What are you reading?

Slogan · Post by **Slogan** » Sat Jul 13, 2002 1:15 am

I am currently reading Masters of War: CLassical Strategic Thought by Michael Handel, which compares and contrasts Sun Tzu and Clausewitz.

Note to Mojo and Oggidoggi: if you liked Sacks' book try also Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain by Antonio R. Damasio. He is a clincal pschycologist has had some patients with the types of disorders that Sacks writes about. Volume one is still in print but I was unable to get a copy of Volume two.

Code Talker · Post by **Code Talker** » Sat Jul 13, 2002 2:15 am

I'm currently reading Blackhawk Down, Charles MacDonald's A Time for Trumpets, which is just an incredible work on the Battle of the Bulge, and for my Vietnam fix I have my nose buried in Keith W. Nolan's Into Cambodia.

Nemesis · Post by **Nemesis** » Sun Jul 14, 2002 1:02 am

I'm currently reading "Haukka, minun rakkaani", a finnish book by Kaari Utrio. The book is not translated, but the translated title would be something like "Falcon, my beloved". It's set in the ancient Finland. At first I thought it was a "chick-book", but my girlfriend persuaded me to read it. And it's a really good book!

Mojo · Post by **Mojo** » Sun Jul 14, 2002 2:04 am

Thanks for the tip Slogan. I'll look for it:)

Tankhead · Post by **Tankhead** » Sun Jul 14, 2002 2:32 am

Cool tread

I have just finish reading The Fall of Saigon by David Butler and currently reading Into The Storm A Study In Command by Tom Clancy with General Fred Franks, Jr. (Ret)

Good way to get some new books from this tread.

Thanks guys

davewolf · Post by **davewolf** » Sun Jul 14, 2002 2:43 am

Just started reading "Vineland" by Thomas Pynchon.

WarBuddy · Post by **WarBuddy** » Sun Jul 14, 2002 7:18 am

Right now, I'm reading two books.

One is "The War in the Pacific", by John Costello. Its a one volume account of the entire Pacific war. (Huge book of course)

The other is "Alexander The Great and His Time", by Agnes Savill. I have come to realise that Alexander The Great was the greatest tactician, leader, and had the most powerful of personalities to have ever lived. This is an exellent account of his life. Pick it up, a must have!

Mojo · Post by **Mojo** » Sun Jul 14, 2002 7:32 am

Originally posted by WarBuddy
Right now, I'm reading two books.

One is "The War in the Pacific", by John Costello. Its a one volume account of the entire Pacific war. (Huge book of course)

The other is "Alexander The Great and His Time", by Agnes Savill. I have come to realise that Alexander The Great was the greatest tactician, leader, and had the most powerful of personalities to have ever lived. This is an exellent account of his life. Pick it up, a must have!

I recently picked up Costello's book too and am about a third of the way through it as well as Bergerud's "Fire in the Sky".

Both of which were recommended earlier in this thread I think and both excellant. Thanks guys:D

okke · Post by **okke** » Sun Jul 14, 2002 2:31 pm

I've just finished:

'Een andere kijk op de slag om Arnhem - De snelle Duitse reactie" (A different view on the battle for Arnhem - The swift German reaction) by Peter Berends
and:
"De gans is gevlogen" (A translation of The Grey Goose of Arnhem) by Leo Heaps

Currently I'm reading:

"Arnhem" by R.E. Urquhart
and:
"Grijs verleden" (The grey past) by Chris van der Heijden

msaario · Post by **msaario** » Thu Jul 18, 2002 11:41 am

Reading, browsing, depending on how much time I've got...

1) IJN Aces 1937-45, Henry Sakaida, Osprey #22
2) Meine Flugberichte 1935-1945, J Kaufmann
3) Japanese Naval Aces and Fighter Units in WW2, Hata/Izawa
4) Caesar, T.A. Dodge
5) My daily newspaper

--Mikko

Beatposse · Post by **Beatposse** » Thu Aug 01, 2002 11:36 pm

I just finished [FONT=arial]Koba the Dread: Laughter and the Twenty Million[/FONT] by Martin Amis. If you want a good intro to Stalin and how he happened, it is a great book. If you already know a lot about him I doubt you would find it very interesting.
Several months ago I read [FONT=arial]The Gulag Archipelago[/FONT] by Solzhenitsyn. This book makes my skin crawl. Every sentence makes me love the freedoms we have in America more and more. You have no idea how bad living in Russia was until you read this book.
Right now I am reading Shirer's [FONT=arial]Rise and Fall of the Third Reich[/FONT]. It is a classic, but I haven't read enough to say anything about it.
I love the Finnish troops , the Sissi (snow ninjas), and playing as the Finns in ASL and SP:WAW. I have wanted to read about these fighting men for several years, but have not been able to find an english language book about them. Can any of you guys out there suggest one? Particularly one about Suomussalmi?

