What are we reading?

Started by Martok, March 05, 2012, 01:13:59 PM

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MengJiao

Quote from: GDS_Starfury on May 10, 2021, 07:17:40 PM
ya know Toonces, sometimes its ok to not finish the book.
I know that we have some serious readers here.  theres also a lot out there to read.
once in a while we get a book thats just painful to read through and finish.
for me it was Glantz's Leningrad tome.  very well researched, as currently accurate as can be and some of the driest most boring reading ever.
how in the actual fuck can you write about Leningrad and be boring!

  The Leningrad one is rough.  There's a snappier short version that might have the iceboat battles in it.  I'm re-reading the 5-book Stalingrad Trilogy...In volume one of book one I found three offensives I must have skipped ( the one before Whirlwind that took a big chunk out of AG CEnter, Whirlwind (which went nowhere as a kind of proto-Kursk) and Romanenko's first nightmare disaster the anti Whirlwind).  So many offensives.  I'm taking a break and reading After Stalingrad which at least has some battles that got remembered: Gallop, Kharkov 2.5 and 3.5 etc..

And then on to Toto Koopman versus Coco Channel.

solops

#5431
I read "The 900 Days" by Harrison Salisbury several decades ago. It was as brutal and comprehensive account of Leningrad as could be imagined. The political machinations of the Communist Party played a large role in the unfolding of the siege. And the Soviets knowledge of local conditions was key to their  success almost as much as Adolf's ham-handed interference. Draconian Soviet brutality towards their own certainly was another key to their success - discipline at the point of a Nagan.
"I could have conquered Europe, all of it, but I had women in my life." - King Henry II of England
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly. - Winston Churchill
Wine is sure proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. - Benjamin Franklin

MengJiao

Quote from: MengJiao on May 10, 2021, 08:00:04 PM
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on May 10, 2021, 07:17:40 PM
ya know Toonces, sometimes its ok to not finish the book.
I know that we have some serious readers here.  theres also a lot out there to read.
once in a while we get a book thats just painful to read through and finish.
for me it was Glantz's Leningrad tome.  very well researched, as currently accurate as can be and some of the driest most boring reading ever.
how in the actual fuck can you write about Leningrad and be boring!

  The Leningrad one is rough.  There's a snappier short version that might have the iceboat battles in it.  I'm re-reading the 5-book Stalingrad Trilogy...In volume one of book one I found three offensives I must have skipped ( the one before Whirlwind that took a big chunk out of AG CEnter, Whirlwind (which went nowhere as a kind of proto-Kursk) and Romanenko's first nightmare disaster the anti Whirlwind).  So many offensives.  I'm taking a break and reading After Stalingrad which at least has some battles that got remembered: Gallop, Kharkov 2.5 and 3.5 etc..

And then on to Toto Koopman versus Coco Channel.

Which would be this:


Gusington

Now reading Praetorian - The Rise and Fall of Rome's Imperial Bodyguard by Guy de la Bedoyere.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Gusington

Now starting Pax Romana - War, Peace and Conquest in the Roman World by Adrian Goldsworthy.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

nelmsm

Getting started on The Conquering Tide by Ian Till. War in the Pacific 1942-1944. Just getting started but the lead up to Guadacanal is fascinating

Toonces

^ I just finished Twilight of the Gods, wrapping up the three-volume series.  Great books and great series.  There was quite a bit in there I had not read before.

I'm going to give the series two firm thumbs up.
"If you had a chance, right now, to go back in time and stop Hitler, wouldn't you do it?  I mean, I personally wouldn't stop him because I think he's awesome." - Eric Cartman

"Does a watch list mean you are being watched or is it a come on to Toonces?" - Biggs

ArizonaTank

Quote from: Toonces on May 21, 2021, 12:35:09 PM
^ I just finished Twilight of the Gods, wrapping up the three-volume series.  Great books and great series.  There was quite a bit in there I had not read before.

I'm going to give the series two firm thumbs up.

Just finished Twilight of the Gods myself.

Great book on the last year of WWII in the Pacific (note that the book does not really cover the war in China). It is a panoramic overview of the war that did a fair job of portraying both sides of the conflict.

If folks like Twilight of the Gods, and want more, I recommend The Fall of Japan by William Craig (the author of Enemy at the Gates)
https://www.amazon.com/Fall-Japan-Final-Weeks-Pacific/dp/1504046897/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1621693470&sr=8-3
Johannes "Honus" Wagner
"The Flying Dutchman"
Shortstop: Pittsburgh Pirates 1900-1917
Rated as the 2nd most valuable player of all time by Bill James.

