"Wahoo" by Richard O'Kane. excellent so far. :yeah:

Next read-"Clear the Bridge" by same.

It has been 25+ years since I read "Clear the Bridge". I'm looking forward to reading it again.

:)

Reading, "Neptune's Inferno", the US Navy at Guadalcanal by James Hornfischer. This book is outstanding. I've read Frank's book (awesome) and others, but this book really makes you feel like your on the receiving end of a 14 inch shell. Highly recommended!!

True, if your buying new, but look at the price for the used 2002-2003 edition...I'd buy that...:yep:

Of some interest to the SubSim community, particularly those SH3 and SH5 players might be Black Flag: The Surrender of Germany's U-Boat Forces by Lawrence Paterson, ISBN 978-0-7603-3754-7.

The disposition of the boats and the men of the U-Boot waffe is generally a footnote in the final chapter of most books referencing the battle of the Atlantic but Black Flag takes the reader from the very last days of the Third Reich through to early 1946 by which time the vast majority of the captured boats had been sunk as targets, scuttled or otherwise disposed of.

The book is well illustrated and many of the photos will probably be new including KK Adelbert Schnee's U-2511 with its white conning tower nesting beside some other Type XXI's and a shot of a nameless U-Boat matlot sporting both his U-Boat badge and the Army's coveted tank killing badge, awarded for singlehandedly destroying an enemy tank. The relevance of the latter is that there are some all too brief descriptions of U-Boat crews in ground fighting in North Germany and those French ports (Lorient in particualr) that had remained in German hands until the Nazi surrender.

Black Flag is well annotated, an easy read and its appendicies basically detail the fate of every boat that surrendered as well as her last captain. Some of this material is out there elsewhere but this 2009 volume deserves a place in the library of anybody with more than a casual interest in U-Boats.

Finished O'Kane's "Wahoo" and "Clear the Bridge". Both excellent books. :yeah:

Just started "War in the Boats" by William Ruhe. So far so good. His description of life on the S-boats in 1942 is pretty incredible.

A over cautious captain, mechanical difficulties, the heat, sleeping in bunks near vents where the batteries vent their gases during the charge, not to mention the 1/2 inch puddle of sweat left over from the previous occupant, wondering if the boat will hold to together at the "deep submergence" of 135 feet, and cockroaches.

:)

Just coming to the end of the unabridged version of 'The Cruel Sea', it may be old now but is one of the finest written books I have ever read, the detail and the tension never fail, but dammit, he had to introduce a woman into it ! My exploits in SH3, 4 & 5 are an escape from a womans scorn, although I must confess, I have tinkered with the idea of buying wife a Wrens uniform !, I don't think it will be appreciated too well though !!
A well recommended book nevertheless.

Regards,
H.T.

Escape from Germany: True stories of POW escapes in WWII - From the National Archives, released as a confidential document in 1951, an edited commercial release in 1956, and the whole lot from 1985.

Really good so far :up:

I am currently reading "The Immortal Game, A History of Chess (or How 32 Carved Pieces on a Board Illuminated Our Understanding of War, Art, Science, and the Human Brain)" [2006] by David Shenk. I have not played chess in many, many years and saw this book in the local library. The title interested me and I checked it out. The book is a complete surprise. The author is a journalist who admits to not being a high-level chess player. His interest in the game stems from an ancestor who was a Grandmaster, world-class chess player and analyst. Shenk has done an amazing amount of research into the history and impact of chess on the world in general. Even if you don't know much about the game or maybe even dislike the game, the story of how chess came into existence and the people and personalities involved in its evolution is more than one would expect from a book about chess. The story is framed around a famous chess match known as the "Immortal Game", considered to be the greatest game ever played. By moving back and forth from the game to stories about chess history, it is far from dry or boring. Politics, religion, psychology, cognitive science and many other subjects are shown to be interlaced with the history of chess in ways I never imagined. If you like a good read with intelligence, wit, and humor, I would strongly recommend this book (you don't even need to know the game to enjoy it). I may even break out the chessboard again.

Just about to start reading 'The Big E - The Story of the USS Enterprise' by Edward Stafford. I was saving it for a holiday but I can't wait any longer. :)

Finally finished 'Quartered Safe Out Here' About George Macdonald Fraser's time with a Cumbrian regiment in Burma during the war. I've never read any of his Flashman novels but a colleague of mine is a huge fan and keeps trying to lend them to me so I might take him up on that now. It's very funny and seems very truthful. The Cumbrian dialect is superb and used throughout.

Japanese classic The Heike by Eiji Yoshikawa. No where the greatness of his other work, Taiko.


I have been told Heike was finished by Yoshikawa's descendant instead of the man himself. Still an interesting read.

I finished Furinkazan by Yasushi Inoue last week. I just love Japanese samurai historical fiction.

The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking. Go unified theory of everything...

Just started reading....

The German Fleet at War 1939-1945
By Vincent P. O`Hara

I'm listening to Patriot Games by Tom Clancy on an audio book. I just don't have time to actually read a book for fun because of school.

Because I'm a glutton for punishment :arrgh!:, I'm currently reading Clay Blair's "Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted", the second part ofhis two part series.

I finally found a used hardback copy for under $30 in so-so condition.

:)