What are you reading?

[Britchot]

I’ll need to look at this one, the one from Rall was very insightful. 

[Ludwig]

The book I just finished on Walter Schuck may well be the single best I have ever come across. He obviously kept a very detailed journal and really had a lot to say. 

Just started this one today

 

 

[Ludwig]

Moved on to the next one:

 

 

[Ludwig]

Next up after the Fw-190 which btw... I never liked the reference "Butcher Bird" as it was used. No, it was not called that it was called a "Shrike" as many German aircraft were named after birds... .Storch, Condor, etc.... the 190 was named Shrike which IS called "butcher bird" so it came to that name second hand. 

Anyway...  The "F" model 109 is a machine and it owned the Spitfire Mk V. 

 

 

 

[Britchot]

10 hours ago, Ludwig said:

Anyway...  The "F" model 109 is a machine and it owned the Spitfire Mk V. 

My favorite model of my favorite aircraft of all time (the F-4 specifically).  I need to get up to Ottawa to see it in the museum. 

[Snaggle]

The sixth instalment in the eleven-part Horatio Hornblower series, A Ship of the Line sees the return of 39-year-old Captain Hornblower as he embarks upon a new adventure on the Catalonian coast.

Having successfully defeated the Natividad Ship in battle, Horatio is awarded command of HMS Sutherland. Estimated to be the 'the ugliest and least desirable two-decker in the Navy List,' Hornblower's first ship of the line is far from becoming the vessel of his dreams, and being 250 men short of a full crew, the captain is forced to enlist and train a rabble of 'poachers, bigamists and sheep stealers.'

Seventeen years into the Napoleonic wars, Hornblower cannot afford to pause or make mistakes and the pressure soon mounts as the French approach the Catalonian shores.

Winner of the 1938 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction, A Ship of the Line delivers an action-packed seafaring adventure as one of the nation's favourite captains takes the lead once again.

Hugely celebrated for his Napoleonic naval warfare series, and later for the publication of The African Queen, C. S. Forester came to writing much later than expected. Having originally studied medicine at Guy's Hospital, Forester first developed a love of story-telling after being inspired by his travels with the Royal Navy.

Sadly stricken with arteriosclerosis whilst voyaging to the Bering Sea, C.S. Forester was crippled in his later life, but his imagination and his skill with a pen survived for years to come.

[Vonrd]

Very well researched for a fictional book. The writing is a bit stilted in a British fashion... way too many "mind you's" and the obligatory love interests but it made me do some more research about early airships, seaplanes, the Med in WW1 and also an interesting note about why the Camel behaved the way it did... something about early pilots being trained to always lead the turn with rudder and how that affects gyroscopic precession. I think it makes *some* sense but not the whole picture.

https://www.amazon.com/assemble-engine-again-Larry-Jeram-Croft-ebook/dp/B0CZJWPCF2

[Snaggle]

Based on Vonrd recommendation, first 30 minutes getting immunizations in both arms via those damn air guns, and yes they hurt like hell. I preferred needles!!!

Publisher's summary

American troops are in contact....

The UH-1H helicopter swoops in to bail them out....

Tracer fire everywhere, the windshield shatters, the door gunners returning fire....

Will Colonel Cory’s helicopter be able to rescue the pinned down soldiers?

Undaunted Valor is the firsthand account of helicopter pilot, Colonel Dan Cory as he flies combat missions in the jungles of Vietnam. From dodging enemy ground fire and RPGs, to constant mortar and rocket attacks on his base, Colonel Cory stared down the enemy to bring his fellow soldiers’ home.

Join Colonel Cory as he recounts some of the most intense helicopter and ground combat of the Vietnam War from the eyes of a man who spent two combat tours there. From being shot down by enemy fire, to leading his air crew to repel an enemy assault, Colonel Cory’s firsthand accounts of the Vietnam War are awe-inspiring. Awarded the Silver Star, and two Bronze Stars for Valor, Cory’s hair-raising accounts of what it was like to fly over the uungles of Vietnam will make you feel as if you are right there with him.

©2019 Gary J. Bridges (P)2021 Gary J. Bridges

[Snaggle]

The Austro-Prussian War

The History and Legacy of the Conflict That Resulted in Prussian Dominance over Germany

Publisher's summary

The most famous battle of the 19th century was undoubtedly Waterloo, and the biggest battle of the Napoleonic Wars was Leipzig, but neither one of those legendary battles was the biggest of the century. That distinction instead belongs to the Battle of Königgrätz, a little known, but decisive conflict in a war between Prussia and Austria. Though it lasted only seven weeks and only had one truly decisive battle, the Austro-Prussian War nonetheless changed the political outlook in Europe forever.

