What are you currently reading ?

[kipt]

Finished "the World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and The Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin, along with Elio Garcia and Linda Antonsson.  It is as it says a precursor to The Game Of Thrones.  A long, oversized book with many illustrations (324 pages).  It has the lineages of the Targaryens, the Starks and the Lannisters.

Hard to keep the various kings, princes, lords and knights straight.   But interesting for the history of wars, battles and heritages.

[Leman]

I imagine the above would be ideal for those who like their fantasy battles to have a Medieval slant.

[bigjackmac]

Panzer Aces, but it's not helping my wargaming prowess...

V/R,
Jack

[lentulus]

The Orenda - Huron vs Iroquois in 17th century New France.  Brutal stuff, really captures the how alien 17th century Europeans are just as much as 17th Century 1st nations.

[Matt J]

Just finished Boys of '67 about Vietnam riverine actions from the view of one company. Hard read in places (due to the graphic nature) but compelling stuff.

[paulr]

Just finished Boys of '67 about Vietnam riverine actions from the view of one company. Hard read in places (due to the graphic nature) but compelling stuff.

I know almost nothing about this part of the Vietnam War and have noticed a few expressing interest of late. Did the VC and/or the North have riverine forces and were there battles between riverine forces? Or was it more a case of the US and South using riverine forces to disrupt supply routes and project power?

[Matt J]

I know almost nothing about this part of the Vietnam War and have noticed a few expressing interest of late. Did the VC and/or the North have riverine forces and were there battles between riverine forces? Or was it more a case of the US and South using riverine forces to disrupt supply routes and project power?

I'm only just getting into the history myself but it is more the latter. Charlie were basically hiding out in the Mekong delta and using it as a staging area for infiltration into the South. The US used the river to basically go in on seek and destroy missions as the terrain wasn't suitable for vehicles. It was an awful job for the young conscripts - snipers, booby traps and incidents were whole platoons pretty much wiped out in ambushes. Lots of young men dying for no good reason 
The book is well worth a look if you're interested in this period as its all based on interviews with vets.

[Leman]

Now reading the Valley Campaign (abridged title), jointly written by Holdfast. Very informative and an interesting view on the legend of T J Jackson.

[Hertsblue]

Just finished Hunter Killers by Iain Ballantyne, a potted history of Royal Navy nuclear submarines. Fascinating details of Cold War shenanigans in the Barents Sea and the North Atlantic. You wouldn't think it possible for two submarines to collide, given the huge expanses of water they operated in, but there were several Soviet/British and Soviet/US comings together over the course of thirty years cat-and-mouse adventures at sea.   

[cameronian]

Now reading the Valley Campaign (abridged title), jointly written by Holdfast. Very informative and an interesting view on the legend of T J Jackson.

Perhaps we could invite Holdfast to post something concerning his views on Jackson. I think (and I may be wrong) that I heard him criticise Henderson once for promulgating views that were unduly complementary of Jackson.

[Leman]

He most certainly does in the introduction and furthermore states that Henderson's book was still on the Sandhurst reading list in the 1970s.

[holdfast]

My point on Henderson is, briefly put, that he wrote 2 books on the FPW and 2 on the ACW. Of these, the 2 on the FPW are really detailed and offer plenty of detail, but are a bit dry. The two on the ACW are a volume on Fredericksburg which is short but solid and the two volume Stonewall Jackson, which is based on a lot of correspondence during the 1880s with those who worked for Jackson. It is extremely forgiving of Jackson, not a bit dry, and became the set text for the British Staff College in the 1890s.
Whenever something goes wrong for the Confederacy it is the fault of the staff officers according to Henderson. Whenever something goes right it is because of Jackson's brilliance, which it is sometimes, but it is also sometimes because of mistakes that the other side makes, unbeknown to Jackson, or the meddling of the Union War Department (read Lincoln) in Washington.
The book was seized on by the British Army as portraying the ability of barely trained enthusiastic Southern gentry (read Brits) to defeat more numerous but duller and plodding Yankees (read French or German or Austrian), and it influenced the debate about whether conscription might be needed for the Brits in the early 1900s.
As we know the effect of not having conscription was to have an army that was too small for Continental warfare in 1914, with unfortunate consequences.
I was astonished to find the Campaign was one of about 6 that were needed to be studied for the captain to major promotion exam up until 1974 (the other 5 were more recent).
Enough of this, Cameronian, you are perfectly able to afford your own copy. Tell your PA to rush out and buy yourself a copy with some of the vast wealth that you have amassed from performing open heart surgery on goldfish.

[cameronian]

'Vast wealth' LOL, you are a card, and thank you for the short, informative disquisition.

[holdfast]

A pleasure, though I have not the foggiest idea what a disquisition might be, even though I may have produced one.

[Techno]

First person that mentions 'the Spanish disquisition' gets their coat hurled at them.
Cheers - Phil