Mad Cow · Post by **Mad Cow** » Fri Aug 02, 2002 3:44 pm

Originally posted by fud

I also recently finished the first volume of the new Hitler biography - Hubris - and started on the second volume - Nemesis. I can't remember the author right now, but it's a good read.

Ian Kershaw...

AFIntel · Post by **AFIntel** » Sat Aug 03, 2002 2:46 am

Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan by Clay Blair, Jr. (the '76 edition). I picked it up from a Public Library book sale for 50 cents:)

Les_the_Sarge_9_1 · Post by **Les_the_Sarge_9_1** » Sat Aug 03, 2002 3:17 am

Yep that's where most of my library treasures come from, sources that were just giving it away in the end.

So many of my fav books cost me less than a dollar.

Bernard · Post by **Bernard** » Sat Aug 03, 2002 1:04 pm

Finished "Le livre noir du communisme : 100 Millions de morts"
Boring in the end but half the book is on russian communism : crazy to read how they destoyed everything and everybody, organized starvation, etc.
also a book on Churchill (forgot the author - a french i think"
right now on "the blue nowhere" by J.Deaver (serial killers), Baudloino (umberto Ecco - action takes place in Byzance 1200) and the Piano (autobiography of a jew in Warsaw 1940-1945.
All good.
Finished the shark mutiny by Robins - not worth 1 cent.

Kraut · Post by **Kraut** » Sun Aug 18, 2002 2:15 pm

My favorite author is Harry Turtledove. His speciality is Alternate History, but he also writes Fantasy.

A real classic is "Guns of the South"; white supremacists from South Africa use a time machine to supply General Lee with AK-47.
The South then wins the war, but that is just beginning of much more interesting developments.

I especially like the "World War" series. During World War II aliens invade earth, the former enemies are forced into an uneasy alliance. Turtledove makes the most of this scenario, a host of viewpoint characters, some fictional, some historical gives the story a gripping, personal feel.

There also is a sequel series, "Colonization", where aliens and humans have worked out a very unstable equilibrium, at leat at the beginning. Also highly recommended.

In the "Great War" series the South has again won the Civil War, this time without any Science Fiction trappings. As a consequence,
there is "Second American Civil War", in which the South again preserves its independence. The North later enters World War I on the side of the Axis powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey) the south on that of the Entente (Great Britain, France and Russia).
This series is due to its subject matter very bloody, you may feel a little shell-shocked after reading it.

Right now I'm reading his "Darkness" series. It is a kind of World War II set on another planet where magic works. Her he mixes
Alternate History with Fantasy. Sounds a little strange, but it works very well.

Here's Turtledove's website:
http://www.sfsite.com/~silverag/turtledove.html

I'd like to add that I'm in no way associated with Harry Turtledove (or his agent).

I just like his books.

Les_the_Sarge_9_1 · Post by **Les_the_Sarge_9_1** » Sun Aug 18, 2002 4:25 pm

Jerry Pournelle (spelling approx.) has a series I have in paperback (not new, got em in the late 80's), called There Will Be War.

This is considered required reading by me for all that would assume they have seen it all.

It's anthologies of military slanted sci fi. Interspersed throughout though, is chapters devoted to actual science.

Each book was dedicated to military fiction with a basic theme. The first was more or less terrestrial. But the series goes on to explore planetary space ie earth moon, and then inter solar, and then onwards from there.
Think I have like 9 novels of specifically geared themes.
That and I have some alternate timeline variations on the original series.

All told, I have never once while scanning major book retailers, found a series even able to come close to equalling this one.
It features some of the biggest names in the best of writings from the past.

Kraut · Post by **Kraut** » Sun Aug 18, 2002 4:35 pm

Hello Les,

your spelling of Pournelle is correct.
He has another series going, based on his Sparta series of books.
The series is called War World, to which a lot of science fiction authors have contributed. I'm not sure if this series is finished or if there are going to be more installments.

By the way, Pournelle has been and still is a columnist for Byte for many years.
Besides his solo sf he has written many books in collaboration with Larry Niven.

Here's the link to his web site:

http://www.jerrypournelle.com/

Regards

ananias · Post by **ananias** » Sun Aug 18, 2002 11:03 pm

I´ve been reading "Hitch-hikers guide to galaxy" by D. Adams and just finished reading "Gorinsho" by Miyamoto Mushashi.

I´m about to start reading Sun Tsu´s "Art of War" (again).

fontenoy · Post by **fontenoy** » Sun Aug 18, 2002 11:49 pm

I am currently reading"No End Save Victory" an anthology of writers who contribute to Military History Quarterly.It offers a lot of viewpoints on WW2 that I haven't seen in print before.

By the way does anyone remember a series of novels,printed in the 70's(When I read them)about an SS Panzer Regt.I believe the gentleman who wrote them was named Leo Kessler.Very enjoyable.Does anyone know where I might find them?Thank you.
Regards,
Fontenoy.