BletchleyGeek Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 Thanks for the comments @CMFDR there's a narrative wargame coming up that follows the 7th IR through 1942 to 1945, and they mention this book as a major reference. Will add it to my wishlist (as two slots recently opened up). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMFDR Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 (edited) Yeah, Burden of Command, I'm closely following it too @BletchleyGeek, I picked up that book reading Luke Hughes' blog actually. I think some CM's players may be interested in it and vice-versa. Edited January 22, 2019 by CMFDR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BletchleyGeek Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 There you go 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted January 22, 2019 Author Share Posted January 22, 2019 On 1/17/2019 at 5:29 PM, John Kettler said: Mord, The British Are Coming looks like loads of fun. Unfortunately, it's in the same eventually category Not too far off. The hard part is buy it when it comes out or wait until he releases the rest? I've waited twenty years for George R.R. Martin to finish A Game of Thrones and at this point I'd don't give a crap if he finishes or not. The TV show ran the story into the ground, and if the fourth and fifth books are any indication he's doing it with the literature too. I just hate reading something and then having to wait a year or nineteen in between titles. I guess I'll play it by ear with The British Are Coming. I'll probably fair better if I steer clear of Empire Total War around that time. LOL. Mord. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 I've gone back to reading Breakout and Pursuit by Martin Blumenson and am enjoying it quite a lot. I bought it several months ago and got part the way into it, but got distracted by other things for a while. Blumenson is a really good writer/historian and I have read several of his other books and had really wanted to get into this one as it is a subject for which I have a serious interest. BTW, the Kindle edition is going for free on Amazon today. It was originally part of the Army Historical Green Book Series. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 The noise of time, Julian Barnes It's the summer holidays here, some I'm doing a bit of off-reservation reading before varsity starts again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 (edited) 5 hours ago, Michael Emrys said: Breakout and Pursuit ... BTW, the Kindle edition is going for free on Amazon today. It's also free here as a PDF, meaning you can read it on any device. The rest of the Green Books are there too. Edited January 23, 2019 by JonS 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 (edited) Finished Zagorski's The Nazi Hunters but wound up taking an unexpected detour from the above Stalingrad or Prokhorovka options via Charles Boardman Hawes's The Dark Frigate. Despite its having won the Newberry Medal in 1924 and been deeply researched, I didn't find it anywhere nearly as gripping and engaging as Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. The reasons may be the story, that it was written in what was then called Great Britain and appealed to those sensibilities, my ability to properly take in what I was reading (oft marginal, sadly), or some combination of those. Though supposedly a children's book, I did not find The Dark Frigate so. Still, it was a worthwhile and informative interlude before returning to that decision fork I mentioned. I ultimately plumped forJason Mark's Island of Fire which I'd forgotten I had ordered, but not received, when I made my January 17th post. It beat out Valeriy Zamulin's Demolishing the Myth by the virtue of having type at least double in size and tons more white space, greatly facilitating my ability to read at a time when my eyes are a bit rheumy, making it hard to see small closely spaced type. Am blown away by Island of Fire and hope my brain comes out of Low soon so my pace doesn't match the Barrikady Gun Factory German experience! As it is, I've managed 16 glorious pages since yesterday. Not much, but there's so much to take in on even a single page. Mord, Have seen a whopping one episode of GoT and read none of the books, but my understanding is that lots of adult scenes were in the show that weren't in the books; that this was done to put eyes on the show. True or false? Regards, John Kettler Edited February 17, 2019 by John Kettler 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 4 hours ago, John Kettler said: Have seen a whopping one episode of GoT and read none of the books, but my understanding is that lots of adult scenes were in the show that weren't in the books; that this was done to put eyes on the show. True or false? I would not be surprised if it were true. GoT barely escapes being hardcore porn by the skin of its teeth. One of many things I love about it. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 Glad to see this thread is still alive. Lately I have been reading Boyd, a biography of John Boyd, who was the leader of The Fighter Mafia in the USAF during the '60s-'70s and largely responsible for the creation of the F-15 and F-16. While I am greatly in awe of his achievements, he is someone I very much doubt that I would have liked on a personal level. He had a very abrasive personality that embodied nearly all of the qualities I find distasteful in a human being. Fortunately the issue never came up as I never met him. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 'Secret Pigeon Service', Gordon Corera. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z1812 Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 I am reading "The Vanquished" by Robert Gerwarth and Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 7 hours ago, z1812 said: ...Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks I bet that is good. I read several of his articles in The New Yorker back around 25-30 years ago and found them immensely interesting. