What are you currently reading ?

Started by goat major, 03 November 2012, 06:40:05 PM

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Lord Kermit of Birkenhead

The ships are a tad excentric even up to Richelea and Jean Bart...
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fsn

Quote from: steve_holmes_11 on 17 September 2023, 11:25:31 AMSeeking examples of practical engineering, I deliberately avoided the French.
;D  ;D  ;D

Strangely, it's their very impracticality that attracts me.
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steve_holmes_11


QuoteThe ships are a tad excentric even up to Richelea and Jean Bart...
I never had a problem with the "all up front" designs.

See also Rodney and Nelson.

A brave effort to shorten the armoured citadel without cutting back on engine capacity.


Lord Kermit of Birkenhead

Quote from: steve_holmes_11 on 17 September 2023, 01:17:10 PMI never had a problem with the "all up front" designs.

See also Rodney and Nelson.

A brave effort to shorten the armoured citadel without cutting back on engine capacity.



But Rodney and Nelson were cut down by Washington. Quad turrets on the French ships all forard was also a bit odd. Loose 1/2 main armerment to one hit, possily all to a strike between the turrets.
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streetgang

Fighting for Spain by Alexander Clifford about the international brigades of the SCW. It's not bad, Clifford examines the makeup of the brigades in terms of nationality and vocation and affiliation. There's also some description of uniform and equipment and some of the leaders.

This far the actual combat and campaigns are described in general terms. I painted up Italians and plan to paint up international brigade to face them so I was very interested in the Battle of Guadalajara but there wasn't more than a few pages and a general map to explain the actions.

We'll see how the rest of the book goes..
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kipt

Finished "Hood's Defeat Near Fox's Gap: Prelude to Emancipation" by Curtis L. Older.  This is a well researched boutique book to prove/show that Hood's brigade was placed in the wrong place for his counterattack against the IX Corps at South Mountain battle at Fox's gap.  Most if not all other books have Hood on the east side of the gap (Ezra Carmin as a notable example).

However the author, over a period of many years, has studied this battle, and has determined that the attack against those Union troops occurred on the west side of the gap.  Though ground study (along with Ted Ellis from Sharpsburg), official records, old maps, historic deeds and personal narratives from officers and men in the battle, he proves his point.

Many maps herein by the author and Ted Ellis illustrate his "proof".  Well done.

kipt

Finished "UNDAUNTED: My Fight Against America's Enemies, At Home And Abroad" by John O. Brennan, former Director of the CIA.  A different book for me, but it was a present.  Interesting none the less, and it is about his life during his career in the CIA, Ultimately becoming Director during the Obama years.  He retired after that and was always a critic of Trump.

In fact, he, like many others, got into a feud with Trump, who revoked Brennan's security clearance publicly.  This had never been done before to a previous Director, and showed Trump's pettiness.  However, it was never actually taken away. He was, and I assume still is, very disappointed with the Republican party in its support of Trump (as am I).  'Nuff said.

kipt

Finished "The Atlantic battle Won: May 1943-May 1945", volume 10 of Morison's History of the United States Navy in WWII.  So it caused me to read up on the submarine action in GQIII, 'tho I don't have any subs or merchant ships (yet).

Easy to read.

kipt

Finished "The Garde Nationale 1789-1815: France's Forgotten Armed Forces" by Pierre-Baptiste Guillemot.

A detailed history of France's Garde.  They came into being during and for the Revolution; much turmoil and in fighting.  When France was invaded many volunteers came from the Garde, but the Garde was not directly sent to the frontiers (other than garde units in border towns.

Primarily used to keep order in the country, it was made up of citizens from the classes that paid taxes (more conservative which the leaders wanted - they kept out the lower classes).  Paris itself has over 30,000 enrolled by the summer of 1789.

Napoleon did use the Garde to form the higher number of regiments for the field army, and many Garde units helped defend their towns and cities.  After Napoleon's fall, the restoration kept the Garde in being, but replaced many officers with Royalists.

