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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 5/25/2018 11:03:14 PM   
warspite1


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy


quote:

ORIGINAL: warspite1

I have Hitler's Pre-Emptive War coming to me for my birthday - hussah! This is another work on the Battle for Norway in 1940. It looks like it may concentrate too much on Narvik to the detriment of the rest of the campaign, but we'll see....


Happy Birthday, old bean! Lemme guess: 62? You can't be a day over 63 then?
warspite1

Thank-you. 62? No, I just feel that old......

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 5/26/2018 7:05:17 PM   
Orm


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Status: offline 		A interesting book about Pyrrhos. Although I suspect that it is only available in Swedish.

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 6/1/2018 9:18:12 AM   
RFalvo69


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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 6/9/2018 6:10:42 PM   
Orm


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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 6/11/2018 12:08:37 PM   
wodin


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Re issue of Island of Fire by J Mark, fav book of all time, thankyou Mum for early birthday present:)

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 6/11/2018 6:22:16 PM   
daft

 

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 6/16/2018 11:33:17 PM   
warspite1


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Status: offline 		For a complete change of scene I'm reading The Lost Generation. This is a book about three up and coming British racing drivers - Roger Williamson and Tony Brise (both English) and Tom Pryce (Welsh) that were tipped for success in the pinnacle of motor sport - Formula 1 - but were tragically killed between 1973, and 1977 before they got the chance to go for the big prize.

Well written, very interesting and ultimately sad and frustrating in equal measure this book is a real page turner. Britain had to wait almost 20 years after James Hunt won the world championship in 1976 for another champion - this lost generation of genuine talent may well be the biggest reason for that.

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 6/17/2018 12:52:43 PM   
Chickenboy


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Status: offline 		Taking a break from History of US Marine Corps in World War II: Volume IV: Western Pacific Operations: Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Well written, but-ugh-what a bloody shambles Peleliu was.

So I'm re-reading (I read it maybe 20 years ago when it was new) John Keegan's The First World War. I may have to go back to Iwo Jima to get away from the senseless barbarism of 1914. What a bloody shambles. This one's even more depressing.




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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 6/17/2018 5:41:11 PM   
Aurelian

 

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 6/18/2018 10:28:05 AM   
RFalvo69


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quote:

ORIGINAL: warspite1

For a complete change of scene I'm reading The Lost Generation. This is a book about three up and coming British racing drivers - Roger Williamson and Tony Brise (both English) and Tom Pryce (Welsh) that were tipped for success in the pinnacle of motor sport - Formula 1 - but were tragically killed between 1973, and 1977 before they got the chance to go for the big prize.


Have you seen "Rush" by Ron Howard? Beside being a great movie, it is also a great reconstruction of when having 2-3 pilots dead every season was totally normal.

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"Yes darling, I served in the Navy for eight years. I was a cook..."
"Oh dad... so you were a God-damned cook?"

(My 10 years old daughter after watching "The Hunt for Red October")

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 6/28/2018 5:22:12 PM   
warspite1


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quote:

ORIGINAL: RFalvo69


quote:

ORIGINAL: warspite1

For a complete change of scene I'm reading The Lost Generation. This is a book about three up and coming British racing drivers - Roger Williamson and Tony Brise (both English) and Tom Pryce (Welsh) that were tipped for success in the pinnacle of motor sport - Formula 1 - but were tragically killed between 1973, and 1977 before they got the chance to go for the big prize.


Have you seen "Rush" by Ron Howard? Beside being a great movie, it is also a great reconstruction of when having 2-3 pilots dead every season was totally normal.
warspite1

Yes I have this wonderful film on DVD. Only one criticism of the film; it should have featured the other protagonists more.

Have finished The Lost Generation and moved onto Nigel Mansell's Staying on Track and am now onto James Hunt The Biography. Really make a change from military history - much quicker to read too

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 7/6/2018 3:08:27 PM   
Greybriar


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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 7/18/2018 10:10:39 PM   
Zorch

 

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Status: offline 		'The Splintered Empires: The Eastern Front 1917–21' by Prit Buttar

The end of WWI, and the little known wars afterwards.

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 7/19/2018 8:52:51 PM   
wodin


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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 7/20/2018 12:51:22 AM   
CGGrognard


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Status: offline 		The Big Red One: America's Legendary 1st Infantry Division Centennial Edition, 1917-2017 by James Scott Wheeler
Preparing for the release of The Bloody First Close Combat and in general learning more how units were structured.


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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 7/20/2018 2:29:15 PM   
Chickenboy


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Status: offline 		Just finished Keegan's one-volume The First World War. A good general review of the entirety of the war. What a bloody shambles...

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 7/20/2018 3:24:53 PM   
loki100


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

Just finished Keegan's one-volume The First World War. A good general review of the entirety of the war. What a bloody shambles...


A good follow on is Margaret McMillan's Peacemakers mainly about the Versailles portion of the post-war peace making process. If the war was a shambles, what followed more than matched it.

Its a seriously good book, debunks a lot of myths, I think is a bit too generous to some participants, but does an excellent job of capturing the attempts (such as they were) to balance off national interests, Wilson's intermittent interest in a new approach and all the various national/ethnic/etc lobby groups that turned up to press this or that cause.

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 7/20/2018 5:03:50 PM   
Chickenboy


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quote:

ORIGINAL: loki100


quote:

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

Just finished Keegan's one-volume The First World War. A good general review of the entirety of the war. What a bloody shambles...


