RE: Books to Recommend (Full Version)

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Skyros -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/20/2007 10:24:22 PM)

Has anyone read Paul S Dulls The Imperial Japanese Navy (1941-1945)?



tsimmonds -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/20/2007 11:32:20 PM)

So many jokes, so little time....[;)]



John 3rd -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/20/2007 11:46:17 PM)

Skyros--THAT book is a staple that should be on everyone's shelves.  It is a little dated but I cannot describe how many times I have pulled it as a resource when needed...

It is easy to read and has a goodly amount of maps, pictures, and organizational layouts.




John 3rd -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/20/2007 11:46:57 PM)

I just got my 5th STAR!



Feinder -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/21/2007 3:34:34 AM)

Which means that you *offiically* spend way too much time on the boards!

-F-



Grotius -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/21/2007 3:40:49 AM)

I'm enjoying Evan Thomas's "Sea of Thunder," which focuses on the careers of four naval officers, culminating in Leyte Gulf. Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/Sea-Thunder-Commanders-Campaign-1941-1945/dp/0743252217

I also have all of Morrison's books. The writing can be rather formal for my tastes, but it's an amazing resource.

Costello's book "The Pacific War" is a good read, but the first edition had more than its share of errors, and I'm not sure one should regard it as an entirely trustworthy source. Of course, no source is perfect. My friends who are professional historians seem to regard it the same way they regard Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" -- a good first port of call, but not the most authoritative treatment of the subject. Me, I enjoyed both Costello and Shirer on their own terms.



Feinder -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/21/2007 5:51:11 AM)

Sea of Thunder is on the Christmas list (Knavey, don't go grab it, I think Monica already got it for me).  Yeah Cosello's book is a good overview.  I don't actually fault Costello for most of the errors, it's more just bad editing in my opinion.  I think there's a map in the back that has "The Philipine Campain : 1954".  Doh. 

But it's a good for anybody to say, "Hm, that's kinda neat.  But 6 paragraphs isn't enough, I think I'll go buy myself a book on (whatever)..."

-F-



Tiornu -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/21/2007 7:35:33 AM)

Sea of Thunder is good at what it does--presenting humans as they get mashed in the gears of planning and executing a battle. As a technical source or as a battle history, it should be ignored. And the reader should remember that the author makes little distinction between the facts and the grout he spreads between them. But I'm glad I read it. You'll see a side of things you don't often find in history books.



Skyros -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/21/2007 3:43:46 PM)

Clash of the Carriers was a good read. It was late one night when I read the section concerning the US pilots returning in the dark and unable to find the carriers. How some completely lost it alone in the dark with there fuel gauges on E. Very powerful stuff.



AW1Steve -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/21/2007 10:08:09 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

I just got my 5th STAR!


[:)] Congrats! Now shoot for 2500 postings! [:D]



jwilkerson -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/21/2007 10:13:41 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

Skyros--THAT book [DULL] is a staple that should be on everyone's shelves.  It is a little dated but I cannot describe how many times I have pulled it as a resource when needed...

It is easy to read and has a goodly amount of maps, pictures, and organizational layouts.




DULL might be considered to be "dated" ... but DULL is essentially nothing more than an ecclectic translation of the BKK i.e. the Japanese Official history. We see other works still relying heavily on this work (the more recent "Shattered Sword") so the primary source, while just as dated as DULL - many volumes cited by many books (of the BKK) were written in the late 60s early 70s - isn't much less accurate than it was when written. So, DULL, still has value, he just doesn't have the details that some of us are looking for these days.



Skyros -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/21/2007 11:09:48 PM)

I look Forward to reading it.



Nikademus -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/22/2007 3:11:50 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Skyros

Has anyone read Paul S Dulls The Imperial Japanese Navy (1941-1945)?


ah Dull......

I think it was my first work outside of a technical reference as a very young teenage. My rather battered copy still sits on the shelf.



John 3rd -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/22/2007 4:41:55 AM)

Now Mr. Wilkerson---Paul Dull's work is one of the FIRST of the generation of books that LEADS to what we love today.  His place is very important and still serves as a good overview of the topic.



toonces -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/22/2007 9:17:14 PM)

I'll second the following:
Costello's Pacific War- a great overview.  It has some errors, true, but they're not show-stoppers.
Lundstrom's The First Team and The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign are both really good books, very detailed treatments of the air combat.  I preferred the Guadalcanal book over the first one.
Sunburst is really well written and readable.  Not too expensive in softback as well.

