false 3 61 45 true 5843947 read 2 true 2826980 currently-reading 14 true 2826979 to-read http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78181083 The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany (Paperback) by William L. Shirer
bookshelves: currently-reading
I am reading this book along side of "Second World War". God help me ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78181032 The Second World War (Paperback) by John Keegan
bookshelves: currently-reading
I am reading this book alongside "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich." God help me. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42711896 to: The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 (Oxford History of the United States) by Robert Middlekauff
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/44169224 to: Presidential War Power (Paperback) by Louis Fisher
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72986021 to: Battle: The Story of the Bulge (Paperback) by John Willard Toland
Nice try, Hitler- NUTS to you!

This is a VERY detailed account of the battle, which can be overwhelming to a casual reader. I ended up getting lost trying to figure out who was where at what time because flipping back and forth to the maps got tedious after a while. Eventually, I just had to power through it to get a general feel for the battle. After some more WWII reading, I may come back to this book a second time.

With so many characters and locations to keep straight, I recommend reading this book rather quickly (which I had trouble doing). The longer it takes you to read, the more likely you are to forget what part of the battle you are in.

Still, Toland does a great job of organizing such a complex and frenetic battle. The writing is crisp and relatively free of "Americanizing" Field Marshall Montgomery's role in the Bulge.

If I were more familiar with the war, I probably would have enjoyed it more and would have given it four stars instead of three. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72984952 to: D-Day June 6, 1944 (Paperback) by Stephen E. Ambrose
"I love it when a plan comes together" - Hannibal

Even at 600 pages, this is a quick read. It is more technical and tactical than "Band of Brothers" but Ambrose still puts a lot of personal stories of horror and heroism in there.

In a nutshell- Hitler made some BIG mistakes and the Allies had the benefit of luck and solid training on their side.

Read it with an atlas of the battle if you don't like flipping back and forth to maps. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72984488 to: Bailout Nation: How Greed and Easy Money Corrupted Wall Street and Shook the World Economy (Hardcover) by Barry Ritholtz
Blame Greenspan!

This book makes the case for more regulation and does a good job of explaining why the banks and wall street suck (repackaging and securitizing risky mortgages and then having them rated AAA is a bad idea).

BUT- the book is filled with a lot of economic jargon, which lost me since I haven't read economics for dummies yet. Still, even without having a strong background in economics and banking, I could still pick up enough of what Ritholtz was talking about to feel like I "got it"

This was good to read after Sowell's "The Housing Boom and Bust" because they have very different views on the need for regulation ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72984009 to: The Housing Boom and Bust (Hardcover) by Thomas Sowell
In a nutshell, Sowell blames land use regulations and Janet Reno for the housing bust and then he talks crap about FDR (saying he prolonged the depression).

He has some good stuff to say, but he ignores a lot the pieces to the puzzle... as far as FDR, he totally ignores the increase in GDP throughout his presidency (he bases his opinion on a single book- FDR's Folly- which has a lot of problems on its own) ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72983925 to: The Second World War: A Complete History (Paperback) by Martin Gilbert
Take that Hitler! ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/57293557 The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783 (Paperback) by Alfred T. Mahan
bookshelves: to-read
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