What I'm Reading

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

"Endpapers: A Family Story of Books, War, Escape, and Home" - An early experience of the author's grandfather in the Great War. His unit was dispatched to a forest south of the Belgian village of Neufchâteau to assess casualties after the 1914 Battle of the Ardennes:

"Scattered among hundreds of corpses, Kurt’s unit discovered eighteen survivors, fifteen Frenchmen and three Germans, who had passed days and nights since the battle without dressing or water or food amidst the horrific stench of decaying bodies, through the heat of the days and the damp cold of the nights. . . . It goes without saying that only in very rare, exceptional cases could some living thing, weakened by the heavy exertions and deprivations of the past days and weeks, without any food and especially with fevers from their untreated wounds, cling to life as long as these eighteen did. Most of these wounded, to the extent that they were able to utter a few words or communicate in any way, explained that they had had no sustenance. In every case their wounds were so severe that they had been unable to move at all. Only one, a German, in despair at slowly dying of starvation yet nursing hopes of being found if he could only hang on a little longer, had resorted to a desperate measure: he took the only thing left of his meager rations, a cube of condensed pea soup, dissolved it in his own urine, and drank it."

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

"Endpapers: A Family Story of Books, War, Escape, and Home" - The German Olympics in 1936 when a German weightlifter opened the ceremony brandishing a swastika flag:

"In his seat next to Hitler in the Fuhrer's box, the International Olympic Committee president, Count Henri de Baillet-Latour, looked on disapprovingly.

Moments later the Polish ambassador to Germany tapped Baillet-Latour on the shoulder. 'We have to be on our guard against a people with such a talent for organization,' he said, whispering to Hitler wouldn't hear. 'They could mobilize their entire nation just as smoothly for war'."

Endpapers: A Family Story of Books, War, Escape, and Home by Alexander Wolff

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

I'm about half-way through this 1985 book; "The Root: The Marines in Beirut".

The Root: The Marines in Beirut, August 1982-February 1984 by Eric Hammel

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

I've had a copy of this book sitting in my library since 2003, figured it was about time to read it; "Defeat In Detail: The Ottoman Army in the Balkans, 1912-1913" by Edward J. Erickson.

Defeat In Detail: The Ottoman Army in the Balkans, 1912-1913 by Edward J. Erickson

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

I've started two military history books covering different conflicts:

Saipan: The Battle That Doomed Japan in World War II by James H. Hallas

The Secret Expedition: The Anglo-Russian Invasion of Holland 1799 by Geert van Uythoven

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Managed to get a draft copy of "A Campaign of Giants—The Battle for Petersburg, Vol. 2: From the Crater's Aftermath to the Battle of Burgess Mill" for my Kindle from NetGallery.

A Campaign of Giants—The Battle for Petersburg, Vol. 2: From the Crater's Aftermath to the Battle of Burgess Mill by A. Wilson Greene

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

I have just started reading this book; "The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780" by Rick Atkinson.

The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780 by Rick Atkinson

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

"The Lion House" - The Ottoman army advance into Hungary:

"After slaughtering the garrison at Osijek, on the right bank of the Drava, near where it enters the Danube, and setting light to the town, the army crosses the river on a pontoon which the Sultan orders destroyed to stop homesick soldiers getting any ideas. They slog through the swamps of southern Hungary towards King Louis, who is waiting on the plain of Mohacs, called after a town of that name set amid vines and overlooked by a mountain shaped like an amphitheatre. It is on this plain, tomorrow, 30 August 1526, that the Turks plan to give battle.

But the Hungarians see their opportunity today. As the invaders rise from afternoon prayer, they are charged by Hungary's armoured knights on their immense horses, which scatter Ibrahim's squadron on the Turkish left and force their way to within striking distance of the Sultan, who is saved only by the thickness of his cuirass. Having come through the hole they have torn in the Turkish left, the knights plunge into the centre - only by now this hole is filling with Janissaries who have descended onto the plain.

Over the next two hours the fate of Hungary is decided while Suleyman watched from a throne that has been placed on higher ground. 'Three or four times the Janissary division rake the infidel with gunfire,' he records in his journal, 'and at length, with the help of majestic God and the Prophet, the people of Islam hurl back the wicked ones, and when they no longer have the strength to thrown themselves into a fresh attack, they are put to the sword like dogs.' An expected relief force led by James Zapolya, Voivode of Transylvania, fails to show up.

King Louis is dead. Drowned in a puddle under the weight of his own armour. His gold and silver plate, cups and trays, marten furs and German rapiers are stowed in Janissary knapsacks. The ancient Crown of St Stephen, which he showed to his troops that day in the hope that its depictions of saints would inspire them, is nowhere to be seen.

Whole Suleyman rests in his tent, his men build a pyramid made of heads, which greets him when he emerges refreshed. Then Mohacs it put to the flames. 'Order to kill all peasants in the camp,' he writes. 'The woman alone are exempted.' Downstream, the people of Belgrade watch the bodies float by."

The Battle of Mohacs:
https://the-past.com/feature/the-end-...

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

I downloaded volume two of David Powell's Atlanta Campaign yesterday so I figured I should get started on volume one of the series. I thought this would be a three-volume set like his books on the Chickamauga Campaign, however I just found out the Atlanta series will be five volumes!

The Atlanta Campaign: Volume 1: Dalton to Cassville, May 1-19, 1864 by David A. Powell

The Atlanta Campaign: Volume 2: From the Etowah River to Kennesaw Mountain, May 20 to June 27, 1864 by David A. Powell