What are you currently reading ?

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

Previous topic - Next topic

T13A

Hi

Just finished '1945 Victory in the West' by Peter Caddick-Adams. Does pretty much what it says in the title covering the last three months or so of WWII in the west. Fairly 'hefty' book with the usual mixture of personal experiences with an almost day to day narrative of which division/corps did what concentrating, not surprisingly given the amount of troops involved, on the American effort with the British/Canadian and French armies thrown in. A good read overall but I did feel that he was trying to cover too much in one volume for my tastes, I think I would have preferred seperate books on what the various army groups/armies did in the same time scale.

Cheers Paul
T13A Out!

kipt

Finished "James Longstreet and the American Civil War:  The Confederate General Who Fought the Next War" by Harold M. Knudsen, LTC (retired).  This is a new book by Savas Beatie and gives a good history of Longstreet's service during the war.

The book discusses how Longstreet used modern methods of analysis and command in his decisions.  The author says this is partly due to Longstreet being an infantry officer for his whole career.  The author essentially says that Longstreet had a better grasp of the overall war than R.E. Lee, who was an engineer officer. 

The different controversy's are discussed (Longstreet -proposing to send his Corps to the Vicksburg area, which did not happen and the Chickamauga campaign, where it did).  Also discussed is the Gettysburg campaign and the blame put on Longstreet as part of the Robert E. Lee cabal (Ewell and Pendleton) to support that Lee did not make mistakes (although he did accept blame for the final charge at Gettysburg).

In my mind perhaps a bit of force fit into modern US Military ways, but it does show Longstreet was a very good combat commander.

fsn

Just noted: Helion are doing a sale of ebooks for £4.99 today (24/7) only.

https://www.helion.co.uk/helion-digital-editions.php
Lord Oik of Runcorn (You may refer to me as Milord Oik)

Oik of the Year 2013, 2014; Prize for originality and 'having a go, bless him', 2015
3 votes in the 2016 Painting Competition!; 2017-2019 The Wilderness years
Oik of the Year 2020; 7 votes in the 2021 Painting Competition
11 votes in the 2022 Painting Competition (Double figures!)
2023 - the year of Gerald:
2024 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!

Lord Kermit of Birkenhead

FOG IN CHANNEL - EUROPE CUT OFF
Lord Kermit of Birkenhead
Muppet of the year 2019, 2020 and 2021

kipt

Finished "Uniforms & Equipment of the Imperial German Army 1900-1918: A Study in Period Photographs; Air service, Cavalry, Assault Troops, Pickelhauben, Steel Helmets, Vehicles" by Charles Woolley.

As it says, photographs.  The only text is that which describes each picture, of which there are many and all good.  There is a section in the back with drawn uniforms in color.

Raider4


QuoteAre you aware of Joe Abercrombie's"First Law Trilogy" ?
And I've just read books 2 & 3 - very good. Very good indeed.


And now I've just ordered a bunch of Pendraken goblins to use as invading Shanka . . . Not sure yet what I'll use for Union troops.

mmcv


QuoteAnd I've just read books 2 & 3 - very good. Very good indeed.


And now I've just ordered a bunch of Pendraken goblins to use as invading Shanka . . . Not sure yet what I'll use for Union troops.
I remember I enjoyed the first three books, the 3 stand-alone follow-on ones I just never got that into, can't even remember if I finished them all. Haven't tried any of his newer ones to be fair, haven't had the fantasy novel bug at all in recent years. 

Would also recommend R Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy which I was reading around the same time (though that was 10-15 years ago). Though similarly his follow-up series fell a bit flat for me.

kipt

Finished "The Journal of Military History" Vol. 86, No. 1, January 2022.

Articles include
"Will Hitler Bombard New York?" Hugo Gernsback and the Future War Tale.
Hitler's "Intuition," Luftwaffe Photo-reconnaissance, and the Reinforcement of Normandy.
High-Altitude Duel: the CIA's U-2 Spy Plane Overflights and China's Air Defense Force, 1961-1968.

And 86 pages of book reviews.

kipt

Finished "Napoleon's Paper Kingdom: The Life And Death Of Westphalia, 1807-1813" by Sam Mustafa (I did not know he was a history professor).

This book is a definitive dive into the history of Westphalia.  A kingdom set up by Napoleon, not so much for his brother, but to supply men, material and money to France.  It really shows how much Napoleon gutted the kingdom economically.

This is a very good book on the history of the times.

kipt

Finished "Seasons Of Fire: The Confederate strike on Washington" by Joseph Judge.  Good description of the battle at New Market as well as the movement on Washington.  This book covers this whole episode to the repulse and start of the retreat back to Virginia.  It does not, in any detail, continue the battles in the Shenandoah valley.

There are many "conversations" which may be the author's best guess of what was said at the time, but they do fit.  Some would be reports by persons who were there; others by hearsay(?)

I don't believe I have another book that goes into this much detail.  Well written and easy to read.

fsn



What an excellent pair of books. Very detailed with lots of illustrations.

Everything you needed to know about the Danish army ... until you find out that there's a volume 3 coming out.   
Lord Oik of Runcorn (You may refer to me as Milord Oik)

Oik of the Year 2013, 2014; Prize for originality and 'having a go, bless him', 2015
3 votes in the 2016 Painting Competition!; 2017-2019 The Wilderness years
Oik of the Year 2020; 7 votes in the 2021 Painting Competition
11 votes in the 2022 Painting Competition (Double figures!)
2023 - the year of Gerald:
2024 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!

Steve J

Does it really warrant 3 volumes? Am I just being cynical?

Anyway, currently reading Normandy '44 by James Holland. As with his other books a great read and with little snippets of interesting info here and there. Fairly flying with this due to his writing style and the fact I've read oodles of books already, so don't need to keep checking maps etc.

fsn

Quote from: Steve J on 04 August 2022, 09:48:39 PMDoes it really warrant 3 volumes? Am I just being cynical?
For me, yes. For others, no.  :)

It's an interesting and very detailed look at a minor nation. I've read contradictory things from a variety of sources, and will use these as my primary references.

The 3rd volume is about Norwegians ... so I may give that a miss.



Lord Oik of Runcorn (You may refer to me as Milord Oik)

Oik of the Year 2013, 2014; Prize for originality and 'having a go, bless him', 2015
3 votes in the 2016 Painting Competition!; 2017-2019 The Wilderness years
Oik of the Year 2020; 7 votes in the 2021 Painting Competition
11 votes in the 2022 Painting Competition (Double figures!)
2023 - the year of Gerald:
2024 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!

paulr

But what about the High Command, Line and Light Infantry 1801-1806
Lord Lensman of Wellington
2018 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!
2022 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!
2023 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!

Rhys

I've just finished a coule of books.

The E-boat threat by Bryan Cooper (1976). A good overview of the creation of the small boat fleets and actions in the Chanel and North sea during WW2. Tends to cover the pre Normandy actions better.

German Battle Tactics on the Russian Front 1941-1945. Having read a fair bit on the Russian side of the storyI was hoping that this might give me some insight into the German side of the coin. The chapters are a collection of interviews of German generals by the US army after WW2. a quick summary is unfortunately no. Also the maps are a throwback to 90's computer grafix. Not recomended.
Attack Attack Attack until;
A: They're all dead.
B: We're all dead
Delete where applicable.