Outside of ww1 and ww2 what are you reading?

[Kunikov]

"Challenging Traditional Views Of Russian History" Edited by Wheatcroft

[Kunikov]

"AntiSemitism" by Robert S. Wistrich

[Qvist]

Patrick O'Brian's series of Aubrey/Maturin sea novels from the Napoleonic Wars - currently on "Desolation Island". Marvellous stuff, fully deserving IMO of the oft-quoted epithet of "best historical novels ever written".

cheers

[Grünherz]

Patrick O'Brian's series of Aubrey/Maturin sea novels from the Napoleonic Wars - currently on "Desolation Island". Marvellous stuff, fully deserving IMO of the oft-quoted epithet of "best historical novels ever written".

cheers

You must have seen my earlier post!
I am currently rereading the series (almost down to my last few again--twenty altogether).
Incredibly GREAT novels--and I'll probably rereread them!!!
Tom

The movie "Master and Commander" was based on them although a very poor substitute.

[Qvist]

You must have seen my earlier post!
I am currently rereading the series (almost down to my last few again--twenty altogether).
Incredibly GREAT novels--and I'll probably rereread them!!!
Tom

No I didn't actually, but I'm glad to hear that I'm not alone in my enthusiasm for these books on this forum.

I've been reading them somewhat out of sequence, according to such arbitrary criteria as what the bookstore happened to have in stock, so "Desolation Island" is my 13th I think. Still to go is the final four, as well as "The fortunes of War", "The Ionian Mission" and "The Far side of the world". I think I'll probably reread them too. It's not just the suspense and the amazing historical detail that you know to be underpinned by solid research - he's got humour, he's got psychological and human insight, he writes well, with a particular gift for building complex and interesting characters and describing human communities. Damn, I've even started taking an interest in sailing ships and the naval part of the napoleonic wars!

cheers

[Grünherz]

Qvist,
They really are one long novel in twenty volumes and, as such, you should be reading them in sequence (or reread in sequence).
Try also the Hornblower and Bolitho books regarding Napoleonic naval warfare. The first ranks much lower than the O'Brian books but were what got me started on them. (Nevertheless excellent but not on the same scale). Bolitho ranks much, much lower but are an OK adventure novel. Both are series.
Tom

[Grünherz]

Regarding Patrick O'Brians Aubrey/Maturin novels there are interesting footnotes regarding O'Brian...
His novels showcase his knowledge of the period in every respect especially his Captain Aubrey's expertise in seamanship. BUT O'Brian couldn't sail for the life of him! There was an article in my local newspaper about a rich yachtsman--a fan of his books--who invited him on a vacation aboard his sailing yacht. He asked O'B where he wanted to go in the limited time they had in the Carribean. O'B was naming places thousands of miles away with no idea of how long it would take to get there or how far away they were. Then O'B was given control of the wheel of the ship and, at that point, the owner realized that he had no idea of how to handle it and, thus, had to keep a sharp eye on him.
Also, his real name wasn't P. O'B! He had ditched an earlier wife and an earlier name and "became" Patrick O'Brian. I think that this all came out posthumously.
Tom

There are websites about this guy and his books.

[Kunikov]

"GULAG" Applebaum

I'm still on the introduction and already I see various mistakes and ommissions.

[Locke]

I'm reading Gideon's spies: the secret history of the Mossad by Gordon Thomas.

Polona

[Kunikov]

"Lion of Senet" Jennifer Fallon

[CoffeeCake]

I'm reading "The Sword And The Shield, the Mitrokhin archive And The Secret of the KGB" by Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin.

[Kunikov]

"Eye of the Labyrinth" Jennifer Fallon

[Keltixx]

[quote="waffen123"]Reading anything good on warfare outside of ww1 and ww2? I'm always looking for good books. I'm reading the lessons of modern war vol 3 The iraq iran war. It's very good![/quote]

A Devil of a Whippin', Lawrence E. Babits - Excellent book on the Battle of Cowpens, called the small gem of the of the American Revolution in the South and the American Cannae.

Three Bugles and a Tiger, John Masters - Autobiography through his years at Sandhurst and then into the Indian Army of the 1930's in a Gurkha Regiment. Proceeds up to the start of WWII. The sequel, The Road Past Mandaly, continues through the war. Masters ended up leading one of the Chindit units after Wingate was killed. Masters is a delightful story teller, later he made his living as a novelist.

The Galleys at Lepanto, Jack Beeching - In 1571 Europe met the Ottoman Empire in a battle that settled history for the next few hundred years.

Dixie Victorious - Peter G. Tsouras - Altenate history on the Amercan Civil War. Not bad.

1901 - Robert Conroy - Alternate history of a war between Germany and the US. Well written, fun, good read, but I don't buy the premise.

The War That Never Was - Michael A. Palmer - Another alternate history, this of WWIII - technically good, far better than the Clancy book. Interesting view as it focuses more outside of the Central Europe front.

The Road to Guilford Courthouse, John Buchanan - Good overview of the American Revolution in the South. In some ways, the war was won via the Southern campaigns.

Face of Battle, John Keegan - rereading this, for about 20th time, still a good and thoughtful piece of work.

Also, reading a lot of WWII right now. Mostly, I like personal accounts, the, "how the grunts lived", history. So, reading again what I think may be the best WWII memoir of them all, Quartered Safe Out Here, by George McDonald Fraser (yes, of Flashman fame). His semi autobiographical works on service in the Gordon Highlanders in the immediate post WWII period, the McAuslan stories, are well worth the time.

Just FYI, my three main interests are:
- US Civil War, Army of Northern Va.
- WWII Airborne Operations, all units, all theatres - working on a book on this.
- Ration history, mostly the modern period - thinking about a book on this. (http://17thdivision.tripod.com is a fun and interesting place to read about this on the web. Nice site and associated sites.)

(I also notice from the above that with my wife out of town for a month and a half, I seriously need to get a life!)

Regards, Keltixx

[Grünherz]

Also, reading a lot of WWII right now. Mostly, I like personal accounts, the, "how the grunts lived", history. So, reading again what I think may be the best WWII memoir of them all, Quartered Safe Out Here, by George McDonald Fraser (yes, of Flashman fame). His semi autobiographical works on service in the Gordon Highlanders in the immediate post WWII period, the McAuslan stories, are well worth the time.

The McAuslan series by Fraser--and, of course, the Flashman series--are really good reads! Entertaining and FUNNY!! But I haven't read this particular memoir--I must find it.
Tom

[Keltixx]

(The McAuslan series by Fraser--and, of course, the Flashman series--are really good reads! Entertaining and FUNNY!! But I haven't read this particular memoir--I must find it.)

Do so, well worth the read. Softcovers are available used from Amazon and Powell's.

On that note, what other military memoirs do people like? Of should this be a new topic?
Keltixx