What are you currently reading ?

[Hertsblue]

Just finished 'Persian Fire'. Excellent work on the Persian
Invasions of Greece by Darius and Xerxes and the
Historical background to the rise of Persia.

Chad

Ps. Weather here in Crete great

Look out for Rubicon, also by Tom Holland, about the fall of the Roman republic. Also excellent.

[nikharwood]

Working my way through my D&D Eberron stuff - which I got out with a view to selling it...and then rediscovered that it's superb - which is why I bought it in the first place!

[Fenton]

Just finished listening to Hart of Empire by Saul David, all good boys own stuff, with  more heroic deeds that won an Empire

Currently reading the place of dead lings by Geoffrey Wilson the follow up to Land of Hope and Glory which is about an England rules by an Indian Empire..all good fun

http://www.geoffreywilson.net/books.php

All of which is giving me some ideas for doing something different

[Techno]

Phil - wait a while, Osprey are "kindeling" most of there stuff, and they also seem to be doing a Print on Demand for older titles.
IanS

Many thanks to you too Ian.
Worth checking out too !
(Though being a 'Techno'phobe, I haven't got around to investing in any sort of electronic 'reader' yet.)

Have ordered a couple of Steve's recommendations....that are apparently 'as good as new'....but only half the price.
Cheers - Phil

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Read Vietnam Firebases 1965-1973 by Randy Foster published by osprey.
Not the easiest of reads but very detailed.
Even included a few jokes about Firebase names...

[Leman]

A back issue of Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy. Since it went Dutch this has become my favourite wargames mag. The content is consistently interesting, mixed (despite having a theme element each issue), and high quality. Reading an article on the 1642 siege of Portsmouth. It also had a couple of good articles on the Dark Ages and some very good modelling and painting tips. The reviews of new stuff are also plentiful, especially when figure comparisons are made.

[GrumpyOldMan]

Hi

Just getting through Yangtze Patrol: US Navy in China http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/1557508836, good book with lots of Info and background to the history and period, necessarily skewed to the US viewpoint.

Cheers

GrumpyOldMan

[fsn]

I've just abandoned reading a SF book by an author who will remain namesless. Think he's writtens dozens in the particular universe, so there are probably a lot of assumptions I'm not getting.

Anyway, the reason I put it away was a mere slip of the keyboard, a tiny lapse in concentration. This universe is inhabited by giant crustaceans who are some 5 tons in weight who are not averse to feeding on humans or indeed a little casual cannibalism. This particular one is infected with a virus that gives him longevity, but he keeps needing to replace parts of himself. He does this by breeding with himself then chaining up his children to grow them for spare parts. All this is fine.

The scene that made me give up was when this evil giant crustacean was wandering through his dungeon of spare part children. Each was described as having one part or another of his anatyomy trained to be in prime condition for replacement surgery. The father was concerned about his legs which were turning custard yellow.

Custard yellow? Custard yellow? This giant crab is concerned about custard? How does it even know about custard? There is no mention of custard anywhere else: no orgy of custard consumption; no dunking of crabstick into a convenient bowl of creme anglais; no "leave the hu-man here until the latest batch of Bird's ready mix has arrived." The whole tension of the scene evaporated and these giant menances were reduced to multi-legged Telly Tubbies.

Pah!

[Techno]

'Armies of the Napoleonic wars' (edited by G Fremont-Barnes)
Got to concentrate on this one, as it's a library book.....But I've also started Decisive battles of the Western World....Volume 2.

While pushing putty about, I've just listened to...... "Library of the dead"......Hidden conspiracy plot....A load of old tosh, but quite fun.....And "The Diamond Frontier"..Set in the Transvaal in 1880....Not too bad.

Got a bit bored with listening to books while I'm working, just for now....So going through some of my favourite old rock albums instead.
Cheers - Phil.

[ryman1]

Ordered in another batch of books last week to add to my zulu war collection, of the bunch I've started on 'Anatomy of the zulu army' by Ian Knight.

Was excited when so many dropped through the door but the enthusiasm is slowly turning to dread at the thought of having to concentrate.
The rest of the order was.......

Great zulu commanders - Knight
Nothing remains but to fight - Knight
Shaka zulu - E.A.Ritter
Dingane, Rule of fear - Peter Becker
Kingdom in crisis - John Laband
The rise & fall of the zulu nation - Laband
Illustrated guide to the zulu war - Laband/Thompson
The zulu of south africa - Kisa Sasaki

Much to be going on with 

Ry

[Ithoriel]

"Sword and Scimitar" - another excellent read by Simon Scarrow

Must ... resist ... temptation .... to ... buy ... ANOTHER ... pile... of... lead!!!

[Hertsblue]

Just started The Challenge by Andrew Lambert. A new account of the British - American War of 1812-14, and in particular the naval war, that debunks most of the hoary old myths and propaganda spread about by the losers (i.e the Americans). Detailed accounts of all the ship-to-ship actions of the war reveal exactly why each combat ended as it did. The author goes out of his way to be fair to the men on both sides and the result is a highly readable book.     

[Luddite]

Halfway through the Dying Earth series, but i diverted this week and read 'Deadwardians'; a graphic novel by the prolific and marvellous Dan Abnett.

Absolutely cracking stuff.

Great read i'd highly recommend.

[Leman]

Marius' Mules I - good fun and cheap as chips on Kindle.

[Rob]

'Armies of the Napoleonic wars' (edited by G Fremont-Barnes)
Got to concentrate on this one, as it's a library book.....But I've also started Decisive battles of the Western World....Volume 2.

Treat this one with care Phil. There are some mistakes in the French chapter. The most irritating one for me was the statement that the carabiniers were armoured with a breast plate up to and including 1809.

The chapter on the Confederation-of-the-Rhine is the best one in my opinion.


Not sure if you are still interested in a book to put wars/troops into chronological order, but I think I have the perfect book for you. I had a copy when I was 11 years old and it is the book that made me determined to become a wargamer. Its a bit tatty now but still on my bookshelf. The narrative works through the history of warfare from the stone age to the sixties. Not only does it give you the history it is filled with beautiful illustrations and battle maps.  And you can pick up second hand copies for next to nothing.


"A History of Warfare" Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
http://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Warfare-Field-Marshal-Viscount-Montgomery/dp/0688016456

Don't get the concise version because it's half the size. Get the full version for the illustrations.


Cheers, Rob