What are you currently reading ?

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

World Walkers, Neal Asher's latest, it's a bit good! 

[kipt]

Finished "Total Germany:The Royal Navy's War Against The Axis Powers 1939-1945" by David Wragg.

Interesting title since the book is about the fight against the entire Axis.  Chapter 12, Disaster and Revenge in the Far East, concentrates on the US Navy.  But all in all, a good look at Britain's WWII experiences.

[kipt]

Finished "USN Submarine VS IJN Antisubmarine Escort: The Pacific, 1941-45" by Mark Stille.

Typical Osprey with pictures and stats.  Does a good job showing how unprepared the Japanese were for ASW.

[kipt]

Finished Vol. 88, No. 2 of "The Journal of Military History".

Articles include:
Treason Refuted: Why Major general Charles Lee's Plan for the British to "Win" the Revolution was an Act of Patriotism,

Local Defense, the British West Indies, and Recruitment in the First World War,

Policing Venereal Disease at Fort Huachuca, 1941-1945,

For a Period of Four Years: The Evolution of Term Lengths for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Also 102 pages of book reviews.

[Chris Pringle]

John Ellis, "Wednesday 25th October 1944: One Day in a Very Long War".

Enjoying this tremendously. I know a lot about WWII but this 'snapshot of a day' approach explored new dimensions for me - deserters and black markets in Brussels, Chinese conscription practices, the battle of Leyte Gulf (I don't usually do boats). Strikes a great balance between the high-level strategic (talking about so many millions of tonnes of shipping lost) and the personal accounts that bring it to life. Highly recommended.

To quote the blurb:
"In a new and exciting approach to history, John Ellis presents a brilliant overview of a truly global battle, focusing on a single day in the fifth year of the Second World War, when the Allied war machine was in top gear but the outcome was far from certain. He describes a world-wide conflict from the viewpoint of those who took part on all fronts in both Allied and Axis forces - field marshal or private; president, prime minister, prisoner-of-war or munitions worker - just as they saw it on 25th October 1944, without foresight, only with clouded and partial hindsight. Among the set-piece actions of the day are the titanic naval battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, Hitler planning an Ardennes offensive which is to lead to the Battle of the Bulge, the eruption of the Red Army into Eastern Europe, a frustated wolf-pack in the Atlantic, the saturation bombing of Essen and Hamburg, V2 rocket attacks on London and high secret Manhattan Project. The war in the rear, where civilian families find themselves in the battle zone, infantry replacements anxiously await their first taste of battle whilst the Communist guerrillas thrive in the Balkans and in China."

https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Day-Very-Long-War/dp/0712674659/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3JPSG65BATCS8&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.KNM87g55cAFfadCgL8kCHul_waYhW0NYlIDL0Mc0oG8.XYJrtGAT9F49Fdr-OnTBRb7Dia9IuRxar60_snPXFg8&dib_tag=se&keywords=ellis+one+day+in+a+very+long+war&qid=1725716594&sprefix=ellis+one+day+in+a+very+long+war%2Caps%2C178&sr=8-1

[kipt]

Finished "British Aircraft Carriers 1945-2010" by Angus Konstam and illustrated by Paul Wright.  A typical Osprey.

A bit late for the period I'm interested in but I didn't realize how many carriers Britain had in WWII. 50 in service and 18 building (38 were escort carriers - 32 of which were US Lend Lease and were returned at the war's end).

[kipt]

Finished "Blood Guts And Grease: George S. Patton Om World War I" by Jon B. Mikolashek.

Patton was a driven person but excelled in what he decided to do. Always looking for action this is the story of his field command of the US tank force in WWI.  He did have a general over him and they often butted heads, but actually General Rockenbach supported Patton and mentored him.  Patton was a good writer (minus his spelling) and also good at giving lectures.  He tried to show the rest of the US Army the value of tanks as many officers had never worked with them.

Good book and short.

[kipt]

Finished "The Illustrated Cavalry versus Infantry: An Evaluation of the Practices of the Armies of the 18th & 19th Centuries from the Perspective of the Early 20th Century" by F.N. Maude.  This is the3 Leonaur reprint, but it was first printed about 1896.

Maude was one of the officers that believed cavalry still had a place for battle.  His writing is to show how the English horse could take some lessons from the German, although he says Englishmen are better soldiers than the peace loving Germans (no surprise there).  He talks about national proclivities, which might be where wargamers in the past got into the habit of assigning national characteristics.

Some good writings by German generals from the time of Seydlitz to Von der Marwitz.  Discussions about Frederick the Great's thoughts on cavalry, through the Napoleonic wars, into the FPW.  The actual illustrations don;t really help the narrative in my mind.  No tactics are shown, just different cavalry figures.

Not as good as I had hoped.

[Raider4]

... the peace loving Germans... 

The what now? 

[kipt]

I should have put that in quotes - what Maude said.

[kipt]

Finished "Red-Tape And Pigeon-Hole Generals: Andrew A. Humphreys in the Army of the Potomac", commentary by Frederick B. Arner.  The book was written in 1864 by LTC William H. Armstrong of the 129th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.

In it Armstrong wrote of the 210th PA Volunteers, disguising his own regiment.  The characters in the narrative had nick names, such as "the Pigeon Hole General" (actually Humphreys) and other staff officers.  The main theme is that Humphreys was a Regular officer, commissioned in the Topographic Corps as an engineer.  He knew a great deal about engineering but had a hard time dealing with the volunteers.

Because of the caustic comments and various stories, Armstrong skirted a libel suit, but that never came about.  In the history of A.A. Humphreys during the war the general comes off well according to most historians, but according to the book it was because of his troops.  The general was also a drinker and jealous of his rank.  Many courts martial occurred due to Humphreys sticking to the army regulations to the nth degree.  Both the COL and LTC (the author) were court-martialed, cashiered but reinstated by Secretary Stanton.

His division arrived at Antietam but was held in reserve, fought at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, after which most of the volunteer troops mustered out as their time was up. The author wrote the book after discharge.

For many years the book was considered a novel, authored by someone else.  It does read as a novel, with interesting conversations from the ranks.  Well done.