Books - What are you reading?

[Heliopause]

Walked into this the other day. The Dutch merchantfleet in WW2.

 

[cardboard_killer]

[ROTER_BART]

A very well written account of the historic naval action that saw the demise of Sydney and Kormoran and the subsequent search and discovery of both wrecks in 2008.

 

[Mad_Mikhael]

90% of books I'm reading are about WWII. When not reading about WWII, my choice is something from the genius minds of the Strugatsky brothers. Their books are amazing and mind-bending ? 
Those Burdened by Evil  - I've read this one twice, one read after another, because it wasn't an easy read, and it was mind-blowing ?  I cannot recommend this enough.
https://tonguesofspeculation.wordpress.com/2016/08/19/those-burdened-by-evil-arkady-and-boris-strugatsky/

 

Roadside Picnic - a classic, my first book of them, got it with my STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl game years ago. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/331256.Roadside_Picnic

 

Now I'm reading Hard to Be a God. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/759517.Hard_to_Be_a_God I'm still at the beginning, but it's very interesting.

Edited April 3, 2023 by Mad_Mikhael

[cardboard_killer]

I read a few chapters of this, and put it down. I simply had no interest in what appeared in my mind to be an unsympathetic, slightly schizophrenic, young man's destiny with reality.

 

[Heliopause]

[Bonnot]

I am re-reading the books of bernard Moitessier  ( mostly known for winning the first solitary sail world circumnavigation , but continued to sail another half instead of coming back to "civilization" ).......even if you are not passionate of sea, sailboats, etc...it is a fantastic story quite typical of the 50's generation who ended with hippies dreams in the 80's.

There are no stories of pirates , but " fortunes de mer " , friendship, improvisation and a do-it-yourself talent to survive and stand  against misfortune...an optimistic/realistim we'ld find useful now !

[cardboard_killer]

trying again.

 

[Customizer171]

On 2/27/2023 at 5:31 AM, Irishratticus72 said:

A lot more fun and facts than I had thought.

The J35 Draken is in my top 5 list, of the most beautiful aircrafts ever ?

[FlyinCoffin]

[Trooper117]

Nice collection...

[Monty_Thrud]

"Lively tales of aerial combat in the legendary Typhoon fighter History of the plane and the men who flew it in World War II Based on interviews with the pilots themselves The Typhoon fighter played a pivotal role in the Allies' success in the air and on the ground in World War II, from the Normandy beachhead to the Battle of the Bulge and the final battle for Germany. Norman Franks describes what it was really like to fly at low level and attack trains and tanks or to roll over at 12,000 feet and then roar down into an inferno of German flak."

 

[Trooper117]

I put this up on the previous page... it's a great book!

 

Edited May 11, 2023 by Trooper117

[cardboard_killer]

Jumping on the bus. (also finally got Culture: The Story of Us from Cave Art to K-Pop as mentioned last page for reading a non-fiction and a fiction at the same time)

 

 

 

[ROCKET_KNUT]

These two just landed on my bookshelf...

 

Edited May 30, 2023 by ROCKET_KNUT
"for various reasons"

[Alexmarine]

18 hours ago, ROCKET_KNUT said:

These two just landed on my bookshelf...

 

 

From the same author I’ll never stop recommending his works on the Korean War (Holding the Line, MiG Alley, The Frozen Chosin) and the Vietnam war (Going Downtown, The Tonkin Gulf Club).

 

I still have to get his works on the PTO air-naval campaigns though.

 

Good author, especially the Korean War works are one of the most modern assessments of that air campaign and do not hold back from criticising the shortcomings of the interdiction campaign compared to the tactical air support that was given in the tactical area

[cardboard_killer]

About half way through this one, and just bought the second one.

 

 

[Majakowski]

[Sobilak]

[Monksilver]

[cardboard_killer]

Rise and Fall from above was very good, but I gave up on Military Air Power because it was just not well organized or written. Rise and Fall could use with more organization, but the other was just awful IMO.

 

 

[cardboard_killer]

Released yesterday on kindle.

 

[SYN_Ricky]

Played a wargame about the the US Civil War with a friend lately. I realized before playing how little in fact I know about the conflict, especially what happened at the level of military operations, so I decided to read about it.

[cardboard_killer]

I'm not a Keegan fan, although his views on the US Civil War are interesting as a non-US citizen writing about it. The best single volume on the war is Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson. La Guerre de Secsssion in French translation, I think.

 

 

 

However, it is less focused on military history than you might want.

[Irishratticus72]

On 8/4/2023 at 10:08 AM, cardboard_killer said:

I'm not a Keegan fan, although his views on the US Civil War are interesting as a non-US citizen writing about it. The best single volume on the war is Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson. La Guerre de Secsssion in French translation, I think.

 

 

 

However, it is less focused on military history than you might want.

*Shelby Foote has entered the chat.

[ACG_Bobo]

I read the Shelby Foot trilogy years ago (1970s).  It's such a great narrative style telling of the conflict.  Big read but very enjoyable.
Then I tried the Catton but I guess I was too CW'd out to finish it.

[cardboard_killer]

54 minutes ago, Irishratticus72 said:

*Shelby Foote has entered the chat.

 

Foote was a great story teller but was not a historian. He often incorporated tall tales and fiction handed down to family members as fact into his prose as fact. McPherson's book is good prose and well researched; there is no reason to read Foote unless you are an academician studying the history of the history of the ACW.

[Alexmarine]

 

On 8/4/2023 at 9:06 AM, SYN_Ricky said:

Played a wargame about the the US Civil War with a friend lately. I realized before playing how little in fact I know about the conflict, especially what happened at the level of military operations, so I decided to read about it.

One day I should read more about the ACW as I admit I too know very little about those military operations… coincidentally I also own a copy of a tabletop wargame depicting the Battle of Stones River (which I should try to find the time to play)

Meanwhile I finished up reading Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War and I plan to go over Xenophon’s Hellennica soon (with Ancient Egypt and Bronze Age warfare readings at a later date…)

Switching to more modern topics: can anyone recommend me books about the USMC/USMC’s operations for the War on Terror-Present day timeframe? Preferably studies and not personal memoirs though I am open to any suggestion 

[cardboard_killer]

[cardboard_killer]

Edited August 23, 2023 by cardboard_killer
oops, the book, not the play

[[CPT]Pike*HarryM]

Old classic...

[[CPT]Pike*HarryM]

Found this in used bookstore today...

[cardboard_killer]

I hate to say it, but I gave up on Frankenstein about half way through. I know the story, so only the prose could hold my attention and it didn't. Picked up Murder on the Orient Express, which was another plot I knew very well, but the prose was good enough to keep me interested. So, started on this for fiction.

 

 

And mostly through this for non-fiction.

 

 

[Bonnot]

 

Not really related to Flight sims but very useful to wait the next DD in a Stoïc posture...............?

[von_Tom]

 

Revised Black Cross Red Star vol 2.  Sorry I cannot share the text.

 

 

von Tom

[cardboard_killer]

 

 

 

[cardboard_killer]

 

[kestrel79]

Just started Masters of the Air since the show is finally coming out.

[SYN_Ricky]

[easterling77]

24 minutes ago, SYN_Ricky said:

That sounds interesting