What are you currently reading ?

Started by goat major, 03 November 2012, 06:40:05 PM

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Hertsblue

Picked up a copy of Short Stories by Guy de Maupassant from a charity stall in Southend a couple of weeks ago. Some of the stories seem vaguely familiar - I put that down to various BBC productions over the years - but the man could write!
When you realise we're all mad, life makes a lot more sense.

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FierceKitty

...and did he ever hate Germans!
I don't drink coffee to wake up. I wake up to drink coffee.

Leman

Just finished Quintin Barry's Franco-Prussian War Vol.1 as a sort of refresher course.
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cameronian

Quote from: kipt on 30 July 2014, 04:18:12 AM
Just finished "A Mad Catastrophe: The Outbreak of World War I and the Collapse of the Habsburg Empire" by Geoffrey Wawro.  Its amazing how bad, naive, unprepared, delusional the Austrian leadership was.  Even though I know the history, one expects the Austrians to collapse before 1915.  Only thing that saved them in the beginning was the bad logistics of the Russian Empire (later it was the Germans that saved them).  Conrad was worse than McClellan in my mind, and I don't like McClellan.

Please, please, please do NOT believe everything you read in Wawro; he is frequently wrong and always predudiced against Austria; I haven't read his book but I would bet money its stuffed with derogatory comments about the non German races of the Monarchy. His book on the Austro Prussian war is ruined by poor scholarship and appalling bias.
Don't buy your daughters a pony, buy them heroin instead, its cheaper and ultimately less addictive.

cameronian

Quote from: Dour Puritan on 30 July 2014, 11:14:14 AM
Just finished Quintin Barry's Franco-Prussian War Vol.1 as a sort of refresher course.
Have you read Prof Howard's book on the FPW, now that IS good.
Don't buy your daughters a pony, buy them heroin instead, its cheaper and ultimately less addictive.

Leman

Whatever you do don't read Wawro's book on the Franco-Prussian War. It's awful and full of very elementary mistakes, like forgetting that the Prussian Garde du Corps existed. On the other hand Michael Howard's book is still the best single volume overview of the war. essential for any FPW gamer.
The artist formerly known as Dour Puritan!

cameronian

Don't buy your daughters a pony, buy them heroin instead, its cheaper and ultimately less addictive.

Techno

Listening to...."Vespasian....Tribune of Rome." (Robert Fabbri)
Damn fine, so far !
Thanks, Ray.
Cheers - Phil.

kipt

"Please, please, please do NOT believe everything you read in Wawro; he is frequently wrong and always prejdudiced against Austria; I haven't read his book but I would bet money its stuffed with derogatory comments about the non German races of the Monarchy. His book on the Austro Prussian war is ruined by poor scholarship and appalling bias."

I thought he was pretty even handed in his treatment of the nationalities.  His family comes from the old Austria-Hungary - eastern Galicia - so perhaps there is some bias, but not recognizable to me.  I have the Austro Prussian book but haven't read enough other books to comment on poor scholarship and bias.


"Whatever you do don't read Wawro's book on the Franco-Prussian War. It's awful and full of very elementary mistakes, like forgetting that the Prussian Garde du Corps existed."

Not sure what part you are talking about here.  The chapter on Gravelotte references the Prussian Guard on pages 170, 173, 175, 176, 177, 179.  Granted he discusses Steinmetz a lot, and how he got hammered, but he hasn't forgotten the Guard in this chapter.

Not defending him, but the writing style works well as far as I am concered.

Leman

The Garde du Corps was a cavalry regiment.
The artist formerly known as Dour Puritan!

Hertsblue

The cavalry regiment from a status point of view.
When you realise we're all mad, life makes a lot more sense.

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kipt

My mistake for reading too fast.  And I have the unit painted.

howayman

Reading The Battle of the Narrow Seas by Peter Scott.
WW2 small ships shooting the hell out of each other at 50 yards and 30 knots.
10mm MTBs anyone?

Lord Kermit of Birkenhead

Bit big those - but 1/3000th I have.

IanS
FOG IN CHANNEL - EUROPE CUT OFF
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Hertsblue

Wow! 1/3000th destroyers are small enough.... 
When you realise we're all mad, life makes a lot more sense.

www.rulesdepot.net