Locked in a balance of power since the 1815 Congress of Vienna, the world was dominated by the great European powers of Britain, France, Russia, and Austria, and at the Congress of Vienna itself, Prussia had been a minor concern. Though the Prussians had come through in time to assist the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo, they were nevertheless taken for granted at the conference, with the major powers instead preferring to deal with the more historically powerful Austrian Hapsburgs. In his scathing commentary on Prussian culture, When Blood is Their Argument, Ford Maddox Ford attempted to explain the sudden rise of Prussian political and economic status from 1849-1880, writing, “She [Prussia] had pushed herself from being a bad second in the comity of Germanism into a position of equality with, if not of predominance over, Austria, amongst the German peoples.”

Prussian leaders, especially Otto von Bismarck, the chancellor and advisor to Prussia’s king, believed Prussia could be a united and respected power, but only without the traditional Austrian dominance. At the time, the Austrian empire was a collection of ethnically diverse peoples and had been dominated by a socio-political conservatism that sought to keep the empire ruled in Hapsburg tradition.

Though Prussia’s leadership had its share of liberals and socialists to keep at bay, Prussia’s relatively shorter history meant it was capable of change, and while Prussia’s more ethnically unified population and its use of the Zollverein to exclude Austria from economic competition certainly played a role in the Prussians’ victory, it took a seven-week military campaign to seal Austria’s fate.

Due to its short duration and the fact the war pit longstanding allies against one another, the war has alternately been known as the Seven Weeks’ War and the Brothers War, but in the end, the Austro-Prussian War severely reduced Austria’s status as a Germanic power and added territories to Prussia, resulting in a growth of population from 19 million to almost 24 million.

The Austro-Prussian War: The History and Legacy of the Conflict That Resulted in Prussian Dominance over Germany looks at the short but momentous conflict and its geopolitical ramifications. You will learn about the Austro-Prussian War like never before.

©2018 Charles River Editors (P)2018 Charles River Editors

[Etzel]

Very accurate summary! 

[Snaggle]

Publisher's summary

Travel through a pivotal time in American history.

Jeff Shaara, America's premier Civil War novelist, gives a remarkable guided tour of the 10 Civil War battlefields every American should visit: Shiloh, Antietam, Fredericksburg/Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, New Market, Chickamauga, the Wilderness/Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg/Appomattox. Shaara explores the history, the people, and the places that capture the true meaning and magnitude of the conflict and provides:

 

• Engaging narratives of the war's crucial battles
• Intriguing historical footnotes about each site
• Photographs of the locations - then and now
• Detailed maps of the battle scenes
• Fascinating sidebars with related points of interest

From Antietam to Gettysburg to Vicksburg, and to the many poignant destinations in between, Jeff Shaara's Civil War Battlefields is the ideal guide for casual tourists and Civil War enthusiasts alike.

[Snaggle]

Publisher's summary

In this indispensable volume, one of America's ranking scholars combines a life's work of research and teaching with the art of lively narration. Both authoritative and beautifully told, The Middle Ages is the full story of the thousand years between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance - a time that saw the rise of kings and emperors, the flowering of knighthood, the development of Europe, the increasing power of the Catholic Church, and the advent of the middle class.

[Pfeil]

I started with this book

https://amzn.eu/d/3phAkYh

This is probably not a book for everyone but its very special to me as it tells the history of a part of my family.

The autor George Bearfield is my second cousin so his grandfather Jaroslav Bublik this book is about is my great uncle.

Jaroslav escaped from a work camp in Germany and joined the French foreign legion ,fought in battle of France together with cousin Jozef.

After the defeat of France he escaped to England and joined the Czechoslovak intelligence agency in London.

His and my grandmothers cousin Jozes Bublik vas killed in the famous Church of Cyril and Method together with Jozef Gabcik and Jan Kubis that killed Heydrich. He was part of operation Bioscope.

More in the book if you decide to read it.

 

 

 

 

[Snaggle]

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER •

The extraordinary story of the World War II air, land, and sea campaign that brought the U.S. Navy to the apex of its strength and marked the rise of the United States as a global superpower

Winner, Commodore John Barry Book Award, Navy League of the United States • Winner, John Lehman Distinguished Naval Historian Award, Naval Order of the United States

With its thunderous assault on the Mariana Islands in June 1944, the United States crossed the threshold of total war. In this tour de force of dramatic storytelling, distilled from extensive research in newly discovered primary sources, James D. Hornfischer brings to life the campaign that was the fulcrum of the drive to compel Tokyo to surrender—and that forever changed the art of modern war.

