Recommended reading on the British Empire 1919-1945

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Attrition
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Re: Recommended reading on the British Empire 1919-1945

#46

Post by Attrition » 02 Sep 2018, 19:42


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Re: Recommended reading on the British Empire 1919-1945

#47

Post by Attrition » 13 Apr 2019, 17:30

Greg Baughen's series on WWI, interwar and WWII RAF policy is rather good, although he doth lean a little too hard on hindsight. Much of his narrative comes from primary sources so even when his explanations don't quite convince, the descriptions do.

Baughen G. The RAF in the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain: A Reappraisal of Army and Air Policy 1938–1940 (2016) Fonthill Media Stroud 978-1-78155-525-5

Baughen G. The Fairey Battle: A Reassessment of its RAF Career (2017) Fonthill Media Stroud 978-1-78155-585-9

Baughen G. RAF On the Offensive: The Rebirth of Tactical Air Power 1940-1941 (2018) Frontline Books Barnsley 978-1-5267-3515-7

The Rise and Fall of the French Air Force: French Air Operations and Strategy 1900-1940 (2018) costs a bomb so I'll wait

The Rise of the Bomber: RAF-Army Planning 1919 to Munich 1938 (2015) might be my next plunge and Blueprint for Victory: Britain's First World War Blitzkrieg Air Force is on the way, despite the subtitle.


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Re: Recommended reading on the British Empire 1919-1945

#48

Post by Attrition » 05 Jun 2019, 19:53

The Rise of the Bomber: RAF-Army Planning 1919 to Munich 1938 (2015) [as above] is as good as the others in the series, occasionally hilarious and always interesting.

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Re: Recommended reading on the British Empire 1919-1945

#49

Post by Attrition » 02 Jul 2019, 18:54

The Rise and Fall of the French Air Force: French Air Operations and Strategy 1900-1940 (2018) by Greg Baughen It seems that the French were as eager as the British to build huge, ungainly gunships rather than single-engined, single-seaters. Baughen's prose is a little dodgy but the sense of humour and polite incredulity at bomber-panic is still there. ;O)

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Re: Recommended reading on the British Empire 1919-1945

#50

Post by Andy H » 15 May 2020, 18:16

Hi

Of Islands, Ports and Sea Lanes (Africa and the Indian Ocean in the Second World War) by Ashley Jackson is simply fantastic

https://defenceindepth.co/2014/10/09/of ... world-war/

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Re: Recommended reading on the British Empire 1919-1945

#51

Post by Attrition » 16 May 2020, 17:47

Glad you checked as I've got my eye on it. Anything about Red Sea convoys 1940-1941?

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Re: Recommended reading on the British Empire 1919-1945

#52

Post by Andy H » 02 Aug 2020, 17:27

Attrition wrote:
16 May 2020, 17:47
Glad you checked as I've got my eye on it. Anything about Red Sea convoys 1940-1941?
Hi

No not really.
It gives some in depth info on the naval support and infrastructure around the Indian Ocean coastline, as well as some around the Arabian peninsula but its focus as you'd expect, is on the Indian Ocean area.

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Andy H

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Re: Recommended reading on the British Empire 1919-1945

#53

Post by Andy H » 02 Aug 2020, 17:51

Index updated as of todays date.

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Re: Recommended reading on the British Empire 1919-1945

#54

Post by Attrition » 02 Aug 2020, 21:04

[quote="Andy H" post_id=2283583 time=1596382062 user_id=119]
[quote=Attrition post_id=2268842 time=1589644040 user_id=33401]
Glad you checked as I've got my eye on it. Anything about Red Sea convoys 1940-1941?
[/quote]

Hi

No not really.
It gives some in depth info on the naval support and infrastructure around the Indian Ocean coastline, as well as some around the Arabian peninsula but its focus as you'd expect, is on the Indian Ocean area.

Regards

Andy H
[/quote]

Ah well,

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Re: Recommended reading on the British Empire 1919-1945

#55

Post by Sheldrake » 02 Aug 2020, 21:09

9780750990448.jpg
9780750990448.jpg (66.11 KiB) Viewed 4904 times
Gunners in Normandy, by Townend and Baldwin is part 1 of the NW Europe Volume of the Royal Artillery's Regimental history. The Royal Regiment was around 25% of the army. Here is a link to a review on Stone and Stone http://books.stonebooks.com/reviews/200621/

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Re: Recommended reading on the British Empire 1919-1945

#56

Post by Attrition » 02 Aug 2020, 22:06

I was glad to see how much material there was about Greenline and Pomegranate [I may have mentioned this before ;O)]

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Re: Recommended reading on the British Empire 1919-1945

#57

Post by Sheldrake » 02 Aug 2020, 22:57

Attrition wrote:
02 Aug 2020, 22:06
I was glad to see how much material there was about Greenline and Pomegranate [I may have mentioned this before ;O)]
A lot of pages of material were left out.

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Re: Recommended reading on the British Empire 1919-1945

#58

Post by Hyus » 27 Aug 2020, 17:09

Are there any good books on Britain's coastal defences during the war, particularly artillery and patrol vessels?

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Re: Recommended reading on the British Empire 1919-1945

#59

Post by Andy H » 12 Sep 2020, 23:08

Hyus wrote:
27 Aug 2020, 17:09
Are there any good books on Britain's coastal defences during the war, particularly artillery and patrol vessels?
Hi Hyus

There's not a single book that would cover both in any detail.

The best book Ive got about Britain's fixed land defences in 1940 is 'The Battlefields That Nearly Were' by William Foot, Published by Tempus 2006.
Foot worked on English Heritages 'The Defence Areas Project'. https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/ar ... &CFTOKEN=0

In terms of 'Patrol Vessels' then the various Pink/Red lists and War Diaries are your best bet
https://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-3900Intro.htm

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Andy H

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Re: Recommended reading on the British Empire 1919-1945

#60

Post by Hyus » 12 Sep 2020, 23:15

Thanks Andy.

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