THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP discussion
GROUP & BUDDY READS
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Group and Buddy Reads
We can do a submarine and related topic theme and I think a theme on any battle of the readers choice is a good idea as well.
I was thinking along the lines of a particular battle as a theme read, instead of a theme read on any battle in general. Of course, deciding on a particular battle could lead to some interesting opinions...
Marc wrote: "I was thinking along the lines of a particular battle as a theme read, instead of a theme read on any battle in general. Of course, deciding on a particular battle could lead to some interesting op..."That's always the problem, getting a large group to settle on one battle :)
How about ringing in our new thread with a post-45 theme?
Jonny wrote: "How about ringing in our new thread with a post-45 theme?"Hear! Hear! We've all thrown at least one unread book in there (I feel Vietnam's accusing stare)
'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Marc wrote: "I was thinking along the lines of a particular battle as a theme read, instead of a theme read on any battle in general. Of course, deciding on a particular battle could lead to some interesting options/That's always the problem, getting a large group to settle on one battle :) ..."That's a path we've walked before for many famous WWII battles such as Normandy, Arnhem & the Ardennes who are covered extensively enough to warrant their own permanent topic. It's harder outside of the ETO, but again the front-level group reads tend to cover many titles about well-studied battles such as Stalingrad or Kursk, Midway and Imo Jima, El Alamein and Monte Cassino....we're stuck !
I think for the Pacific you can find lots of options on:Pearl Harbor
Midway
Guadalcanal
New Guinea
Tarawa
The Marianas
Peleliu
The Philippines
Iwo Jima
Okinawa
The bombing of Japan
Post 45 theme is an excellent idea and what I am thinking of doing is setting up a poll on a WW2 battle that members can vote on for the theme.
'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Post 45 theme is an excellent idea and what I am thinking of doing is setting up a poll on a WW2 battle that members can vote on for the theme."AR: Don't forget Imphal/Kohima.
Manray9 wrote: "'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Post 45 theme is an excellent idea and what I am thinking of doing is setting up a poll on a WW2 battle that members can vote on for the theme."AR: Don't forget Imphal/Kohima."
Good one, especially since I purchased a book earlier this year which works perfectly for such a choice!
Marc wrote: "Manray9 wrote: "'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Post 45 theme is an excellent idea and what I am thinking of doing is setting up a poll on a WW2 battle that members can vote on for the theme."AR: Don't for..."
Me too.
I'd definitely be in favor of Imphal/Kohima.
Manray9 wrote: "Marc wrote: "Manray9 wrote: "'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Post 45 theme is an excellent idea and what I am thinking of doing is setting up a poll on a WW2 battle that members can vote on for the theme."..."
This one?
Road Of Bones: The Siege Of Kohima 1944 The Epic Story Of The Last Great Stand Of Empire
Marc wrote: "Manray9 wrote: "Marc wrote: "Manray9 wrote: "'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Post 45 theme is an excellent idea and what I am thinking of doing is setting up a poll on a WW2 battle that members can vote on f..."No, this one:
Kohima: The Furthest Battle: The Story of the Japanese Invasion of India in 1944 and the Battle of Kohima by Leslie Edwards.
Dimitri wrote: "Culturally ? Leni Riefenstahl biography !"I knew Leni, her comments on Hans Marseille are in my book The Star of Africa.
For those interested here is a poll update, the top five battles voted for so far:Stalingrad - 10 votes, 12.0%
Battle of the Bulge - 8 votes, 9.6%
Fall of France 1940 - 8 votes, 9.6%
Battle of Britain - 7 votes, 8.4%
Norway 1940 - 5 votes, 6.0%
'Aussie Rick' wrote: "For those interested here is a poll update, the top five battles voted for so far:Stalingrad - 10 votes, 12.0%
Battle of the Bulge - 8 votes, 9.6%
Fall of France 1940 - 8 votes, 9.6%
Battle..."
