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The Good Forum - 12/9/2017 7:09:22 PM

Canoerebel

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Two days ago I was stuck at home due to a cold and snow. Fortunately, on the day the storm arrived, I had just received a package from a bookstore in Ohio containing a used copy of the C.M. Forrester Book The Good Shepherd. I had ordered the book two weeks before, following up on a recommendation crsutton had made in my AAR several months ago. Ross said that The Good Shepherd, about a captain of a USN destroyer on an Atlantic convoy early in the war, was one of his favorites. It was a good recommendation - during two days confined mostly to bed at home, I read the entire book.

Four or five years ago, JohnDillworth recommended With the Old Breed by Eugene Sledge. I bought a used copy and read it over the course of several days, including one memorable day, while seated on a mountainside boulder as I took a break during a hike.

These are just two instances of the numerous occasions where the good people of the forum have done something helpful. There have been times when Forumites have helped me do research for stories or proofread stories. And many times I read through your threads and posts and learn a great deal about things I have no knowledge about whatsoever (the current thread about the Argentine submarine being one of 10,000 examples).

Over the past 15 years, I've come to know many of you pretty well. I have a great deal of confidence in the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of the forum. It's a privilege to be a member of this community.

P.S. But I still don't get about half of what GeoffLambert writes in here!

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/9/2017 8:45:06 PM

crsutton

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Now you got to find a copy of "Man Eaters of Kumoan." I was telling Dan that these were copies of books that were on my shelf as a kid and I have loved them over an over again. Probably read both of them half a dozen times. Others, "The Collected Short Stories of Rudyard Kipling." "Men at War"-a collection of short War stories gathered together and edited by Ernest Hemingway. This last one was the book that Eugene Sledge pulled out of the trash can in the mini-series War in the Pacific. So, what books have the rest of read over and over since childhood?

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/9/2017 9:52:33 PM

obvert

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Over the past 15 years, I've come to know many of you pretty well. I have a great deal of confidence in the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of the forum. It's a privilege to be a member of this community.

P.S. But I still don't get about half of what GeoffLambert writes in here!

quote:

ORIGINAL: crsutton

So, what books have the rest of read over and over since childhood?

The Razor's Edge, by William Somerset Maugham.

This one again is about war, or more precisely the effect of war on a man who has seen too much of it. It's about his search for some understanding after WW1 in the cities and cafes of Europe. A great between the wars novel.

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 12:36:51 AM

AW1Steve

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From: Mordor Illlinois
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Two days ago I was stuck at home due to a cold and snow. Fortunately, on the day the storm arrived, I had just received a package from a bookstore in Ohio containing a used copy of the C.M. Forrester Book The Good Shepherd. I had ordered the book two weeks before, following up on a recommendation crsutton had made in my AAR several months ago. Ross said that The Good Shepherd, about a captain of a USN destroyer on an Atlantic convoy early in the war, was one of his favorites. It was a good recommendation - during two days confined mostly to bed at home, I read the entire book.

Four or five years ago, JohnDillworth recommended With the Old Breed by Eugene Sledge. I bought a used copy and read it over the course of several days, including one memorable day, while seated on a mountainside boulder as I took a break during a hike.

These are just two instances of the numerous occasions where the good people of the forum have done something helpful. There have been times when Forumites have helped me do research for stories or proofread stories. And many times I read through your threads and posts and learn a great deal about things I have no knowledge about whatsoever (the current thread about the Argentine submarine being one of 10,000 examples).

Over the past 15 years, I've come to know many of you pretty well. I have a great deal of confidence in the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of the forum. It's a privilege to be a member of this community.

P.S. But I still don't get about half of what GeoffLambert writes in here!

Who does know what Geoff's all about? I've been dealing with him in setting up a PBEM (which took 4 months to get together) and I'm still not sure what he's saying at least half the time!

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 12:51:57 AM

geofflambert

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My name has been invoked, therefor I am here. I've designed an avatar for someone, I know not who, but someone out there needs an avatar. Here she is:

Attachment (1)

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Post #: 5

RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 12:53:56 AM

JohnDillworth

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Thanks for he shout out CR. With The Old Breed is required reading for life me thinks. It is one of the two best single person accounts of WWII I have read. The other being, Guy Sajer's chilling front line report of a German infantryman on the Eastern Front from just after Stalingrad all the way to the final surrender. Simple men in great times. Their stories are those of all those that did not go home. Just luck these 2 made it home at all.

