ChesshireCat Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 (edited) Just found a book that I've forgotten I've owned. "Notes Of A Russian Sniper" by Vassilli Zaitsev! Needless to say this book has moved to the top of the list. The forward in the book is written by Vasily Chuikov, Marshal Of The Soviet Union. Like Christmas in June!! Gary Edited June 17, 2016 by ChesshireCat Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted October 19, 2016 Share Posted October 19, 2016 (edited) Just wrapped up Ian Tolls The Conquering Tide, the 2nd book of his trilogy on the Pacific War. Great read, this guy does for the Pacific what Army at Dawn and the other two in that series did for the ETO. Highly recommended, gets into detail from a strategic and grunt's eye view of the war, both from the US and Japanese perspectives. Also just read After Yorktown, The Final Struggle for American Independence by Don Glickstien. Really good book about a subject I knew very little about. Details the fighting that continued for two years after the Brits surrendered at Yorktown, both in the US (which was especially bloody, some of the fighting puts ISIS to shame) and also as widespread as the Caribbean, Mediterranean and India. Edited October 19, 2016 by 11bee Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TaiidanTomcat Posted October 19, 2016 Share Posted October 19, 2016 (edited) 1 hour ago, 11bee said: Just wrapped up Ian Tolls The Conquering Tide, the 2nd book of his trilogy on the Pacific War. Great read, this guy does for the Pacific what Army at Dawn and the other two in that series did for the ETO. Highly recommended, gets into detail from a strategic and grunt's eye view of the war, both from the US and Japanese perspectives. Also just read After Yorktown, The Final Struggle for American Independence by Don Glickstien. Really good book about a subject I knew very little about. Details the fighting that continued for two years after the Brits surrendered at Yorktown, both in the US (which was especially bloody, some of the fighting puts ISIS to shame) and also as widespread as the Caribbean, Mediterranean and India. I read Army at Dawn, I like Rick Atkinson (highly recommend Crusade by the same author) I am skipping around in and enjoying Touched by Fire by Eric Bergerund, enjoying the hell out of it, he also wrote Fire in the sky, which I read and loved and why I picked this up. Actually examines the cultural impacts and economical constraints along with tons of other details about the combatants in the pacific. For example we all know about the lack of armor and sealing fuel tanks in the zero, but he outlines the other faults in it as well, along with interesting tidbits like how the test pilots were crucial in the selection process, and they wanted light and fast, so they got light and fast --no matter the cost in other areas. The zero's engine was basically picked first, then the aircraft built around it, and it was constructed lightly to save on materials as well. Just really cool perspectives mixed with first hand accounts. Both of those books go into detail about how the Japanese blew it. Which is a subject I find endlessly fascinating for some reason. Right now I am muddling through the 3rd book of Dune which according to my device is telling me I still have 3.5 hours left to go... Edited October 19, 2016 by TaiidanTomcat Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo Posted October 19, 2016 Share Posted October 19, 2016 'No Shortage of Good Days' by John Gierach. A fly-fishing book. I'm enjoying it so much I just ordered 3 more of his books. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 On 10/18/2016 at 9:58 PM, 11bee said: Just wrapped up Ian Tolls The Conquering Tide, the 2nd book of his trilogy on the Pacific War. Great read, this guy does for the Pacific what Army at Dawn and the other two in that series did for the ETO. Highly recommended, gets into detail from a strategic and grunt's eye view of the war, both from the US and Japanese perspectives. For some reason, I started with the 2nd book of the trilogy, am now reading book #1, Pacific Crucible, which covers pre-war through the battle of Midway. Just as good as the 2nd book, what I find particularly fascinating is the insight it gives on how Japan, in the space of only a decade or so, went from a relatively open, west-leaning nation to one dominated by right-wing militarists. Also like the background it provides on the key personalities, especially FDR, Churchill, Yamamoto, King and Nimitz. Some fascinating characters. Looking forward to the final book in the trilogy, hopefully it will be out soon. Also re-reading some of Eric Brown's Wings of the Luftwaffe. Another must-have book for anyone into WW2 aviation. I've got his Wings of the Navy on my X-mas list. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Slartibartfast Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 (edited) Since my last post, I've read Luftwaffe Eagle (Walter Shuck's autobiography) Supermarine Spitfire, Mk VI to Mk IX and Mk XVI Aces of the 325th Fighter Group To Boldly Go (rare photos from season 1 of Star Trek TOS) Air Force Legends #201: Martin B-51 Air Force Legends #203: North American F-107A Air Force Legends #207: North American Sabre Dog Air Force Legends #212: North American F-86H "Hog" Air Force Legends #218: Lockheed F-94 Starfire B-58 Hustler in action F-8 Crusader vs MiG-17 F-84 Thunderjet in action F-84 Thunderjet in detail Flying Wings (visual history of the XB-35 and YB-49) Hawker Hurricane and Sea Hurricane Messerschmitt Bf 109 Early Series (V1 to E-9 including the T-Series) Naval Fighters 6: Chance Vought F-7U Cutlass Naval Fighters 58: QF-86E/F/H Sabre Naval Fighters 98: Douglas AD/A-1 Skyraider Part One Naval Fighters 102: Grumman S2F/S-2 Tracker & WF-2 Tracer The Peripheral by William Gibson zero history by William Gibson Walk Around F-89 Scorpion Before Topgun Days by "Bio" Baranek Topgun Days by "Bio" Baranek Fixin' to read Naval Fighters 58: QF-86E/F/H Sabre Naval Fighters 68: Grumman F9F-8T/TF-9J Two-seat Cougars Edited November 27, 2016 by Slartibartfast Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted August 20, 2017 Share Posted August 20, 2017 Have no idea if this is the current book thread, ARC's search function sucks. Anyway, just wrapped up "Valiant Ambition" by Nathaniel Philbrick (one of my favorite authors), the story of Benedict Arnold. A nice read, much more to the guy than I realized. Only downside to the book is that it just suddenly ends after (SPOILER ALERT) Arnold's scheme to hand over West Point to the Brits is foiled. Nothing else about how things played out for Arnold afterwards. Other than that, a pretty good book. I'm been reading a great deal on the revolutionary war lately, quite the fascinating subject. Also, just started "Hue 1968" by Mark Bowden (the "Blackhawk Down" author). So far a really interesting read. Got the urge to read up on this battle after watching Full Metal Jacket for the first time in many years. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChesshireCat Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 On 10/19/2016 at 0:35 AM, Thommo said: 'No Shortage of Good Days' by John Gierach. A fly-fishing book. I'm enjoying it so much I just ordered 3 more of his books. Sex, Death, & Fly Fishing was the first of his books I read. All are good reads! gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChesshireCat Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 getting ready to start Elite Panzer Strike Force by Franz Kurowski, and Hitler's Ardennes Offensive by Danny Oliver (the German view of The Battle Of The Bulge). gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jbryan911 Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 Finished this one a short time ago. It's provided inspiration for at least four different builds. https://smile.amazon.com/Vietnam-Air-War-First-Person-ebook/dp/B01M2BJNF2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1503265338&sr=1-1&keywords=the+vietnam+air+war+first+person Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 Just finished "Tiger Tracks" by Wolfgang Faust: Controversial read as many consider it a complete work of fiction while others defend it as a memoir written under a pseudonym. Regardless I couldn't put it down and found it an absolutely fascinating read about the brutal tank warfare on the Eastern Front (the descriptions are not for the weak of stomach). I enjoyed the book so much that I bought this companion book... Faust is now the TC of a Panther and this book is so far equally fascinating. Regards, Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted August 23, 2017 Share Posted August 23, 2017 (edited) All of my reading lately has been books recommend by this thread. Just finished Masters of the Air; an outstanding read. Also Thud Ridge and Going Downtown earlier. As others have noted, all are highly recommended! Edited August 23, 2017 by dnl42 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Posted August 23, 2017 Share Posted August 23, 2017 52 minutes ago, dnl42 said: All of my reading lately has been books recommend by this thread. Just finished Masters of the Air; an outstanding read. Also Thud Ridge and Going Downtown earlier. As others have noted, all are highly recommended! If you enjoyed those books then try and find a copy of this book: Awesome, in the cockpit type read from the late Lt. Col Basel. Highly recommended. Regards, Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChesshireCat