What are you reading right now?

[Jimbuna]

http://s29.postimg.org/acliocjtz/image.jpg (http://postimage.org/)

[fred8615]

December 7th, 1941: The Day Japan Attacked Pearl Harbor by Gordon W. Prange. Ebook edition.

[u crank]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61yoaaLaKNL.jpg

[Subnuts]

Trying to re-read Operation Drumbeat, thinking about giving up because the Kindle conversion is probably the worst I've ever seen, and there's so many typos some sentences are practically unreadable. I'm 6% in, and I've seen U-123 called "II-/23," "V-123," "V-!23," and "J/23." Lesson learned: You pay $0.99 for a Kindle book, you get your money's worth.

[Jimbuna]

http://s30.postimg.org/yhcrh7wnl/image.jpg (http://postimage.org/)

[fred8615]

Trying to re-read Operation Drumbeat, thinking about giving up because the Kindle conversion is probably the worst I've ever seen, and there's so many typos some sentences are practically unreadable. I'm 6% in, and I've seen U-123 called "II-/23," "V-123," "V-!23," and "J/23." Lesson learned: You pay $0.99 for a Kindle book, you get your money's worth.
I read it too. While definitely aggravating, I didn't have too much problem with it.

[tmccarthy]

Just finished this... very good read.

http://imageshack.com/a/img842/6774/b1cis.jpg

[Subnuts]

Found a copy of this book at Barnes & Noble today for $8.99. Includes a large number of detailed cut-aways of aircraft and engines from "The Aeroplane" and "Flight" drawn during the war.
http://i60.tinypic.com/168vamo.jpg

[Jimbuna]

http://s2.postimg.org/hb5ocoa61/image.jpg (http://postimage.org/)

[nikimcbee]

Just finished the audio book of "The Burning Shore."

http://www.historynet.com/book-review-the-burning-shore-by-ed-offley.htm
:up:

[STEED]

Just started..

All the Presidents' BANKERS
The Hidden Alliance that Drive American Power

By Nomi Prins

[Sepp von Ch.]

Night actions by Peter Dickens. Very interesting reading about british MTB´s.

[Jimbuna]

http://s16.postimg.org/c7jvnbgth/image.jpg (http://postimage.org/)

[mapuc]

Are listening to part 1 of 3 The Second World War - by John Keegan on youtube. Only negative is the commers every 10 minuter, the positive is that you can skip the ad after 5 sec.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riKPga6AGz0

Markus

[Subnuts]

I just bought the first book of Arthur Marder's five-volume "Dreadnought to Scapa Flow" series. I'm hoping the first book is good enough for me to buy the entire series eventually. I've been reading lots of books on ships lately, but it's been a long time I've read a real epic naval history.

[Sailor Steve]

I've been eyeballing that one myself. I don't have the money right now, but it is on my Planning list.

[Jimbuna]

http://s11.postimg.org/v93vo7zpf/Untitled.jpg (http://postimage.org/)

[tmccarthy]

Interesting story of this Fletcher class destroyer during WWII. Written by an officer who served aboard.

http://imageshack.com/a/img840/8848/8tuc.jpg

[merc4ulfate]

THE MEDITATIONS OF MARCUS AURELIUS

http://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dFGnMmwoLNg/Ue3wVrCoOzI/AAAAAAAAHYg/HoDPfoto8N8/s1600/Marcus+Aurelius-live+good+life+gods.jpg

[Sailor Steve]

Thanks for the link. I don't read as much philosophy as I'd like. :sunny:

[Sailor Steve]

Just recieved the 2014 edition of Conway's Warship. Articles on French Admiral Charner class armored cruisers; CVA-01, to be named HMS Queen Elizabeth but cancelled in 1966; German pre-dreadought battleships Braunschweig and Deutschland; Imperial Japanese armored cruisers; the devlopment of the Italian carrier Cavour; Russian turret frigates Admiral Lazarev and Admiral Spiridov; the Japanese Carrier Ryujo; fire control in the post-war Royal Navy; and the escape of Jean Bart from St. Nazaire in 1940. Altogether something I'm looking forward to.

[Red October1984]

Finally got the time to finish up Generation Kill.

Kinda reading two books at once now.

Thunderball by Ian Fleming and BattleTech: Wolves on the Border by Robert N. Charette

Two of my favorite things. BattleTech and James Bond.

[SSN713]

http://i449.photobucket.com/albums/qq215/glcanon/UboatWAR-1.png
I'm sure someone's mentioned these two massive tomes by Clay Blair, but these are just my kind of reading, both over 700 pages.... 800 pages if you count the appendices. Lots of details, numbers and statistics, but not in a bad way. If you're interested in the U-boat war in WW2, these are the two books to read.
http://i449.photobucket.com/albums/qq215/glcanon/Lorient.png

[Jimbuna]

Definitely two highly recommended reads....Welcome Aboard SSN713 :sunny:

[Succat]

Just good :up:

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/03/ciu/42/07/8537c27a02a0543b57d18110.L._SX425_.jpg

[uss_sea_tiger]

I haven't received it yet (it's being sent from the good ol' USA) but Im looking forward to reading "Fresh water submarines: The Manitowoc story". The title says it all really, but I'm fascinated how a small ship building company based on the great lakes, was able to make such a contribution to the war effort.

[Jimbuna]

http://s1.postimg.org/ofll4o9rz/Untitled.jpg (http://postimage.org/)

[Aktungbby]

http://www.publishersweekly.com/images/cached/INGRAM/978/045/141/9780451416100.jpg about the 'founders fleet' and the sailing war of the Revolution. And a belated welcome to SSN713:Kaleun_Salute: forgive our manners! Those two you are reading are the bibles IMHO!

[Subnuts]

I'm about a third of the way through Norman Friedman's British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. I was obviously disappointed by his British Cruisers of the Victorian Era, but I'm enjoying this one more. Much better organized and presented than that book.

[Jimbuna]

http://s22.postimg.org/vmyyqxush/image.jpg (http://postimage.org/)

[Red October1984]

Finished Thunderball Monday night...

Got all but four of the rest (two of which are bundled together in one book with two short stories) of the Ian Fleming James Bond novels yesterday and today...

Total cost (Thunderball included): $17

http://usureason.com/wp-content/uploads/GREAT_SUCCESS-734552.png

[Paulebaer1979]

Patrick Robinson - Barracuda 945
(http://www.amazon.com/Barracuda-945-Patrick-Robinson/dp/0060086637/ref=wp_bs_6_B00CJ18KXC_mass_market)
Nice book about how to change from SAS to Hamas and fight against USA:arrgh!:
I hope nobody decides to make it real.

[Subnuts]

I just bought the Kindle edition of Norman Friedman's Naval Weapons of World War One on Amazon for $9.99. Amazon wanted $55 for the physical edition, so I'm pretty pleased at the moment. Looks like Seaforth Publishing has been slowly making electronic editions of their books available this last year, and considering how much I spend on naval reference books, that can only be a good thing.

Still, you can't beat a big hardcover book when it comes to detailed diagrams and schematics...:hmmm:

[Subnuts]

Received a copy of this book the previous week.
http://i59.tinypic.com/3450itz.jpg

It's pretty interesting so far. Nicely but not overwhelmingly detailed, interesting photos, and plenty of crisp, detailed maps and diagrams. Kind of surprised that this is apparently the only book out there on these ships. I remember seeing these ships in Janes Fighting Ships of World War One and thinking they were really cool, if a little limited in what they were actually capable of. I spent $25 for a second-hand copy of the paperback on Amazon, which is a heck of a lot better than the $68 they want for a new hardcover!

[tmccarthy]

A well written and fascinating account by a destroyer sonarman

http://imageshack.com/a/img539/2338/zdf7aj.jpg

[Subnuts]

Currently going through a Norman Friedman phase, and I'm slowly working my way through his US Submarine Since 1945. It's good stuff, but damn, is it heavy. Cold War Submarines is a lot more readable, but it doesn't go into even half the detail Friedman does with post-war sonar, asw tactics, submarine design, fire control, and so on.

