Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Greetings fellow netizens,

This thread is about books you begin and finish this year. This isn't a contest for numbers, just a chance to share what you read and your take on it. With that being said, I have completed my first book, read entirely this year.

11 Days of Christmas by Marshall Michel III

It's a great insight into SAC's Vietnam days, from LeMay's continual reluctance (since Korea) to commit SAC bombers to non-nuclear conflict to the micro-management that nearly dooms Linebacker II. Michel introduces the points of views of President Nixon, the newly elected congress, Joint Chiefs, BUFF crews on from Andersen and U-Tapao, Wild Weasel and Phantom crews, as well as the meager MiG and SAM crews assigned to Hanoi's defense.

All I can say is that it appears that no single decision is wholly responsible for the outcome of the Second Indo-China War, but instead a series of questionable ones from people at all levels.

Edited by Exhausted
Link to post
Share on other sites

I read the dutch vesion of Taylor Downing's book 'Churchill's war lab'.

It isn't the best book i've read, but i does show some great insights. It even gives anakdotes about Roosevelt which make me respect him more.

I was a bit dissapointed by the attitude of Churchill (as portrayed by this writter), but in retrospect, given his age, i still have to have deep respect for him to do what he did. The way he stept up and kept on going, dispite his advanced age, is inspiring.

I also read his book 'Spies in the sky' (also the dutch version) which is a book i can recommend to anyone because it shows not only the importance of arial observations, but the vastness of this type of data gathering. I never knew what an importent part of the war this was.

I also shows the bave actions of pilots who went behind enemy lines without weapons and in the early ages with infiriour planes.

And the last book i read was the dutch version of 'the one who almost made it back' by Peter Celis. It tells the story of a Canadian pilot flying Pathfinder who's Lancaster was shot down in a town 5Km from the town i grew up in. He was even hidden in a house just 2 Km from where i used to live. This was a great book and a very gripping tale. As the title suggests, he didn't make it back, and to think that it was only one stupid mistake that prevented him from getting back home, it still saddens me to think about it. The book also tells the story of the massacre at a nearby town. I hope to visit the graves of all the villagers who died at the hands of the nazi's and visit the grave of the brave pilot.

And to think that i came out of school only having read one book for a book report and i hated reading. So you see, it is just a matter of finding a subject that is interresting.

Edited by streetstream
Link to post
Share on other sites

11 Days of Christmas by Marshall Michel III

It's a great insight into SAC's Vietnam days, from LeMay's continual reluctance (since Korea) to commit SAC bombers to non-nuclear conflict to the micro-management that nearly dooms Linebacker II. Michel introduces the points of views of President Nixon, the newly elected congress, Joint Chiefs, BUFF crews on from Andersen and U-Tapao, Wild Weasel and Phantom crews, as well as the meager MiG and SAM crews assigned to Hanoi's defense.

All I can say is that it appears that no single decision is wholly responsible for the outcome of the Second Indo-China War, but instead a series of questionable ones from people at all levels.

Nice selection! That is a great book about a little-know subject. I wouldn't call NV's MiG and SAM assets "meager" though. They put a huge hurt on the USAF early in LB2. To the point that there were numerous incidents of insubordination / vandalism by demoralized BUFF flight crews at Anderson AFB. It didn't help that SAC's original tactics were pathetic and that they also chose to commit poorly defended G-model B-52's to go up against the most heavily defended piece of airspace on the planet. Regardless, anyone interested in the Vietnam airwar should pick this up.

With regard to other books, I'm currently reading

The Guns at Last Light, the third part of Rick Atkins's Liberation Trilogy. This is a comprehensive history of the US Army's war against Germany. All three books are absolutely fantastic.

http://liberationtrilogy.com/ if you want any more info on this series. Highly recommended.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Good Idea, I'm always looking for ideas of what to read next...

So far this year.

Books 12 and 13 of the Audrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian.

Awesome series for people interested in 18 and 19th century warfare at sea, or just period history pieces.

The first couple of books in the series I literally read with a dictionary and a book about Napoleonic era warships at hand. Got easier from the 3rd book on, as they seem more reader friendly from there on..

Operation Sea Lion, The German Plan to Invade Britian, 1940. By Egbert Kieser.

The history of Sea Lion, from a German author. Interesting and gives some different angles to view some of the historical facts.

Hit The Beach, The Drama of Amphibious Warfare. By Simon Foster.

