RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment?

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parusski -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (7/17/2012 1:50:39 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: wodin Little known fact..one of Ambroses distant relatives was actually a British sympathiser who instigated the Boston tea Party. He believed that if the British didn't have their tea they'd spend more time fighting the American rebel movement which was ready to take up arms against British colonial rule.....he though that tea was the greatest weapon the American allies had against the British and her army. So in a very crafty way managed to get the rebels to throw the tea in the river as some sort of protest, where as the wiley old Ambrose now felt he had destroyed the greatest weapon the Americans had with their own hands..for several days he was very happy with what he considered the greatest and most cleverest of all plans ever....he eventually wrote several accounts of how not enough Tea was thrown in the river and so the British lost her greatest colony, brewing up... FACT Thank you wodin. It is beyond amazing how much people can learn about ANYTHING by reading Ambrose. What would the world do without we band of educators. What would a newb or alien think when reading our posts about S. Ambrose??

wodin -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (7/17/2012 2:45:16 AM)
Could you imagine a young wargaming newbie comes along and signs up..reads all these posts from what he considers clever military history bods, then proceeds to cite us and our Ambrose quotes...

warspite1 -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (7/17/2012 4:35:55 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: warspite1 quote: ORIGINAL: parusski quote: I think u forget that they in fact used the Chewbacca defense. So nothing fortunate about it. Case closed, Rasmus Jeez Walloc, when did you drink our AMBROSE kool-aid?? Warspite1 Simples - Ambrose books sell more in Denmark than any other country in the world - except the west African state of Mali. FACT. Warspite1 If any of you are wondering what to get a loved one for Christmas, birthdays or may be just an ad hoc gift, this is just the thing. I have seen an advert for The Entire Works of Ambrose on sale for $5,000. Yes, thats all 429 books, three singles, two albums and an Overture for just $5,000. You can get all the timeless Ambrose classics including: - Sunk by peanut brittle, The true story of the Titanic's demise - The great 7-year peanut brittle war 1800-1820 - Were the Aztecs the first men to walk on the moon? - The War of 1812 and the founding of Motown records. Unfortunately they don't deliver so you will need to visit the bookshop personally. The offer is from Le Bookshop, 6 Rue de Charles de Gaulle, Bamako, Mali. Don't delay - there are only a limited number left.

Chickenboy -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (7/17/2012 12:28:38 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: warspite1 In that dark hour America saw its chance to challenge British dominance. Ah yes. It was about carefully staged opportunism. Nothing about state-sponsored piracy de rigour or impressing American sailors, eh? I think I'll read Ambrose' version. [:'(] ETA: My bad.

warspite1 -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (7/17/2012 1:55:18 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Chickenboy quote: ORIGINAL: warspite1 In that dark hour America saw its chance to challenge British dominance. Ah yes. It was about carefully staged opportunism. Nothing about state-sponsored piracy de rigour or impressing American sailors, eh? I think I'll read Ambrose' version. [:'(] ETA: My bad. Warspite1 I wondered who would bite first if I posted that paragraph [;)] BTW - de rigeur? Really? Gettin' a little pretentious there CB n'est pas? [;)] Listen, as I made clear in my earlier post, I know little to nothing about the war of 1812, however, one thing I am pretty certain of; this conflict had nothing to do with us Brits trying to impress Americans. I mean don't get me wrong, we are a pretty special bunch obviously, and impressing you colonials would not have been difficult, but showing off is not something we would have chosen to start a bout of fisticuffs for, what, what.

parusski -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (7/17/2012 2:40:52 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: wodin Could you imagine a young wargaming newbie comes along and signs up..reads all these posts from what he considers clever military history bods, then proceeds to cite us and our Ambrose quotes... LOL, that would be funny to see and hear...from a distance though.

Chickenboy -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (7/17/2012 8:21:52 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: warspite1 Listen, as I made clear in my earlier post, I know little to nothing OK. I agree. See, dude-we can agree on some things...[:'(] quote: we are a pretty special bunch obviously Yes. You truly are a special bunch. "Special". [:'(]

warspite1 -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (7/17/2012 8:27:30 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Chickenboy quote: ORIGINAL: warspite1 Listen, as I made clear in my earlier post, I know everything about everything OK. I agree. See, dude-we can agree on some things quote: we are a pretty special bunch obviously Yes. You British truly are a very special people Warspite1 Why thank-you colonial what what [;)]

warspite1 -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (7/20/2012 6:28:25 AM)
It's pig in muck time! I saw - and had to buy - an excellent book yesterday. The Complete Book of the Olympics 2012 Edition. Every result from every summer games over the last 116 years. It has every medal table, as well as recounting of some of the more interesting Olympic stories. Did you know the oldest medalist (male) was a 72 year old Swede, who in Antwerp 1920 was part of the Double-Shot Running Deer Shooting Team? Did you know Canada failed to win a single Gold medal in Montreal 1976? Did you know Croquet was once an Olympic sport? In Paris in 1900!!!! Great Britain have never won the Olympic marathon, but the marathon distance of 26 miles and 385 yards is thanks to GB - well the 385 yard bit anyway. The reason for this odd distance is that in the London games of 1908, the competitors had to go round the running track at the end so that they finished in front of the Royal Box! That odd distance has remained to this day. The perfect companion to the forthcoming Olympiad and particularly good if you are sucker for stats and tables!