A good follow on is Margaret McMillan's Peacemakers mainly about the Versailles portion of the post-war peace making process. If the war was a shambles, what followed more than matched it.

Its a seriously good book, debunks a lot of myths, I think is a bit too generous to some participants, but does an excellent job of capturing the attempts (such as they were) to balance off national interests, Wilson's intermittent interest in a new approach and all the various national/ethnic/etc lobby groups that turned up to press this or that cause.


Maybe later. Still depressed about that whole bloody shambles. It's like reading about the American Civil War-such pointless slaughter amongst brothers.

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 7/20/2018 7:12:39 PM   
wodin


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Status: offline 		Again check out Pandoras Box.

Also 're WW1 the lions and donkeys myth was so entrenched for many years that probably best going for recent titles.



quote:

ORIGINAL: loki100


quote:

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

Just finished Keegan's one-volume The First World War. A good general review of the entirety of the war. What a bloody shambles...


A good follow on is Margaret McMillan's Peacemakers mainly about the Versailles portion of the post-war peace making process. If the war was a shambles, what followed more than matched it.

Its a seriously good book, debunks a lot of myths, I think is a bit too generous to some participants, but does an excellent job of capturing the attempts (such as they were) to balance off national interests, Wilson's intermittent interest in a new approach and all the various national/ethnic/etc lobby groups that turned up to press this or that cause.



< Message edited by wodin -- 7/20/2018 7:13:47 PM >

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 7/20/2018 9:11:20 PM   
Chickenboy


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quote:

ORIGINAL: wodin

Again check out Pandoras Box.

Also 're WW1 the lions and donkeys myth was so entrenched for many years that probably best going for recent titles.



quote:

ORIGINAL: loki100


quote:

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

Just finished Keegan's one-volume The First World War. A good general review of the entirety of the war. What a bloody shambles...


A good follow on is Margaret McMillan's Peacemakers mainly about the Versailles portion of the post-war peace making process. If the war was a shambles, what followed more than matched it.

Its a seriously good book, debunks a lot of myths, I think is a bit too generous to some participants, but does an excellent job of capturing the attempts (such as they were) to balance off national interests, Wilson's intermittent interest in a new approach and all the various national/ethnic/etc lobby groups that turned up to press this or that cause.



Lions and Donkeys Myth?

Keegan's book was written in 1998. Probably sufficiently recent for my tastes.

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 7/21/2018 1:10:26 PM   
wodin


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Status: offline 		Not aimed at Keegan

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 7/21/2018 3:20:19 PM   
Chickenboy


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Status: offline 		OK. But what's the "Lions and Donkeys" myth?

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 7/21/2018 6:32:46 PM   
Zorch

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

OK. But what's the "Lions and Donkeys" myth?

That the British were an army of lions led by donkeys.

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 7/23/2018 8:57:09 PM   
wodin


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Status: offline 		Just so everyone is aware. One of the greatesd German WW2 east front memiors written finally gets a new edition. Moscow Tram Stop

Due out 1st November!!

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 7/23/2018 9:55:19 PM   
loki100


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

OK. But what's the "Lions and Donkeys" myth?


It started in the 1960s.

There was a surge of interest in capturing the oral histories of those who had fought (Lynn Macdonald's excellent series of books capture this) as by then the youngest were easily into their late 70s. Inevitably this meant that it was the stories of the most junior officers or enlisted men were recorded - at its best this produced some fasinating histories but perhaps distorted the overall view of the war.

Add on, Haig in particular has always been a controversial figure. One narrative is he did his best to cope with the demands of a style of war for which no-one was prepared. The other was he was a callous idiot who was prepared to chuck lives away in futile offensives. By 1917-18 this was probably also the view of the British Govt who were refusing to release reinforcements (one reason was to try and save resources so that when the American troops were deployed and trained up the Allies had a critical mass to try and turn the war - remember in 1917 the Allies were planning for the war to last into 1919).

These strands came together to create a version of the Western Front where the British troops were brilliant but undermined by poor leadership. As ever, I suspect the truth sits somewhere in between.

The British leadership were incredibly cynical - so much so that in WW2 Australia and New Zealand refused to let their units serve under direct British control. There were also incidents like sending the Ulster division (made up of men who had been on the verge of open revolt in 1914) against the strongest part of the German defences on the Somme. But given the problems of armies lacking mobility and heavy firepower locked into strong defensive positions with no flanks that could be turned the simple truth is that in the period 1914-17 its hard to see what options were available (well apart from making peace etc).

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 8/18/2018 11:58:02 AM   
Zorch

 

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 8/18/2018 4:29:20 PM   
Anachro


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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 8/18/2018 4:42:04 PM   
Capitaine

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Anachro

Currently making my way though Spengler's The Decline of the West

Bravo! I hope to get around to that myself soon.

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 8/18/2018 6:34:32 PM   
Zorch

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Capitaine


quote:

ORIGINAL: Anachro

Currently making my way though Spengler's The Decline of the West

Bravo! I hope to get around to that myself soon.

Me, too. Right after I finish Rise and Fall of the 3rd Reich and War & Peace.

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RE: What Book Are You Reading at the moment? - 8/22/2018 4:40:49 PM   
fodder


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Status: offline 		Finishing up "Carrier Strike" (the battle of santa cruz islands october 1942) by Eric Hammel.

The Porter has been sunk. (was it a U.S. torpedo that did it?)

The Hornet is dead in the water.

The Enterprise has just been hit by 3 x 250kg bombs, near hit by another.

Can't wait to see how it ends......

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