The book has many illustrations of Garde uniforms and goes deeply into its history and experiences.  However, it jumps around the dates depending on the portion described.  I sometimes felt I had already read that piece.  It is a well produced Helion book as part of the From Reason to Revolution 1721-1815 series.

Poggle

Just started in on 'Allenby's Gunners.'

Blurb:

'The book tells the story of artillery in the highly successful World War I Sinai and Palestine campaigns. Following Gallipoli and the reconstitution of the AIF, a shortage of Australian gunners saw British Territorial artillery allotted to the Australian Light Horse and New Zealand Mounted Rifle brigades. It was a relationship that would prove highly successful and Allenby's Gunners provides a detailed and colorful description of the artillery war, cavalry and infantry operations from the first battles of Romani and Rafa, through the tough actions of Gaza, the Palestine desert, Jordan Valley and Amman to the capture of Jerusalem. The story concludes with the superb victory of Megiddo and the taking of Damascus until the theater armistice of 1918.

Smith Covers the trials and triumphs of the gunners as they honed their art in one of the most difficult battlefield environments of the war. The desert proved hostile and unrelenting, testing the gunners, their weapons and their animals in the harsh conditions. The gunners' adversary, the wily and skillful Ottoman artillerymen, endured the same horrendous conditions and proved a tough and courageous foe.'

I feel a new period coming on...  ;)

paulr

Sounds a great read

We can highly recommend If the Lord Spares Us by Too Fat Lardies for the period and of course our host's recently expanded Middle East range :)

Martin1914 and I have several battle reports to tempt you further ;)
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kipt

Finished volume 11 of Morison's History Of United States Naval Operations In World War II, "The Invasion of France and Germany: 1944-1945."

Mainly the US accomplishments during D-Day and the south of France, but he does reference the British, French and others' contributions.

tony of TTT

I recently finished 'Allenby's Gunners'.

It isn't always the easiest read unless you happen to have a fairly detailed map of Palestine to refer to fairly regularly as there seem to be some maps missing. Probably the author intended more and the publisher cut them back.
Another annoying point is the spelling of placenames in the text and on the maps is often different, sometimes dramatically so.
I have read clearer narratives but this isn't bad and he does animate the situations 'enthusiastically'. You can tell the subject interests him from the way he writes but he does tend to drift sideways at times and is obsessed about ammunition expenditure.
What I like particularly is that he describes many artillery actions from the gunners' perspective and gives details of range, deployment and even rate of fire and how he emphasises the importance of the teams and their management - you rarely see that in books.

Definitely worth a read, if only for interest, but does include many things rarely seen in WW1 books concerning guns in action.


kipt

Finished "Wellington's Unsung Heroes: The fifth Division In The Peninsular war, 1810-1814" by Carole Divall.  this is a comprehensive history well done by the author.  Many selections of letters from members of the division as well as official reports.

Good pictures and maps (never enough place names on these in my opinion when they are to illustrate the text).  Casualty figures for the several battles the division was in.

Recommended.

kipt

Finished "Flags Of Our Fathers" by James Bradley with Ron Powers.  This is an absolutely gripping story of those who were in the famous photo of the flag raising at Iwo Jima.  The author is the son of the last flag raiser who died.

Six men (boys) actually were putting up a replacement flag and there happened to be a photographer near by who took the picture.  This photo became famous and was used on the 7th bond tour in the US.  It took a while to identify the 6 in the picture and for years one was misidentified.  3 of the Marines died on the island in the next couple of weeks and three came home.  this book is their story.

The battle scenes are immediate and powerful.  There was no cover for the Marines and the Japanese were dug in underground.  Huge casualties as Naval gunfire could not get to the caves and dugouts, not could air power.

A quote by Stephen Ambrose says "The best battle book I ever read".  I agree.

Highly recommended and I urge you to read this book if at all interested in the Pacific war.