What are you reading?

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Permalink Reply by Bill Lawson on June 24, 2009 at 9:36pm

Smitty. I just read To The Gates of Stalingrad by Glantz. The first book of a trilogy.

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Permalink Reply by Kai Jensen on June 26, 2009 at 9:32am

I started Antony Beevor's "Berlin: The Downfall 1945" recently. Grim fare, indeed. I usually rip through his works, but this one is slow going for me.

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Permalink Reply by Joseph on June 29, 2009 at 3:37pm

Finished: "Empires of the Sea; The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World" by Roger Crowley. A brilliant history of Islam's attempt to conquer Europe by way of the Med. Europe, after running around in circles(sound familiar) finally got their act together and Checked(not mate) the muslims in this endeavor. The author describes this in vivid details such as the taking of millions of Europeans as slaves.(His words).

"The Enemy at the Gate; Habsburgs, Ottomans and the Battle for Europe" by Andrew Wheatcroft. A perfect followup to the above book. Starts with the Siege of Vienna in 1683 and then the Liberation of Hungary and Croatia and parts of the Balkans from Islam. These guys new what had to be done. No running in circles, Europe was wide awake at last. But today, alas....This is when Prince Eugene of Savoy won his spurs. One of the top ten Military Captains of all time. Both very highly recommended.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas G. Chapman on July 7, 2009 at 10:38pm

Just finished "A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn" by James Donovan (not quite so harsh on Custer, but blasted Reno) and "Albuera 1811: The Bloodiest Battle of the Peninsular War" by Guy Dempsey (not too flattering of either Marshal Beresford or Soult). I liked the epitaph 'The war in Spain leads to fortunes for generals, boredom for officers and death for soldiers.' Just started reading "An Illustrated History of the Crusades and the Crusader Knights" by Charles Phillips -- always a favorite era of mine. I still remember how eagerly I awaited the issue of S&T with their game on the Crusades...

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Permalink Reply by Joseph on July 15, 2009 at 10:29pm

Finished "Tiberius Caesar" by G.P. Baker. Another excellent book by Mr. Baker.

"Caesar: Life of a Colossus" by Adrian Goldsworthy. Very good but C. Meier's was better.

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Permalink Reply by Chuang Shyue Chou on July 22, 2009 at 9:34pm

I have just finished the old Poul Anderson classic 'Tau Zero'. It's quite something.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Healey on July 26, 2009 at 10:09am

I seem to have had a number of books on the go for some time:-
Barbarossa by Alan Clark,
JG Ballards SF?? novel - The drowned world.
Harold the king by Helen Hollick

I am looking forward to reading Beevors book on D-Day.

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Permalink Reply by Poilu on July 26, 2009 at 3:52pm

I just finished *Descent into Chaos: the US and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia*. A pretty depressing read. I have a lot of respect for the author, Ahmed Rashid, though he can be kinda shrill at the same time. Sadly, in so many ways, there just aren't any good, easy choices here.

I'm just slowly starting an interesting work on White Mountain that I came across here in France. *La bataille de la Montagne Blanche: un mystique chez les guerriers*. He focuses on three specific aspects of the first battle of the 30 Years War: the nitty-gritty of what battle was like for the guys in the squares (he's trying for John Keegan), then the role of a religious zealot, Dominique de Jesu-Marie, a Carmelite monk who rallied the Imperial troops, then how the battle was viewed by Catholic counter-reformation. Wow, that's a mouthful. Hope it's as good as it sounds. I had the chance to visit the battlefield this year, and would like to know more about it.

BTW, has anyone finished one of William Guthrie's works on the battles of the 30 Years War? How is it?

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Permalink Reply by Chuang Shyue Chou on July 27, 2009 at 1:05am

Yes,I have read both volumes and I think they are the best of their kind, outstanding volumes. They include long army lists of both sides (re-constructed from documents). The numbers for certain battles were uncertain. Again, there were estimates.

There were detailed descriptions of each formation's leaders. The army positions and dispositions were hand-drawn but more than adequate.

And of course the aftermath.

If I recall, there were also descriptions of each years' campaigning.

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Permalink Reply by Chuang Shyue Chou on July 27, 2009 at 1:06am

There are few books of the Thirty Years War that has left me awed. This is one of them. It's not a narrative history of the course of the war, nor is it an analysis. The title is indicative.

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Permalink Reply by Chuang Shyue Chou on July 27, 2009 at 1:07am

Strangely enough, I started on 'The Drowned World' lately, about twenty-two years after I bought it. I have been meaning to read this and I kept putting it off.

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Permalink Reply by Joseph on July 28, 2009 at 4:44pm

Finished "Sharp's Enemy" by Bernard Cornwell. Sharp is moving closer to France. Very good. And "Flinx Transcendent" by Alan Dean Foster. The final chapter in the 35 year tale of Flinx and his mini-drag, Pip to save the Galaxy. Hope the author continues with his Humanx Commonwealth stories. Very good SF series.

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