What are you currently reading ?

[Scorpio_Rocks]

Phoenix Squadron by Rowland White.

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/100/1007911/phoenix-squadron/9780552152907.html

Great "True Story" about the British mission to protect Honduras in 1970's, featuring my all time favourite aircraft - the Blackburn Buccaneer!

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Great book

[kipt]

Finished "Armies and enemies of Louis XIV: Volume 1 - Western Europe 1688-1714: France, Britain, Holland" by Mark Allen.  As it says on the back cover, "This book originally saw the light of day a a long running series of articles in Wargames Illustrated in the late 1980s."

A uniform boo with the listing of regiments for the countries named as well as illustrations.  Printed by Helion.

[kipt]

Finished "War in the East: A Military History Of The Russo-Turkish War 1877-78" by Quintin Barry.  I like his books.

Good explanations, relatively good OB's, maps a bit small in scale (or my eyes aren't as good as they used to be).

Easy to read and about a period I know next to nothing, so I enjoyed it.

[kipt]

Finished "The Campaign of Waterloo" by John Codman Ropes.  I don't believe I had read it before and was impressed with the arguments he makes regarding who was responsible for what.  Ney and Grouchy don't come off well, but then neither does Napoleon.

Fast read for me being interested in Napoleonics.

[kipt]

Finished "Allenby's Gunners: Artillery in the Sinai & Palestine Campaigns 1916-1918" by Alan H. Smith.

This covers more than Allenby's command time. It is broken into three narratives; Narrative One: Background to April 1916.  Narrative Two: November 1917 to May 1918 and Narrative Three: May 1918 to November 1918.  It also has 8 appendices listing OB's and the battery makeups.  It gives ammunition expenditure and a technical section of the gun types.

A good history overall with an emphasis on the trials and exploits of the various batteries, including RHA, RFA, Heavy and Siege as well as the Brigades they were attached to.  Also gives credit to the RFC and how they progressed.

Good read with maps (which could have been a bit more clear) of the overall campaign.

[paulr]

Sounds interesting

[Raider4]

7TV 2nd edition rulebook, which I discovered yesterday is a free download from Crooked Dice.

[Orcs]

Just read Dunstan by Conn Igguldon.  It was only hallway through that I realised it was a novelisation of an actual historical person.  Its a cracking read

[kipt]

Finished a great little book "Men Under Fire" by R.W. Thompson. He was the war correspondent of the "Sunday Times" and a war feature writer of the "Kemsley Newspapers". The book appears to be written immediately after WWII but there is no date.

The stories are his time with the troops of the 21st Army Group. He had been an intelligence officer but was released to be a correspondent. He landed at Normandy in August 1944 and from then until the end figures he wrote 200,000 words for the papers in 12 months as well as driving 30,000 miles mainly in a Jeep with his driver.

His writing really captures the gritty feel of the troops and the times. His descriptions of the wealthier, the terrain and the feelings are great. At the end he does go through the Nazi camp at Belsen and has such a feeling of horror of what had occurred and such a hatred of the Germans that it really comes through his writing. It is amazing with so many witnesses and pictures that there are Holocaust Deniers.

I doubt that it has been reprinted or that copies would be easy to find (this was given to me by a friend) but if you do it would be well worth the read.

[kipt]

Finished the January 2020 issue (#62) of the "Gettysburg Magazine".

Articles this issue include
James Longstreet and the Third Day: "We Were Not Hunting for Any Fight" which has convincing arguments that Longstreet was not dragging his feet for Picket's Charge and did not try to pass off responsibility for that fight.
Howard at Gettysburg: A Reappraisal
"I Should Not Be Surprised If They Cross the River Tonight": A Resolute Lee vs. A Reluctant Meade, July 13, 1863
The Making of an artillery Officer: Major John Cheves Haskell at Gettysburg

and others.  Always well done with pictures and excellent maps.

[Raider4]

The Hordes of the Things rulebook, 2nd edition (a free download from the WRG website about 10 years ago. Doesn't include the army lists but everything else is there).

Damn you Terry37 and mmcv!

[mmcv]

The Hordes of the Things rulebook, 2nd edition (a free download from the WRG website about 10 years ago. Doesn't include the army lists but everything else is there).

Damn you Terry37 and mmcv!

It's all Terry's fault!

[kipt]

Finished "British Generalship in the Twentieth Century" by Major-General E.K.G. Sixsmith.

The title defines the book.  Well written and easy to read.  The author sets out to "examine the military thinking and tactical ability of all British commanders of note between 1899 and 1945."  Does a pretty good job of it.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

How bad were they ?

[kipt]

>How bad were they ?<

The author was a serving officer and worked with several of the generals in the book.  He was nice to most of them, talking about their good sides.  He did bring up areas where perhaps they lacked drive or aggressiveness, but overall didn't "ding" anyone.

[kipt]

Finished "Command and Leadership: 1721-1815" edited by Andrew Bamford.  A Helion book from the proceedings of the 2018 Helion and Company 'From Reason to Revolution' conference.

Interesting insights into the French in North America, leadership identity in the Hapsburg officer corps 1740 to 1790, Portuguese engineers inthe Peninsular War, a couple of chapters on the Jacobite rebellion and early Revolutionary wars into Egypt.

[mmcv]

Just finished Hydrogen Sonata the new book by Iain M Banks. Most enjoyable, classic Banks and in this one the Culture Minds take centre stage, more so than a human character.

Sad that there'll be no more.  

Edit: just realised I'd somehow clicked on a page from years ago and not noticed the dates... Morning brain

[FierceKitty]

Morning, Brain

Are you pondering what I'm pondering, Pinky?

[FierceKitty]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqMs9WsJg2k