I paid a lot for it, but if you're seriously into the nitty-gritty stuff, it's worth it.

[Sailor Steve]

The U-Boat War: 1914-1918, by Edwyn A. Gray. I've had it for awhile, and finally decided it was time to read it.

[Arnold]

I just started reading a paperback book titled "Murphy's War", by Max Catto (1968). I searched Amazon and found a seller.
The late Peter O'Toole played the part of Murphy in a 1971 movie version of the book.

[STEED]

Just finished this one I got real cheap in a sale and a not bad read.

Osprey Combat Aircraft 72
Vulcan Units of the Cold War

[Jimbuna]

I just started reading a paperback book titled "Murphy's War", by Max Catto (1968). I searched Amazon and found a seller.
The late Peter O'Toole played the part of Murphy in a 1971 movie version of the book.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067458/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mxRvQrPOvk

[STEED]

Just started this one....

Hitler's Last Days - AN Eye Witness Account
By Gerhardt Boldt

In the last months of the Second World War, Gerhardt Boldt, a young cavalry officer serving on the Russian Front, found himself seconded to Gehlen's military intelligence staff in Berlin. Summoned to daily briefing session with the Fuhrer, his Generals and closest associates - in particular Bormann, Goering and Goebbels - Boldt has a unique opportunity of observing at close quarters the leading members of the Nazi hierarchy. His description of the atmosphere, first in the semi-ruined Chancellery and then in the claustrophobic surroundings of the Fuhrerbunker, conveys a chilling impression of destruction - of the collapse of the entire Nazi system no less than the disintegration of its creator's personality. This book was written immediately after the war and expanded for this edition.

[kranz]

I'm reading Himmler by P.Longerich but yesterday got my order:
Goebbels - P. Longerich
Magda Goebbels - A.Klabunde
Hitler's Vienna - B.Hamman

non-historical:
Bridge For Dummies (I can play but this is a sorta more advanced handbook)

[banryu79]

The U-Boat War: 1914-1918, by Edwyn A. Gray. I've had it for awhile, and finally decided it was time to read it.
Hey Sailor Steve, have you finished reading the book? How it is? I'm very intrested in reading some stuff about German submarines and their operations in the Great War... but I do not want to pick up bad quality stuff.

[Sailor Steve]

Hey Sailor Steve, have you finished reading the book? How it is? I'm very intrested in reading some stuff about German submarines and their operations in the Great War... but I do not want to pick up bad quality stuff.
Yep. Finished it and now I'm using it as a reference. The bad news is that it isn't a compendium and doesn't include details or even listings of every u-boat operation. The good news is that it reads like a good novel and gives details of some great stories.

One of the things I learned was that the fabled story of Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere only expending four torpedoes in his entire career is a myth. Von Arnauld fired many torpedoes during his career. What he did do, and this is almost as remarkable, was to fire only four torpedoes during his most effective patrol, from July 26 to August 20, 1916, during which he sank 54 Allied ships for 91,150 tons. On the other hand he fired more than 900 shells from his 10cm deck gun, which means he must have been picking up new shells from somewhere. It also tells the story of von Arnauld's boat being trapped under a sinking merchant and barely surviving.

Overall it is a fascinating book, and I recommend it highly. :sunny:

[ikalugin]

Could anyone suggest a good book/blog/forum whatever to read about mid-late cold war and modern subs?

[banryu79]

The bad news is that it isn't a compendium and doesn't include details or even listings of every u-boat operation. The good news is that it reads like a good novel and gives details of some great stories.
...

Great, for me this is a plus, not a minus!
Thank you, Sailor Steve :)

EDIT: I've bought the Kindle Edition. My kindle was registered with my mother country, Italy, and this particular book was not available in digital format. So I had to change and register mi Kindle device with USA and know I can access the full Amazon.com catalogue of ebook.

[Tromp]

Hello sailors,

I installed TMO for the first time and it's truly great. Now I would like to read some more about the submarine services of WW2. Basically I am looking for 2 kind of books.

1st I would like a general encyclopedia with all the different types, not just American and German but if possible also, British, Dutch, Australian, Italian, Japanese and much more.

2nd I would like a book that offers insight about daily life in the subservice, missions, diaries etc. Maybe something written by a commander after the war?

Could you give me some nice titles about this?

Cheers,
Tromp

[Sailor Steve]

1st I would like a general encyclopedia with all the different types, not just American and German but if possible also, British, Dutch, Australian, Italian, Japanese and much more.
For that there is only one book I can think of, Submarines of World War Two, by Erminio Bagnasco. You won't find in-depth details of the kind available in Conway's Anatomy of the Ship series or a book dedicated to a certain type, but you will find the main details and fates of every submarine that served during the war.
http://www.amazon.com/Submarines-World-War-Erminio-Bagnasco/dp/1854095323

If you do buy it through Amazon, be sure to use the 'Quick Links' tab at the upper right of this page to get there. That way Subsim will get a cut, at no extra cost to you.

As for the second, there are many such books. Unfortunately I don't have any of them, but others do, and I'm sure will get your fill before they're done. :sunny:

[Red October1984]

Got Roadside Picnic FINALLY!!!! :rock: :rock: :rock:

Going to hit it hard once I finish Doctor No.

[Red October1984]

2nd I would like a book that offers insight about daily life in the subservice, missions, diaries etc. Maybe something written by a commander after the war?

I found this (my review... :up: ) War in The Boats: My WW2 Submarine Battles (http://www.subsim.com/books/War_boats.htm) to be excellent.

[ikalugin]

Got Roadside Picnic FINALLY!!!! :rock: :rock: :rock:

Going to hit it hard once I finish Doctor No.
Read Prisoners of Power as well.

[Red October1984]

Read Prisoners of Power as well.

Will add to the list.

I have to track down Hard to be a God too... :hmmm:

[ikalugin]

Yes, that is another work of theirs that I enjoy.

[Sailor Steve]

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/StrangeBiography_zps4cf374aa.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/StrangeBiography_zps4cf374aa.jpg.html)

[Subnuts]

My copy of Norman Friedman's Fighting The Great War At Sea came in today. Got a brand new copy from a seller on Amazon for $38 (the book retails for $85!). I've only flipped through it, but it looks...intimidating. It's actually 416 pages (not the 320 that Amazon and the USNI are insisting), the pages are crammed with text, and it doesn't seem to have anywhere near as many photos and diagrams as the other Friedman titles I've read.

Well, here goes nothing. I'll be happy if it's at least more coherent than British Cruisers of the Victorian Era.

[Eichhörnchen]

Hello sailors,1st I would like a general encyclopedia with all the different types, not just American and German but if possible also, British, Dutch, Australian, Italian, Japanese and much more.Tromp

"Submarines Of The World" (Pocket Guide) by Robert Jackson is a very useful book when trying to hold your own in the "Who/What/Where" thread. It features "300 of the World's best submarines" (all nations) and is not expensive.

ISBN no. 978-1-84013-979-2

[Jimbuna]

http://s10.postimg.org/hocvfp3sp/Untitled.jpg (http://postimage.org/)

[Sepp von Ch.]

My copy of U-Boat 1936-1945 about type VII (Owners' Workshop Manual)

http://www.amazon.com/U-Boat-1906-onwards-all-models/dp/0857334042/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415558334&sr=8-1&keywords=U-Boat+Manual

[Subnuts]

My copy of U-Boat 1936-1945 about type VII (Owners' Workshop Manual)

http://www.amazon.com/U-Boat-1906-onwards-all-models/dp/0857334042/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415558334&sr=8-1&keywords=U-Boat+Manual

You have my sympathies.