Looks into Gallipoli, Inchon and the Falklands in some detail. Decent read.

Currently reading:

Knight's Cross, A Life of Field Marshall Erwin Rommel. By David Fraser.

Still reading the chapters covering WWI, seems good so far, although it seems like Mr. Fraser is of the "Rommel was a battlefield master in all accounts" clan. Should be interesting to see if he touches on his weaknesses as well. There are some hints that he might have written a balanced account, but not sure yet.

...Lots of time to read when flying offshore. Looking at "Game of Thrones" for after the Patrick O'Brian books. Need some fantasy to counter all the historical works.

Ken

Edited by Helidriver
Link to post
Share on other sites

Jan 2014: In Their Own Words: True Stories and Adventures of the American Fighter Ace by James Oleson. Only half the book comprises the words of the aces. The other half are Medal of Honor citations and a bunch of appendices concerning statistics such as kills by American type flown, type of kills by type flown, kills by service branch, kills by war, etc. Kudos to the author for including Lance Wade and a couple of other Americans flying for the RAF who did noot join USAAF upon America's entry into WW II.

Jan 2014: Fighter Group: The 352nd "Blue-nosed Bastards" in World War II by LtCol (Ret) Jay A. Stout.

Jan 2014: A Higher Calling by Adam Makos. Ordered on a whim while buying music from Amazon. Read it in a day. A riveting account of Hans Stigler having mercy upon Charlie Brown and his heavily damaged B-17 in December, 1943. Well-done first book by the author giving a brief bio of Brown and Stigler before their service with extensive research into their war actions. Nice follow-through to 2008 when both men passed away. I found only one tiny mistake -- there were no transistors in WWII radios. You will not regret buying this book.

Feb 2014: Forever Flying by R. A. "Bob" Hoover. Very readable autobiography about an icon of flight.

Feb 2014: Engineers of Victory: The Problem Solvers Who Turned The Tide In The Second World War by Paul Kennedy

July 2014: Vought F8U-3 Crusader III Super Crusader - Naval Fighters Number Eighty-Seven By Tommy H. Thompson. Very informative and readable if short treatise on "the best fighter never produced".

July through September:

Heinkel He 111 Walk Around by Ron Mackay

F-15 Eagle Walk Around by Lou Drendel/Don Greer

E-2 Hawkeye Walk Around by Ken Neubeck

KC-135 Stratotanker Walk Around by Kenneth P. Katz

Martin B-26 Maurader & Douglas A-26 Invader in Combat Over Europe by Tomasz Szlagor

USS Texas Squadron at Sea by David Doyle (Squadron/Signal)

A-4 Skyhawk Walk Around by Lou Drendel

Naval Fighters Number 82 - USN-USMC Two-seat Skyhawks by Steve Ginter

Naval Fighters Number 88 - North American FJ3/3M Fury by Steve Ginter

Naval Fighters Number 94 - Vought F7U-1 Cutlass by Tommy H. Thomason

Naval Fighters Number 91 - McDonnell F2H-3/4 "Big Banjo" by Steve Ginter

Naval Fighters Number 61 - Grumman F9F Part 3 NAVY Panther, Korea and Beyond by Steve Ginter

...And Kill MiGs by Lou Drendel

U-boat War by Timothy J. Kutta (Squadron/Signal)

Naval Fighters Number 69 - Navy & Marine Fleet Single-seat F9F Cougar Squadrons by Steve Ginter

F9F Cougar Walk Around by Ken Neubeck

Naval Fighters Number 66 - Grumman F9F-6/7/8 Cougar Part One by Corwin "Corky" Meyer

F-8 Crusader Walk Around by Ed Barthelmes

Higgins PT Boat On Deck byDavid Doyle (Squadron/Signal)

Naval Fighters Number 63 - Early Banshees by Steve Ginter

Naval Fighters Number 92 - Grumman F6F Hellcat by Corwin "Corky" Meyer/Steve Ginter

SAAB 35 Draken Walk Around by Mikhail Putnikov

October:

Modern Fighting Aircraft Volume 8 F-14 by Mike Spick

Aerofax Minigraph #24 Rockwell International B-1A/B by Don Logan & Jay Miller

Aerofax Datagraph #7 Boeing B-52G/H Stratofortress by Dennis Jenkins & Brian Rogers

Edited by Slartibartfast
Link to post
Share on other sites

Playboy Jan issue..... Sorry wrong thread. Not reading...... :rolleyes:/>/>

Why in the world would you do that, given that you obviously have an internet connection?