Is there an actual poll, or are members just sending you individual messages with their choice(s)?
Actual poll, I sent all members of the group a message, if you didn't get it then the poll is at the bottom of the group page so you can cast a vote there if you like.
'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Actual poll, I sent all members of the group a message, if you didn't get it then the poll is at the bottom of the group page so you can cast a vote there if you like."Hmmm...never got the message but I have found the poll. Gotta peruse my library at home and see what book I'd like to read next year which fits one of the choices!
Be interested to hear what you find Marc :)
'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Be interested to hear what you find Marc :)"Well, I found quite a few!! If I was to go based on how long a book has been on my TBR pile, I'd have to go with Alamein, probably followed by Okinawa. However, I picked up a book earlier this year on the Fall of France in 1940 which I really want to read, so that became my choice.
Doesn't mean I'm not prepared for almost all the other choices though...
Good to be prepared Marc :)
Update on the current poll. 96 votes have been cast from group members with the following results for the top 5:Stalingrad - 13 votes, 13.5%
Fall of France 1940 - 10 votes, 10.4%
Battle of the Bulge - 8 votes, 8.3%
Battle of Britain - 7 votes, 7.3%
Battle of Berlin 1945 - 5 votes, 5.2%
The next theme read for the group is next month (October). It was listed as any book or books of the members choice covering the Western Front. I should have made this a bit more clearer in that I meant the Western Front of the Great War since it is the 100th anniversary of a number of battles conducted in 1917. I was thinking of making this theme month a dual theme to also cover the Russian Revolution of 1917. Does anyone have an strong objections to this?
Also if people had set themselves to read about the European theatre of WW2 for October I am happy to have two theme pages open, one for the Western Front of 1917 and one for the European theatre of 1944-45.
Please let me know your preference so I can get things organised for October.
I have two theme pages set up for October 2017. One covers the Western Front and the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the second page covers the Western European theatre of 1944-45 so members can take their pick on which subject they wish to read about for the October theme.Western Front/Russian Revolution 1917:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
European Theatre 1944-45;
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Both pages will be open for discussion a few days prior to the start of the month.
Will give the European Theatre a miss this month. Getting a bit behind in reading other stuff I have on the go at the moment. As I know very little about the 1917 revolution I might have a read of this.
A Brief History of 1917: Russia's Year of Revolution
Sounds like a pretty decent and in-depth account, perfect for the 1917 theme read :)
I like your idea in message 42. Several of the books look quite good.
For reference, here is the post in message 42:message 42: by 'Aussie Rick', Moderator Apr 04, 2012 03:25PM
'Aussie Rick' (AussieRick) | 11150 comments I was wondering what others thought about this idea:
The one problem I find with group reads that many people don't always get their choice of book to read. At the moment this is how things are looking in regards to the poll:
The End: The Defiance & Destruction of Hitler's Germany 1944-45 - 3 votes
All Hell Let Loose: The World at War, 1939-1945 - 2 votes
Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin - 2 votes
Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad - 2 votes
Would it be suitable for us to have a group 'buddy' read in that we could run 3-4 books at the same time and people could read whichever of the books they like and we could post comments on all the books in the one thread.
So basically we could run the 4 books above with 2-3 people reading and commenting on their book as a group, that way everyone gets to read the book they want and we share the reading experience across 4 books which may entice others to grab one of the other books to read at a later date, what do people here think of that idea?
Otherwise we can run some more polls and just go with one book, thoughts and comments?
In regards to the original #42/781 idea/message:It seems like this is the way things are run here? It is certainly a more unusual approach at GR. How is it working out? I am not used to this themed approach, so by default I go directly for what other people are reading (in this case 'Aussie Rick'). Perhaps I'm too used to reading literature? After all you focus on the theater of war and/or personalities. Do you sometimes actually choose a specific book or is it always a free for all following a theme? Just curious....