Chickenboy -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (7/20/2012 2:26:38 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: warspite1 I saw - and had to buy - an excellent book yesterday. The Complete Book of the Olympics 2012 Edition. I have this very book! Ambrose published it just last week! Fine edition what. Who knew that the Ethiopians fielded a world-class tonsil hockey team for the 1908 Olympics? [&o] ETA: Has Great Britain ever medalled in an Olympic event? [X(]

warspite1 -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (7/20/2012 6:50:38 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Chickenboy quote: ORIGINAL: warspite1 I saw - and had to buy - an excellent book yesterday. The Complete Book of the Olympics 2012 Edition. ETA: Has Great Britain ever medalled in an Olympic event? [X(] warspite1 No, not yet - but we are hoping one day it will happen. P.S - glad to see you've learned to read now.....well done [:'(]

warspite1 -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (7/22/2012 7:59:09 AM)
..continuing with Antony Beevor's The Second World War. Got up to April 1940 and just finished reading the first chapter on the Sino-Japanese war. Having just finished Ostkrieg and Hitler's war of extermination in the east, it seems remarkable that anything else has the power to shock. But reading about the Japanese treatment of the Chinese still has the power to do this whenever I visit this subject....truly barbaric [:(]

parusski -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (7/22/2012 1:56:04 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: warspite1 ..continuing with Antony Beevor's The Second World War. Got up to April 1940 and just finished reading the first chapter on the Sino-Japanese war. Having just finished Ostkrieg and Hitler's war of extermination in the east, it seems remarkable that anything else has the power to shock. But reading about the Japanese treatment of the Chinese still has the power to do this whenever I visit this subject....truly barbaric [:(] Barbaric indeed. And how odd it is that the world NEVER forgets Hitler, but so little has been mentioned of the estimated 20 million Chinese who died under Japanese rule.

warspite1 -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (8/18/2012 4:30:56 AM)
Still working through the same book.... The Olympics kind of took up my reading time recently. Anyway, the point of posting was to ask a question. I have got up to the chapter on Greece / Yugoslavia / Crete. Re the latter, one thing that Beevor makes absolutely crystal clear is that the loss of Crete was the fault of General Freyberg V.C. I read a book on the fall of Crete about 20 years ago, and I do not recall anyone being singled out for blame (although it was a long time ago now). Specifically Beevor says: - the troop deployments were wrong (particularly given the Allies had the benefit of Ultra) - Freyburg new the attack date - but did not share with the commanders of the troops guarding the three key landing areas. - Freyburg ignored opinion that a seaborne landing was impossible and so kept reserves back to counter a "non existent threat" - he believed the battle won after the first landings were repulsed - despite the fighting at Maleme having not gone well for the small Kiwi unit stationed there. Does anyone have any info/thoughts on this episode?

