What Book Are You Reading at the moment?

[rhondabrwn]

Kindle version?

[loki100]

Just finished Radiant State, the third and final part of Peter Higgins' Wolfhound Century. Still trying to work out if I liked it (and the first two books I found compelling). The allegory of the Vlast=USSR and Kantor (the main anti-hero)=Stalin was laid on a bit more thickly than earlier (where it was obvious but your nose wasn't rubbed in it). Still utterly wierd and some bits quite beautifully written.

[Bozo_the_Clown]

I'm reading the newest addition to the Carl Barks Library. Carl Barks is my favorite cartoon artist. [:D]

[SuluSea]

The Hockey News

[rhondabrwn]

ORIGINAL: Bozo_the_Clown

I'm reading the newest addition to the Carl Barks Library. Carl Barks is my favorite cartoon artist.

Uncle Scrooge was my childhood favorite... I learned history from his adventure! Barks was, indeed, an artistic genius

[Aurelian]

Vol 25 of the Richard Bolitho series. (Well, the Adam Bolitho series now if you want to get picky.)

[Zorch]

'The British Battleship: 1906-1946' by Norman Friedman.
Friedman tries hard to bring a new perspective to well-trodden paths.

[rhondabrwn]

I am reading the World in Flames manuals, having just finished the WiF Annual from 1993.

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: rhondabrwn

I am reading the World in Flames manuals, having just finished the WiF Annual from 1993.

Are you preparing for a Christmas Sale?

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Zorch

'The British Battleship: 1906-1946' by Norman Friedman.
Friedman tries hard to bring a new perspective to well-trodden paths.

warspite1

Anything on the Lion-class Mr Z?

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Zorch

'The British Battleship: 1906-1946' by Norman Friedman.
Friedman tries hard to bring a new perspective to well-trodden paths.

warspite1

Anything on the Lion-class Mr Z?

Yes, but I haven't got their yet. Lots of pictures and a centerfold with architectural drawings.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Zorch

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Zorch

'The British Battleship: 1906-1946' by Norman Friedman.
Friedman tries hard to bring a new perspective to well-trodden paths.

warspite1

Anything on the Lion-class Mr Z?

Yes, but I haven't got their yet. Lots of pictures and a centerfold with architectural drawings.

warspite1

Please let me know when you do. Having got Burt's tome's it seems like a bit of an extravagance to get this - but if there is a meaty section on the Lion-class (missing from Burt) then I may succumb [;)]

[rhondabrwn]

ORIGINAL: Orm

ORIGINAL: rhondabrwn

I am reading the World in Flames manuals, having just finished the WiF Annual from 1993.

Are you preparing for a Christmas Sale?

I am counting on it!

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Zorch

ORIGINAL: warspite1


warspite1

Anything on the Lion-class Mr Z?

Yes, but I haven't got their yet. Lots of pictures and a centerfold with architectural drawings.

warspite1

Please let me know when you do. Having got Burt's tome's it seems like a bit of an extravagance to get this - but if there is a meaty section on the Lion-class (missing from Burt) then I may succumb [;)]

I wouldn't call it 'meaty', but the Lion class is covered to the same extent as other un-built ships are. Friedman gives various design studies and how the Admiralty settled on the Lion specs.

One point I found interesting is that the modernization of older ships in the 30's was constrained more by the number of available docks than money.

Churchill gets the usual criticism for interfering and pushing his pet projects.

All in all a good book but don't expect to learn much. The centerfold drawings are good.
I will pass on Burt's 2 volumes.

[rhondabrwn]

I'm finishing off the "Dark Space" six book sci-fi series.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Zorch

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Zorch



Yes, but I haven't got their yet. Lots of pictures and a centerfold with architectural drawings.

warspite1

Please let me know when you do. Having got Burt's tome's it seems like a bit of an extravagance to get this - but if there is a meaty section on the Lion-class (missing from Burt) then I may succumb [;)]

I wouldn't call it 'meaty', but the Lion class is covered to the same extent as other un-built ships are. Friedman gives various design studies and how the Admiralty settled on the Lion specs.

One point I found interesting is that the modernization of older ships in the 30's was constrained more by the number of available docks than money.

Churchill gets the usual criticism for interfering and pushing his pet projects.

All in all a good book but don't expect to learn much. The centerfold drawings are good.
I will pass on Burt's 2 volumes.

warspite1

Thanks. I think I will pass for the present but probably would have bought his one had it appeared before Burt. A shame but I cannot really justify another book on the same subject on my budget.

[TulliusDetritus]

I finished B-29 Story: The Plane That Won The [Pacific] War by Gene Gurney

I have just started Debt: The First 5000 Years by American anthropologist David Graeber

"David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom: he shows that before there was money, there was debt. For more than 5,000 years, since the beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods—that is, long before the invention of coins or cash. It is in this era, Graeber argues, that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors".

[TulliusDetritus]

ORIGINAL: Mobius

"Foolproof" by Greg Ip

I had missed this author and book. Thanks for the tip. I will buy and read it [:)]

[warspite1]

Allies At War. Simon Berthon

This is the book that accompanies the truly brilliant 3-part BBC documentary from a few years back. While reading Torch I remembered this series and was going to purchase the DVD. However I saw the book and plumped for that instead.

It tells the absorbing, fascinating, and frankly downright frustrating tale of the relationship between the American President Franklin D Roosevelt, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the leader of the Free French Charles de Gaulle, during World War II.

President Roosevelt comes out of this really badly – although I put a large share of the blame on his pro-Vichy/anti-British advisors, particularly Admiral Leahy. Roosevelt knew what it took to get the war won and did it, but it is clear that the breakdown in his relationship with de Gaulle was personal, and it really affected his judgement – much to the frustration of his own generals, Eisenhower (who continues to rise in my estimation) in particular.

The difficult situation was no doubt exacerbated by the prickly*, difficult character that was Charles de Gaulle. He was often his own worst enemy, ungrateful, rude and never averse to biting the hand that fed him. But one cannot help but have some sympathy for de Gaulle’s actions which were driven by his love of France and I think, acute embarrassment that his country’s reputation and honour were being eroded through the shameful actions of Petain, Laval, Darlan and co at Vichy. The fact that he had to call on the British for help probably rubbed salt into the wounds of this proud Frenchman.

In the middle was Churchill. Clever enough to realise that only an Alliance with the US was going to get the war won, but a Francophile at heart who admired and respected de Gaulle, even though the latter’s actions often put Churchill in impossible situations. The problems between France and the UK post-war were sown during the period 1942-45 as Churchill, needing to win the war first and foremost, told de Gaulle that in a choice between the US and France, Britain would support the US every time. The Frenchman never forgot this remark.

The mark of a great book is being sorry when it comes to an end. This is a great book and has fed my thirst for more knowledge on the subject.

Now - back to Torch!

Anyone know any good books on de Gaulle (concentrating on the war years) and Darlan and/or Petain?

*EDIT - just noticed the asterisks [&:]. Please note I wrote 'p-r-i-c-k-l-y - and not some swear word [&:]

[rhondabrwn]

This thread calls out for a BUMP!

I'm currently reading "Season of the Harvest" by Michael Hicks. A GMO horror story about aliens creating hybrid seed corn that will implant a retrovirus that will turn us all into monsters as the aliens adjust the Earth to their liking.

http://www.amazon.com/Season-The-Harves ... B004MME1RU