[Jimbuna]

You have my sympathies.

Somehow I knew that was coming :)

[Otto Harkaman]

Lately I've gotten totally fascinated in the relation between breaking the Enigma code and the Battle of the Atlantic.

http://bks2.books.google.com/books?id=OmRrpwAACAAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&imgtk=AFLRE72kPJ75M7dKNF44_NzQwSQumVldryTSA4WLB-HbGoiVhCnGGhK7mGkNt2Q9UHCXFRi7DZyb4KUKrEM1wMN71ZkS khynVRN3icgmIZrs2zkAQWSnh1GmN73qmF1aTfz7uWhoEfCu

http://bks7.books.google.com/books?id=uK44AgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&imgtk=AFLRE71S8lz0FyCdhI_iqHAPVV4aQ7P8NF4f6nuFvP_-wl3tRGKI54biVF1lKOXYo-SYnjIkpUwRS1qNqXf-T1pgNBEB4VLaGR-wSKMgQPcKcFcLYU87cHutnFtDkTVzNS4YC717Pfnj

[STEED]

Started re-reading again..
In the Bunker with Hitler by Berd Freytag Von Loinghoven

[kranz]

Started re-reading again..
In the Bunker with Hitler by Berd Freytag Von Loinghoven
<spoiler>
someone dies at the end.
</spoiler>

[Red October1984]

Finished Roadside Picnic.

11/10....absolutely loved it. :rock: :rock:

[Jimbuna]

http://s27.postimg.org/a2hibjy9f/Untitled.jpg (http://postimage.org/)

[ninja turtle]

http://cdn03.usni.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/slideshows_panel_large/9781848321182_U-Boat%20Attack%20Logs.jpg

This arrived in the post this morning (early Christmas present from my daughter). A little light reading me thinks.

:salute:

[kranz]

got my order in the morning:
Norman Davies - Uprising '44.
Guido Knopp - Wehrmacht.
Paul Carell - Scorched Earth.
:arrgh!:

[Jimbuna]

http://cdn03.usni.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/slideshows_panel_large/9781848321182_U-Boat%20Attack%20Logs.jpg

This arrived in the post this morning (early Christmas present from my daughter). A little light reading me thinks.

:salute:

Very nice, I've a couple of similar books but would love one covering the WWI era.

[Otto Harkaman]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51NBHLzyreL.jpg

[STEED]

Re-reading the classic..

The Last 100 Days

John Toland

[Otto Harkaman]

http://pixhst.com/avaxhome/e4/44/003144e4.jpeg

Torpedo: The Complete History of the World's Most Revolutionary Weapon by Roger Branfill-Cook
English | August 15, 2014 | ISBN: 1591141931 | 256 pages

The torpedo was the greatest single game-changer in the history of naval warfare. For the first time it allowed any small, cheap torpedo-firing vessel - and by extension a small, minor navy - to threaten the largest and most powerful warships afloat. The traditional concept of seapower, based on huge fleets of expensive capital ships, required radical rethinking.

It had long been understood that the most effective way of sinking a ship is to make a hole below the waterline, but centuries of experiments had failed to produce an effective method of achieving this. After many false starts and developmental cul-de-sacs, the answer proved to be the 'locomotive' or self-propelled torpedo, which became a practical proposition in the late nineteenth century. This book is a broad-ranging international history of the weapon, tracing not only its origins and technical progress down to the present day, but also its massive impact on all subsequent naval wars.


Torpedo is the first dedicated study of this highly significant subject for over thirty years, a period in which much new information has come to light and the capabilities of the weapon itself have improved beyond recognition. Because of the crucial importance of the torpedo in naval history, this is a book no enthusiast or historian can afford to miss.

[tmccarthy]

The story of Destroyer Escort USS England

http://imageshack.com/a/img538/7766/6NmTOl.jpg

[Jimbuna]

http://i.imgur.com/AiXr6lZ.jpg

[TorpX]

I recently finished:

Nothing Friendly in the Vicinity, by Claude C. Conner.
This is about the author's patrols on the USS Guardfish, and goes into a lot of detail about the sinking of the USS Extractor, which was accidently torpedoed by Guardfish.

and



Typhoon of Steel, by James H. Belote and William M. Belote.
This is about the Okinawa campaign. The main focus is on the land fighting, but there are also chapters on the kamikaze attacks, and the sad, final voyage of the Yamato.

[Jimbuna]

http://i.imgur.com/ja0foRJ.jpg

[TorpX]

Reading The Luck of the Draw, by Captain C. Kenneth Ruiz, USN (Ret.).

The author was in the Silent Service, but his first duty was on the cruiser USS Vincennes in the Guadalcanal campaign.

Also, rereading Washington's Crossing, by David Hackett Fischer.

I was in the mood to read this one over Christmas; seems very appropriate these days. I can't recommend this too highly.

[Aktungbby]

Reading Why Homer Matters; all about history's most famous amphibious operation.:D

[Otto Harkaman]

Ordered a paperback from Amazon a month or so ago called "Very Special Intelligence" by Patrick Beesly.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51buc0qnXsL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

I am finally just starting into this book. Its dry but very interesting, more fact over prose.

Operational Intelligence Centre was the nerve centre of British naval operations during World War II. Patrick Beesly served there from 1940 to 1945 and describes how intelligence was gathered and how it was used to defeat Hitler and his admirals.

[jacobston]

I am currently reading the Foxes of the Desert, which was given to me by my grandfather. Apart from El-Alamein and Malta (which I read about extensively) I did't know much about the Mediterranean theater, so this is quite interesting to me.

http://www.scritub.com/files/limba/engleza/books/607_poze/image002.gif

[Otto Harkaman]

Peter Padfield, "Dönitz: The Last Führer"
http://pixhst.com/avaxhome/02/ea/002cea02_medium.jpeg

Dönitz and the Wolf Packs by Bernard Edwards
http://pixhst.com/avaxhome/4d/6b/00316b4d_medium.jpeg

[Otto Harkaman]

Still plugging away at Peter Padfield's book "Dönitz: The Last Führer." I wouldn't recommend it but its hard to find any books on Dönitz in print.

[STEED]

Reading the new one from Osprey Publishing Essential Histories series.

Russia's Wars in Chechnya 1994-2009

Picked up for under a fiver! :)

[STEED]

Moved on to my next book now..

THE RZHEV SLAUGHTERHOUSE
THE RED ARMY'S FORGOTTEN 15-MONTH CAMPAIGN AGAINST ARMY GROUP CENTER, 1942-1943

By Svetlana Gerasimova

This was known as the meat grinder by the Russians.

[TorpX]

I just started:

NEPTUNE'S INFERNO , by James D. Hornfischer.

It covers the US Navy's Guadalcanal campaign. I've been kind of excited about it.


I also bought:

US DESTROYER OPERATIONS IN WWII , by Theodore Roscoe.

It will be a nice companion to his work on sub ops.

I ordered these, and some others through Amazon just in time to beat the new Illinois tax law that went into effect Feb. 1. The greedy bastards in this state always want more.

[banryu79]

A week ago I started reading: "Ideology of death. Why the Holocaust happened in Germany" by John Weiss.

This book is amazing, the analysis it contains and the wealth of information it supplies is huge, very well organized and written.
A total buy for me. I strongly raccomend it to anybody intrested with the topic it address.

[Dammit_Carl!]

I'm rounding the corner with John Toland's The Rising Sun and starting on another book about kamikazes whose name escapes me at this point (but I almost swear that I've bought it and read it before at some point).

p.s. Came across a nifty book detailing merchant marine losses during WW2 - it lists specific ships, where they were sunk and how and so on. May get it to just have it, if that makes any sense.