Orm -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (8/18/2012 12:04:18 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: warspite1 Still working through the same book.... The Olympics kind of took up my reading time recently. Anyway, the point of posting was to ask a question. I have got up to the chapter on Greece / Yugoslavia / Crete. Re the latter, one thing that Beevor makes absolutely crystal clear is that the loss of Crete was the fault of General Freyberg V.C. I read a book on the fall of Crete about 20 years ago, and I do not recall anyone being singled out for blame (although it was a long time ago now). Specifically Beevor says: - the troop deployments were wrong (particularly given the Allies had the benefit of Ultra) - Freyburg new the attack date - but did not share with the commanders of the troops guarding the three key landing areas. - Freyburg ignored opinion that a seaborne landing was impossible and so kept reserves back to counter a "non existent threat" - he believed the battle won after the first landings were repulsed - despite the fighting at Maleme having not gone well for the small Kiwi unit stationed there. Does anyone have any info/thoughts on this episode? Michael Tamelander writes about this in his book about Malta and the Mediterranean war. His conclusion is that no blame for the loss of Crete falls on General Freyberg V.C. Specifically about the points you mention he writes: - Freyberg was not informed about Ultra. He received the information but was told it arrived from an agent in Berlin. - The information that Freyberg received (from Ultra) told that the Germans would invade from the sea with tanks. He had recieved no informations that the invasion would depend on the success of the air landing. Therefore the sea landing threat was a reality that Freyberg had to consider. - Finds no real fault with the deployment. It was as good as it could get with the few resources available. - Freyberg had ordered his units to counter attack if the airfield fell into enemy hands or key positions needed to defend the airfield. Due to lacking communications Freyberg did not have a clear picture of the Maleme situation. The commander of the 5th New Zeeland brigade feared new air landings in his rear and was reluctant to commit his reserve. Therefore he withdraw from several key positions in the belief that he was out numbered. He also writes: + Two days before the invasion the remaining English fighters were ordered to evacuate Crete. + Freyberg had been ordered to leave the landing strips at the airfields in good condition. Even though the Germans would attack before any English aircrafts (fighters) were available for Crete. + Crete had a severe shortage of communications equipment. For example: Freyberg's own staff and communications equipment had been directed to Alexandria. + Severe shortage of machine guns and mortars. + Some of the units available to Freyberg could be considered militia units or Ad Hoc units with limited value compared to their size. Some units lost most of their equipment in Greece. + The terrain made fast redeployments impossible and that was not helped by the lack of communications. Therefore many positions were in fact isolated. + After the battle commenced Freyberg needed supply but few supplies reached Crete. The 23rd he reported to Egypt that the ammunition situation was critical but recived the reply from Wavell that it was impossible to send any transport ships to Crete. + The first critical day of the air landings the fault was rather with the local commanders and not with Freyberg. General E.C. Weston had been examining the possibility to defend Crete. April the 15th he sent his report and his conclussion was that it would be close to impossible to defend Crete without at least some fighter protection. Turns out he was more or less right.

warspite1 -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (8/18/2012 8:03:56 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Orm quote: ORIGINAL: warspite1 Still working through the same book.... The Olympics kind of took up my reading time recently. Anyway, the point of posting was to ask a question. I have got up to the chapter on Greece / Yugoslavia / Crete. Re the latter, one thing that Beevor makes absolutely crystal clear is that the loss of Crete was the fault of General Freyberg V.C. I read a book on the fall of Crete about 20 years ago, and I do not recall anyone being singled out for blame (although it was a long time ago now). Specifically Beevor says: - the troop deployments were wrong (particularly given the Allies had the benefit of Ultra) - Freyburg new the attack date - but did not share with the commanders of the troops guarding the three key landing areas. - Freyburg ignored opinion that a seaborne landing was impossible and so kept reserves back to counter a "non existent threat" - he believed the battle won after the first landings were repulsed - despite the fighting at Maleme having not gone well for the small Kiwi unit stationed there. Does anyone have any info/thoughts on this episode? Michael Tamelander writes about this in his book about Malta and the Mediterranean war. His conclusion is that no blame for the loss of Crete falls on General Freyberg V.C. Specifically about the points you mention he writes: - Freyberg was not informed about Ultra. He received the information but was told it arrived from an agent in Berlin. - The information that Freyberg received (from Ultra) told that the Germans would invade from the sea with tanks. He had recieved no informations that the invasion would depend on the success of the air landing. Therefore the sea landing threat was a reality that Freyberg had to consider. - Finds no real fault with the deployment. It was as good as it could get with the few resources available. - Freyberg had ordered his units to counter attack if the airfield fell into enemy hands or key positions needed to defend the airfield. Due to lacking communications Freyberg did not have a clear picture of the Maleme situation. The commander of the 5th New Zeeland brigade feared new air landings in his rear and was reluctant to commit his reserve. Therefore he withdraw from several key positions in the belief that he was out numbered. He also writes: + Two days before the invasion the remaining English fighters were ordered to evacuate Crete. + Freyberg had been ordered to leave the landing strips at the airfields in good condition. Even though the Germans would attack before any English aircrafts (fighters) were available for Crete. + Crete had a severe shortage of communications equipment. For example: Freyberg's own staff and communications equipment had been directed to Alexandria. + Severe shortage of machine guns and mortars. + Some of the units available to Freyberg could be considered militia units or Ad Hoc units with limited value compared to their size. Some units lost most of their equipment in Greece. + The terrain made fast redeployments impossible and that was not helped by the lack of communications. Therefore many positions were in fact isolated. + After the battle commenced Freyberg needed supply but few supplies reached Crete. The 23rd he reported to Egypt that the ammunition situation was critical but recived the reply from Wavell that it was impossible to send any transport ships to Crete. + The first critical day of the air landings the fault was rather with the local commanders and not with Freyberg. General E.C. Weston had been examining the possibility to defend Crete. April the 15th he sent his report and his conclussion was that it would be close to impossible to defend Crete without at least some fighter protection. Turns out he was more or less right. Warspite1 Mmmm thanks Orm. Some pretty contradictory claims.... Like all these things, I suppose the truth is out there somewhere.....

