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- 8/19/2002 2:54:46 AM   
Les_the_Sarge_9_1

 

Posts: 4392
Joined: 12/29/2000
Status: offline 		I have nearly the entire collection of Kessler which is for the unknowing the alter ego of the well established historian Charles Whiting.

Depending on your location I would suggest used book stores.

They were a great action series written in the usual mannner of a gungho US unit ala Sgt Rock style of incredible heroics.
Based on a German unit named Wotan. They fought here and they fought there and always they kicked ***.

My copies are fairly well previously enjoyed:D

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I LIKE that my life bothers them,
Why should I be the only one bothered by it eh.

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Post #: 61
- 8/19/2002 6:04:21 AM   
ozark

 

Posts: 8
Joined: 8/19/2002
From: Cincinnati
Status: offline 		Currently reading David Hackworth's "About Face". Just finished a good Civil War fiction book "Jacob's Ladder" by Donald McCaig.

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Post #: 62
Re: Books.. - 8/20/2002 5:28:57 AM   
wulfir


Posts: 3091
Joined: 9/11/2001
From: Sweden
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Originally posted by wulfir
[B]Churchill’s Desert Rats
Operation Iceberg
In Deadly Combat
Company Commander
Burma Victory

and

Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom [/B][/QUOTE]

And here are the reviews!

Churchill's Desert Rats -
Ok book. British 7th Arm Div 44-45. They had some problems.


Operation Iceberg -
Invasion of Okinawa. Oral history mostly. Very good.


In Deadly Combat -
German PAK commander, later infantry officer in Russia. Ok but pretty standard.


Company Commander -
American infantry officer, the Bulge to the end in Germany. Not bad at all.


Burma Victory -
The war in Burma. Much too short to give any in depth cover.


Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom -
Don't ask.

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Semper in Primis

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Post #: 63
- 8/21/2002 9:22:03 PM   
Denison

 

Posts: 11
Joined: 5/26/2001
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Originally posted by okke
[B]I've just finished:

'Een andere kijk op de slag om Arnhem - De snelle Duitse reactie" (A different view on the battle for Arnhem - The swift German reaction) by Peter Berends
[/B][/QUOTE]

This one sounds interesting. Is it on the German perspective of the battle? Is it also published in English? Is it any good?

Regards,

Peter

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Post #: 64
- 9/12/2002 1:23:43 AM   
Mojo

 

Posts: 915
Joined: 2/6/2002
From: Portland, Oregon USA
Status: offline 		Been a long time since I posted here and I've been reading some.

Panzer Battles, von Mellenthin. The author was a staff officer in the German Army and served under Rommel among others. Very interesting info from the German POV.

Hyperion, Simmons. Sci fi and pretty good. Won the Hugo or Nebula award. I'm picking up more of his books.

I'm Just Here for the Food, Alton Brown. If you haven't caught this guy's show on cable you should. He brings a quasi scientific approach to cooking and has a wicked dry sense of humor. The book is a good primer about why stuff works the way it does. Take it from me guys, learn to cook at least one semi fancy "gourmet" meal. The ladies love that;)

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Post #: 65
- 9/12/2002 4:40:12 AM   
Kraut


Posts: 2551
Joined: 8/13/2002
From: Germany
Status: offline 		[B]Hyperion, Simmons. Sci fi and pretty good. Won the Hugo or Nebula award. I'm picking up more of his books.[/B]

Simmons is great, I loved Hyperion and its three sequels.

If you like Hyperion, you'll also like Peter F. Hamilton's "Night's Dawn" books. Great space opera with a supernatural/horror twist.

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Post #: 66
- 9/12/2002 7:24:38 AM   
Mojo

 

Posts: 915
Joined: 2/6/2002
From: Portland, Oregon USA
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kraut
[B][B]Hyperion, Simmons. Sci fi and pretty good. Won the Hugo or Nebula award. I'm picking up more of his books.[/B]

Simmons is great, I loved Hyperion and its three sequels.

If you like Hyperion, you'll also like Peter F. Hamilton's "Night's Dawn" books. Great space opera with a supernatural/horror twist. [/B][/QUOTE]

Thanks for the tip. I'll put them on my ever growing reading list:D

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If something's not working you might want to tunk it a dite.
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Post #: 67
- 9/12/2002 4:18:07 PM   
msaario

 

Posts: 245
Joined: 5/22/2002
From: Back in E U R O P A
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Originally posted by msaario
[B]Reading, browsing, depending on how much time I've got...

