What I'm Reading

[happy]

Just starting this new one from Max Boot

[Liam]

happy wrote: "Just starting this new one from Max Boot

"



That one looks extremely interesting, Happy, please let us know how you like it!

I've had a pretty good week or two in terms of getting more books, though I haven't had a lot of time to make very much progress with the ones I'm actually reading. I'm still slowly making my way through 'Sinai Victory' & 'Insurgents, etc.' as I mentioned above; I am also about halfway through , which, according to something I read several years ago, is considered one of the better novels concerning the wars in Viet Nam (I'm not so sure about that so far, but will wait to render a verdict until I finish reading it). & both arrived in the mail this week (I ordered them last week, but forgot to order , damn it!); I can't wait to read them... I also made an excellent score at the bookstore the other day: , , , and I found in the "Free Box" on my way out the door!

[Mike]

Nice acquisitions Liam.

[Casey]

Hi, I am new to this group and website. It's a great way to collate all those lists of books that I wish I had time to read! I am just starting Emile Simpson's War From the Ground Up. I have just finished Tom Rick's Generals, and was wondering if anyone could recommend a good book on the history of British military leadership?I want to read Slim's From Defeat into Victory when I get a chance (also doing studies at the moment so time is a premium!!) but keen to have some overall context for British generals before I start.

[Liam]

Thanx, Mike! As you can probably tell, I'm quite pleased with my new stack of books. The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War is every bit as good as expected; any of you who have not read it yet should probably check it out. I can still hardly believe that during the late 1980s & throughout the 1990s there was a group of U.S. Army officers who were studying counterinsurgency, and reading the same books that I was reading during that time. It makes me want to kill a certain Sgt. Dyke (an asshole recruiter who told me in 1990, when I was not quite 20, that "the army doesn't want any long-haired rock'n'roll dopers like you"), and kick myself in the ass (not for the first time) with one of my heavy Bundesgrenzschutz boots for being dumb enough to listen to him. Damn it! Apparently Petraeus was reading Jean Lartéguy's books as a young officer- I've never even met anyone else, aside from my father, who had read Lartéguy...

Catherine- welcome to the group; the first book that comes to mind in the category you mentioned is , which was edited by John Keegan and contains essays by several other well-known historians. As you may know, this book was a sort of companion volume to , which was edited by Correlli Barnett. As far as pre-WWII British military leadership goes, I can't think of anything off the top of my head (the subject does not fall within any of my particular areas of interest), but I'm sure someone else here will be able to help. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, you might find to be of some interest for the immediate post-WWII era, but good luck finding a copy...

[Liam]

Catherine wrote: "Hi, I am new to this group and website. It's a great way to collate all those lists of books that I wish I had time to read! I am just starting Emile Simpson's War From the Ground Up. I have jus..."



For more recent British military leadership the following were all quite good: , , , & .

['Aussie Rick']

Hi Catherine and welcome to the group. Some excellent recommendations there Liam.

[happy]

I've finished Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to the Present - Good book. Started a little slow, but finshed well.

Cathrine, I can second Liam's rec's on Churchhill's Generals and Hitler's Generals. Both offer a good overview of the leadership of the respective armies

[Geevee]

Hi Catherine and I also recommend Liam's suggestions too.

Also these may offer some interest for you as well:

by Andrew Roberts

by Victoria Schofield

by Field Marshal Lord Alanbrooke

by John Colville

I've not read this but may be worth exploring if you can acquire a copy
by Gary Sheffield

[happy]

Masters and Commanders is excellent. I think Andrew Roberts is one of the better Military Historians writing currently.

Unfortunately I haven't read any of the others - TBR list expands once again :)

['Aussie Rick']

I'm sort of over committed myself at the moment. I am about half way through my book on the Seven Years War but have restarted my account of the battle for Cholm on the Eastern Front in 1942 and in a few days I have to start a buddy read on the new book on Gettsyburg!

by Daniel A. Baugh

by Jason D. Mark

by Allen C. Guelzo

[Casey]

Gentlemen, thank you very much for those excellent recommendations. I see that it's a really good spread, which will help me get a good perspective on the subject. I'll comment on them as I read them, but please do excuse me if it takes a year to get through them all! My 'TBR' list is getting a little out of control now.