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 1:10:57 AM

geofflambert

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And Steve, where's my flipping turn? I'm dying here.

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 1:12:42 AM

AW1Steve

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quote:

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

And Steve, where's my flipping turn? I'm dying here.

Have you looked in your box? I sent it in before I even looked at the forum.

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Post #: 8

RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 1:13:42 AM

geofflambert

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Oh, wasn't paying sufficient attention. Than you Steve, for the turn.

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 1:40:57 AM

JeffroK

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quote:

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

Thanks for he shout out CR. With The Old Breed is required reading for life me thinks. It is one of the two best single person accounts of WWII I have read. The other being, Guy Sajer's chilling front line report of a German infantryman on the Eastern Front from just after Stalingrad all the way to the final surrender. Simple men in great times. Their stories are those of all those that did not go home. Just luck these 2 made it home at all.

I read Sajer's book years back and it was always considered a bit of a made up story. Has it gained more credibility over the years?

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 3:32:16 AM

warspite1

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quote:

ORIGINAL: crsutton

So, what books have the rest of read over and over since childhood?

warspite1

I don't tend to read books 'over and over' because of the fact there are so many books and so little time. I have to fact the fact I have been on this planet for more years than I have left and so want to cram in as much as I can. There are plenty of books that I am desperate to read again though.

However, one history book I have read three times (and would love to read again) is The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers (Kennedy). The book starts at 1500 and charts the progress of countries as their fortunes waxed and waned over the centuries - and giving reasons for the changes in fortune. A thought provoking book, but not a difficult read by any means.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 4:39:02 AM

Canoerebel

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I love re-reading good books. Some I re-read every few years. I've probably read some of my favorites at least ten times over the course of my lifetime. Good writing and good storytelling is refreshing and inspiring and helps me re-charge my own batteries when it comes to creative work.

Probably my single favorite work of historical non-fiction is We Were Soldiers Once and Young by Lt. General Hal Moore and Joe Galloway. I've mentioned it in the forum many times before. I think Moore passed away earlier this year.

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Post #: 12

RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 6:27:59 AM

Orm

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Now I know what to get myself for Christmas.

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 8:05:20 AM

PaxMondo

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quote:

ORIGINAL: crsutton
Others, "The Collected Short Stories of Rudyard Kipling

+1

The Light that Failed ... read too many times ... too poignant.

< Message edited by PaxMondo -- 12/10/2017 8:06:13 AM >

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 9:44:53 AM

Aurorus

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quote:

ORIGINAL: warspite1

However, one history book I have read three times (and would love to read again) is The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers (Kennedy). The book starts at 1500 and charts the progress of countries as their fortunes waxed and waned over the centuries - and giving reasons for the changes in fortune. A thought provoking book, but not a difficult read by any means.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Kennedy's work is one of the best modern world histories. You will notice the emphasis that he places on debt in support of military expenses: something for the U.S. to consider in modern times. I recommend, as compliments to Kennedy, McNeil's Plagues and Peoples. McNeil was a military historian who was impressed by the effect of disease and infection on the course of war, so he wrote a history of disease. It won the Pulitzer Prize in the mid 70s: a first-rate world history. I also highly recommend Alfred Crosby's Ecological Imperialism, which was inspired by McNeil. It is a completely different and profound examination of the age of European Imperialism.

The work of history that I think is absolutely essential to understanding the modern world is Peter Gay's Three Volume History of the Enlightenment. Another comprehensive work on modern history that I enjoyed thoroughly is Jacques Barzun's From Dawn to Decadence. Gay and Barzun are, in my mind, two of the giants of history in the 20th century in the English-speaking world.

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 10:26:31 AM

JohnDillworth

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quote:

I read Sajer's book years back and it was always considered a bit of a made up story. Has it gained more credibility over the years?

Indeed it has :
"Lieutenant Hans Joachim Schafmeister-Berckholtz, who served in the Grossdeutschland during the same period as Sajer, confirmed in a letter that he had read the book and considered it an accurate overall account of the Division's battles in the East, while also noting that he remembered a Landser named Sajer in his Panzergrenadier company (5th co), the same company number Sajer mentions being assigned to"

"After reading Sajer's latest letter, one of his staunchest critics, Spaeter of the Grossdeutschland Veteran's Association, recanted his original suspicions of Sajer: "I was deeply impressed by his statements in his letter. ... I have underestimated Herr Sajer and my respect for him has greatly increased. I am myself more of a writer who deals with facts and specifics, much less like one who writes in a literary way. For this reason, I was very skeptical towards the content of his book. I now have greater regard for Herr Sajer and I will read his book once again."

