What are you currently reading ?

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

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KTravlos

Yup. Contigency plan. Due to economic dependence on the UK, by 1917 Norway was essentially a hostile power  in all but belligerency status

Steve J

The Peninsular War, A Concise Military History by Michael Glover. An excellent overview of the conflict and a great read to boot.

Terry37

Legion of Despair by Franklin Horton. The third book in his post apocalyptic  The Borrowed World series. Well written, raw and gritty, i a more real world type of presentation instead of a Mad Maxian world.

Terry
"My heart has joined the thousand for a friend stopped running today." Mr. Richard Adams

Lord Kermit of Birkenhead

Just finished Armoured Trains an illustrated Encyclopedia 1825 - 2016

Heavy going but very useful. Got it cheap on my Kindle.

IanS
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Leman

Tercios - TYW rules. Very interesting particularly the single base units. Can also see the influence of some other rules in there, eg the use of hidden order cards against a die roll to activate a unit, unit manoeuvring (very BBB, i.e. free turn on the unit's axis then move straight forward.
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Lord Kermit of Birkenhead

Not I take it Tercio the TTG set from the 70's ?
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Leman

No, this is a translation of a set produced recently in Spain - see Raph's post on his replay of Rocroi.
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kipt

Finished "Generals at War" by MG Sir Francis (Freddie) De Guigand, Montgomery's chief of staff.  This is the second book he had written, the earlier one "Operation Victory" meant he had to pull some punches as it was too close to the end of the war and he was still a serving soldier.  This book was published in 1964.

He is critical of Wavell.  He recognizes the pressures Wavell was under but faults him for his decisions, particularly when pressured by the politicians.  The decision to go to Greece seems to have been deplored by almost all military except Wavell.

He obviously talks about Montgomery (who was still alive when this book was published) but he does admire him and his methods.  however, he says Montgomery was so sure of himself that he was unaware of how others saw him.  Also discussed is Auchinleck (he likes) and Eisenhower (also likes).  De Guigand visited Ike when he was President.

Easy flowing read and enjoyable.

Steve J

White Mughals by William Dalrymple. An interesting read about the early days of the East India Company, a period I know sod all about. So far loads of ideas for small skirmish type games with Revolutionary French vs East India Company troops, aided by a wide range of interesting Indian troops. I picked the book up again after watching Beecham House on ITV which is visually stunning and easy viewing.

Poggle

Just started on A Peace to End All Peace: creating the modern Middle East 1914-1922, by David Fromkin.

mmcv

Just finished Flashman and the Redskins, in which he romps his way through the early American West having plenty of run ins with the titular natives, then jumps forward 25 years or so to get caught up with Custer. Next up will be Flashman at the Charge, though holding off on it until I start my 2mm Crimea project as it'll provide plenty of inspiration.

Some other recent notables:

Eric Cline's 1177BC, an interesting analysis of the late bronze age and the factors leading to the collapse and dark age.

The Great King by Christian Cameron, in which the hero, Arimnestos of Platea, hops about the Mediterranean trying to whip up support for the Greeks and culminates at the naval battle of Artemisium (while a famous last stand rages on the mainland). Next stop will be Sardis.

The first two books in Zoe Saadia's Rise of the Aztec series, interesting to read a fiction set in a time well before the Spanish conquest. This is off the back of becoming interested in doing an Aztec project and have since picked up a couple of osprey books on the matter and Ross Hassig's Aztec Warfare an me starting to think about unit structure and rules.

Also been working through various podcasts and lectures from the likes of Hardcore History, Great Courses and YouTube. Wondering if there should be a podcasts thread.

paulr

Quote from: mmcv on 30 June 2019, 12:53:56 AM
Also been working through various podcasts and lectures from the likes of Hardcore History, Great Courses and YouTube. Wondering if there should be a podcasts thread.

Sounds like something that should be on the resources board, similar to the You tubes finds thread
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mmcv

Quote from: paulr on 30 June 2019, 01:34:50 AM
Sounds like something that should be on the resources board, similar to the You tubes finds thread

Yup, started putting it together some bits here: http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,18803.new.html

Terry37

I just finished Franklin Horton's third book - "Legion of Despair", a post apocalyptic book. He writes very well, with a raw realistic approach. While I am waiting for the next three books in he series to arrive, I am very much looking forward to reading Stieg Larson's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". Love the movies and very much love hte character of Lisbeth, so I have been wanting to read the books for some time now. As I am writing this a statement that Rooney Mara who played Lisbeth in the American version of the book - "Lisbeth is the kind of person that you'd have nothing to do with if you met her on the street, but once you see the world from her perspective, everyone loves her".

Terry
"My heart has joined the thousand for a friend stopped running today." Mr. Richard Adams

kipt

Finished "Balaclava: Gentlemen's Battle" by John Selby. Written with many eye-witness accounts, both from the Russians and the French and British.  Well done in that respect.  Good descriptions of the combats and the operations.  I enjoyed it more than I first thought I would.  Written in 1970 so a bit old, but good.