1) IJN Aces 1937-45, Henry Sakaida, Osprey #22
2) Meine Flugberichte 1935-1945, J Kaufmann
3) Japanese Naval Aces and Fighter Units in WW2, Hata/Izawa
4) Caesar, T.A. Dodge
5) My daily newspaper

--Mikko [/B][/QUOTE]

I'm quoting myself - I must be getting old...?

Don't touch that Kaufmann book if you see it somewhere! It is pure CRAP! The guy wrote it like 50 years after the war from his flight book (or whatever?):

"Today we flew 6 missions, total flight time 2H50Mins..."
"Today we flew against the Russians... Tough day... had some losses..."

Oh, what a waste of money!

--Mikko

(in reply to Mojo)
Post #: 68
- 9/13/2002 11:53:27 PM   
OKW-73

 

Posts: 237
Joined: 9/1/2001
From: Cyberspace, Finland
Status: offline 		Currently re-reading Ilja Ehrenburg: Voina

_____________________________

"You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone." - Al Capone

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Post #: 69
- 9/14/2002 12:15:03 AM   
Jim1954

 

Posts: 1393
Joined: 5/15/2002
From: Dallas
Status: offline 		The Blond Knight of Germany. Chronicles Erich Hartmann's career. Worthwhile.

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Post #: 70
Book tip.. - 9/14/2002 2:08:28 AM   
wulfir


Posts: 3091
Joined: 9/11/2001
From: Sweden
Status: offline 		I'd like to recommend [I]Piece of Cake[/I] by Derek Robinson.

It's a novel about a RAF squadron in the begining of WWII.

Very good IMHO. :)

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Post #: 71
Two books on the USSR not to be missed - 9/14/2002 12:07:45 PM   
Zoltar DEXTER

 

Posts: 26
Joined: 8/27/2002
From: Novorossiysk, Russian Federation
Status: offline 		I have just started "Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire", by Dmitriy Volkoganov.
Through the biographies of the 6 Soviet leaders (from Lenin to Gorbatchev), the author (a former Colonel-General in charge of the Red Army's archives, who at the beginning of the 1990's headed the commission put in place for the declassification of the USSR's archives), analyzes the Soviet Empire's history. A lot of secrets unfolded. Chilling.... Not to be missed. The insight of a Russian who had access to so many secrets...Finely translated in English...


I have just finished "the Mitrokhin Archives", an history of KGB's foreign espionnage department (First Chief Directorate) through the information provided by Mitrokhin, a defector (defected to Britain in 1992) who, during 20 years, was FCD's head archivist. Many questions answered about the USSR's attitude toward the West. A must read.

_____________________________

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"Duc in altum" - Sail to deep water

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Post #: 72
Re: Two books on the USSR not to be missed - 9/14/2002 3:10:53 PM   
davewolf

 

Posts: 1840
Joined: 2/14/2002
From: On world conquest.
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Originally posted by Zoltar DEXTER
[B]I have just started "Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire", by Dmitriy Volkoganov.
[/B][/QUOTE]
Is the English title "Autopsy for an Empire: The Seven Leaders Who Built the Soviet Regime" ([URL]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684871122/qid=1031990619/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-3080755-2170307[/URL]) or is that a different book? (Improbable but just to be sure.)

His Lenin biography seems to be very interesting too BTW.



Dave

P.S. Is there also a great late summer at the Black Sea (like it is in central Europe) or has the autumn begun already?

_____________________________

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.

Lord Acton

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Post #: 73
Re: Re: Two books on the USSR not to be missed - 9/14/2002 5:03:24 PM   
Zoltar DEXTER

 

Posts: 26
Joined: 8/27/2002
From: Novorossiysk, Russian Federation
Status: offline 		Hello Davewolf,

[QUOTE]Originally posted by davewolf
[B]
Is the English title "Autopsy for an Empire: The Seven Leaders Who Built the Soviet Regime" or is that a different book? (Improbable but just to be sure.)

His Lenin biography seems to be very interesting too BTW.

P.S. Is there also a great late summer at the Black Sea (like it is in central Europe) or has the autumn begun already? [/B][/QUOTE]

"Autopsy for an Empire: The Seven Leaders Who Built the Soviet Regime" (publisher: Free Press) is the American version of the book (sorry, I forgot Tchernenko, so, there is 7 bio.). But it was edited in 1998.