With a close focus on high commanders, front-line combatants, and ordinary people, American and Japanese alike, Hornfischer tells the story of the climactic end of the Pacific War as has never been done before. Here are the epic seaborne invasions of Saipan, Tinian, and Guam, the stunning aerial battles of the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, the first large-scale use of Navy underwater demolition teams, the largest banzai attack of the war, and the daring combat operations large and small that made possible the strategic bombing offensive culminating in the atomic strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From the seas of the Central Pacific to the shores of Japan itself, The Fleet at Flood Tide is a stirring, authoritative, and cinematic portrayal of World War II’s world-changing finale.

Illustrated with original maps and more than 120 dramatic photographs

[Snaggle]

Publisher's summary

Exclusively from Audible

In the eighth instalment of C.S Forester's naval series, Horatio Hornblower finds himself down on his luck. Having been forced to surrender his ship to the French, following a long and bloody battle, he is imprisoned by his enemies and threatened with the prospect of being tried by French courts and executed if found guilty.

Knowing that he will also likely come up against a court martial in England for having lost command and possession of The Sutherland, Horatio's future is bleak and uncertain.

As his wife, Maria, struggles to deliver a healthy baby and the thought of his mistress, Lady Barbara, taunts him in his jail cell, Hornblower realises that he must do whatever it takes to prevent the impending doom heading his way and ensure that neither lady is left to fend for herself.

Hugely celebrated for his Napoleonic warfare series, and later for the publication of The African Queen, C. S. Forester came to writing much later than expected. Having originally studied medicine at Guy's Hospital, Forester first developed a love of story-telling after being inspired by his travels with the Royal Navy.

Sadly stricken with arteriosclerosis whilst voyaging to the Bering Sea, C.S. Forester was crippled in his later life, but his imagination and his skill with a pen survived for years to come.

Narrator Biography

Christian Rodska is an English television and voice actor best known for his role in the 1970s series Follyfoot.

From the The Monuments Men and The Eagle of the Ninth to The Likely Lads, Z Cars, The Tomorrow People, Coronation Street, Bergerac and Casualty, his extensive and diverse acting career has led him to become a highly solicited radio and audiobook narrator.

He has now voiced over 150 unabridged audiobooks including Winston Churchill's biographies, Evelyn Waugh's Men at Arms and Sebastian Faulks' A Possible Life. He has been praised for his ability to vary in vocal pace and style and as such, Christian boasts 12 Earphone Awards from Audiofile Magazine.

 

Please note: this is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.

[Snaggle]

• Six Frigates

• By: Ian W. Toll
• Narrated by: Stephen Lang

Publisher's summary

Before the ink was dry on the U.S. Constitution, the establishment of a permanent military had become the most divisive issue facing the new government. Would a standing army be the thin end of dictatorship? Would a navy protect American commerce against the Mediterranean pirates, or drain the treasury and provoke hostilities with the great powers? The founders, particularly Jefferson, Madison, and Adams, debated these questions fiercely and switched sides more than once. How much of a navy would suffice? Britain alone had hundreds of powerful warships.

From the decision to build six heavy frigates, through the cliffhanger campaign against Tripoli, to the war that shook the world in 1812, Ian W. Toll tells this grand tale with the political insight of Founding Brothers and a narrative flair worthy of Patrick O'Brian. According to Henry Adams, the 1812 encounter between the USS Constitution and HMS Guerriere "raised the United States in one half hour to the rank of a first class power in the world."

©2006 Ian W. Toll (P)2006 Simon and Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.

[Maushake]

Since today's the 80th anniversary of the battle of Verrières Ridge (see my separate post today in this forum), I'll recommend this one:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43801584-seven-days-in-hell

[Snaggle]

Finished this this is a MUST read. He doesn't sugar coat anything. By far the best first hand account of the Civil War I have read!!

Publisher's summary

One of the most important and objective firsthand accounts of the Civil War

Unlike some other Confederate memoirists, General Edward Porter Alexander objectively evaluated and criticized prominent Confederate officers, including Robert E. Lee. The result is a clear-eyed assessment of the bloody conflict that divided but subsequently united the nation.

The memoir starts with Alexander heading to Utah to suppress the hostility of Mormons who had refused to establish a municipal government approved by President Buchanan. Only a few years later, Alexander found himself on the opposite side of a much larger rebellion of Confederates wanting to secede from the Union. In the years that follow, he is involved in most major battles including Manassas, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Chickamauga.