A couple I didn't see mentioned:
The Pacific War Companion- picked it up at Barnes and Nobles.  Not too expensive, and well-written.  It summarizes alot of what occured in the Pac War and is a great 'short' version of the war.
Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1936-1945 (or close to those dates)- absolutely essential to keep track of all those ship types in WITP!
Eden (I think) Encyclopedia of Aircraft of WW2- a great overview of all the planes in the game, with great writeups on most of the popular planes (P51, zero, etc)



John 3rd -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/22/2007 11:04:56 PM)

Do you have the ISBN for Conway's book?  Could really use that.



Tiornu -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/23/2007 12:21:11 AM)

Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905: ISBN 0831703024
Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921: ISBN 0870219073
Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946: ISBN 0870219138
There may actually be a couple different ISBNs depending on the publisher and printing. All three of these volumes are useful for the WWII time period.
Conway's gives you all the stats and dates. If you want a textual treatment of the ships' real-world capabilities, you may want to look at Fleets of World War II by Me (sadly, no longer in print, so you have to go to the used book sites).



John 3rd -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/23/2007 4:56:01 AM)

You wrote that book?  Cool!



Coach Z -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/23/2007 7:24:12 AM)

DULL's book.....when I first read that...maybe 20 years ago I called it the "BIBLE of the IJN in WW2"



Tiornu -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/23/2007 9:12:35 AM)

"Cool!"
Yeah. Right now it's being translated into Italian, but I don't suppose that would be helpful to most folks here.
For those who liked Dull but wanted some more battle details, you might find you really like Vince O'Hara's book The US Navy against the Axis, which deals with surface combat, mostly against the Japanese.



John 3rd -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/23/2007 6:28:00 PM)

Coach Z I said about the same thing THIRTY years ago!  It is still a good read.  Nothing compared to the new scholarship but still a good book.

Tiornu--are you a Professor of History?  I'll look up O'Hara's book as well.



Tiornu -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/23/2007 9:37:26 PM)

Actually I was a theater major.
What...?
Stop laughing at me. All of you...!



Mike Scholl -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/24/2007 12:19:04 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Tiornu

Actually I was a theater major.
What...?
Stop laughing at me. All of you...!



Then you might well have made a good History Teacher..., most could use a touch of drama and comedy in their deliveries.



AW1Steve -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/24/2007 12:36:00 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Mike Scholl


quote:

ORIGINAL: Tiornu

Actually I was a theater major.
What...?
Stop laughing at me. All of you...!



Then you might well have made a good History Teacher..., most could use a touch of drama and comedy in their deliveries.


[&o]The best history teachers and professors I had were Very "dramatic" or they were natural clowns. You NEVER missed their classes. I had one college professor that would dress in costume (on occassion) for lessons. [:D][:D][:D]



Terminus -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/24/2007 12:39:50 AM)

Had a superb history teacher in high school. He really followed the mold that Steve describes.



Skyros -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/24/2007 2:59:48 AM)

Is this it?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0306811162/ref=pd_bbs_olp_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198457786&sr=8-1

quote:

ORIGINAL: Tiornu

Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905: ISBN 0831703024
Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921: ISBN 0870219073
Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946: ISBN 0870219138
There may actually be a couple different ISBNs depending on the publisher and printing. All three of these volumes are useful for the WWII time period.
Conway's gives you all the stats and dates. If you want a textual treatment of the ships' real-world capabilities, you may want to look at Fleets of World War II by Me (sadly, no longer in print, so you have to go to the used book sites).




Tiornu -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/24/2007 3:46:54 AM)

"Is this it? "
Oh lookie there. Isn't it adorable? If you think you might be interested in buying a copy, go ahead and read the reviews. My favorite was from the guy who complained that you had to read the entire book to get all the information from it.
For those who enjoy getting signed copies, you can run some searches. I sent signed copies out to a place in NY and a place in the UK, so they may still be available.
I was a history/geography/social studies teacher for several years before I made my escape. My kids all knew that Djibouti was the capital of Djibouti long before that soda commercial came out.



John 3rd -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/24/2007 5:45:55 AM)

It is funny that you guys talk about that. 

In college I got degrees in History and Political Science with a Minor in Theatre.  After 8 years of High School Social Studies and 10 years of teaching Community College and University, I could not imagine teaching WITHOUT some really BAD--I mean great--acting to make my class a bit more lively.

I believe that all good History teachers make it come alive.  I've TRIED to do that for sixteen years.  Have lots of former students who liked the way I did it.  One of them is my partner in the AAR against Mandrake.  Never know...

I'll look at that book and see what it is like.

Isn't funny what one finds out on the Forum...




John 3rd -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/24/2007 5:49:24 AM)

I just read a couple of the reviews.  Well done!

Lookslike another to add to the 'to buy' list...



m10bob -> RE: Books to Recommend (12/24/2007 2:49:39 PM)

"My favorite was from the guy who complained that you had to read the entire book to get all the information from it. "

Yet another reason to dismiss critics as the leaches and remora who prey on those who actually contribute.......



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