Posted August 23, 2017 Share Posted August 23, 2017 3 hours ago, Don said: If you enjoyed those books then try and find a copy of this book: Awesome, in the cockpit type read from the late Lt. Col Basel. Highly recommended. Regards, Don could you take a couple minutes and publish the ISBN number? Robin Olds Fighter Pilot also ties in with the books you spoke of. gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Posted August 23, 2017 Share Posted August 23, 2017 Gary, here is the ISBN# for G.I. Basel's book "Pak Six": ISNB 0515090050 I'd bet Amazon has copies if you need a starting place. Hope this helps. Regards, Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Posted September 9, 2017 Share Posted September 9, 2017 (edited) Just finished reading this book: What a great read! I learned a great deal about Marseille, things I had never heard or read before. As I was reading I couldn't help but see the parallels between him and RCAF fighter pilot George "Buzz" Beurling. The two "lone wolfs" would have made for interesting squadron mates. Anyways, highly recommended. Regards, Don Edited September 9, 2017 by Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Whiskey Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 On 8/23/2017 at 10:40 AM, Don said: If you enjoyed those books then try and find a copy of this book: Awesome, in the cockpit type read from the late Lt. Col Basel. Highly recommended. Regards, Don Ken Bell's "100 Missions North" is right there as well. "Pak Six" was the very first book I ever read on the air war in Vietnam, I think I was maybe 11 or 12. Still have the same copy of it on my bookshelf. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChesshireCat Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 Here's an interesting book for you all. Hitler's Spy Plane Over Normandy 1944 by Philippe Bauduin. ISBN # 978 1 47382 339 6. Packed full of photos and details of the airframe. Yet the real gist of the book is the recon photos included in the book. I can highly recommend this book to any WWII buff! gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bashace Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 Just finished Dan Hamptons "Viper Pilot", had to order a 1/48 F-16CJ thanks to the inspirational read, and I'm not a big fan of the F-16! I just started his "The Hunter Killers" book, so far it's a good read! V/r Ron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChesshireCat Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 well I had to go to something very off beat to clean out my head. Just about finished reading Gerry House's book "Country Music Broke My Brain." Book is a fun read, and at times sorta sad. Yet it tells us what really goes on in Nashville's music scene. Next fun read will be Bob Hope's book about his USO shows. I've read it before, and want to read it yet another time. gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 3 hours ago, ChesshireCat said: Next fun read will be Bob Hope's book about his USO shows. I've read it before, and want to read it yet another time. Which book is that? I see a couple of possibilities, including Don't Shoot It's Only Me and I Never Left Home. Hm, maybe both? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 Reading Robert Service’s The End Of The Cold War. A but dry but a fascinating book regardless. Got even more respect for Reagan, despite being labeled as an Uber-hawk, he was driven to remove nuclear weapons. Really surprised to read about how bad the USSR was off, even in the mid-80’s when it was supposedly at the height of it’s power. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChesshireCat Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 3 hours ago, dnl42 said: Which book is that? I see a couple of possibilities, including Don't Shoot It's Only Me and I Never Left Home. Hm, maybe both? Don't Shoot, It's only Me is the one. Good read. Think I've read the other book as well. The U Tube videos of his USO shows are a must see. gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Not a book but been spending a lot of time on this site, reading some really interesting articles about flying vintage aircraft, including this one on what it's like to fly an F-104. Worth grabbing a cup of coffee or two and checking it out. http://vintageaviationecho.com/starfighter-test-flight/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pauly boy Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 Just ordered "Dutch Naval Air force against Japan". I'm very interested in the early Pacific campaigns. Been looking at it for a while so hope it's as good as what I anticipate! Will let you know! Cheers Paul Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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