Oh, that's right, the articles...

Link to post
Share on other sites

I have books 3-5 of the Games of Thrones, Percy Jackson's House of Hades, Halo's Forerunner Saga 2 and 3 (already listened to book 1), Wool, Leviathan Wakes, World War Z, and Dome are in the Kindle queue. If a new Monster Hunter book comes out I'll get that too. Audio Books I'll get whatever catches my eye at the library. Two years ago a coworker and I were bored out of our minds on a two week project that I was in charge of but had no part of if that makes any sense and he handed me a children's book called Percy Jackson. Having not read a fiction book in years I picked it up and couldn't put it down. Since then I've been exercising my closet nerd and reading a ton of fantasy fiction on my Kindle. The thing has a four week battery life, built in backlight, and most of my peers and those around me think I'm reading something important. Nope! All of my reading leisure will be fiction this year with the exception of Robert Gate's new memoir.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm currently re-reading The Legend of the Jade Phoenix trilogy from BattleTech. I've liked the series since my first encounter with it through Mechwarrior 2 back in 1995. Besides the sourcebooks and Technical Readouts, I even bought the 4th Edition box set which turned out to be a pretty dumb move, since everyone around me wasn't interested enough to play with me. :unsure:

Link to post
Share on other sites

"Yeager". I had a friend ask me what it was about. I just said "Ummmm...Chuck Yeager?" She had never heard of him.

I've also read the complete line of "Little Critter" books, "Fancy Nancy", "Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse", "Angelina Ballerina" and just last night I read "Knuffle Bunny" from start to finish.

And yes, I do have two little girls.

Eric

Link to post
Share on other sites

So, I read a LOT, and I'm going out of town for a while, so I've bought all my books for the next year ahead of time. So far this year, I've already read The Summer of Beer and Whiskey, about the 1883 American Association baseball season, and the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Now I am reading A New Hope. I'm taking with me......

Shiloh, 1862

Landscape Turned Red. About Antietam.

Lions of the West. About the men who pioneered the western frontier.

The Twelve Ceasars.

The Lost World.

Guns at Last Light.

American Colonies. About the colonization of North America.

A Man on the Moon. About the Apollo astronauts.

Summer of '49. About the 1949 baseball season as seen through the Red Sox and Yankees.

The Quantum World.

Physics of the Future.

And two Louis L'Amour westerns.

That should keep me busy:)

Bill

Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm currently reading The End by Ian Kershaw, about the last year of Nazi Germany

On the to-be-read pile are:

Marshall & His Generals: U.S. Army Commanders in World War II

Military Effectiveness, volumes I, II, and III

German Military Effectiveness

Patton at Bay (about his attack on Metz, 1944)

Advance and Destroy: Patton as Commander in the Bulge

David Glantz's trilogy on Stalingrad (1500 pages or more of reading there!)

The Battle for Berlin, 1945

Red Phoenix Rising: The Soviet Air Force in World War II

Stahel's set on Operation Barbarossa, the Battle of Kiev in 1941, and Operation Typhoon

Zitadelle (Mark Healy's newer book on the Battle of Kursk rather than his dud published by Osprey)

Demolishing the Myth (more Kursk 1943)

Blitzkrieg Unleashed

Guns at Last Light

The Drive on Moscow, 1941

Rueckzug

Clash of Empires in South China: The Allied Nations' Proxy War With Japan

Clearly more than a year's worth of reading. Indeed some of these titles have been on my to-be-read list for a few years now.

Mike

Link to post
Share on other sites

To Kingdom Come by Robert J Mrazek. The story of the Eighth Air Forces mission to bomb Stuttgart Germany on September 6, 1943. The story is told through

personal narratives and follows eight Americans and one German. From Hap Arnold, Ira Eaker, several American officers and aircrew, with a contrasting narrative

of Egon Mayer, commander of JG 2.

The author uses the first 80-90 pages to give backgrounds to the primary characters and follows them through the mission. The ones who never went, went and came

back, went and never came back. The narratives are woven with the stories of outright compassion, wary aid, and callousness, at the hands of French

citzens, underground, Germans, Swiss, and Spanish.

Really good read.

Anyway, next time I am at the library I'm going to take a look at Mrazek's- A Dawn Like Thunder: The True Story of Torpedo Squadron Eight

After that I might find Atkinson's An Army at Dawn

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...