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 12:41:25 PM

ny59giants

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I've read this book about once every two to three years since I've gotten it. "The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 Perceptions, Power, and Primacy" by S.C.M. Paine has been a great primer for the conflict we are playing. Not know much about what had transpired to get to 1941, this book has greatly expanded my knowledge. However, I've failed to find anything to adequately fill in the next 40 years between this war and WW2.

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 2:42:11 PM

MakeeLearn

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Sajer was a artist, therefore he painted his experience. Nomenclatures and complete military understanding were not the focus of him nor of his writing. Just his telling of standing guard on Christmas Eve reeks of having experienced it.

In College I worked in the biology labs and the library. In the library I worked in periodicals, and on Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday I was in charge of the library. This is precursor to a story of one of Sledge's favorite books. It was a huge book of quotes given to him by his grandfather. It was in need of repair to it's spine and cover. One day, after telling him of how I was taking individual issues of a magazine and making it into a book he asked me to repair his book. Which I did, and very well I may add.

One time I had checked out a booked of photographs of America during the 20s and 30s and me and some fellow male students were looking at it before class one day. Prof Sledge walked in early, saw what we were doing and asked "Y'all looking at a nudie book?". When I told him what we were looking at, his interest peaked and he came over and looked also. He commented on many of the pics. One was of people riding, with their possessions, on horse drawn wagons. He said that was a very common sight. He said that for years he never saw money. Things and services were paid for with barter of other things and services.

Ive always been a bookworm. They all hold their individual special connection to me.

< Message edited by MakeeLearn -- 12/10/2017 2:43:13 PM >

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 3:36:19 PM

John 3rd

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That is a cool story.

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Post #: 19

RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 5:33:45 PM

geofflambert

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

I've read this book about once every two to three years since I've gotten it. "The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 Perceptions, Power, and Primacy" by S.C.M. Paine has been a great primer for the conflict we are playing. Not know much about what had transpired to get to 1941, this book has greatly expanded my knowledge. However, I've failed to find anything to adequately fill in the next 40 years between this war and WW2.

Try Barbara Tuchman's The Proud Tower and The Guns of August for that period in Europe to 1914.

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 5:51:42 PM

geofflambert

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Here's a story from The Proud Tower. The French Anarchists, not believing in government, organization of any kind or voting on anything, actually did a get-together in 1883 and voted on something. They invited Anarchists from around Europe and the US to attend. They felt that the name they called themselves, Anarchist, was getting a bad rap so they voted to start calling themselves by a different name. The name they came up with is Libertarian.

What I remember best from The Guns of August is her hilarious descriptions of Rennenkampf and Samsonov at the battles of the Masurian Lakes and Tannenberg. Rennenkampf lived up to his name "Running Battle" and Samsonov was just freaking stupid. Curiously, Rennenkampf, a German, was a Russian Army general.

I also recommend No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 6:12:57 PM

Aurorus

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quote:

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

I also recommend No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Goodwin is an academic fraud: a hack journalist posing as a historian. She plagiarized most of that book and her other works as well, which explains her chair at Harvard for 10 years. Most universities have abandoned their academic integrity: none moreso than Harvard.

< Message edited by Aurorus -- 12/10/2017 6:15:33 PM >

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 6:41:22 PM

offenseman

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quote:

ORIGINAL: crsutton

So, what books have the rest of read over and over since childhood?

The Odyssey of a U-boat Commander: Recollections of Erich Topp

but for something completely different. The Naked God trilogy by Peter F Hamilton (Sci-Fi)

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/10/2017 7:07:05 PM

geofflambert

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I don't re-read books very much but years back I re-read The Hobbit, trying to figure out how they could make one movie out of it, let alone three. When I was young I read everything I could get my hands on from E.A. Poe, Jules Verne, Franz Kafka, Dostoyevsky, Vonnegut, Asimov, Bradbury, Hesse, R L Stevenson, H P Lovecraft, Chrichton, Conan-Doyle, Hugo, and lots of SciFi. I liked Oliver Twist and A Tale of Two Cities but I tried to read David Copperfield three or four times and just couldn't. What an awful, horrid, wretched book. I tried to read Eliot's Ulysses but just couldn't deal with it, though I'm sure it is excellent, it just goes over a poor gorn's head. One book I did re-read several times is Moby Dick, perhaps the best book I ever read.