The European version, "The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union" (publisher: Harper-Collins), has been reedited in 1999 (first edition in 1995).

"The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union" is the last book of Volkoganov, who died in 1995 (cancer). He wrote in the foreword that the short Lenin biography present in this book was more accurate than the complete one he published separately a few years before, as he sourced new data. His final opinion was much darker.

Vokoganov's book is the closest to the human reality of the Soviet tragedy (in fact, the closest to Truth):
=> it has been written by a Russian historian (only a Russian could truely understand),
=> who had access to the most secret Russian archives,
=> who had just converted to christianism (orthodoxy),
=> and who knew he was about to face his creator (he had cancer).


Still summertime on this side of the Black Sea. Sunny (except today), 25°C. Water temperature = 23°C. We hope to swim till mid-October.:cool:

BTW, in August 2001, we got +43°C, and in December.....-29°C (a 50-year record).

Cheers,:)

_____________________________

Zoltar - French Grognard exiled in Novorossiysk

"Duc in altum" - Sail to deep water

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Post #: 74
Re: Re: Re: Two books on the USSR not to be missed - 9/14/2002 5:12:07 PM   
davewolf

 

Posts: 1840
Joined: 2/14/2002
From: On world conquest.
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Originally posted by Zoltar DEXTER
[B]"Autopsy for an Empire: The Seven Leaders Who Built the Soviet Regime" (publisher: Free Press) is the American version of the book (sorry, I forgot Tchernenko, so, there is 7 bio.). But it was edited in 1998.

The European version, "The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union" (publisher: Harper-Collins), has been reedited in 1999 (first edition in 1995).

"The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union" is the last book of Volkoganov, who died in 1995 (cancer). He wrote in the foreword that the short Lenin biography present in this book was more accurate than the complete one he published separately a few years before, as he sourced new data. His final opinion was much darker.

Vokoganov's book is the closest to the human reality of the Soviet tragedy (in fact, the closest to Truth):
=> it has been written by a Russian historian (only a Russian could truely understand),
=> who had access to the most secret Russian archives,
=> who had just converted to christianism (orthodoxy),
=> and who knew he was about to face his creator (he had cancer).[/B][/QUOTE]
Thanks a lot for the input. I guess I'm gonna have to buy that book.
[QUOTE][B]
Still summertime on this side of the Black Sea. Sunny (except today), 25°C. Water temperature = 23°C. We hope to swim till mid-October.:cool:

BTW, in August 2001, we got +43°C, and in December.....-29°C (a 50-year record).[/B][/QUOTE]
Ouch!


Regards,
Dave

_____________________________

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.

Lord Acton

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Post #: 75
- 9/14/2002 10:46:33 PM   
CCB


Posts: 4208
Joined: 3/21/2002
Status: offline 		Just finished Gerald Astor's [U]Crisis in the Pacific[/U], Philippines/MacArthur 1941-1945.

Reading Donald Burgett's [U]Beyond the Rhine; A Screaming Eagle in Germany[/U] right now. Its the fourth book about his service in the 101st Airborne Division. The other three were about DDay, Market-Garden, and the Bulge.

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Peux Ce Que Veux
in den vereinigten staaten hergestellt

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Post #: 76
- 9/16/2002 2:04:02 AM   
Bernard

 

Posts: 673
Joined: 3/27/2002
From: Belgium
Status: offline 		Panzer Battles, von Mellenthin. The author was a staff officer in the German Army and served under Rommel among others. Very interesting info from the German POV.



Just bought the book.
It's next nr 3 or 4, when i've finished the last 100 days by J.Toland (seems incredibly good when you realize he wrote it 40 years ago).

Is it good ? real good w< kjhd


huho, my 10 months old daughter is reaching the keyboard...

bye guys.

_____________________________

Ben

Verzage ni

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Post #: 77
- 9/30/2002 12:03:57 PM   
OKW-73

 

Posts: 237
Joined: 9/1/2001
From: Cyberspace, Finland
Status: offline 		Finally got book i was waiting for...Berlin 1945 by Anthony Beevor :)

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Post #: 78
- 9/30/2002 1:05:21 PM   
Muzrub


Posts: 1780
Joined: 2/23/2001
From: Australia, Queensland, Gold coast
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Finally got book i was waiting for...Berlin 1945 by Anthony Beevor[/QUOTE]


I found it rather disapointing........ I waited for what seemed like ages for this book but I was soon to find its mainly about the fighting on the outskirts than in the city, as a matter of fact I found it rather boring in many places + you can only read so many rape stories in one sitting.