[Jimbuna]

This is one of my reference books on British ship losses.

http://i.imgur.com/TtGDcEz.jpg

[Sailor Steve]

May get it to just have it, if that makes any sense.
Pretty much all of my naval and aviation books fall into that category, so it makes perfect sense to me. :sunny:

[TorpX]

p.s. Came across a nifty book detailing merchant marine losses during WW2 - it lists specific ships, where they were sunk and how and so on. May get it to just have it, if that makes any sense.

Oh, I understand completely. :yep:

[Subnuts]

http://i58.tinypic.com/dmp8d5.jpg

Finally getting around to reading this after buying it as a Christmas gift for myself. Lots of detail, maps, rare photographs, wartime reports, plans and diagrams, and descriptions of damage...but the actual operational histories of the ships are really kind of tedious to read. Lots of "Seydlitz left Schillig Roads at 10:45, traveled to Grid Square 182, performed gunnery evolutions with 1AG, returned at 14:45 the next morning and anchored at buoy 5B." I paraphrase, of course, but there is such a thing as too much detail.

[Subnuts]

I actually just finished reading this one today.
http://i57.tinypic.com/2jevlnn.jpg

Genuinely surprised about this one. Haynes' books have been a mixed bag recently, and I get the impression they didn't really care about them anymore. This one is actually a pretty well-rounded look at the Merlin, very informative and nicely illustrated.

I wrote a brief review of it for Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3CR3PWSVYJ84E/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0857337580&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=283155&store=books

[Subnuts]

http://i60.tinypic.com/23ma6o8.jpg
I'm not going to ask why the seller only wanted $12 for a book that retails for £50, but I got a hell of a steal on this book this week on Amazon. A quick flip through was promising, and the maps look very clear and nicely detailed. I'm always bitching about the lack of, or poor quality of, maps in most WWII naval histories, and this book looks to be a godsend.

[Jimbuna]

You got a real steal there :sunny:

I'm holding back on ordering that book because the sister book is due for release at the end of March and I intend ordering them both together.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Great-War-Sea-1914-1919/dp/184832183X/ref=zg_bsnr_772016_22

http://i.imgur.com/41ZtM6l.jpg

[Harvs]

great book so far.

[Subnuts]

Had more of a chance to flip through War At Sea today. This is definitely the book I've wanted for years. The maps are clear, detailed, easy to read, cleanly rendered, and all are in full color. It doesn't just cover the "major" battles, either. I'm seeing plenty of maps showing minor amphibious operations, German auxiliary cruiser voyages, action in the Black Sea and Baltic, etc.

Can't wait for the WWI atlas, but Amazon is asking $50 for the Naval Institute Press edition, and $36 for the Seaforth edition. Amazon US always has the Seaforth editions available for pre-order before they're published, and never gets them in stock when they're released. Sigh...:nope:

[mapuc]

Right now I'm listerning to Mike Duncan's History of Rome(thank to Dowly)

Markus

[HunterICX]

Having just finished reading Larry Niven's Ringworld which I must say is a very good read and am looking forward for the sequels and pre-quels .

but first I sink my teeth into this
http://i.imgur.com/QOC1AQi.jpg?1

[Sailor Steve]

Having just finished reading Larry Niven's Ringworld which I must say is a very good read and am looking forward for the sequels and pre-quels .
I have pretty much everything Niven wrote in the '70s and '80s. Most of it is short-story collections, and all of it is good. So good I find it hard to recommend one group over another.

[swellfella]

...the same reason I like Das Boot so much...an honest description of life aboard the boats where long periods of drudgery and filth are broken by bursts of intense fear and horror...

Das Boot by Lothar-Günther Buchheim (Audiobook)

Just finished a second listening of Das Boot audiobook which I found as gut-wrenching, riveting, and claustrophobic as the film. The reader, with his lightly German-accented-English makes you forget he is reciting as he draws you in as the newspaperman on board, reporting the "true facts" of life on a U-boot during WW2. Like the best of its ilk, it includes all we saw in the movie (sound effects, music, etc.), and much much more, yet without detracting from the over-all impression garnered from seeing it played out on celluloid, which is not often the case, sadly, with many a book transferred to the screen.

Right off the bat, describing the opening scene with the skipper, the chief, and the newsman, it is readily apparent why Wolfgang Petersen choose to present this on film; the book reads with such vivid images that you can almost touch, every description, every scene, even the technical aspects of operating a sub underday in war time with all that entails, your stomach turns, tightens as bulbs pops, and pipes burst during a particularly nasty depth charge...

Even if you're not particularly into the book thing, bound or on tape, I think it would well be worth the effort to give it a shot.

Again, let me say, as a lover of all things submarine, this is truly one of the most satisfying, rewarding experiences I've had as a sub-buff.

[TorpX]

I recently finished:

HITLER'S U-BOAT WAR by Clay Blair.



And am now on:

FIND 'EM, CHASE 'EM, SINK 'EM by Mike Ostlund.



I feel like I know everything there is to know about the Atlantic U-boat campaign. Blair is thorough. He paints a very different picture of the campaign compared to Gannon, and backs up what he says with hard numbers. An excellent book (2 volumes, actually), in all respects.

[tmccarthy]

http://imageshack.com/a/img673/6203/vhV6yH.jpg

"Tin Can Man" by E.J. Jernigan.

A very insightful look at the life of US Navy sailors and what it was like to serve on a Destroyer in the Pacific during WW2.

[Dowly]

Picked up the (chronologically) first The Witcher book, Last Wish (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Wish_%28book%29). Quite a good read so far. :yep:

[Sailor Steve]

World Mythology, edited by Doctor Roy Willis, with sections by 18 different professors. I seem to be in the habit of reading reference books straight through, which takes months since I only read one chapter per night. This one is pretty entertaining so far, and covers pretty much every belief system there is.

[Mr Quatro]

http://news.usni.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/NavRead-1.test-deck-5.15-300_250.jpg

An ad on the side of USNI news: http://news.usni.org/2015/06/16/first-public-emals-test-delayed-due-to-communication-type-issues-among-components?utm_source=USNI+News&utm_campaign=63dcd99be3-USNI_NEWS_DAILY&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0dd4a1450b-63dcd99be3-230436329&mc_cid=63dcd99be3&mc_eid=02aae12459

[HunterICX]

but first I sink my teeth into this
*To End All Wars: Story of loyalty and rebellion 1914-1918*

And what a read it was :up:
It pretty much delves quite into the internal turmoil within the empire between the anti and pro war sides. It really and ofcourse thanks to hindsight made me question the decision the British Empire took during the war on it's own population and voices who where especially against the war. How it was looked at by some notable figures and how some of the notable changed or held on to their believes.

A subject I never really sought after but am really glad to have red on it as I stumbled upon this book.

[HunterICX]

And to stick around in WW1, I'm currently reading:
http://i.imgur.com/ZPity4B.jpg

[griffin]

red storm off course in hard back form . fone on ebay for £2.00 lol

[STEED]

Picked up a nice cheap bargain from the Osprey campaign series.

The Caucasus 1942–43
Kleist’s race for oil

Campaign 281

Good read, makes a change read about this as the Caucasus part of the operation is so over shadowed by Stalingrad.

[Eisenwurst]

http://imageshack.com/a/img537/1790/wJ6QZP.png Not a Naval book. But a much praised account of the Indochina war following WW2 till the Armistice in the early '50s.

Good photos and maps and excellent narrative of a period almost forgotten.

I read it in the 70s in one day and night - just couldn't put it down.

And am currently rereading it.

Here's a link for some reviews for it:-

www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/1844153185/ref=cm_cr (http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/1844153185/ref=cm_cr).

[Subnuts]

I currently have three books making their way on the slow boat from the UK.

http://i61.tinypic.com/14b40g0.jpg

http://i60.tinypic.com/sgojgp.jpg

http://i58.tinypic.com/mtxvg1.jpg

In other news, I'm down to about $10 in my monthly book budget! :har:

[Sailor Steve]

I've had The First Destroyers for years. A lot of good detail. An excellent companion piece is Friedman's British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War.

