What I'm Reading

['Aussie Rick']

With the moderators permission, I figured group members could tell others in the group what military history book they are currently reading since we are always on the lookout for another good book!

I'm currently reading a WW1 title covering 1918. The book is by Peter Hart who is a prolific author that utilises first-hand accounts to help tell the story, very similar in style to that great British historian; Lyn MacDonald.


by Peter Hart

So what is everyone else reading?

[happy]

I recently finished

The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King—the Five-Star Admirals Who Won the War at Sea

I thought is was a good look at the life and careers of the 4 5 star admirals

[Jim]

I'm muddling my way through It's a decent condensed history of WWII.Len Deighton

[Mike]

Recently finished the excellent , written by a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School. Currently reading , from the always excellent Mr Hastings.

['Aussie Rick']

All good books there! I'm glad you enjoyed The Ghosts of Cannae Mike, it was a pretty decent account eh!

['Aussie Rick']

I quite enjoyed Len Deightons book; Blood, Tears and Folly Jim so I hope you find it interesting as well.


by Len Deighton

['Aussie Rick']

With a few others here in this group I've just started Michael Jones' latest book; Total War.


by Michael Jones

[Mike]

I'm currently reading by John Ferling and by A.J. Langguth The first one is for school, the second is for fun. Both are pretty good so far.

['Aussie Rick']

I have a copy of Almost a Miracle sitting in my library to be read so I will be keen to hear your final opinion on the book Mike.

[Mike]

Added Almost a Miracle TBR. 1776 had the same theme but only covered the one year. This looks pretty good.

[Eli]

I'm a little more than halfway through Mary Habeck's Knowing the Enemy which is a history and ethnography of the jihadist movement. There are mind-numbingly boring parts but overall it gives you a really great glimpse into the ideology behind the movement.

['Aussie Rick']

Hi Elijah,

That sounds like a very interesting book (in parts), keep us posted on how it goes.

by Mary Habeck

['Aussie Rick']

I will be starting Masters of the Air shortly, it will be interesting to see how it goes.


by Donald L. Miller

[Mike]

Trying to squeeze in before our BR of .

['Aussie Rick']

It's a fast read Mike, hopefully you will enjoy the book so much that you will be up late at night reading and have it finished in no time!

[Eli]

I'm sure some of you have read it already, but I'm working on The Forever War by Dexter Filkins. I'm only about a hundred pages in but it's definitely a good read and worthy of its Pulitzer.

['Aussie Rick']

That is a pretty good book Elijah and glad to hear you are enjoying it. I wasn't aware that it had won a Pulitzer but it's well deserved like you said.

by Dexter Filkins

[Thomas]

Hi guys. I'm new to this group.

I've just started reading by John Keegan

Will let you know what I make of it.

['Aussie Rick']

Hi Thomas, will be interested to hear what you think of the book. I have enjoyed most of John Keegan's books so keen to hear your views on this one.

[Geevee]

Hi Thomas I've read a couple of Keegan's books but not that one, so like Rick will be interested on views.

One I did enjoy from a different angle was this, which interest group members: by Amanda Foreman

[Thomas]

Great - I did read a review of this a while back but had forgotten about it, so thanks! Next on the list...

[Mike]

Hello Thomas, I have always enjoyed Mr. Keegan's books and I have added this to the TBR pile. We await your review!

['Aussie Rick']

Hi Henry, welcome to the group and thanks for those excellent reading suggestions.

[Mike]

I finished "Union 1812: The Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence." It provided a good account of the War of 1812, which I knew almost nothing about previously. I am now reading by Marc Wortman and still working on "Almost a Miracle."

[happy]

Welcome Henry and Thomas

[Geevee]

Welcome Henry.

[James]

I'm in the middle of

by Barry Strauss and enjoying it. He does a good job of correlating archeological evidence, history from contemporary and later Greek and Roman sources, and the content of the Iliad, Odyssey, and other epic poems (along with explaining some conventions of the period regarding exaggerations of numbers, the roles of heroes as compared to regular old ordinary grunts, and so on.)

['Aussie Rick']

Good to hear your enjoying the book James. I have to read his account of Spartacus soon, I'm a bit behind.


by Barry Strauss

[James]

Back in the beginning of the '90s I read his book with Josiah Ober, The Anatomy of Error: Ancient Military Disasters and Their Lessons for Modern Strategists, and got a lot out of it. To me it's usually more interesting to study things that have gone wrong than those that have gone right; I definitely learn more that way.

['Aussie Rick']

I've just started the first volume of Paul Britten Austin's triology on one of the greatest military campaigns in history; Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia.

by Paul Britten Austin

To be followed on by:

and by Paul Britten Austin

[Mike]

After completing , staying in the air over Germany with

['Aussie Rick']

I dare say you feel safer in the air Mike, being a pilot and all :)

[happy]

I'm currently reading

['Aussie Rick']

How are you going with that book Happy?

[happy]

I am liking it. It is a fast read, I should be done tomarrow or Tuesday.

Imagine releiving your assault commander the day before a major op with no obvious replacement!!