Alexander describes each battle and battlefield with a keen eye for detail. Few wartime narratives offer such insight and critical perspective as Alexander’s memoir.

Public Domain (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

[Snaggle]

Publisher's summary

Many consider the Battle of Midway to have turned the tide of the Pacific War. It is without question one of the most famous battles in history. Now, for the first time since Gordon W. Prange's best-selling Miracle at Midway, Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully offer a new interpretation of this great naval engagement. Unlike previous accounts, Shattered Sword makes extensive use of Japanese primary sources. It also corrects the many errors of Mitsuo Fuchida's Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan, an uncritical reliance upon which has tainted every previous Western account. It thus forces a major, potentially controversial reevaluation of the great battle.

Parshall and Tully examine the battle in detail and effortlessly place it within the context of the Imperial Navy's doctrine and technology. With a foreword by leading World War II naval historian John Lundstrom, Shattered Sword is an indispensable part of any military buff's library.

Shattered Sword is the winner of the 2005 John Lyman Book Award for the "Best Book in U.S. Naval History" and was cited by Proceedings as one of its "Notable Naval Books" for 2005.

©2005 Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully (P)2019 Tantor

[Ludwig]

When covering this subject, I was always ready to point out that Midway was only 6 months after Pearl Harbor. This reinforced dramatically the impact if the USN had lost just 1 carrier at Pearl Harbor how different the war would have been. 

5 hours ago, Snaggle said:

 

 

[Ludwig]

I have been saving this one for some time. I am not even comfortable handling the book because of it's rarity, one of those you wash your hands before picking it up to read. What a great guy and a lot of great memories. I have read quite a bit on Gunther before and some even from his own hand but this one is really special. I have enough time to complete it before moving day is at hand. FINALLY after more than 18 months of dealing with the local city government, replat my property and file it with the Texas State government and comply with all the B S that goes with it.....my new shop/game room is on the way. We poured the slab last Tuesday and we should start framing next week as soon as the materials arrive. I hope to be in the new building by the end of September if catch a break or two. I have had everything shutdown and packed up since February and it has made me NUTS but it will all be worth it when I have all the space I could ever want to escape the house and go have quiet time or make sawdust. 

 

 

[wheelsup_cavu]

Several good options to read have been shown recently.

I am going to have to find out if I can read any of them online now that I have a library card for the first time in almost 40 years.

 

Wheels

[Britchot]

On 8/24/2024 at 6:08 PM, Ludwig said:

I have been saving this one for some time. I am not even comfortable handling the book because of it's rarity, one of those you wash your hands before picking it up to read. What a great guy and a lot of great memories. I have read quite a bit on Gunther before and some even from his own hand but this one is really special. I have enough time to complete it before moving day is at hand. FINALLY after more than 18 months of dealing with the local city government, replat my property and file it with the Texas State government and comply with all the B S that goes with it.....my new shop/game room is on the way. We poured the slab last Tuesday and we should start framing next week as soon as the materials arrive. I hope to be in the new building by the end of September if catch a break or two. I have had everything shutdown and packed up since February and it has made me NUTS but it will all be worth it when I have all the space I could ever want to escape the house and go have quiet time or make sawdust. 

 

 

Absolutely cherish my copy, too.  My favorite story is the mouse during his bomber intercept. I need to reread this.

[Stuka]

S! guys!
That´s me on the cover! Nice reading. This book let you understand how Blitzkrieg was developed in detail.

[Snaggle]

Publisher's summary

The newest installment in the New York Times best-selling companion series to the Fox historical docudrama, Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Civil War is a pulse-quickening account of the deadliest war in American history.

From the birth of the Republican Party to the Confederacy's first convention, the Underground Railroad to the Emancipation Proclamation, the Battle of Gettysburg to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Civil War reveals the amazing and often little-known stories behind the battle lines of America's bloodiest war and debunks the myths that surround its greatest figures, including Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, General Robert E. Lee, Frederick Douglass, Stonewall Jackson, John Singleton Mosby, Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, John Wilkes Booth, William Tecumseh Sherman, and more.

An epic struggle between the past and future, the Civil War sought to fulfill the promise that "all men are created equal". It freed an enslaved race, decimated a generation of young men, ushered in a new era of brutality in war, and created modern America. Featuring eyewitness accounts that further bring the history to life, The Civil War is the action-packed and ultimate follow-up to the best sellers The Patriots and The Real West.