What Book Are You Reading at the moment?

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: altipueri

I thought they were the same thing, blade runner being the movie name?

Anyway, I have just bought Rome and Juliet by William Shakespeare; 50p from the charity shelf at the supermarket.

Bit of a change from Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War which the bastard didn't even finish writing properly - leaving you mid sentence - "sacrifice to Artemis...."

warspite1

Don't you just hate it when th.....

He reached his writing plan monthly limit and had to wait until the next month when he would have gotten another 10K words.

[altipueri]

Just finished "Maquis" by George Millar.

He was one of the SOE agents in France in 1944. The book was published in 1946 and is one of the few stories of behind the lines stuff written by those who actually did it. I recommend the book.

I think there is a huge difference between books written by "historians" after the event and people who were actually there. People who have been through a war generally talk about it less than those who haven't.


Another personal account book I recommend is "Those Devils In Baggy Pants" by Ross S. Carter, a parachutist in the 505th (I think). Written in about 1948. He went through North Africa, Italy (Anzio), Normandy, Battle of the Bulge. Died of cancer aged 28 as the book was finished. What a pisser to have gone through all that, one of only about three from the original platoon to survive.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Zorch

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: altipueri

I thought they were the same thing, blade runner being the movie name?

Anyway, I have just bought Rome and Juliet by William Shakespeare; 50p from the charity shelf at the supermarket.

Bit of a change from Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War which the bastard didn't even finish writing properly - leaving you mid sentence - "sacrifice to Artemis...."

warspite1

Don't you just hate it when th.....

He reached his writing plan monthly limit and had to wait until the next month when he would have gotten another 10K words.

warspite1

Yeah, its a problem. He should have shopped around for a better deal. I believe Sky allows you to save unused words for use the following month, rather than simply losing unused words.

Its not just in the literary world that this problem exists; the world of classical music has the same problem. Debate continues to this day why Schubert's wonderful 8th Symphony was left unfinished even though he lived for 6 more years. The simple truth is he ran out of notes and then couldn't afford a new contract.

[durangokid]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Zorch

ORIGINAL: warspite1


warspite1

Don't you just hate it when th.....

He reached his writing plan monthly limit and had to wait until the next month when he would have gotten another 10K words.

warspite1

Yeah, its a problem. He should have shopped around for a better deal. I believe Sky allows you to save unused words for use the following month, rather than simply losing unused words.



Its not just in the literary world that this problem exists; the world of classical music has the same problem. Debate continues to this day why Schubert's wonderful 8th Symphony was left unfinished even though he lived for 6 more years. The simple truth is he ran out of notes and then couldn't afford a new contract.

Laugh ou

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: durangokid

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Zorch



He reached his writing plan monthly limit and had to wait until the next month when he would have gotten another 10K words.

warspite1

Yeah, its a problem. He should have shopped around for a better deal. I believe Sky allows you to save unused words for use the following month, rather than simply losing unused words.



Its not just in the literary world that this problem exists; the world of classical music has the same problem. Debate continues to this day why Schubert's wonderful 8th Symphony was left unfinished even though he lived for 6 more years. The simple truth is he ran out of notes and then couldn't afford a new contract.

Laugh ou

warspite1

My god! this lack of words is more of a problem tha......

[warspite1]

I finished The Vietnam War (Lawrence). What an excellent introductory book to get one into the history of this war. As is my usual MO, before embarking on a subject I like to read a high level overview to get context, before drilling down - and this was perfect for the purpose.

Having read it, I feel I have a reasonable grasp of the chronology of the war and the key reasons that each - the French, the Americans, assorted Allies and the Vietnamese - fought, the problems they faced, both militarily, economically and diplomatically and what led to ultimate Vietnamese victory.

Strangely, I had never realised that Pol Pot and the Khymer Rouge were a by-product of the Vietnam war (I must have seen The Killing Fields about 30-40 years ago). Good to understand that a bit more.

Having read this (and seen Ken Burns excellent documentary) am I interested in further reading? Probably not - but only because warfare post Hiroshima does not really interest me. But I am really glad I read this book and finally have at least some idea about that conflict.

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: durangokid

ORIGINAL: warspite1


warspite1

Yeah, its a problem. He should have shopped around for a better deal. I believe Sky allows you to save unused words for use the following month, rather than simply losing unused words.