[Geevee]

I started this at the back end of last week: by David Stevenson

It is very detailed but readable although for those looking for a battalion/company level history this isn't for you, as it is more strategic and wide ranging: build-up, war aims, economics, supply & logistics, technology, society (recruiting etc) and aftermath to name some.

['Aussie Rick']

I found this account in my current book a great description to the prelude to a Napoleonic battle:

‘A strange thing, modern battles,’ soliloquizes Thirion: ‘Two armies gradually turn up on a piece of ground, places themselves symmetrically facing each other, their artillery 100 metres to the front. All these preliminaries are carried out with calm barrack-square precision. From one army to the other are heard the commanders’ sonorous voices. In a lugubrious silence you see being turned on you the mouths of the guns which are going to send you death.’

by Paul Britten Austin

[happy]

Dog Company was excellent - strong recommend

['Aussie Rick']

My current book is becoming one of those hard to put down books. It covers the US military commission/trial of the Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita at the end of WW2. For those interested here is a very interesting legal article by Laurie Barber in regards to "in Re Yamashita" which provides all the information you need to know about the content of the book:

http://www.waikato.ac.nz/wfass/subjec...

I am less than half way through the book but already I am convinced that Yamashita did not get a fair trial.

Here are some details on the author of the book:

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


by Allan A. Ryan

Here is an excellent article on 'command accountability' by Lieutenant Colonel Joe Doty:

http://usacac.army.mil/CAC2/MilitaryR...

[happy]

My current book -

A short (200 pages) look at the the Civil war Navy.

[Mike]

I just started . We'll see how it goes.

[happy]

Finished Civil War at Sea

Good companion to McPherson's War on the Waters: The Union and Confederate Navies, 1861-1865

If anyone is intersted, my thoughts

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

['Aussie Rick']

Good review Happy, thanks for sharing.

[Paul]

Im currently on a Vietnam war memoir Noble Warrior: The Life and Times of Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston, USMC (Ret.), Medal of Honor. He discovers his role as a leader in front of his men leading by example not telling his men to do something he wouldn't do. It also describes his gallantry leading up to and his actions that earned him the MOH. A good read for any one in the armed forces or is interested in history!

['Aussie Rick']

Hi Paul, thanks for the 'heads-up' on the book Noble Warrior. I am sure I have seen it around but not purchased a copy yet. Glad to hear you are enjoying it and that it's a book worth while recommending.

by James E. Livingston

[Richard]

happy wrote: "I recently finished

The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King—the Five-Star Admirals Who Won the War at Sea

I thought is was a good look at the life and careers of the 4 5 star admirals"

I recently attended the Great Lives series at University of Mary Washington where the author Walter Borneman discussed The Admirals. It was an excellent presentation...Borneman is an accomplished speaker who keeps the audience's attention with anecdotes about the five admirals. My wife and I also attended the dinner preceding the lecture and we got to talk with him...good guy. Have a great USMC day, Dick Camp

[Richard]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Hi Paul, thanks for the 'heads-up' on the book Noble Warrior. I am sure I have seen it around but not purchased a copy yet. Glad to hear you are enjoying it and that it's a book worth while recomme..."

General Livingston received the Medal of Honor for heroic action in 1968 while serving as a company commander with 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines at Dai Do, a collection of huts on the Cua Viet River north of Dong Ha. I mention this because at the time of the battle I happened to be the aide de camp to MajGen Ray Davis, the Deputy for Provisional Corps Vietnam. During the three day fight, I accompanied the olde man to the 3rd Marine Division CP where he received a brief from the commanding general MajGen Rathvon McC. Tompkins. During the helicopter flight back and forth, I could see evidence of the battle--airstrikes, artillery explosions, etc. Tompkins explained that 2/4 was heavily engaged with a NVA division sized unit. Unfortunately Tompkins never unleashed the division's assets to reinforce 2/4 and they had to battle the NVA by themselves. If memory serves me, the 3rd MarDiv at the time had 16 maneuver battalions, including a brigade (-) of the 1st Air Cavalry Division.

After the battle I accompanied Davis to 2/4's CP for a brief of the operation. As I recall it was given by the S-3 who survived the action. His account of the individual bravery of the troopers was extremely emotional. One account mentioned three dead Marines lying in a row, with the last one's bayonet stuck in the chest of the NVA machine gunner.

I wrote an article in Leatherneck magazine some years ago about the action. If I can locate it, I'll put it on line.

By the way, the battalion commander, LtCol (now BGen retired) Bill Weise is a good friend. Three years ago to celebrate the book's publication (Noble Warrior) there was a reception held at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, Quantico, VA. It was a great event and a golden opportunity to meet and talk with the veterans. Semper Fi, Dick Camp

['Aussie Rick']

Hi Dick, thanks for that additional information in regards to the 1968 action that General Livingston received his Medal of Honor for. I am sure if you can find that Leatherneck magazine article many of the members here would love to read it.

['Aussie Rick']

I've gone back a bit in history to read this 1963 account of General Burgoyne and his 1777 campaign against the Americans.

by Harrison Bird

[Geevee]

Geevee wrote: "I started this at the back end of last week: by David Stevenson

It is very detailed but readable although for those looking for a battalion/company level history th..."

I finished this today and thought it superb. My review is here should anyone wish to see my thoughts: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...