Current Read

[Ossian]

The Clay Pigeons of St-Lo by Glover Johns,

Manstein - Hitler's Greatest General by Mungo Melvin,

and, like everyone else it seems Neptune's Inferno.

also got the war memoirs of David Kenyon Webster arriving in the next couple of days. I'm looking forward to that one.

[James Fennell]

Sunburst: rise of Japanese naval air power 1909-41 - great book

[LeeChard]

A reread for me: 'Lonely Vigil' by Walter Lord. The story of the coastwatchers in the
Solomons

[Skyros]

Just finished Zimm's pearl harbor book and looking for something new.

[Heeward]

I'm glad I started this thread, saw a lot of old titles that I have either in storage, and looking forward to retrieving this month, or read long ago.

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: Ranger5355
A reread for me: 'Lonely Vigil' by Walter Lord. The story of the coastwatchers in the
Solomons

Thanks for the mention, Ranger. I'll read this next. Those coastwatchers were tough guys.

[James Fennell]

I guess ghiven the nature of this forum we are gonna speak aboput what we are rrading on the pacific! Whne I got WiTP AE last year I didn't know much about the pacific theatre, so i set about a little library - this is what i have so far.... suggestions would be great - so excellent ones so far.


Pacific War Atlas - Ian Smurthwaite National Army Museum - a real gem for the uninitiated, well written and lots of fab maps.
The Pacific War 1941-45, John Costello. Hmmm comprehensive but so anti-Brit that I found it hard to read without getting all patriotic and irritated...(although criticisms are probably justified in many cases)
Eagle Against the Sun, Ronald Spector - excellent (a few phrases that are pure WiTh in here - must have been read by designers1)
Burma: the longest war 1941-45 - Louis Allen. This is a beautifully written book and a must on CBI - a fabulous account.
The Unforgettable Army: Slim's XIV Army in Burma. Michael Hickey. Not so well written but a lot of detail.
The aforementioned Sunburst by Mark Peattie - a really excellent academic study of the rise of Japanese naval air power. I'd like to read more Peattie.
Allies Against the Rising Sun: Nicholas Sarantakes - a much more blanaced and thoughtful account than Costello of the often fractious relationship between Britain, Aus, NZ and the US - with an excellent section on the joint BPF and USN ops in 1945.
I had the forty books on the Japanese, US and British armies - which are useful reference, as are a couple of volumes of Conways All the World Warships covering the period 1906-1952.

I would like some good accounts of the PNG, Solomons and Island hopping campaigns and the war in China - thoughts?

[ilovestrategy]

ORIGINAL: LST Express

Just started Lost in Shangri-La, about a plane crash in the New Guinea jungle towards the end of the war, a jungle survival story.

Good read. I enjoyed it.

[James Fennell]

cheers for Neptune's Inferno, just got it on kindle - looks foxtrot alpha bravo!

[Blacksheep]

Just starting "Attack on Pearl Harbor" by Alan D. Zimm.

[Pascal_slith]

ORIGINAL: Stringbag

I guess ghiven the nature of this forum we are gonna speak aboput what we are rrading on the pacific! Whne I got WiTP AE last year I didn't know much about the pacific theatre, so i set about a little library - this is what i have so far.... suggestions would be great - so excellent ones so far.


Pacific War Atlas - Ian Smurthwaite National Army Museum - a real gem for the uninitiated, well written and lots of fab maps.
The Pacific War 1941-45, John Costello. Hmmm comprehensive but so anti-Brit that I found it hard to read without getting all patriotic and irritated...(although criticisms are probably justified in many cases)
Eagle Against the Sun, Ronald Spector - excellent (a few phrases that are pure WiTh in here - must have been read by designers1)
Burma: the longest war 1941-45 - Louis Allen. This is a beautifully written book and a must on CBI - a fabulous account.
The Unforgettable Army: Slim's XIV Army in Burma. Michael Hickey. Not so well written but a lot of detail.
The aforementioned Sunburst by Mark Peattie - a really excellent academic study of the rise of Japanese naval air power. I'd like to read more Peattie.
Allies Against the Rising Sun: Nicholas Sarantakes - a much more blanaced and thoughtful account than Costello of the often fractious relationship between Britain, Aus, NZ and the US - with an excellent section on the joint BPF and USN ops in 1945.
I had the forty books on the Japanese, US and British armies - which are useful reference, as are a couple of volumes of Conways All the World Warships covering the period 1906-1952.