Warm regards
Catherine

[Liam]

You are quite welcome, Catherine, and I believe that I am speaking for all of us when I say it was our pleasure. Sometimes I think that turning someone else on to a good book or books is even more fun than finding interesting reading material for oneself...

[Geevee]

Liam wrote: "You are quite welcome, Catherine, and I believe that I am speaking for all of us when I say it was our pleasure. Sometimes I think that turning someone else on to a good book or books is even more..."

Hear Hear Liam, and good luck with your studies Catherine.

[happy]

I know this is late, but here are my thoughts on


http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

['Aussie Rick']

Just started Max Hastings latest book; "Catastrophe 1914", pretty good so far. Has me thinking maybe I need to look at reading; "The Sleepwalkers" as well sometime soon.

by Max Hastings

byChristopher Munro Clark

[happy]

1914 just came in from the library, probably 2 or 3 books down the que. The library books are starting to pile up :)

['Aussie Rick']

You better get cracking then Happy :)

[happy]

I know, I know :)

[Geevee]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Just started Max Hastings latest book; "Catastrophe 1914", pretty good so far. Has me thinking maybe I need to look at reading; "The Sleepwalkers" as well sometime soon..."

Some interesting reviews on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com about Sir Max's book. Some are not fans of Sir Max whereas others are and the comments and discussions are interesting in the strengths and weaknesses of his account or approach - but amongst that most of the reviewers all cite

by Christopher Munro Clark as being the book to read.

For me I'll (eventually) read both: I like Sir Max's books and also have Professor Clark's Iron Kingdom to read too.

Worthing mentioning that when Sir Max reviewed The Sleepwalkers in the London Sunday Times he wrote “One of the most impressive and stimulating studies of the period ever published.”
NB: I had to look up the review in some clippings I keep as I don't subscribe on-line to the Sunday Times as I didn't remember the quote but I recalled he'd reviewed it favourably).

[happy]

Sleepwalkers just went on the TBR list - thanks for the heads up Geevee

['Aussie Rick']

I'm enjoying Max Hastings book so far and I have a copy of "The Sleepwalkers" sitting in a online shopping basket ready to go :)

['Aussie Rick']

I've started reading The Stalingrad Cauldron: Inside the Encirclement and Destruction of the 6th Army by Frank Ellis. I'm just reading the first chapter till I start the book; The Battle of An Loc which I'm reading with Liam.

by Frank Ellis

['Aussie Rick']

I agree with you Jerome, The Guns at last Light is an excellent read, glad to hear you enjoyed it.

In my current book on Stalingrad the author had this to say about David Glantz's recent titles on this battle:

"The outstanding study of Stalingrad that has emerged over the past thirty years is David Glantz's trilogy written in conjunction with Jonathan House. Any student of the Stalingrad battle seeking a detailed analysis of German and Soviet operational thinking and planning is obliged to read these volumes. To enjoy them at their best, to grasp the enormity of the unfolding operations, to go back to the late summer of 1942, you have to retreat into your bunker and master, ponder, and savor the detail."


by Frank Ellis

['Aussie Rick']

Sounds like an interesting book with a great story to tell, will have to keep my eyes out for it!

[happy]

This isn't a book, but I didn't know where else to put it.

A slide show form NRO that looks at where warfare is heading - robots, exoskeletons, contains 23 slides

http://www.nationalreview.com/slidesh...

['Aussie Rick']

Started a new biography on one of Britain's greatest generals:


by Rory Muir

['Aussie Rick']

I'm now reading the 'original' war story; The Iliad by Homer:

"Then he left them dead behind him, and ran to where the enemy battalions fled in rout, supported by his bronze-clad Achaeans. Foot-soldiers killed others as they ran; horsemen put horsemen to the sword, while a cloud of dust rose from the ground at their feet, stirred by the thundering hooves. And King Agamemnon, racing after, shouting aloud to his Argives, never ceased from slaying. As a dense wood bows to consuming fire borne on the whirling wind, and uprooted trees collapse in the rush of flame, so the fleeing Trojans fell before Agamemnon, son of Atreus, and many a team of spirited horses dragged an empty chariot rattling through the lines, bereft of its peerless charioteers, while they lay in the dust, to the vultures’ joy and their own wives’ sorrow."

by Stephen Mitchell

[Manray9]

I am reading a book discovered from its addition to Geevee's TBR list. It is:

"The Wild Goose and the Eagle" by Christopher Duffy

I have long held an interest in the military history of the Austrian Habsburg's and the later Austro-Hungarian empire. The many successes and too many failures of a multinational army under commanders of vastly different social and ethnic backgrounds and hamstrung by a defense system of chronic financial shortfalls is intriguing. Duffy's book is a biography of one of Austria's most successful field marshals, Maximilian von Browne, a scion of an old Irish military family and a leading example of the renowned "Wild Geese." I am only 45 pages into it, but so far so good.