By the way - just for the record - I was pulled into the group by the book posted on the front page (The Russian Revolution: A New History by Sean McMeekin) as I presumed it was a group read (i.e. not a theme and optional)).
We have tried reading a specific book Haaze but we don't always get a lot of members joining in, by a theme approach where members can choose a book on the specified theme we get more participants. However I am always happy to run a group read on a book if people are keen. So if you or any other group member had a book in mind I would be happy to organise a page/thread and if I can't run the discussion I'd be happy to leave it in the hands of any one keen to volunteer for the task.
Thanks Rick - that is good to know. Do you generally choose a book on your own and run a discussion on that book?
I usually let members nominate a book and if I have a copy I'll join in. I also sometimes run a poll and let the group vote. This is one of the current polls for a group read in 2018 if your interested:https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/2...
Lots of votes and lots of choices. I presume there will be a runoff poll as well?
I think there will have to be :)
Is anyone interested in reading Barrett Tillman's Whirlwind: The Air War Against Japan or Richard Overy's The Bombers and the Bombed: Allied Air War Over Europe, for next month?
David wrote: "Is anyone interested in reading Barrett Tillman's Whirlwind: The Air War Against Japan or Richard Overy's The Bombers and the Bombed: Allied Air War Over Europe, for next month?"Hi David, two excellent books there and I have copies of both and both unread for that matter. I may try and read one of them with you if I can. Which title attracts you the most?
Below are the results of the recent poll conducted to select a battle of interest for one of the 2018 theme reads. Would group members like me to conduct a run-off poll out of the top five selections or just go with the current winner - Stalingrad?
Stalingrad - 13 votes, 12.4%
Fall of France 1940 - 10 votes, 9.5%
Battle of the Bulge - 9 votes, 8.6%
Battle of Britain - 7 votes, 6.7%
Norway 1940 - 7 votes, 6.7%
'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Below are the results of the recent poll conducted to select a battle of interest for one of the 2018 theme reads. Would group members like me to conduct a run-off poll out of the top five select..."
Run-off.
I don't have a preference I am largely unread on non naval air wars, your pick.
Considering the number of choices (!!!) in the original poll a run off poll is probably necessary....
Run off it will be. New poll will be set up in November for voting.
David wrote: "Is anyone interested in reading Barrett Tillman's Whirlwind: The Air War Against Japan or Richard Overy's The Bombers and the Bombed: Allied Air War Over Europe, for next month?"Got Overy's bombs covered I'm afraid:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
For the winner of the original poll [Stalingrad] I could do the abbreviated version of David Glantz' ...(google) Pentalogy! that was released in March.
Excellent review on Overy's book Dimitri!I've read two of the four volumes in Glantz's 'trilogy' so that leaves me the option of going with volume three or one of the many other books on Stalingrad I have sitting in my library
David wrote: "Is anyone interested in reading Barrett Tillman's Whirlwind: The Air War Against Japan or Richard Overy's The Bombers and the Bombed: Allied Air War Over Europe, for next month?"I've read Tillman's book--not real comprehensive, but a good overall history. Would have loved if it had a few hundred more pages so he could go into even more detail.
One book that I have read on the subject (the bombing campaign against Japan) was this book which I really enjoyed:
BLANKETS OF FIRE by Kenneth P. Werrell
Tillman (who is a good friend, we even did a History Channel TV show together) and I, like all authors, are restrained by publishers who invoke word limits, to minimize the cost pf printing.
THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP
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A couple topics which could work as group reads are submarine/anti-submarine warfare and perhaps a single battle/campaign which has lots of bo..."
Marc: I like the submarine/ASW idea. That spans a lot: U-boats in the Atlantic, convoy ops, airborne ASW (flying boats, RAF Coastal Command, jeep carriers, etc.), U.S. Navy submarine ops versus Japan, British and Italian subs in the Med, Soviet subs in the Baltic and Arctic waters, and other related topics. I have a copy of:
It would fit perfectly.