What Book Are You Reading at the moment?

[Zorch]

4 new naval books of note, 2 from each war:

'Securing the Narrow Sea: The Dover Patrol 1914-1918' by Steve R. Dunn.

'The War In The North Sea: The Royal Navy And The Imperial German Navy 1914-1918' by Quintin Barry, 608 pages.

'Doomed Before the Start: The Allied Intervention in Norway 1940. Volume 1: The Road To Invasion and Early Moves' by Niall Cherry.

'The Royal Navy in Eastern Waters: Linchpin of Victory 1935-1942' by Andrew Boyd, a hefty 496 pages.

I haven't read any of them.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Zorch

4 new naval books of note, 2 from each war:

'Securing the Narrow Sea: The Dover Patrol 1914-1918' by Steve R. Dunn.

'The War In The North Sea: The Royal Navy And The Imperial German Navy 1914-1918' by Quintin Barry, 608 pages.

'Doomed Before the Start: The Allied Intervention in Norway 1940. Volume 1: The Road To Invasion and Early Moves' by Niall Cherry.

'The Royal Navy in Eastern Waters: Linchpin of Victory 1935-1942' by Andrew Boyd, a hefty 496 pages.

I haven't read any of them.

warspite1

Of these I currently have the last under review. As you said about the O'Hara book above, I am not sure what there is new to say about WWI naval battles so the first two don't appeal.

Amazon allows you to read some passages from the third on your list. I cannot say I am particularly impressed with the author's style - the sentences are too long and its a bit all over the place. In addition I think Geirr H Haarr's German Invasion of Norway and the Battle for Norway are the last word on that campaign.

And so to the last book on the list. I am interesting in this but I don't really get the premise of the book. 1935-42 seems an odd period to be writing about, and I am really not sure what the author is getting at. Why is this period the 'linchpin of victory'? He is also suggesting that Force Z was not Churchill's fault but the Admiralty's. This flies in the face of what I have read previously, but I am certainly curious to understand why he has come to that conclusion. One 5-star review on Amazon, but that might just be the author! I will continue to monitor this one.

[wings7]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: wings7

ORIGINAL: warspite1

warspite1

Patrick there is reference to South Africa and Canada's position in Chamberlain and Appeasement (RAC Parker). That this view was supported by the other Dominions I recall from a TV documentary - but sadly cannot remember which one. I don't think it was The World at War though. If I find it I will let you know.

Yes if you do find it (TV documentary), please let me know, thanks Robert.

warspite1

Still cannot recall the documentary but this fits the bill! An extract from Britain and Empire 1880-1945 (Kennedy)

Thanks Robert!

[demyansk]

ORIGINAL: barkhorn45

"The Face of Courage" holders of the knights cross and close combat badge in gold. Florian Berger.
Only 96 men had this distinction

I read that book as well

[demyansk]

Just finished Unfit for Command by John O'Neill about traitor Kerry stated by O'Neill book and the 1971 Dick Cavett interview. Check that one out

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4464379/ ... avett-show

[wings7]

ORIGINAL: demjansk

Just finished Unfit for Command by John O'Neill about traitor Kerry.

I'd be careful who you call "traitor"...the author(s) (John E. O'Neill and Jerome Corsi) of this book are quite controversial.

[demyansk]

Maybe use quotes of what O'Neill stated. Good book to read though

[Titanwarrior89]

Just finished reading "Men on Strike by Helen Smith. Now reading, "Red Phoenix" by Larry Bond.

[demyansk]

Reading
Blood In The Water about the Attica prison uprising in 1971, 2016, this book is good, out of the library by Heather Thompson

[Chickenboy]

Just finished Caliban's War, the third book in The Expanse series. The SyFy series is integrating the first and second books' worth of materials into the plotline-it's interesting to keep ahead of it by a bit. [8D]

[Kuokkanen]

I've bought & read first volume of Konosuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World! It's not yet available for Kindle, so I bought it from iTunes instead and read it with iBooks app on my iPhone 4 (NOT available for Windows). 16 years old Japanese dies, he meets a girl claiming to be a goddess, and this girl asks Japanese to save a fantasy world from demon king. Goddess lets guy choose one thing to take along with him to fantasy world. Guy chooses goddess, and off they go. So guy has great expectations for a great adventure in fantasy world along with powerful goddess like in JRPGames he's very familiar with. Light novel even has number of RPG terminology which would fit perfectly to tutorial in RPG video game. Then reality kicks his ass, hard, and hilarity ensues. Light novel parodies fantasy (game) cliches with a style. Though there are some comical monsters (giant toads larger than a cow, flying cabbage), main focus of the ridicule are the characters, many of them with (TV Tropes warning!) crippling overspecialization. One of the characters explain it as this:

"Nope. Not to brag, but I have high HP and Strength. If I were able to actually hit monsters most of the time, I might defeat them before they ever got a chance to hit me in return. I could hold back and let them attack me on purpose, but...it's not the same. It's like...to go in there swinging my sword as hard as I can, but it's just not enough, and they overpower me...that feels so good, you know?"