[Onkel Neal]

Nicholas and Alexandra

One of my favorite books. Very tragic.

[Aktungbby]

HAS anyone else read both Dreadnought and Castles of Steel? A serious one-two punch on the sea war of WWIhttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/35/Dreadnought_cover1.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ad/Castles_of_Steel_Cover1.jpg/220px-Castles_of_Steel_Cover1.jpg (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Castles_of_Steel_Cover1.jpg)

[Subnuts]

Just finished reading French Destroyers the other day. A very interesting book, with lots of interesting information, detailed plans, and many excellent photographs. I wrote a brief review of it you can read on Amazon if you're interested: https://www.amazon.com/review/R2WO5JYWLQ8BFA/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

[Sung]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51LNZxx-p3L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-v3-big,TopRight,0,-55_SX324_SY324_PIkin4,BottomRight,1,22_AA346_SH20_ OU03_.jpg

on kindle.

[hocking]

Just finishing up "Turning the Tide: How a small band of allied sailors defeated the U-boats and won the battle of the atlantic" by Ed Offley:

http://www.amazon.com/Turning-Tide-Sailors-Defeated-Atlantic-ebook/dp/B007TUY0TQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1440210962&sr=8-2&keywords=turning+the+tide

Very interesting details about two east-bound convoys (HX229 and SC122) that were hit hard in March, 1943, followed up by one west-bound convoy (ONS5) that was also hit hard by over 40 Uboats in May, 1943. The difference being that the escorts with ONS5 were eventually able to sink several Uboats. If you are a sub fan this book is a must read as it tells the story of the Battle of the Atlantic through the perspective of the merchant marine and British-American-Canadian convoy system. Many details about how these convoys were handled, and the escort groups that were responsible for protecting them, are covered in great detail.

This book is not an overall history of the Battle of the Atlantic. It is very focused on the convoys mentioned above and covers specific events that happened to these convoys. It gives some background at the beginning, and ends with details about how the Battle of the Atlantic was eventually won.

It would be great to have a PC game where you move up through the ranks of escort commanders in the atlantic. What an action packed game it would be. It would be just as good as Silent Hunter III if not better. First you take command of a single Corvette, then move up to command a larger WWI destroyer, then on to a modern WWII destoyer, and finally take command of an entire escort group responsible for escorting convoys across the atlantic. You would have different types of depth charges to employ, Hedge Hogs, radar, asdic, passive listening sonar, radio communication, convoy management system, zig-zagging course corrections, wolve pack attacks, atlantic weather in a destroyer, and much more. I can't believe this hasn't been done.

[Subnuts]

I bought a pristine hardcover copy of volume 1 of "Hitler's U-Boat War" at Savers today for $2.99. Now to just squeeze it into my busy reading schedule...:hmmm:

[TorpX]

I bought a pristine hardcover copy of volume 1 of "Hitler's U-Boat War" at Savers today for $2.99. Now to just squeeze it into my busy reading schedule...:hmmm:

I take it you couldn't get vol. 2.

I hate when you find part of a set of good books; who would split them up like that?

[Subnuts]

Well, there are quite a few copies of volume two available used on amazon for a decent price, so I'm not going to complain too much.

What is odd is that volume one is available on kindle, but volume two isn't. :hmmm:

[Jimbuna]

Well, there are quite a few copies of volume two available used on amazon for a decent price, so I'm not going to complain too much.

What is odd is that volume one is available on kindle, but volume two isn't. :hmmm:

$14.90 at Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-U-Boat-War-Hunted-1942-45-ebook/dp/B00713DNPS

[Subnuts]

Just finished reading Haynes' newest "workshop manual" on the Chinook, and gotta say...kinda disappointed. Haynes' books this year have been a serious improvement over last years', but this one read like an overgrown recruiting pamphlet. My review:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1TM47LNC68HKM/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0857334018

After a disappointing 2014, Haynes' "Owners' Workshop Manual" series has shown a marked improvement in quality in 2015. That said, this is probably the first Haynes book to disappoint me this year. As a child, flights of CH-47s used to fly over my house on a weekly basis, often so low they'd rattle every window in the building. I ended up with a sort of sentimental attachment to these helicopters, so when I found that Haynes was going to be publishing a volume on the British version of the Chinook, I was thrilled.

The result is a bit of a mixed bag. There are plenty of beautiful color photographs of the Chinook in action, the accounts from Chinook pilots and crew are frequently fascinating, and there's a pretty substantial chunk of useful technical information contained within. Unfortunately, it's all wrapped in a package that reeks of manufacturer's publicity and RAF recruiting materials. We're reminded again and again about how versatile, maneuverable, and survivable the Chinook is, how brave and well-trained their crews are, and how vital they are to the British military. I'm sure this is true and all, but I buy these books to learn about the inner workings of these vehicles, not to be told how great and wonderful they are. "Warts And All" this ain't! Not surprisingly, this is an officially licensed RAF product. I've purchased three Haynes manuals that were officially licensed Royal Navy products, and they were nowhere near as hamfisted as this one.

Last year's Haynes "manual" on the Westland Sea King was excellent, but the amount of "sweetening" crammed into this manual brings it down a notch or two. It's stunning on a visual level, but the text is so full of fluff I found myself gritting my teeth in places. I'd still recommend buying it if you're a hardcore Chinook fan, but you might want to focus on the photos and diagrams, and just skim over the text.

[TorpX]

I just finished:

THE CRISIS OF ROME
by Gareth C. Sampson


and

MODERN EXTERIOR BALLISTICS
by Robert L. McCoy

The first focuses heavily on Gaius Marius. I am somewhat disappointed by how little is really known for sure about ancient history.


The second has a lot of complicated math, of course. I wish I could follow it completely.



Also, just started:

U.S. DESTROYER OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II
by Theodore Roscoe

[Subnuts]

Not naval related in any way (although it has lots of SPACEships in it...) but I've been spending a lot of time with my brand new copy of The Making of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey this last week. The cheap single-volume edition, not the $1,000 collector's edition, since I have to feed, bathe, and clothe myself every now and then. It's an absolutely beautiful book, but I want to smack the guy who thought it was a good idea to have portraits of people falling right through the binding. Seriously, guys? :/\\!!

Anyway, I wrote a pretty lengthy review of the book with photos if anyone's curious: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1ZDIMPV4PXPZE/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=3836559544&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=283155&store=books

[Antibiotic]

" The temple" by Howard P Lovecraft

The story of a submarine crew that found a strange thing.
Very interesting

[Aktungbby]

Antibiotic!:Kaleun_Salute:After a four year silent run...a good read brings you to the surface!:up:

[STEED]

Fiction

Not reading but listening to Big Finish Productions audio books and at long last a follow up to the BBC series The Omega Factor. Its been called the British X-Files without the aliens and ufo's, more to do with mind control and the sinister organization lurking in the background Omega. The BBC TV series lasted only ten episodes and ended on a lot of unanswered questions, Louise (Leela of Dr Who fame) Jameson reprises her role as Dr Anne Reynolds 30 years on from the BBC series and now head of Dept 7 and Omega is back! :)

Four stories this year bit of a wait as the next release is next year.

[tmccarthy]

This is interesting. Available for download for $2.99.

"Current Doctrine: Submarines" by Commander Submarine Force Pacific Fleet

http://imageshack.com/a/img673/1232/3KyCfX.jpg

[Subnuts]

I just finished Haynes' new Battle of Britain "RAF Operations Manual." It's actually quite an interesting book, more of a serious military history than a novelty title as you might expect from the cover. It's more about RAF command and control, and some of the ancillary units that participated in the battle, than on individual exploits. However, it commits the cardinal sin of repeatedly referring to the Bf 109 as the "ME 109." :/\\!!