I would like some good accounts of the PNG, Solomons and Island hopping campaigns and the war in China - thoughts?

Kaigun by Peattie and Evans (who should have been mentioned as co-author of Sunburst even though he died).

Any of the books by John Lundstrom.

GUADALCANAL by Richard Frank

[Schanilec]

Samuel E. Morison; History of United States Naval Operations in World War II:
                          Vol. 9 - Sicily-Salerno-Anzio, January 1943 - June 1944.
 
Not heavy into it right now. A chapter every now and then. It is not reading season. That doesn't start until November right around Deer season. After which it'll get brutal outside, which makes for perfect reading weather. Beside the fireplace, a good glass of warmth, labrador at my side. Makes winter a lot easier. Not any damn shorter though.

[Pascal_slith]

Current reads:

Racing the Sunrise: the reinforcement of America's outposts 1941-1942

Russia's Life-Saver: Lend-Lease Aid to the USSR in WWII

Japanese Intelligence in WWII

Cry Havoc: How the arms race drove the world to war 1931-1941

I multiread....

[James Fennell]

Cheers - this is great stuff - ordered Kaigun just now. Yes you're right on Evans - dedicated to he and my omission.

Off subject - but interested in 'haboob' country - spent half my '20s in Sudan and '30s in the Mog, and was a little north of there up to three weeks ago, in (and out) of the dreaded Tebesti Hotel.

[Pascal_slith]

ORIGINAL: Stringbag

Cheers - this is great stuff - ordered Kaigun just now. Yes you're right on Evans - dedicated to he and my omission.

Off subject - but interested in 'haboob' country - spent half my '20s in Sudan and '30s in the Mog, and was a little north of there up to three weeks ago, in (and out) of the dreaded Tebesti Hotel.

Haboob here is Phoenix, AZ

Though I did spend quite a bit of time in the Persian Gulf....

[James Fennell]

Never been to AZ, but would love too. P. Gulf, well that's' a different kind of haboob... Much respect.

Umm better stick a book or two in. The Great Fire by the Australian writer Shirley Hazzard - if you want a bit of literature - set in Japan in '45... Also (re)reading a perennial - Thomas Pakenham's scramble for Africa - which contains the following:

“We are now very sorry indeed, particularly for the killing and eating parts of your employees. We now throw ourselves at the mercy of the good old Queen, knowing her to be a kind, tender hearted and sympathetic old mother.”

Letter from the Ijaw King Koko of Brass to the Prince of Wales, 1895

If only terrorists had a 19th century sense of humour.

[Heeward]

For some dated light reading I going to suggest the pacific war books by Edwin Hoyt

The titles are to numerous to mention here

[Pascal_slith]

Anything mentioned here should be added to "The Book Thread" forum message if not there already.

[ilovestrategy]

ORIGINAL: Stringbag

Never been to AZ, but would love too. P. Gulf, well that's' a different kind of haboob... Much respect.

Umm better stick a book or two in. The Great Fire by the Australian writer Shirley Hazzard - if you want a bit of literature - set in Japan in '45... Also (re)reading a perennial - Thomas Pakenham's scramble for Africa - which contains the following:

“We are now very sorry indeed, particularly for the killing and eating parts of your employees. We now throw ourselves at the mercy of the good old Queen, knowing her to be a kind, tender hearted and sympathetic old mother.”

Letter from the Ijaw King Koko of Brass to the Prince of Wales, 1895

If only terrorists had a 19th century sense of humour.

Did this really happen?????? [X(][X(][X(]

[James Fennell]

Indeed and still does - Ijaw folks are from the oil-rich Niger Delta, they continue to exercise thier healthy tradition of roaring around in small boats and kidnapping white-folks for cash (and eating the odd body-part to keep away evil spirits - and curious cops)...

I have to confess ILS,as i am rather craggy I had to Google EMO to find out what exactly it is (i thought perhaps a Japanese brand of washing powder?) - i now see they are the spiritual descendents of New Romantics. One should note that the Ijaw, while not from Valhalla, do have very sharp cutlasses.