parusski -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (8/18/2012 8:57:38 PM)
A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918, G.J. Myer Moe Howard and the 3 Stooges: The Pictorial Biography of the Wildest Trio in the History of American Entertainment

LarryP -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (8/20/2012 2:15:17 PM)
Shogun by James Clavell.

parusski -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (8/20/2012 2:28:45 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: LarryP Shogun by James Clavell. How is it so far? I have the book and the audiobook, but I have never started reading or listening.

planner 3 -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (8/20/2012 5:09:37 PM)
At the moment I'm looking at the Bloody Comp screen, so how the $^*R could I be reading a blasted book ? Dum dum dum[&:]

warspite1 -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (8/20/2012 5:23:35 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: planner 3 At the moment I'm looking at the Bloody Comp screen, so how the $^*R could I be reading a blasted book ? Dum dum dum[&:] Warspite1 What? You can't multi-task?

warspite1 -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (8/20/2012 5:26:05 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: LarryP Shogun by James Clavell. Warspite1 Loads of people have read that and said how good it was - so I gave in and bought it.....10 years later it still lies on my shelf un-read...... Let us know what you think LarryP

LarryP -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (8/20/2012 5:46:29 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: parusski quote: ORIGINAL: LarryP Shogun by James Clavell. How is it so far? I have the book and the audiobook, but I have never started reading or listening. Parusski and Warspite1; It's excellent. He gets a bit wordy at times as all writers tend to do with the larger books (1152 pages), and there are a lot of names to keep track of, which I have the most trouble with. He does very good character development so that each person is very much an individual. Good history as well as fictional writing. There are four more books that follow Shogun that go up to WW2. I plan on reading those too. I first started to read it and after a few pages I put it down. Just could not get into it at the time. A week later I tried again and got hooked. I'm almost 3/4 done now, as I have a habit of reading more than one book at a time. Fits my different moods, but not the best habit I suppose. [:)]

parusski -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (8/20/2012 7:59:03 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: planner 3 At the moment I'm looking at the Bloody Comp screen, so how the $^*R could I be reading a blasted book ? Dum dum dum[&:] Listen to audiobooks then, numnuts.

warspite1 -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (8/20/2012 8:10:40 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: LarryP quote: ORIGINAL: parusski quote: ORIGINAL: LarryP Shogun by James Clavell. How is it so far? I have the book and the audiobook, but I have never started reading or listening. Parusski and Warspite1; It's excellent. He gets a bit wordy at times as all writers tend to do with the larger books (1152 pages), and there are a lot of names to keep track of, which I have the most trouble with. He does very good character development so that each person is very much an individual. Good history as well as fictional writing. There are four more books that follow Shogun that go up to WW2. I plan on reading those too. I first started to read it and after a few pages I put it down. Just could not get into it at the time. A week later I tried again and got hooked. I'm almost 3/4 done now, as I have a habit of reading more than one book at a time. Fits my different moods, but not the best habit I suppose. [:)] Warspite1 Thanks LarryP. I will try reading on my way to/from work. That will leave bed time reading for WWII stuff.

Chickenboy -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (8/20/2012 8:25:36 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: parusski quote: ORIGINAL: LarryP Shogun by James Clavell. How is it so far? I have the book and the audiobook, but I have never started reading or listening. It's a very good book. Surprisingly fast-paced. Can't speak to the audio version, however.

Chickenboy -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (8/20/2012 8:29:47 PM)
Working on the 5th novel in the "Game of Thrones" series. It's a monumental investment in recreational reading time, but has been well worth it to read all books to date. Recommended for those with the inclination and commitment for fantasy fiction.

Orm -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (8/20/2012 8:30:22 PM)
I liked Shogun a lot but it was a very long time since I read it. I liked Tai-Pan even more. But the best "asian" novel I've read is Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tai-Pan_(novel) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musashi_(novel)

parusski -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (8/20/2012 8:33:12 PM)
quote: That will leave bed time reading for WWII stuff. That is as it should be!!

parusski -> RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? (8/20/2012 8:36:11 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Chickenboy Working on the 5th novel in the "Game of Thrones" series. It's a monumental investment in recreational reading time, but has been well worth it to read all books to date. Recommended for those with the inclination and commitment for fantasy fiction. I listened to the Audio version of it, narrated by the great Roy Dotrice. A Dance with Dragons: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 5 You can hear a sample on this page.

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