But dont let my views colour what I hope should be a good book for you.:)

_____________________________

Harmlessly passing your time in the grassland away;
Only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air.
You better watch out,
There may be dogs about
I've looked over Iraq, and i have seen
Things are not what they seem.


Matrix Axis of Evil

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Post #: 79
- 10/8/2002 6:38:44 PM   
Marek Tucan


Posts: 758
Joined: 6/1/2000
From: Kladno, Czech Republic
Status: offline 		Well, maybe I`m not the only one, I haven`t checked entire million of posts, but I`ll add some of mine:)
Tom Clancy`s Red Storm Rising from my classmate;
Tom Clancy`s Bear and Dragon, Debt of Honor and Without Remorse from the public library;
Kenneth Macksey`s ... Hitler`s posibilities? (Don`t know the correct original name, translating from Czech. Sorry:confused: )
and much more - I can read very fast, for example I had the Executive Orders (Clancy, some 700 pages) in three days (3-4hrs a day, it was during holiday. Now... about 1-2hrs a day)
I want to get some Calncy in English (is it somewhere on net?), I have already read in original The Icon and Shepherd by Frederick Forsyth and the Lord of the Rings.
Bye bye
Tuccy

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Tuccy

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Post #: 80
- 10/8/2002 9:12:38 PM   
Raverdave


Posts: 6520
Joined: 2/8/2002
From: Melb. Australia
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Originally posted by Marek Tucan
[B]and Shepherd by Frederick Forsyth [/B][/QUOTE]

Ah yes ! I had forgotten about that one. It was a good yarn IIRC.

_____________________________




Never argue with an idiot, he will only drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

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Post #: 81
- 10/8/2002 9:15:43 PM   
Les_the_Sarge_9_1

 

Posts: 4392
Joined: 12/29/2000
Status: offline 		I stopped buying "new" literature on WW2 a while back.

There is no shortage of WW2 books out there in libraries for one thing.

That, and the opinions of a person not even thought up, let alone born, during the time period in question, makes the material just another boring retread of the same material in a good many cases.

True I have seen some good books produced recently. The opening of the Iron Curtain allowed a lot of new material to see the light of day in the West.

But the events that happened during the 30s and through the 40s and into the 50s are entirely well known for the most part.
There is only so much you can get out of a single time period after a point.

My major interest in books for the last few years has actually been in the realm of modelling the world of military conflict.
The 90s saw an explosion of new techniques and technologies for the hobbyist.

I did not rush out to read Band of Brothers for instance. I have been finally seeing some of it, and it looks nice so far (only seen first episode, and I have the second one here handy).

The most significant detail of my library is the age of the books in question. I have some really neat finds.
I have the book by Vasili Ivanovich Chuikov the General that defended Stalingrad.
I have Kay Summersby's book, so I can read just what it was like to know Ike personally.
I have Smiling Als book, so I have a nice perspective on the war in Italy.
I have Hans Rudel's book and Adolf Galland's book.
I have Patton's book and Rommel's book.
I have a great many books written by the people that actually made the history.

I would much rather see the war through their eyes, than through the feelings and interpretations of a historian when possible.

I read a good book on the Gulf War.
We have all heard about Stormin Norman and his "brilliant generalship", but how many know the man was seen as a difficult ******* in the eyes of his staff? He was no one's idea of easy to work for.
And I refuse to make favourable comparison to the type of "difficult" that Patton was known for. Norm was no Patton.

The book was a good read by a person that had the experience fresh in their mind. Now, the further away we get from 1990-1991, the more books on it become just a dry dissertation on historical details.

Fiction is often fun. I thought Red Strom Rising was one of Clancy's best pieces (but then I read it during the height of the cold war when the topic actually meant something to me personally). I would not be interested in reading it today.
I think some of Clancy's books can be summed up as "got bills to pay" literature. He is a good author, but some material is just not interesting a month later.

The only problem with fiction that is set in the world of the here and now, is that a year from now, the book will seem pointless (to me at least).

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I LIKE that my life bothers them,
Why should I be the only one bothered by it eh.