Review, if you're interested: http://www.amazon.com/review/R19WE2HAAWORLJ/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0857335081

[Subnuts]

I haven't gotten it yet, but I ordered a copy of the new "Anatomy of the Ship" book on the Mary Rose from the UK a couple days back. It's the first new book in the Anatomy of the Ship series in 10 years, and I've always loved those books. Too bad the books on the Bismarck and Constitution published in 2005 were pretty weak. Here's hoping this one doesn't suck! :up:

[Subnuts]

Got a chance to spend some time with the new "Anatomy of the Ship" book on the Mary Rose. It's, well...fairly good. Not as exceptionally detailed as some of series' classics, but better than some of the weaker ones. Wish it had been published as a hardcover, though. Wrote a review for Amazon.com, if anyone's interested:

https://www.amazon.com/review/R2PVC35XSADMW7/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

[Sailor Steve]

KEKs and Fokkerstaffels: The Early German Fighter Units in 1915-1916, by Johan Ryheul, Foothill Media 2014.

Mr. Ryheul initially set out to write an article on KEK Vaux. What he has ended up with is a book chronicling all of the earliest German fighter units. He includes stories of the men and planes involved, including many of the lesser-known pilots from both sides. For every shoot-down he gives the names of the victims and their fates - wounded, killed, captured. Almost every page has at least one photograph, not only the German pilots involved but also the victims and often the wrecks. Also there are maps showing the location of every aerodrome and directions for finding them.

Altogether a great book if you're interested in the subject and curious about the first German fighters. It's a welcome addition to my library.

[STEED]

Just started Vol.3 in David Stahel outstanding series and looking forward to buying Vol.4 in paper back next year.

Operation Typhoon - Hitler's March On Moscow, October 1941

This Volume focuses on the opening stages of Typhoon and the battles of Viaz'ma and Briansk, Oct to early Nov.

[tmccarthy]

Well written and full of first hand accounts of life serving on an S class sub. Written by wife and officer who served on the S-39.

http://imageshack.com/a/img910/6074/N5cKPx.jpg

[Sailor Steve]

Just started The Line Of Battle, volume 4 of Conway's History Of The Ship series.

[Subnuts]

I recently finished up the Haynes "Workshop Manual" (did I mention I love this series?) on the Challenger 1 Main Battle Tank. I posted a brief review on Amazon.com if anyone's interested.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R3UYYXKT334XN8/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0857338153

Although I'm not exactly what you'd call a "treadhead," I have a bit of an on-off interest in tanks, and have always been fascinated by their inner workings. This "workshop manual" is written by a former Challenger tank commander, and is sourced heavily from the archives of the Tank Museum in Bovington, England. It delivers a fairly (but not overwhelmingly) detailed look at the tank's development, automotive components, internal layout, weapons and targeting systems, the role of the crew, service history, and modifications.

As a relative tank newbie, I found that this book did a tremendously good job at depicting Challenger I's cramped internal arrangements and how everything fits together in relationship with each other. I'm not a claustrophobic person, but I found myself cringing studying the stowage plans and photographs of the interior. There are dozens of excellent diagrams reproduced from the original crew manuals, along with many color "in action" photographs. As you'd expect from a Haynes title, there's some excellent "how it works" material, including how to start the engine from cold, how to remove a track link, and how to engage an enemy tank.

This book, unfortunately, suffers somewhat from the fact that the Royal Jordanian Army still operates several hundred Challenger 1s, and certain aspects of it's design is still classified. There's plenty of material on the tank's suspension and transmission, but very little about the Rolls Royce CV12 engine. There's an entire chapter devoted to the turret and weapon systems, but again, not much on the L11A5 main armament. Anyone expecting something as detailed on a mechanical level as Haynes' Tiger I and Churchill manuals might be a little disappointed.

Griping aside, this is another very fine, but not outstanding, addition to Haynes' Owners' Workshop Manual series. There's plenty of outstanding material here, including numerous first-hand accounts from Challenger crewmen, and a number of people involved in it's development. I also appreciated some of the dryly humorous "domestic" insights, like the gunner forgoing using his commander's legs as a backrest, or the importance of the Boiling Vessel (basically a portable stove), and the difficulties involved in stowing it. Hardcore tank buffs might be disappointed, but I found this "manual" rather fascinating.

[Aktungbby]

http://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/onix/cvr9781476727974/never-surrender-9781476727974_lg.jpg Just about halfway through this insightful tome mailed to me by an old college buddy...I had given him my copy of Dreadnought

[frankiekam]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ob9n2OVZL._SX332_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
Summary: U-864 secret mission cracked by British code-breakers. Hunted by UK sub. Sunk by UK sub. Discovered in 2003 of Norway leaking Mercury. Not yet raised. Cliff hanging stuff this read. Cor blimey.

[Sailor Steve]

I've finally managed to work my through The Line Of Battle, along with several light books about WW1 fighters. Now I'm taking a brief break with Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study In Scarlet, the original Sherlock Holmes book. I plan on watching the entire Jeremy Brett TV series with the new year, and reading the short stories at the same time, just to compare how faithful the shows really were.

[Buddahaid]

Faithful or not, they're really good.

[STEED]

I plan on watching the entire Jeremy Brett TV series with the new year

It's not complete steve two of the long stories not there and a percentage of the short stories in his 3rd and 4th installment are not there. I think it's more due to Jeremy Brett health he suffered from deep depression and other medical complications. when you watch him in the early stories full of energy and lack luster at the end. That aside Steve it is a great series well worth watching, I got the complete box set and watch it other year. Charles Grey is Mycroft holmes is brilliant, you will see two different actors at John Watson. I think you will enjoy it steve and Jeremy Brett is truely the best Sherlock Holmes.

[Sailor Steve]

It's not complete steve two of the long stories not there and a percentage of the short stories in his 3rd and 4th installment are not there.
I'm well aware of that. A Study In Scarlet was never filmed, and their version of The Sign Of Four changes the part where Watson meets his future wife, and in half of the short stories Holmes and Watson do not live together. Also His Last Bow, with an old Sherlock helping catch a spy in the First World War.

That aside Steve it is a great series well worth watching, I got the complete box set and watch it other year. I guess I worded my original post poorly. I've seen the entire series more than once. This is the first time in about twenty years.

Jeremy Brett is truely the best Sherlock Holmes.I heartily agree, though I am a huge fan of the new series Sherlock.

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

http://s6.postimg.org/c8x8utn0h/51_LVr_Kw_Vvt_L_SX319_BO1_204_203_200.jpg
Got it for Christmas and started reading it after I finished re-reading War in the Boats for the hundreth time. It's interesting and gives a good look into the mind of a Fleet Boat skipper. After this it's on to reading Thunder Below! or The Burma Campaign.

[Jimbuna]

One of my xmas pressies...

http://i.imgur.com/HpXRAO8.jpg

[Dowly]

My Christmas present:
http://i.imgur.com/457tBWS.jpg

Death's Division (Rus. Gibel Divizii) by Anatoli Gordijenko.

It is a partly novelized account of politruk Nikolai I. Klimov, who was stuck with the 18th Infantry Division inside the Lemetti 'motti' during the Winter War.

[Subnuts]

I recently finished reading this:
http://i65.tinypic.com/inhh5u.jpg

For a self-published book it's exceptionally good. Very lucid descriptions of how everything works, excellent photographs, and lots of detailed plans and diagrams. Just wish it had more about the actual missile...

I wrote a review for Amazon if anyone is interested:
https://www.amazon.com/review/RVTEZK84RWNQQ/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

[TorpX]

I read your review, and it does look very interesting. :hmmm:

How much technical detail about the performance of the missile is included? I am thinking of range, throw weight, thrust, accuracy, etc.

I bought a book about the V-2 some time ago, but was disappointed in how little technical information was given. The author devoted that book to the politics and development of the weapon.

