon.com for you and STRONG MEN ARMED is available new in paperback or used in hardback. As you know, it IS one of the best books ever written on the subject. I think Robert Leckie is a tremendous author, and I think he will be one of the marines featured in Hanks/Spielberg epic new series coming out...................Stryker
 
Just finished reading Walter Borneman's "1812" and am now reading his "The French and Indian War." Both are clear, concise narrative histories. Good "starter" books which contain some details not otherwise found in weightier tomes.:D:D
 
"Utmost Savagery,,The three Days of Tarawa",,,another re read,,very great detail and both side planning etc by the Author Col J H Alexander USMC..A revelation and bit of tragedy being the Pearl harbor meeting in advance of the attack. The three hour limited bombardment and control of the Regt in Reserve by Holland Smith and Nimitz, rather than Commanders on the scene. leading 2nd Div Commander Gen Julian Smith to request to "be absolved of responsibility For the landing plan" rather then what He .David Shoup and Merritt Edson had proposed. Gen Smith also requesting Gen H Smith to put the orders in writing which he did. The result being the battle plan discarded and orders given to engage in a full frontal assault.
 
Burn the Town and Sack the Banks by Cathryn Price . . . an easy read about a Confederate attack on St. Albans, Vermont in October of 1864. (Also the fact that many Canadians sympathized with the South during the American Civil War, which I don't really remember learning about when I was younger.)
 
I've resumed reading "Patriot Battles", if for no other reason than that I don't like to put a book down unfinished, once I start reading it. But my initial impressions have not changed, and I do not recommend this book for anyone looking for new information about how the Continental and British armies of the 18th Century were recruited and armed and how they fought. Not only does the author draw on sources that we all probably already have in our libraries. he also draws on conflicts from later periods for material to describe such items as how muskets worked, or how dismal medical science was. And he can't refrain from editorializing. For example, his chapter on the role of women in the army starts with the line, "George Washington had a problem with women." I wrote in the margin, "What the heck kind of inflammatory statement is that to make?"
It's a terrible book, a waste of $17, and I find it hard to believe the author edited any serious works of military history, but apparently, he did.

But finish it, I will.

Prost!
Brad
 
mikemiller1955 said:
Just finished Like Hungry Wolves by Stuart Reid.
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It's the Crowood Press Book?How are the plates?By the way i finished "Empire"by Niall Ferguson..really reccomended,great book, seen from an economic point of view, but not heavy with datas and numbers, fascinating description of the British Empire from its humble birth ("a lapse of mind") to its demise.Now i started reading "Sahib" by Richard Holmes, an author i appreciate much,havin' read Redcoat and Tommy.
 
Just picked up The Siege of Krishnapur (Sepoy Mutiny) and The Princes (the latter takes place right after the mutiny).
 
Just finished the latest Courtney/Ballantyne saga "Assegai" by Wilbur Smith. It takes place in British East Africa with the Kings African Rifles at the dawn of WWI. Includes the faithful Masai warriors who stick by Leon Courtney till the end. Another glorious read by the master, who's about 85 now, and needs to start crackin' before he kicks the bucket. Not too much sex in this one either;)
Mike
 
I just finished "The First Wave" a Billy Boyle WWII Mystery (the second book of 4). I enjoyed it, so I ordered the 1st and 3rd books in the series. The premise is that Billy Boyle was a Boston cop, and only 1 week after he was promoted to detective, the Japs bombed Pearl Harbor. He is a distant cousin of Ike, then an unknown general, so his mom calls in family favors to get him on Ike's staff as a Lieutenant involved in security/investigations. In the first book, he has an unauthorized adventure in Norway resulting in his making friends with one of the other main characters, a Polish Count, having a tempestuous relationship with another main character, a Torpedo Boat commander, and falling in love with a British Girl (I haven't read it yet, so I can't give you any further details). In the second book, he is involved in covert activities during Operation Torch, and ends up having to solve several murders, break up a viche french smuggling operation stealing precious pharmaceuticals (including pennicillin, then a wonder drug), and rescue his British lover, an SOE agent.
 
theBaron said:
Re-reading "A Bridge Too Far". I enjoy Ryan's books immensely.
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That's a good book and more accurate than the movie version, but no surprise there I guess considering how movies are made.

Anyhow, I'm re-reading Blitzkrieg - From the rise of Hitler to the fall of Dunkirk by Len Deighton - still the best book on the subject.
 
I'm a bit bookaholic in this period so i started (by the way i'm half of the book) "The ****ed United" by David Peace..i didn't know the characters of the book and i knew only some of the players of Leeds United 1974 ,for instance Joe "Squalo (Shark)" Jordan who later played for my team in the 80's..or Billy Bremner..never heard of Brian Clough i admit, but in this work of fiction the critics say his personality is well portrayed.It' s one of the best sport fiction i read..and i can't wait to see the movie (already ordered in dvd).
 
I have read the Harry Turtledove series, the series starts in 1881, the South won has the Civil War and the series ends in 1945. In the first World War the North is allied with Germany. Also during this period the North gains the upper hand, a neo-nazi party comes to power in the South. World War II is fought and each side has the A-bomb.

There are 11 eleven books in the series. Has anyone else read this series?
 
Deitz said:
I have read the Harry Turtledove series, the series starts in 1881, the South won has the Civil War and the series ends in 1945. In the first World War the North is allied with Germany. Also during this period the North gains the upper hand, a neo-nazi party comes to power in the South. World War II is fought and each side has the A-bomb.

There are 11 eleven books in the series. Has anyone else read this series?
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Yes, I have finally finished "In at the Death", took me forever to go through the books. It is a great series that really twists the major wars around: War World I, II, and the Spanish American War. Turtledove is a historian and he really enjoys putting famous military personality in "what if" situations, such as the speech to the troops by a defeated Patton or how Gen. Lee acted after he won the Civil War.

Have you read his "World War" Series where an alien race invades Earth in 1942? Talk about bad timing on the poor alien's part with most of the major armies of the world fully mobilized.
 
Mascleo said:
Yes, I have finally finished "In at the Death", took me forever to go through the books. It is a great series that really twists the major wars around: War World I, II, and the Spanish American War. Turtledove is a historian and he really enjoys putting famous military personality in "what if" situations, such as the speech to the troops by a defeated Patton or how Gen. Lee acted after he won the Civil War.

Have you read his "World War" Series where an alien race invades Earth in 1942? Talk about bad timing on the poor alien's part with most of the major armies of the world fully mobilized.
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I have read the "World War" series, I liked it, some interesting turns. I have the books for the Pearl Harbor series, have not read them as of yet.
 
Finished "A Bridge Too Far" Friday night, so I continued the Ryan theme, and re-read his "The Last Battle", about the fall of Berlin at the end of the war.

Now it's time to track down some of the titles some of you have mentioned, and read something new.

Oh, and I finally finished "Patriot Battles". I still would not recommend it, but it did get a little better, as Stephenson got into more factual descriptions of the major campaigns. It was harder to let his political bias work its way into descriptions of strategic moves, I suspect. But I don't think there was any new research or detail in that book, that isn't already available elsewhere, in better depth.

Prost!
Brad
 
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