Its not just in the literary world that this problem exists; the world of classical music has the same problem. Debate continues to this day why Schubert's wonderful 8th Symphony was left unfinished even though he lived for 6 more years. The simple truth is he ran out of notes and then couldn't afford a new contract.

Laugh ou

warspite1

My god! this lack of words is more of a problem tha......

Did you know you can extend your monthly words? By purchasing a WordBank, you can plug in and type away to your heart's content.
One minor limitation: Wordbank is limited to a certain vocabulary. So you may have to use synonyms or simplify your prose.

[warspite1]

The recent Dunkirk film and reading I did inspired by that, has led me to leave the seas and oceans and learn a bit more about the RAF. So the next book to be read is The Right of the Line - The role of the RAF in World War II (Terraine). Its a weighty tome for a paperback! 687 pages before the Appendix - goodness.....let's hope its worth the read.

[Orm]

Reading a police procedural novel where the sinking of HMS Hampshire provides the backdrop to the story. not as good as I wanted but still interesting due to the historical disaster is the foundation of the story.

Any book you can recommend about the sinking of HMS Hampshire?

Any new facts revealed about the sinking of HMS Hampshire? Since it is now over hundred years since the sinking I am thinking that some secret documents might have been released.

[warspite1]

I don't know much about the sinking to be honest. It's mentioned in most WWI histories for obvious reasons - Lord Kitchener - but I'm not sure what else there is to say.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

The recent Dunkirk film and reading I did inspired by that, has led me to leave the seas and oceans and learn a bit more about the RAF. So the next book to be read is The Right of the Line - The role of the RAF in World War II (Terraine). Its a weighty tome for a paperback! 687 pages before the Appendix - goodness.....let's hope its worth the read.

warspite1

One chapter in and yes, this looks like a serious book [:)]

[Chickenboy]

CV Formidable? Have you gone mad? [&:]

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

CV Formidable? Have you gone mad? [&:]

warspite1

Mad old boy, why ever so?

[Agathosdaimon]

i got this work recently - very detailed in the damage specifics -

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

CV Formidable? Have you gone mad? [&:]

warspite1

Mad old boy, why ever so?

Don't get me wrong-she's a real beaut-in a bare knuckle brawling sort of way. Kind of like your admiration for the 'all business' look of the South Dakota class USN BBs. But you've changed your avatar away from that other man-crush ship of yours. War...something something? The change in mentation concerns me a bit.

ETA: Not really. [;)]

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: Agathosdaimon

i got this work recently - very detailed in the damage specifics -

+100!

[Aurelian]

ORIGINAL: Zorch

ORIGINAL: Agathosdaimon

i got this work recently - very detailed in the damage specifics -

+100!

Bought it the day it came out. But, now, you can download it free.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Zorch

ORIGINAL: Agathosdaimon

i got this work recently - very detailed in the damage specifics -

+100!

warspite1

Does the author give conclusions or is this a mere presentation of the facts (as known at the time of writing)? For example, what does the author believe to have been the cause of the demise, so violently, of the British battlecruisers?

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

CV Formidable? Have you gone mad? [&:]

warspite1

Mad old boy, why ever so?

Don't get me wrong-she's a real beaut-in a bare knuckle brawling sort of way. Kind of like your admiration for the 'all business' look of the South Dakota class USN BBs. But you've changed your avatar away from that other man-crush ship of yours. War...something something? The change in mentation concerns me a bit.

ETA: Not really. [;)]

warspite1

As per the sig line, I will be displaying some of the ships and aircraft of the British Pacific Fleet over the coming month or so. No one and nothing can replace that saucy little strumpet, HMS Warspite, in my affections [:)]

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Zorch

ORIGINAL: Agathosdaimon

i got this work recently - very detailed in the damage specifics -

+100!

warspite1

Does the author give conclusions or is this a mere presentation of the facts (as known at the time of writing)? For example, what does the author believe to have been the cause of the demise, so violently, of the British battlecruisers?

I can't remember Campbell's specifics except that I agreed with him. [:D]
Innes McCarthy reaches some conclusions in Jutland 1916: The Archaeology of a Naval Battlefield.