I added those to my list for next time. Can you explain what the difference between Massie's two books is? From what I can tell on is mostly about the battleship race leading up to the war while the other is about the naval war itself.MiddleAgedKen wrote:It's good. If you want more, I recommend Keegan's The First World War and Massie's Dreadnought and Castles of Steel. Massie's books are rather like MacPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom in that it starts before the war and puts it in its political context. Keegan and Massie are both great writers. I think I've recommended these before, so apologies for repeating myself. Getting old.Kommander wrote:I just got a copy of "The Guns Of August". This will actually be the first book specifically on WWI that I have read.
Whatcha reading redux.
- Kommander
- Posts: 3761
- Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:13 am
Re: Whatcha reading redux.
- MiddleAgedKen
- Posts: 2871
- Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:11 pm
- Location: Flyover Country
Re: Whatcha reading redux.
That's basically it, Kommander, but there's a lot of the political context too (especially in Dreadnought). Massie paints a fairly warty picture of Churchill in Castles of Steel, with regard to the campaign to force the Dardanelles.
Shop at Traitor Joe's: Just 10% to the Big Guy gets you the whole store and everything in it!
- Kommander
- Posts: 3761
- Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:13 am
Re: Whatcha reading redux.
Yea Churchill, as great as he was in other aspects really should not have been calling the shots strategically. While there was plenty of blame to go around, no one seems to know how they would have pacified [strike]Constantinople[/strike] Istanbul even if they had been able to force the straights.
- Vonz90
- Posts: 4731
- Joined: Fri Sep 19, 2008 4:05 pm
Re: Whatcha reading redux.
The other war and all that, but I think there is a reasonable degree of criticism that can be leveled Churchill relative to the "Strategic Vision" in WW2 as well. Once France fell, his strategy became to flop about and hope the US went to war.
I think that if he had offered a deal to Wilhelm Canaris for overthrowing Hitler (something like peace but Germany has to go back to the '39 borders in the west). When Canaris was asking for terms if the high command got rid of Hitler in '42/'43 all they got was "unconditional surrender". This basically made in untenable for them to do anything. I
do not believe this was in Britain's best interest. It was however very much in Stalin's interests because peace in the west would have put him one on one in a war he was not going to win. Considering how much we know that Stalin had infiltrated Britain (and the US) leadership, I do not think this was coincidence.
I think that if he had offered a deal to Wilhelm Canaris for overthrowing Hitler (something like peace but Germany has to go back to the '39 borders in the west). When Canaris was asking for terms if the high command got rid of Hitler in '42/'43 all they got was "unconditional surrender". This basically made in untenable for them to do anything. I
do not believe this was in Britain's best interest. It was however very much in Stalin's interests because peace in the west would have put him one on one in a war he was not going to win. Considering how much we know that Stalin had infiltrated Britain (and the US) leadership, I do not think this was coincidence.
-
- Posts: 2645
- Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2008 5:00 pm
Re: Whatcha reading redux.
I've started reading the "Spell Monger Series" by Terry Mancour on Kindle Unlimited. I thought it was just going to be another fantasy "opera" but it has an interesting amount of humor, and the author uses a knowledge of the Middle Ages to illustrate how feudal politics are in a sense, not all that different from modern times. " Curse all this paperwork the Duke's bureaucracy requires! Curse the bureaucracy!" , "Now, Now, without the clerks keeping track of who owes what to whom things would be even more chaotic than they are. Also if the Duke makes a mistake on tax policy he can blame it on a bureaucrat, execute or "demote" him and not lose his popularity with his vassals."
- 308Mike
- Posts: 16537
- Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 3:47 pm
Re: Whatcha reading redux.
LOL!! I'm still around guys, but I'm helping my wife trying to get her business started while still recovering from my shoulder surgery. I hope to be able to fire rifles soon again!!Denis wrote:Does your computer do Mike's voice too?Evyl Robot wrote:I'm reading The gun Counter. And, I'm having the computer speak it out for some of the longer entries. I'm looking at you, 308 Mike.
I seem to assign an "inner voice" to people whose writing I read often. I remember being quite surprised at CC's Fiesta some years ago that people's real voices corresponded quite closely to what I had imagined. Except CC himself, of course - when he gets into his mimicry routine - he can do so many... I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Mike yet, but I do have a voice for him!
POLITICIANS & DIAPERS NEED TO BE CHANGED OFTEN AND FOR THE SAME REASON
A person properly schooled in right and wrong is safe with any weapon. A person with no idea of good and evil is unsafe with a knitting needle, or the cap from a ballpoint pen.
I remain pessimistic given the way BATF and the anti gun crowd have become tape worms in the guts of the Republic. - toad
A person properly schooled in right and wrong is safe with any weapon. A person with no idea of good and evil is unsafe with a knitting needle, or the cap from a ballpoint pen.
I remain pessimistic given the way BATF and the anti gun crowd have become tape worms in the guts of the Republic. - toad
- 308Mike
- Posts: 16537
- Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 3:47 pm
Re: Whatcha reading redux.
THANKS Denis (I needed a refresh)!!Denis wrote:Have a look at these threads here too:308Mike wrote:If you like books in that vein...
SeekHer's sniper book list
Suarez on the guerilla sniper and again
POLITICIANS & DIAPERS NEED TO BE CHANGED OFTEN AND FOR THE SAME REASON
A person properly schooled in right and wrong is safe with any weapon. A person with no idea of good and evil is unsafe with a knitting needle, or the cap from a ballpoint pen.
I remain pessimistic given the way BATF and the anti gun crowd have become tape worms in the guts of the Republic. - toad
A person properly schooled in right and wrong is safe with any weapon. A person with no idea of good and evil is unsafe with a knitting needle, or the cap from a ballpoint pen.
I remain pessimistic given the way BATF and the anti gun crowd have become tape worms in the guts of the Republic. - toad
- 308Mike
- Posts: 16537
- Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 3:47 pm
Re: Whatcha reading redux.
I just finished reading: "The Secret Corps" - and it's a book which might scare the shiite out of you if you've been paying attention to what's going on around the nation (for former Marines, no explanation is necessary):
http://www.amazon.com/The-Secret-Corps- ... 1511775793
http://www.amazon.com/The-Secret-Corps- ... 1511775793
POLITICIANS & DIAPERS NEED TO BE CHANGED OFTEN AND FOR THE SAME REASON
A person properly schooled in right and wrong is safe with any weapon. A person with no idea of good and evil is unsafe with a knitting needle, or the cap from a ballpoint pen.
I remain pessimistic given the way BATF and the anti gun crowd have become tape worms in the guts of the Republic. - toad
A person properly schooled in right and wrong is safe with any weapon. A person with no idea of good and evil is unsafe with a knitting needle, or the cap from a ballpoint pen.
I remain pessimistic given the way BATF and the anti gun crowd have become tape worms in the guts of the Republic. - toad
- Netpackrat
- Posts: 13986
- Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2008 11:04 pm
Re: Whatcha reading redux.
I'm about halfway into the second book of Kratman's "Countdown" series. Finished reading the last Ringo zombie book a while ago.
Cognosce teipsum et disce pati
"People come and go in our lives, especially the online ones. Some leave a fond memory, and some a bad taste." -Aesop
"People come and go in our lives, especially the online ones. Some leave a fond memory, and some a bad taste." -Aesop
- Steamforger
- Posts: 2785
- Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 5:41 pm
Re: Whatcha reading redux.
"Power Sources", "Operations Manual", and "M-1- Hazardous Energy Clearances" for my facility.
Oh, the joy....
Oh, the joy....