What are you reading right now?

[Subnuts]

I'm almost done with Norman Friedman's British Cruisers of the Victorian Era, and I have to say, I'm kind of disappointed. Substantial, fascinating text, beautiful line drawings, and nice photos, but the layout and arrangement is an absolute mess. Photos spread across two pages, with details falling into the binding, paragraphs-long captions in 4-point text, ship specifications and class breakdowns segregated to the appendix, typos on every page... I've read five of Friedman's "Illustrated Design Histories" on American warships, and while they all suffered from the same problems to a minor extent, this is easily the sloppiest-edited book I've read of his. I was kind of looking forward to his upcoming book on anti-aircraft guns and gunnery, but I'm kind of undecided right now.

[Sailor Steve]

I have the book, and value it as a reference, but I can't argue with your complaints. Dr Friedman is a great naval historian, but all of his books suffer in that department. His first British Destroyers book is just as good, and just as bad.

[Subnuts]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I have the book, and value it as a reference, but I can't argue with your complaints. Dr Friedman is a great naval historian, but all of his books suffer in that department. His first British Destroyers book is just as good, and just as bad.

I actually used a "cheat sheet" when I'm reading his U.S. Battleships which lists all the ship's names, their class, and hull number. BCOTVE covers such a wide spread of naval history, and so many different types of ships, it should have included a fold-out chronological "family tree" of British cruiser designs between 1850 and 1905. Maybe I'm just losing my reader comprehension mojo, but it kind of bugs me that classic naval references from the 70s like The Fleet Submarine In The U.S. Navy and British Battleships of World War Two were a lot easier to read. Granted, the production values weren't as nice as newer books, but you don't feel like you need the Cliff Notes books to follow along!

[Sailor Steve]

I have the luxury of being able to cross-reference with Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships series. Easier to follow but less specific informaton. I also have the advantage that I've been compiling this same information for my unfinished naval game for the last two decades, so while any particular book can give me information I need and I learn a lot from each one, I already have the ships organized by date in my own information collection, so logical flow isn't as important to me as it once was.

If I dismissed the first Destroyers book a little casually, I should restate that it is very well worth the money. I learned a lot of things that don't go into my game. In that book Friedman talks about Jackie Fisher's input when he was commander of the Mediterranean destroyer group, and while I've always read that the 'River' class were welcomed as being far superior than the preceeding 'TBD' classes, no one ever said why. Friedman gives examples, including captains' reports on why everyone wanted to command a 'River'.

Overall I found the Cruiser book to be just as informative, but I mostly only use them as a reference, so I haven't read it straight through, even though I've had it for months.

[Jimbuna]

[Te Kaha]

Currently reading The Amphibians Came to Conquer: The Story of Richmond Kelly Turner - Volume II by George C. Dyer.

Very interesting read - currently reading chapter 23 about Iwo Jima. Both volumes are more than a simple biography of one man, as one can also learn a lot about how amphibian operations in the Pacific were planned and conducted by the US Navy.

If one doesn't like huge paperbacks, it's available for free to read online;

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ACTC/index.html

[smolfri]

I jist finished the Hornblower Series by C.S Foster. For thoughs who have not read them i would highly recommend it.

Now im back re-reading Attack Of The Sea Wolf, by Michael DiMercurio. An oldy but definitely a goodie. Lol

[Kapitan_Phillips]

Does anybody know if Rommel published anything?

[Subnuts]

Indulged a little bit today, and bought copies of The Battleship Builders: Constructing and Arming British Capital Ships and U.S. Naval Air Superiority: Development of Shipborne Jet Fighters - 1943-1962. Will probably give away my copy of British Cruisers of the Victorian Era to the consignment shop down the street, and grab a copy of David Hobbs' new book on British aircraft carriers if I can find one for under $50. Which reminds me, I haven't written a full-length review in an awfully long time...

[fred8615]

Forgotten Sacrifice: The Arctic Convoys Of World War II by Michael G. Walling. Ebook version.

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

I just finished reading the Master and Commander series, and lord what an amazing insight into the world of the Royal Navy of the 1800's. Patrick O' Brian was an amazing author who sadly past on before he could complete the twenty first book of the series. If I could rate the series as a whole I would give it a 9.9/10 (9.9 because the second book is a massive anti-climax after having read the first book.), overall the series is well worth the read. As for the movie Master and Commander Far Side of the World while doing no discredit to O' Brian's work is greatly different from the book of the same title, I guess a fictional movie is more fiction then a work of fiction.

I'm now reading Patrick O' Brian's Navy The Illustrated Companion to Jack Aubrey's World, which as many interesting facts and figures of the wooden world in which Jack Aubrey lived, including the 35 Articles of War, out of 35 articles the punishment for 20 was death.

[Jimbuna]

The last in the series of four.

[Sepp von Ch.]

[Terragon]

Red Storm Rising, Tom Clancy

A hypothetical situation in where the Soviet Union utilized mechanized infantry to invade Western Europe, told from several different viewpoints. I've read it several times, still enjoy reading it after all these years.

[STEED]

Finished reading from the osprey "Vs" series U-Boats VS Destroyer Escorts - The Battle of the Atlantic. Can't help thinking a lot of this info was cobbled together from other osprey series and the cost!...Well I did not pay full rate got it reduced but no way would I shell out £12.99 for 80 pages.

Or so from another osprey series "Raid" which was passed on to me coming to the end of this one. Kill Hitler Operation Valkyrie 1944, not bad for a brief summery.