Other books on the subject include the excellent --

The Army of Francis Joseph by Gunther Rothenberg

The Austro-Hungarian Forces in World War I (Vol. 1) by Peter Jung

Austrian Commanders of the Napoleonic Wars 1792-1815 by David Hollins

['Aussie Rick']

Good to hear you are enjoying Christopher Duffy's The Wild Goose and the Eagle, I have a copy I am yet to read !

['Aussie Rick']

I have just started reading this new first-hand account of Hamburger Hill in Vietnam:


by Frank Boccia

[Geevee]

This awaits my collection from the library: Britain Against Napoleon: The Organization of Victory, 1793-1815 by R.J.B. Knight

['Aussie Rick']

Hi Geevee, when are you thinking of reading it?

[Geevee]

I need to finish my current book on a Victorian murder/poisoning and so would guess late next week Rick - you own a copy don't you so I'll be happy to buddy read, although I'll be slower than you (as always!).

['Aussie Rick']

I'll be keen to do a buddy read late next week, that gives me time to finish my Vietnam War book. I have a prior commitment to read Return of a King so I will read both books and that will slow me down a bit :)

by William Dalrymple

[Geevee]

Another I'd like to read too but will look forward to the BR with you - I'll let you know when I've finished my other boo.

['Aussie Rick']

Sounds good!

['Aussie Rick']

Sounds like it may be a good read there Jerome, keep us posted.


by James H. Willbanks

[happy]

I've just started

The Last of the Doughboys

['Aussie Rick']

Keep us posted Happy, sounds like an interesting book.

[Mike]

That looks good happy, awaiting your review.

['Aussie Rick']

I've decided to start reading Demolishing the Myth, so far so good.


by Valeriy Zamulin

['Aussie Rick']

It sounds like an interesting book Jerome, thanks for the details.

[Geevee]

It does and (yet an)other for the TBR|.

[Steve]

Howdy, new to the group here (retired Army, second generation, but tangentially still in "the business")...

I've recently enjoyed and am recommending three books (by two authors) - the first is a history of the V-22, well-researched and particularly interesting because it spans a few decades of modern military leadership, policy, politics, procurement, technology, etc.... The other two books, both by a Washington Post, follow the current generation of soldiers in Iraq (and, to some extent, Afghanistan, but not as much) as they deploy during the surge (the first book) and then return home, alas, all too often broken (with PTSD and TBI) - both are extremely well done:

The Dream Machine: The Untold History of the Notorious V-22 Osprey

The Good Soldiers

Thank You For Your Service

p.s. I've got a "military" shelf on my Goodreads page, but it includes a fair amount of fiction, which I understand is not the primary focus of this group.

Cheers

['Aussie Rick']

Hi Steve and welcome to the group, some good books you have mentioned there as well! I quite enjoyed The Good Soldiers and will most likely check out the other two :)

['Aussie Rick']

I've just started reading a new book covering the Roman campaigns/conquest of Egypt and Judaea:


by John D. Grainger

The author stated that Publius Ventidius Bassus was one of the best Generals Rome ever produced:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publius_...

[Manray9]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "I've just started reading a new book covering the Roman campaigns/conquest of Egypt and Judaea:


by [author:John D. Grainge..."

Have you read Flavius Josephus "The Jewish War?"

['Aussie Rick']

I have books I - VII of The Jewish War published by Loeb Classical Library that I am yet to read. I loved their published volumes of Procopius' History of the Wars.

[happy]

I recently finished Nathaniel Philbrick's book on the beginnings of the Revolutionary War



I thought it was a good look at the people, events and culture that collided to start the revolution

My thoughts for any interested

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...