[Subnuts]

The majority of the book actually describes a Titan II missile complex (silo, launch control center, access portal, and blast lock) and it's topside facilities. The chapter covering the missile is only 25 pages long, but has a number of interesting photographs and diagrams. There's a decent specification sheet in the back of the book giving the information you're looking for, along with the five-foot foldout blueprint I mentioned in the review.

I've heard that "Titan II: A History of a Cold War Missile Program" gives more details on the actual missile, but it is rather expensive.

[Sailor Steve]

Herodotus - The Histories. A new 2013 translation by Tom Holland. Widely regarded as the first actual history book, using and citing sources. Also acknowledged as being suspect in much of its factuality, the author himself said he only wrote down what he was told, so even he admitted it might not all be true.

Written over a twenty-year-or-more period, the final chapters are believed to have been published around 430 B.C. The Histories are the primary source on the Battle of Thermopylae (480 B.C.), including the story of the 300 Spartans.

I've only read bits and pieces of previous translations, which can be somewhat tedious. So far I've read the introduction and preface, and this version looks like it might be entertaining.

[CTU_Clay]

I keep coming back to reading:

1. "The U-Boat Wars" by Edwin P. Holt
2. "U-Boat: the secret menace" by David Mason

Real interesting stuff in these two books.

[Subnuts]

I recently finished "Ships for All Nations: John Brown & Company Clydebank 1847-1971." A very interesting book, although a little dry in places. Lots of wonderful vintage photographs, maps, and illustrations. I've written a more in-depth review at Amazon if anyone is interested: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1IN5QP8EZBC9S/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1848322674

I should point out that I saved about $10 by purchasing a "new/used" copy of the Seaforth edition through an Amazon seller in the UK, rather than the Naval Institute edition. It obviously took a bit longer to get here, but I'm a cheap bastard, so...:haha:

[Subnuts]

I recently finished reading the new Haynes "manual" for the HMS Mary Rose. Very interesting, lots of nice illustrations and photographs, but not really worth the $36.95 Amazon is asking right now. I bought a new copy from an Amazon seller in the UK for $19.

My review, if anyone's interested:
https://www.amazon.com/review/R2WHUIFE0VIJCM/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0857335111

[STEED]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ERTnQisfL._SX369_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

Arrived today in the post, paid £2.50 for it a more realistic price for a 80 page book. No way was I going to pay £11.99 and above! Start reading tonight some time. :)

[STEED]

^Just finished reading, good account and interesting as well. The Home Fleet reacted to the first torpedo hit was slow and after the next two fatal hits once again slow to react allowing Prien to escape.

The only upside for the Royal Navy was the fact HMS Royal Oak was now a second line ship and with good fortune Prien had not carried the raid out a week before where he would had a good choice of front line ships.

[Jimbuna]

http://i.imgur.com/PTQvbU3.jpg

[cdrsubron7]

http://i68.tinypic.com/11821zl.jpg

Just finishing this book about the USS Seawolf's exploits in the Pacific in the early days of WW II. I found it to be a great read. :yep: :yeah:

[HunterICX]

http://i.imgur.com/nzhJTcB.jpg

[Jimbuna]

^That is a great read Wim :up:

[Subnuts]

I've been slowing chipping away at my new copy of The Great War at Sea: A Naval Atlas 1914-1919. Pretty interesting so far, but it's not quite as good as it's earlier companion book on World War II. There are some weird errors (Russia is described as having 10 dreadnoughts in 1914 for some reason...) here and there, and some of the maps have important information falling into the binding. Still, it's pretty cool seeing a WWI naval reference that doesn't focus 90% on the North Sea. There's plenty here on the Baltic and Black Seas, the Dardanelles campaign, minelaying and minesweeping operations, German auxiliary cruiser cruises, and some lesser-known amphibious operations. There's even a map of the siege of Tsingtao, something I haven't been able to find anywhere else!

I bought a gently used copy of the Seaforth edition from a seller on Amazon for $30, which is a heck of a lot more reasonable than the $67 Amazon is currently asking for the Naval Institute edition.

[Hawk66]

Finished Reading "When Computers Went to Sea: The Digitization of the United States Navy "

http://i.imgur.com/QIyQoiQ.jpg

Naval computer history, focusing on the NTDS system. Very detailed and a good mix between discussing project management and technical details.

It's crazy what the guys did do in the 60's with their very limited hardware capabilities, supporting such a demanding usecase.

[Subnuts]

http://www.imagebam.com/image/e2bcc4481080595http://116.imagebam.com/download/VxlnOjo2h1DMzyWk3-edOQ/48109/481080595/81eet3mezgL.jpg
Just finished reading this book. More of a photography book than the kind of book you read cover to cover, but the photographs are excellent nonetheless.

Here's my review if anyone is interested:
https://www.amazon.com/review/R39O2SGO0PIB13/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm
Having been onboard the Charles W Morgan a number of times, and closely followed her restoration and 38th voyage, I'm quite pleased with how this book turned out. Its essentially what you'd expect from the title - a nice coffee table style history of the "Morgan" dominated by photographs. There's some text, but I imagine most readers could burn through it in two hours easily. Thankfully, the photographs, sourced from Mystic Seaport's massive archive, are crisply reproduced, large, and have useful captions. A large number were taken in the early 1900s in the final years of Yankee whaling, and depict life and work aboard, the ship in harbor and in refit, and portraits of the owners, captains, and their wives.

The ships post-retirement "career" and life as a museum exhibit occupy the final two thirds. There are some interesting photos of the ship as she appeared in two silent movies and in "Amistad," and her first 65 years at Mystic Seaport. The highlight of this book is definitely the final chapter, focusing on the 38th voyage carried out in 2014. The photographs in this section are simply wonderful, and it wasn't hard to imagine the sound of creaking wood, splashing waves, and wind whistling through the rigging. They're tremendously evocative, and probably the closest anyone will ever get to see a 19th century whaler "in action." If not for the modern clothing and safety harnesses worn by the crew, you'd think the photographer had taken a time machine back to mid 1800s.

A couple of caveats. The book is rather expensive for what it is. I got an excellent price on a gently used copy, but I'd probably only give this three stars if I'd paid the full $39.99 at the Seaport gift shop. The photographs are great, but the relative scarcity of text means there isn't much re-read value. That aside, this book is a nice memento on America's oldest surviving merchant ship, and a fine tribute to the exceptionally fine work carried out by the Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard and the team at Mystic Seaport.

[Jimbuna]

http://i.imgur.com/gZrTS8f.jpg

[HunterICX]

^That is a great read Wim :up:

Aye, it was indeed :yep:

Up next:
http://i.imgur.com/l2rZJ3F.jpg?1

[mako88sb]

A couple great books for anybody interested in the Apollo program. Unfortunately, both are out of print but you can get them for not to bad a price. A bit more for up here in Canada. It took me quite awhile to get the one on the LM for $80 Canadian. Usually went for a lot more then that. A lot of great reviews for them:

I've always been fascinated with the Lunar Module. The astronauts weren't to sure about it at first and I guess it does seem a bit ugly:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512185TCRGL._SX342_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


Pretty amazing just how complicated the design and construction of the capsule is. Doesn't really look like there's much to it but boy was I wrong.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CD6M5DGNL._SX325_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

[Subnuts]

Just finished reading the "Ocean Liners of the Past" book on the SS Normandie. It's a facsimile reprint of a souvenir issue of "The Shipbuilder and Marine Engine-Builder" devoted entirely to the ship. Jam packed with detailed technical descriptions and diagrams I haven't seen anywhere else...you just have to be really interested in the subject to read it cover to cover!