Male lead sums it up:

My party can't be this dysfunctional.

Anime adaptation is pretty close match. However, anime left out some things, like first meeting with Wiz. Anime introduces Wiz in her store with some short reference about main characters meeting her up earlier. Light novel has that first meeting in good detail. However, light novel details fight against flying cabbage... without much detail, while anime uses good number of minutes on it. It means there is a good reason to read the light novels even if you have seen the anime already. Though some details are little different, there are no significant conflicts between the 2 medias, and going through both of them gives you the whole story bigger, longer & uncut.

I also bought manga by mistake (didn't expect that to be available for iBooks). It is clearly the bottom performer, cutting off several scenes and shortening others. I suppose it could be used to introduce the franchise to your friends in shorter order than anime episode. If you get it on paper or on iPad (iPhone's screen is too damn small). Otherwise I can't recommend it.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: warspite1


warspite1

I'll take that as a no [:D]

Anyways, I purchased this and looking forward to this (maybe bedtime reading?). However, at the moment I am still very much in Western Front mode. I read Sebag-Montefiore's Dunkirk when I was on holiday about 6 years ago.

As such, with other distractions, I am not sure I gave it the attention it deserved. So, as much as I hate re-reading books, I thought I would give this another go.

Wow! I am really glad I did - particularly as its hot on the heels of other books on the subject - and so gives another opinion on what happened in the fateful weeks in May 1940.

It's absolutely riveting stuff. Recommended and back again.

warspite1

I must say I'm finding Sweden, the Swastika and Stalin a little heavy going at the moment. Not exactly riveting reading, but then the first chapter or so has been an introduction to people I've never even heard of combined with the fact that the author does not have the most interesting of writing styles.

Let's hope it improves......

warspite1

......well it has [:)]

Interesting stuff now that he has left the personalities and got to the actual war [:)]

warspite1

Just coming to the end of this now and I am really pleased I persevered. After the war the general Swedish view of WWII and their role was seen as positive. A few books came out that sought to drive a coach and horses through that thought process.

The author undertakes a further reappraisal of Sweden's WWII history and makes the case that the initial view was the correct one.

The book is especially interesting because I have been kicking around for sometime now in my own mind, the question of whether neutrality in WWII (as opposed to WWI for example) was justified under any circumstances, if so what circumstances and if not why not?

A thought provoking read and one that I would like to know more about.

[Kuokkanen]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Sweden, the Swastika and Stalin

Can you tell something about contents of the book? Does Swastika refer to Germany, or to Eric von Rosen, or to Finnish Air Force?

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Matti Kuokkanen

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Sweden, the Swastika and Stalin

Can you tell something about contents of the book? Does Swastika refer to Germany, or to Eric von Rosen, or to Finnish Air Force?

warspite1

The book is all about Sweden in the years 1939-45. In particular the book focuses on Sweden's determination to remain neutral, even after she became 'surrounded' following the conquest of Norway and Finland joining Germany. In its most interesting chapters, the book describes the trade agreements with Germany and the Allies, the concessions that Germany sought from Sweden e.g. transit of troops to Norway and Finland. The book also brings out Sweden's reliance upon Germany for essential imports at this time and the provision of 'Safe Conduct Traffic' to allow for key imports from the west (particularly oil). The book also brings out the pressures that the Allies brought to bear on Sweden.

The book looks at Sweden's position in respect of Norway/Denmark but also Finland, and the ever present threat from the East, the Soviet Union.

There are also chapters on the Home Front, Security, Propaganda and Censorship, the Military position.

I hope that is helpful.

[cpdeyoung]

Sirius

by Jonathan Crown.

A tale of a dog who has many adventures in Germany, Hollywood, and Germany again during the years 1938-1945. I had fun every minute with this book, but I am a sucker for dogs. I am an old guy and I liked it a lot, but I think a teen would really like it too.

I did not find a blooper in any of the WW2 stuff. The author knows his stuff, or did his research.

It is a quick read, and much lighter than most books reviewed here.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Zorch

4 new naval books of note, 2 from each war:

'Securing the Narrow Sea: The Dover Patrol 1914-1918' by Steve R. Dunn.

'The War In The North Sea: The Royal Navy And The Imperial German Navy 1914-1918' by Quintin Barry, 608 pages.

'Doomed Before the Start: The Allied Intervention in Norway 1940. Volume 1: The Road To Invasion and Early Moves' by Niall Cherry.

'The Royal Navy in Eastern Waters: Linchpin of Victory 1935-1942' by Andrew Boyd, a hefty 496 pages.

I haven't read any of them.

warspite1

Of these I currently have the last under review. As you said about the O'Hara book above, I am not sure what there is new to say about WWI naval battles so the first two don't appeal.