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 (edited) I found Sacks' writing very helpful when my old man got an, ultimately fatal, brain tumour.....Insight's the wrong word, it just helped me find humour and humanity in the midst of something rather horrible. Edited February 20, 2019 by Sgt.Squarehead 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 Michael Emrys, For those who don't know of him, Boyd was the god of ACM (Air Combat Maneuvering) aka dogfighting and had figured it out top to bottom. Forget where, but I recently read he slipped a copy of the classified report to an Israeli pilot he knew. We used to talk about the energy egg back when I was at Hughes and involved in the Operations Analysis of the then in development AMRAAM. Boyd and company tried to get a US MIG-21 equivalent built, but the Air Force kept tacking on requirement after requirement, including nuclear weapon delivery, which drove up weight, size and hugely, cost and complexity. As built, it's radar was grossly inferior to that fitted on the F-14, F-15 and F-18, all of which Hughes built. A lot of the problem stemmed from the tiny antenna, but I understand the current radar is much better, though I don't have any data to hand. AMRAAM had a dogfight mode, too, in which the seeker could be locked on directly using the missile's own radar seeker, just like a AIM-9 series Sidewinder. Because the AMRAAM was explicitly designed to fit a Sidewinder rail and met all the weight, sixe and interface constraints, Hughes was in the fabulous position of being able to potentially market to any qualified country operating the AIM-9. Ought to know, for I wrote that report in which I cataloged every single aircraft with a Sidewinder rail fitted. What a pain! Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heirloom_Tomato Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 I recently finished We Die Alone by David Howarth. It is about a failed Norwegian Commando raid in March of 1943. Currently reading Russia at War by Alexander Werth while I wait for Dileas by Kim Beattie to arrive. It is the regimental history of the 48th Highlanders of Canada. I am hoping for some good scenario ideas out of that one. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Backer Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 How are you liking Werth? I enjoyed reading that book. Definitely an easy read. I just finished Robert K Massie’s Dreadnoight and now I’m reading his follow up to that, Castles of Steel. Eye opening to German and British pre-WII politics. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danfrodo Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Someone just recommended Castles of Steel & Dreadnought to me, thanks for reminding me. I think I'll need to check those out. Heirloom-Tomato mentioned We Die Alone -- I gotta second that one! was great. And speaking of Canadians, I am currently reading Mark Zuehlke's Canadian's in WW2 series. I started with Juno & now Holding Juno. Must reads for all Normandy/WW2 buffs. Well written, good narrative style (meaning not just someone rambling off facts & stats). Lots of first person pieces included. The attacks by 12SS panzer are terrifying as the canadians lose men, run low on ammo, and find themselves cut off. Currently fighing operational level Normandy campaign in Operational Art of War game, but nearly done & then back to Combat Mission where I am going to fight every Canadian battle they've got! On audio did Caesar by Goldsworthy, very very good. I've also done both of his historical fiction series (on kindle), Vindolanda (Romans in Britain) series and his Napoleonic series, both quite good. I looked up Island of Fire as suggested above, but it's $100 used. ouch. Looks like a good one but that's gonna have to wait. Bummer. on the GOT thread, I read all the books. First 3 were an absolute joy. Book 4 was a dreadful, mostly pointless slog. book 5 was OK. I'd suggest reading 1st three. And HBO writers are some pretty sick dudes in the first couple seasons, with so much gratiuituos (sp?) violence and porn, but the story was just sooooooo good. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Backer Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 (edited) I read Goldsworthy’s Caesar. That was very readable. I like all his non fiction, but particularly enjoyed his Punic Wars. Edited February 25, 2019 by Bud Backer 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BletchleyGeek Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 4 hours ago, danfrodo said: I've also done both of his historical fiction series (on kindle), Vindolanda (Romans in Britain) I never read historical fiction, but I quite liked Vindolanda. The historical notes at the end of the novel are a reminder of how much is lost to us from Roman times, even if imagination can fill the gaps in very entertaining ways 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heirloom_Tomato Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 9 hours ago, Bud Backer said: How are you liking Werth? I enjoyed reading that book. Definitely an easy read. Werth is great. I read his book on the seige of Leningrad and it was fantastic. I really like his writing style, seems very similar to reading the newspaper. 7 hours ago, danfrodo said: And speaking of Canadians, I am currently reading Mark Zuehlke's Canadian's in WW2 series. I started with Juno & now Holding Juno. Must reads for all Normandy/WW2 buffs. Well written, good narrative style (meaning not just someone rambling off facts & stats). Lots of first person pieces included. The attacks by 12SS panzer are terrifying as the canadians lose men, run low on ammo, and find themselves cut off. Currently fighing operational level Normandy campaign in Operational Art of War game, but nearly done & then back to Combat Mission where I am going to fight every Canadian battle they've got! If memory serves, there are 10 in the WW2 series by Zuehlke. There is plenty of great scenario material in his books. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 11 hours ago, Bud Backer said: I just finished Robert K Massie’s Dreadnoight and now I’m reading his follow up to that, Castles of Steel. Eye opening to German and British pre-WII politics. I read both of those a few years back and especially liked the first one. Taught me a lot about that period that I hadn't known. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danfrodo Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 I see that two of Werth's books are available. More to add to the list, thanks y'all 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Backer Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 4 hours ago, Heirloom_Tomato said: Werth is great. I read his book on the seige of Leningrad and it was fantastic. I really like his writing style, seems very similar to reading the newspaper. That might be because he was a war correspondent. But I do know what you mean, it’s one of the strong memories I have of the book. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Backer Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 2 hours ago, Michael Emrys said: I read both of those a few years back and especially liked the first one. Taught me a lot about that period that I hadn't known. Likewise. The picture one forms of the Kaiser is much more complex than the stereotype, both positive and negative. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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