ArizonaTank

Taking a break from my usual non-fiction fare.

Just finished Shadow Fall by Randall Wilson.

Recommended by a friend, the book is special operations forces meet fantasy 101. Oozing with tactical detail, ambushes, tactics and field craft. Magic is there, but very subtle. No lightning bolts or fire balls. Combat is all about being swift, stealthy and using overwhelming force.

Anyway, if tactics and fantasy are your thing...a good read.

https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Fall-Tale-Black-Rose/dp/B08XGSTP8P/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=shadow+fall+randall+wilson&qid=1621895036&sr=8-1

Just picking up my wife's favorite book (so yes, getting 'brownie' points), The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay. Story takes place in a fantasy world that get's heavy inspiration from medieval Spain in the time of El Cid. Great character development and story telling. Has several strong female characters, thus my wife's interest. Anyway, about 1/3 through and enjoying it. Probably the best part is that it gives me an alternate subject for the next time my wife wants to discuss my feelings at 2am in the morning.

https://www.amazon.com/lions-Al-Rassan-Guy-Gavriel-Kay/dp/067085896X/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1621895372&sr=8-2
Johannes "Honus" Wagner
"The Flying Dutchman"
Shortstop: Pittsburgh Pirates 1900-1917
Rated as the 2nd most valuable player of all time by Bill James.

Toonces

I don't know if you've seen them, but I've raved about Guy Gavriel Kay in a number of posts of the years.  He is an absolutely fantastic writer.

Lions is really good.  If you find his writing enjoyable then you're in for a real treat as he has a number of similar books.  My favorite is the two-novel The Sarantine Mosaic.  It is probably my favorite book of all time.
"If you had a chance, right now, to go back in time and stop Hitler, wouldn't you do it?  I mean, I personally wouldn't stop him because I think he's awesome." - Eric Cartman

"Does a watch list mean you are being watched or is it a come on to Toonces?" - Biggs

Gusington

^I've read a ton of good things about Clay here and elsewhere. What's his best title?


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Sir Slash

I just started, "Meade and Lee at Bristoe Station- August 1 to October 31, 1863" by Jeffery Wm. Hunt, the second in his trilogy of books covering the period between Gettysburg and the 1864 Campaign in Virginia. The first book, "Meade and Lee after Gettysburg" was a great little book covering Lee's escape from Pennsylvania and Meade's pursuit thereafter, especially if you've read little about the events, like me. I highly enjoyed it.  O0
"Take a look at that". Sgt. Wilkerson-- CMBN. His last words after spotting a German tank on the other side of a hedgerow.

Toonces

I just couldn't give up on Atlas Shrugged so I'm back into that again.  I'm more than halfway through, and now that some of the plot lines are becoming more clear I'm enjoying the book a bit more.  I think I'll be able to finish it unless it gets tragically bad in the latter half.  It's a bit over the top, but it's certainly an interesting premise and it does highlight the dangers of communism pretty well.

I also started (for the second time) Churchill's WW2 history.  I'm enjoying the first volume much more this time around for some reason.

I have a few other cat and dog books I'm sort of reading, but those two are my main focus at the moment.
"If you had a chance, right now, to go back in time and stop Hitler, wouldn't you do it?  I mean, I personally wouldn't stop him because I think he's awesome." - Eric Cartman

"Does a watch list mean you are being watched or is it a come on to Toonces?" - Biggs

al_infierno

"If I wanted someone to murder subtext, I'd dig up Ayn Rand and stick a pen in her hand!"

-Sterling Archer
A War of a Madman's Making - a text-based war planning and political survival RPG

It makes no difference what men think of war, said the judge.  War endures.  As well ask men what they think of stone.  War was always here.  Before man was, war waited for him.  The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner.  That is the way it was and will be.  That way and not some other way.
- Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian


If they made nothing but WWII games, I'd be perfectly content.  Hypothetical matchups from alternate history 1980s, asymmetrical US-bashes-some-3rd world guerillas, or minor wars between Upper Bumblescum and outer Kaboomistan hold no appeal for me.
- Silent Disapproval Robot


I guess it's sort of nice that the word "tactical" seems to refer to some kind of seriousness during your moments of mental clarity.
- MengJiao

nobodyjune61944

I finished The Splintered Empires: The Eastern Front 1917–2 by Prit Buttar.
Earlier this year I finished Collision of Empires: The War on the Eastern Front in 1914.

Austria-Hungary had perhaps the worst strategy and tactics of any country in WW1.  The way they attacked Serbia defies explanation.