Along with Guts thread on favorite military books I thought it might be interesting to see what the readers among us are currently immersed in. I recently finished "Hammer Guns in Theory and Practice" by Diggory Haddoke, hardly military but I wanted to read it before I settled into
"Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600 to 1947" by Christopher Clark. I'm just about half way through. Fascinating and a pretty easy read for anyone interested in Prussia and the founding of Germany as a nation. MUCH easier than "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich". If a person doesn't have that interest it would probably drive them out of their skull.
Nothing at this moment, but the latest book I read (a Christmas present to "Poppa" from my beloved Grandson) was "Custer's Luck" by Edgar Stewart - a historic account of the Little Big Horn Battle, and the week before that was (a Christmas present from my youngest Son) "The Civil War Chronicle". If you get the idea - I'm into history.
My wife says I don't 'Read Books' - I "Devour Them".
I just bought 5 novels and have finished reading two of them. I love being retired and catching up on reading now. The first one I read is " Rise to Greatness" (Abraham Lincoln and America's Most Perilous Year).
After that it was "The man who saved the Union" (Ulysses Grant in War and Peace).
My third novel I'm reading is "Good Hunting" and American spymaster. The guy retired from the CIA and writes about the Iran Contra arms deal, Charlie Wilson war involvement in Afghanistan and other political stuff. His style of writing is not as good as the first two novels but a lot of interesting information.
The other two novels on standby "The Nixon Defense, What he Knew and When he knew it."
The last novel of my 5 book purchase is "On his Own Terms, A Life of Nelson Rockefeller."
All this books I purchased like at 70 to 90% off at Barnes and Nobles. I'm still old school and cannot get into electronic books and kindle.
I have two that I'm reading now. The first is "Hodges Scout", by Len Travers. It is about a lost patrol during the French and Indian war, interesting history that happened in an area I know well.
The second is "How Chance and Stupidity Changed Histoy; "The Hinge Factor", by Erik Durshmied. How incompetence and just bad luck has effected major military outcomes throughout history. Both decent reads.
Lots of my reading hours was spent reading the listed author...then watching for
popular movies after his story line...Got into Tom Clancy, Sidney Sheldon, and
numerous other pop story tellers of the time...Mid-watches by yourself in
boiler rooms, the stories served the time well...Finally the shingles effected eye
kind of put the squelch on reading at all ....Tex, you mentioned you don't care for
kindle or electronic books...never have tried them...chief
Would you consider Audio Books. They are pretty good as well. I have the entire Louis L'Amour collection on hard back and I received an audio tape as a gift a while back "The Sacket Brand". It was pretty Awesome listening to it on my 6 hour trip to visit my parents. I enjoyed it more than I thought since it allowed me to imagine the scenes as they were playing out as well.
Kane and Abel is a 1979 novel by British author Jeffrey Archer. Released in the United .... Abel then comes to know that his backer was not David Maxton, but William Kane. Filled with remorse, he reconciles with his daughter and son-in-law.
I used to read Tom Clancy and Louis L'Amour a long time ago. Haven't thought about them until this thread brought them up. They were relaxing. Hmmmmmmm.
I just picked up Jimmie Doolittle's autobiography. Flipped through it then read about 50 pages so far.
He and Patton became good friends in North Africa.
He was in Nome Alaska during the gold rush as a kid. Studied mine engineering at Berkeley back when it was a real school. Worked summers at the Virginia City silver mine. Joined the Army to learn to fly during WWI. Missed out on the war. Rest is history.
I just finished Pat Frank's "Alas, Babylon" yesterday. Excellent read; I enjoy dystopian fiction. Not sure what to pick up next...a Larry Niven SF, perhaps?
I'm getting ready to read a book I bought a couple of years ago but got sidetracked with complications from cataract surgery, so finally I'll get around to reading next week when I go fishing. The book is "American Betrayal" by Diana West. It is about the court histories that continue to obscure key facts about our backstage war with Moscow.
Just finished “Checkpoint Charlie,” a new book on the Berlin Wall and the Cold War, with new stuff from both sides, very well written.
Rereading now for the umpteenth time “They Were Expendable,” the story of MTB Squadron 3, the one that brought MacArthur out of the Philippines, written in like 1943. I remember reading it the first time in the 1960s when I was about 10. I found a copy I didn’t know I owned when I was cleaning the gun room. It looks like an original copy I must have bought at a library book sale over the years.
I love reading “old” books, better than new reprints of old books, especially ones written DURING the war. Not always factually accurate, some written just to cheer the home front, but it’s always humbling to know the authors (and readers at the time!) had no idea how the war would turn out!
Finally finished the Berdan Sharpshooters . Was a bit of a surprise . I had heard Hiram Berdan was not a good leader but didn't realize he was a bit of a chicken !!! It says when the first shot was heard he would make a excuse to go check on the pack animals . The stories I heard about his good leadership all came from his accounts .
My FIL had a box of books I brought back from MO and the one I grabed...
The Pyramids, An Enigma Solved.
By Dr. Joseph Davidovits and Margie Morris.
I like to ponder how 40,000 Egyptians lifted the 200 ton blocks to the top.
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