Amazon allows you to read some passages from the third on your list. I cannot say I am particularly impressed with the author's style - the sentences are too long and its a bit all over the place. In addition I think Geirr H Haarr's German Invasion of Norway and the Battle for Norway are the last word on that campaign.

And so to the last book on the list. I am interesting in this but I don't really get the premise of the book. 1935-42 seems an odd period to be writing about, and I am really not sure what the author is getting at. Why is this period the 'linchpin of victory'? He is also suggesting that Force Z was not Churchill's fault but the Admiralty's. This flies in the face of what I have read previously, but I am certainly curious to understand why he has come to that conclusion. One 5-star review on Amazon, but that might just be the author! I will continue to monitor this one.

warspite1

Well, with no obvious worthwhile books on the Western Front to go for, I've taken a chance on the last book on that list

The Royal Navy in Eastern Waters: Linchpin of Victory 1935-1942 (Boyd)

I've not yet finished the first chapter and boy, am I glad I bought this! So far, very thought provoking, and extremely well written, it definitely looks at the RN between the wars through a different lens than most recent works. I do not agree with a few things - but will wait and see where he goes with those - but he certainly challenges the 'accepted' view of the service during the period.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Matti Kuokkanen

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Sweden, the Swastika and Stalin

Can you tell something about contents of the book? Does Swastika refer to Germany, or to Eric von Rosen, or to Finnish Air Force?

warspite1

The book is all about Sweden in the years 1939-45. In particular the book focuses on Sweden's determination to remain neutral, even after she became 'surrounded' following the conquest of Norway and Finland joining Germany. In its most interesting chapters, the book describes the trade agreements with Germany and the Allies, the concessions that Germany sought from Sweden e.g. transit of troops to Norway and Finland. The book also brings out Sweden's reliance upon Germany for essential imports at this time and the provision of 'Safe Conduct Traffic' to allow for key imports from the west (particularly oil). The book also brings out the pressures that the Allies brought to bear on Sweden.

The book looks at Sweden's position in respect of Norway/Denmark but also Finland, and the ever present threat from the East, the Soviet Union.

There are also chapters on the Home Front, Security, Propaganda and Censorship, the Military position.

I hope that is helpful.

warspite1

Well perhaps it was, perhaps it wasn't.... we'll never know [&:]

[Kuokkanen]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Matti Kuokkanen


Can you tell something about contents of the book? Does Swastika refer to Germany, or to Eric von Rosen, or to Finnish Air Force?

warspite1

The book is all about Sweden in the years 1939-45. In particular the book focuses on Sweden's determination to remain neutral, even after she became 'surrounded' following the conquest of Norway and Finland joining Germany. In its most interesting chapters, the book describes the trade agreements with Germany and the Allies, the concessions that Germany sought from Sweden e.g. transit of troops to Norway and Finland. The book also brings out Sweden's reliance upon Germany for essential imports at this time and the provision of 'Safe Conduct Traffic' to allow for key imports from the west (particularly oil). The book also brings out the pressures that the Allies brought to bear on Sweden.

The book looks at Sweden's position in respect of Norway/Denmark but also Finland, and the ever present threat from the East, the Soviet Union.

There are also chapters on the Home Front, Security, Propaganda and Censorship, the Military position.

I hope that is helpful.

warspite1

Well perhaps it was, perhaps it wasn't.... we'll never know [&:]

Wut? [&:]

[Mike Dubost]

All of the recent posts about Munich made me go back and dig up Failure of a Mission by Sir Neville Henderson (the UK ambassador to Germany at the time). I bought the e book a few years ago. It makes very interesting reading. It is definitely not the standard perspective/received wisdom on the events. Yeah, as a memoir, it can't be called unbiased, but so what? You know what you're getting.

He was clearly a believer in Appeasement. I think it really was from an honest devotion to diplomacy and a fear of Communism, not a devotion to Fascism. In any event, the book does give you his views on the issues.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Mike Dubost

All of the recent posts about Munich made me go back and dig up Failure of a Mission by Sir Neville Henderson (the UK ambassador to Germany at the time). I bought the e book a few years ago. It makes very interesting reading. It is definitely not the standard perspective/received wisdom on the events. Yeah, as a memoir, it can't be called unbiased, but so what? You know what you're getting.

He was clearly a believer in Appeasement. I think it really was from an honest devotion to diplomacy and a fear of Communism, not a devotion to Fascism. In any event, the book does give you his views on the issues.

warspite1

I don't think that a charge of 'devotion to fascism' has ever been directed at anyone in the British or French government circles that were responsible for pursuing an appeasement policy. The path of appeasement was more about doing whatever was necessary to avoid another war - particularly so given the all too recent memories of the trenches and the ruinous war that led to the slaughter of so many young Frenchmen and those from the Commonwealth.