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/11/2017 3:21:13 PM

dave sindel

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quote:

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

Here's a story from The Proud Tower. The French Anarchists, not believing in government, organization of any kind or voting on anything, actually did a get-together in 1883 and voted on something. They invited Anarchists from around Europe and the US to attend. They felt that the name they called themselves, Anarchist, was getting a bad rap so they voted to start calling themselves by a different name. The name they came up with is Libertarian.

What I remember best from The Guns of August is her hilarious descriptions of Rennenkampf and Samsonov at the battles of the Masurian Lakes and Tannenberg. Rennenkampf lived up to his name "Running Battle" and Samsonov was just freaking stupid. Curiously, Rennenkampf, a German, was a Russian Army general.

I also recommend No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

I'm currently reading The Guns of August but I'm only as far as The Battle of the Frontiers. Haven't made it to the Eastern Front yet.

One book I highly recommend is Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World by Margaret MacMillan. It is a fascinating study of how the decisions made in 1919 still haunt the world today.

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/11/2017 4:25:51 PM

Lovejoy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

Curiously, Rennenkampf, a German, was a Russian Army general.

I think he was a Baltic German: they had a history of service to the Russian Empire. Baltic German Barclay de Tolly served as Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army before being replaced with Mikhail Kutuzov during the Napoleonic Wars

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/11/2017 4:39:09 PM

crsutton

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quote:

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

quote:

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

I've read this book about once every two to three years since I've gotten it. "The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 Perceptions, Power, and Primacy" by S.C.M. Paine has been a great primer for the conflict we are playing. Not know much about what had transpired to get to 1941, this book has greatly expanded my knowledge. However, I've failed to find anything to adequately fill in the next 40 years between this war and WW2.

Try Barbara Tuchman's The Proud Tower and The Guns of August for that period in Europe to 1914.

Just started re-reading her "A Distant Mirror." Read it back when it came out and am thoroughly enjoying it now.

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Post #: 27

RE: The Good Forum - 12/11/2017 4:45:20 PM

crsutton

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quote:

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

I don't re-read books very much but years back I re-read The Hobbit, trying to figure out how they could make one movie out of it, let alone three. When I was young I read everything I could get my hands on from E.A. Poe, Jules Verne, Franz Kafka, Dostoyevsky, Vonnegut, Asimov, Bradbury, Hesse, R L Stevenson, H P Lovecraft, Chrichton, Conan-Doyle, Hugo, and lots of SciFi. I liked Oliver Twist and A Tale of Two Cities but I tried to read David Copperfield three or four times and just couldn't. What an awful, horrid, wretched book. I tried to read Eliot's Ulysses but just couldn't deal with it, though I'm sure it is excellent, it just goes over a poor gorn's head. One book I did re-read several times is Moby Dick, perhaps the best book I ever read.

Thanks for the reminder. I have read "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" a few times. A heavy read but brilliant.

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RE: The Good Forum - 12/11/2017 5:40:54 PM

geofflambert

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quote:

ORIGINAL: crsutton

quote:

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

quote:

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

I've read this book about once every two to three years since I've gotten it. "The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 Perceptions, Power, and Primacy" by S.C.M. Paine has been a great primer for the conflict we are playing. Not know much about what had transpired to get to 1941, this book has greatly expanded my knowledge. However, I've failed to find anything to adequately fill in the next 40 years between this war and WW2.

Try Barbara Tuchman's The Proud Tower and The Guns of August for that period in Europe to 1914.

Just started re-reading her "A Distant Mirror." Read it back when it came out and am thoroughly enjoying it now.

I've also read A Distant Mirror. What an awful time to live. But that Coucy guy is really cool!

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Post #: 29

RE: The Good Forum - 12/12/2017 5:10:46 PM

rsallen64

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I've read and reread most of the non-fiction books on this list and have them in my library, but ones I return to more than once would include The Campaigns of Napoleon by David Chandler, which introduced me to that period, Frank's Guadalcanal, The Bitter Woods by Eisenhower (the son, not the general and president), and for the fiction category, DelVecchio's 13th Valley and Webb's Fields of Fire, lately topped by Matterhorn by Marlantes. I'm not that big of a Vietnam war fan overall, but these novels were superb depictions of men at war by people who were there, so I think they fit for any era. I also love the Civil War era, so anything by Stephen Sears gets read more than once, but WWII is my favorite historical period overall. Honestly, there are too many to choose from. I have numerous books in my library that I have read more than once, but these are the ones that spring to mind at the moment.

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Post #: 30