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Post #: 82
- 10/9/2002 3:33:06 AM   
fud

 

Posts: 33
Joined: 6/6/2002
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Originally posted by Muzrub
[B]


I found it rather disapointing........ I waited for what seemed like ages for this book but I was soon to find its mainly about the fighting on the outskirts than in the city, as a matter of fact I found it rather boring in many places + you can only read so many rape stories in one sitting.

[/B][/QUOTE]


I keep picking this one (Berlin 1945) up and then putting it down. I just can't believe he can do as good a job with the topic as John Toland did in "The Last 100 Days". (Toland was a great writer, imho.)

I've been reading Beevor's book on the Spanish Civil War this week. To be honest, I find it kinda dry and spotty in places. I just started it, so it's too early to pass a judgement. I did really like his book on Stalingrad.

(in reply to Mojo)
Post #: 83
- 11/16/2002 11:51:55 PM   
Mojo

 

Posts: 915
Joined: 2/6/2002
From: Portland, Oregon USA
Status: offline 		Been awhile since I've posted here but I've been reading a lot.

On recommendation I read the Reality Dysfunction series by Peter Hamilton. It's kind of campy but much of it is really interesting. Best SF sex I've read in a long time. Thank you Kraut

The Gap series by Stephen Donaldson. I've read some of his stuff before and it's filled with a lot of dark sexual angst at times.

The River War by Winston Churchill. Account of the British campaign in the Sudan in the late 1890s. Churchill was a junior officer in the lancers for part of the campaign. This was the first book about war that I ever read. I was probably eight when I read it. Long out of print I think.

Speaking of long out of print............. a couple of SF books by Samuel R. Delaney are back in print. Dahlgren and Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand.

I only glanced at the new addition of Dhalgren because they also had a first edition on the shelf which I scooped up and ran to the cash register with. If you can find an old used copy I'd suggest you buy that instead of the reprint or at least compare the text closely. I think the new version of the book is printed differently. There are a couple of stories lines you follow concurrently in the book and unless there is a difference in text I think it would be even harder to follow. It's a challenge. Be warned though that there is considerable bisexual and homosexual umm........"contact" described in the book. If that offends you just remember you've been warned;) Highly recommended though.

_____________________________

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Post #: 84
- 11/17/2002 2:59:00 AM   
CCB


Posts: 4208
Joined: 3/21/2002
Status: offline 		Right now I'm reading [U]Knight's Cross[/U] (Rommel biography) by David Fraser.

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Peux Ce Que Veux
in den vereinigten staaten hergestellt

(in reply to Mojo)
Post #: 85
- 11/17/2002 3:54:06 AM   
U2


Posts: 3332
Joined: 7/17/2001
From: Västerås,Sweden
Status: offline 		Hi

Just got a copy of Richard B. Frank's Downfall - The End Of The Imperial Japanese Empire. Very good so far.

Dan

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Post #: 86
- 11/17/2002 3:46:17 PM   
scimitar

 

Posts: 301
Joined: 8/22/2001
From: Belgium
Status: offline 		Having finished the books I was talking about in that topic, I'm actually reading "Le Grand Cirque" from Free French pilot Pierre Clostermann (the 2000 edition, with add-ons and pictures).

(in reply to Mojo)
Post #: 87
- 11/23/2002 6:38:22 AM   
sbond

 

Posts: 926
Joined: 4/4/2000
From: USA
Status: offline 		Lenin by Service
The Third Reich, A new History, Michael Burleigh, heavy reading there.

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Post #: 88
- 11/23/2002 7:16:15 AM   
Chijohnaok2


Posts: 628
Joined: 7/29/2002
From: Florida, USA (formerly Chicago)
Status: offline 		I have finished over the last few month:

"Medal of Honor: Profiles of Amerca's Military Hero's from the Civil War to Present" by Allen Mikaelian.

"Shadow Warriors" and "Red Rabbit" by Tom Clancy.

"Last Train to Paradise" by Les Standiford. (The story of how Henry Flager built a railroad from Miami to Key West FL across 150 miles of the Gulf of Mexico).

Currently reading:

"Theodore Rex" by Edmund Morris. Biography of Theodore Roosevelt covering the years of his presidency-1901-1909.

In the hopper to read next:

"The Glorious Cause: A Novel of the American Revolution" by Jeff Shaara. Read and enjoyed his previous novels "Gods and Generals" and "The Last Full Measure".

Also in that time managed to squeeze work in and more than a few games of Uncommon Valor.

John

(in reply to Mojo)
Post #: 89
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