Here's my review:
http://www.amazon.com/review/RYDGSSISH2YXN/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0821204793

[Dowly]

Started reading 'Blood of Elves' today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_of_Elves

[Jimbuna]

Battle Atlas of the Falklands War 1982 by Land, Sea and Air

http://i.imgur.com/yivKscC.jpg

[Subnuts]

Just finished reading Haynes' newest "workshop manual" on the HMS Dreadnought, and it's terribly mediocre. They've done some pretty darn good naval titles in the past, but this one is too superficial to be a useful reference. Lots of excellent illustrations, and some interesting period documents, but they've tried to cram way too much into 156 pages. The sections on fire control, armor protection, and ship design and especially disappointing. It's better than their U-boat manual from 2014, but that's not saying a whole lot.

[NathanBrittles]

Thats an easy one.

''Business In Great Waters: The U-Boat Wars 1916-1945''. John Terraine, Pen & Sword Books, South Yorkshire, UK , 1989.

As a bit of a plug for Pen & Sword, I discovered some years ago that this was a rather decent literary clearinghouse for no end of military history from The RAF in North Africa, to the Somme, Midway and Trafalgar, and even accepts submissions from writers in this genre.

[Subnuts]

Should be getting my copy of this bad boy tomorrow:
http://i65.tinypic.com/8zmwx1.jpg

[Nukesub]

Just started reading "The Trident Deception" by Rick Campbell as part of FPSChazlys book club :salute:

And I just got to Chapter 12 in "Cold War Submarines: The Design and Construction of U.S. and Soviet Submarines" by Norman Polmar K.J. Moore. Great read!

[Sailor Steve]

The Oedipus Cycle: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone.

Three plays by Sophocles, translated into English by Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald, published in 1948.

[Tycho]

Finished "The Star Rover" by Jack London
Started "The Agony and the Ecstasy" by Irving Stone

[Subnuts]

Not reading any books cover to cover right now, but I've been spending some times with some excellent reference books I've purchased lately. Namely, Eberhard Rossler's The U-Boat: The Evolution and Technical History of German Submarines, John Campbell's Naval Weapons of World War Two, and Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905. Naval reference books from the 70s and 80s are the best. They're all jammed with detailed diagrams, specifications, and statistics, obscure historical details, rare photographs, and details of prototypes and paper designs. The sheer number of Type XXI offshoots and unbuilt close-cycle designs covered in The U-Boat, for example, is pretty mindblowing.

I'm not saying that good naval reference books aren't published any more (Seaforth has been getting on my good side these last couple years), but you can totally get lost in the classics.

[Sailor Steve]

The Tin Cravat, by Jack D. Hunter - the third and last book in the Bruno Stachel trilogy.

[Aktungbby]

The Oedipus Cycle: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone.

Three plays by Sophocles, translated into English by Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald, published in 1948.

Jeeze! All that'd give me a complex. :k_confused::O:

[Jimbuna]

Well, seeing as how Jimmy Five Bellies is a neighbour of mine, I thought it time to find out just how many of his stories are true.

http://i.imgur.com/7sg1Ppj.jpg

[Sailor Steve]

Knight of Germany: Oswald Boelcke, German Ace.

The letters of Oswald Boelcke to his parents, from 1911 to 1916, compiled, edited, and with commentary by Professor Johannes Werner, English translation by Claude W. Sykes, 2009 edition

[ValoWay]

'Lost Victories - Erich von Manstein'

Info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verlorene_Siege

pdf:
http://server2.docfoc.com/uploads/Z2015/12/02/0k5bdBlsx0/edeaf967cdc81a671acbb8ec43c4727d.pdf

'Infanterie Greift An - Erwin Rommel'

info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infanterie_Greift_An

pdf:
http://www.thechristianidentityforum.net/downloads/Attacks.pdf

[Dowly]

Been reading the The Cambridge Ancient History (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cambridge_Ancient_History) Vol. 7.2 (The Rise of Rome to 220 B.C.)

It covers a good number of subjects by various writers; Political, religious, administrative etc.

[Subnuts]

Been taking a bit of a break from naval history lately. Almost finished with "In The Company of Crows and Ravens" by John Marzluff, and I've just started on Haynes' RAF V-Force "Operations Manual." I should be getting my copy of Norman Friedman's newest table-shaker "Fighters Over the Fleet" today.

Did I mention I read a lot? :hmmm:

[Sailor Steve]

The Unauthorized Version: Truth and Fiction in the Bible, by Robin Lane Fox.

[tmccarthy]

Countdown to Pearl Harbor: The Twelve Days to the Attack
by Steve Twomey

http://imageshack.com/a/img923/3199/cOcml0.jpg

[Subnuts]

Just finished Norman Friedman's Fighters over the Fleet. Wrote a review for Amazon if anyone's curious.
https://www.amazon.com/review/R3NNA6F7EZSYHY/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

[Sailor Steve]

Just starting Our Bones Are Scattered: The Cawnpore Massacres and the Indian Mutiny of 1857, by Andrew Ward.

It took me a month to finish the last book. This one may take even longer.

[Catfish]

Just read »Children of time« by Adrian Tchaikovsky. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25499718-children-of-time
When you are into science fiction, this one is a must. Best book i read for a long time. The title does not do the book justice at all though.
I'll treat certain creatures with more respect after reading that :03::yep:

[Delanski]

Currently reading 'Pride Runs Deep' by R. Cameron Cooke, on Chapter 6 so far. This book seriously got off on a really good start and I can't wait to see what's next on the page. Really enjoying it.

This topic has some great suggestions, I'm going have to look up 'Iron Coffins' for my next read.

[STEED]

Started reading my first book of the year today..

LAST LAURELS

THE GERMAN DEFENCE OF UPPER SILESIA JANUARY-MAY 1945

By Georg Gunter

[Torvald Von Mansee]

I'm reading Castles of Steel, by Robert K. Massie. It's about the British vs German navies during WW1. I have some trouble putting it down.

[Jimbuna]

I have some trouble putting it down.

Not surprising, it is a very good read indeed :yep:

[Aktungbby]

I'm reading Castles of Steel, by Robert K. Massie. It's about the British vs German navies during WW1. I have some trouble putting it down.

Not surprising, it is a very good read indeed :yep:

INDEED! not to B read alone; https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/35/Dreadnought_cover1.jpg/200px-Dreadnought_cover1.jpg (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dreadnought_cover1.jpg)is essentially vol I of the two part Massie history of the whole mess....

[Subnuts]

I just finished reading the most recent edition of Ewan Corlett's The Iron Ship: The Story of Brunel's SS Great Britain a couple days ago. I wrote a review on Amazon if anyone's interested in reading it: https://www.amazon.com/review/RU7TGQBVS9BAE/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0952632330

[Aktungbby]

^ I liked your review of the Sopwith Camel book too.:salute:

[Jimbuna]

The Alaska Cruise Handbook: A Mile-By-Mile Guide (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alaska-Cruise-Handbook-Mile-Mile/dp/0979491576/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1489406062&sr=8-4&keywords=alaska+cruise+books)

http://i.imgur.com/a8vaWR9.jpg

[Subnuts]

I just published my review of Jutland 1916: The Archaeology of a Naval Battlefield. Translation: there's a foot of snow on the ground, and have nothing better to do! :)

https://www.amazon.com/review/R22K7OYK4MA2GH/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

Although a library of books seems to have been written on Jutland, this appears to be the first serious one to focus mainly on the condition and exploration of the wrecks. The author is a marine archaeologist who's spent the last 15 years locating and studying the wrecks of 23 of the 25* ships sunk during the battle. Although "Jutland 1916" won't force people to totally reconsider their preconceived notions about the battle in the same way that "Shattered Sword" did with Midway, it nonetheless adds some interesting new wrinkles to the Jutland story.

The book is divided into three sections, covering the battlecruiser, fleet, and night actions. Each of the major (light cruiser and larger) ships receives a chapter of its own. Each describes the general history of the ship and the role it played in the battle, eyewitness and photographic records of its loss, and a study of the condition of the wreck. The destroyers are covered in a separate chapter at the end of each section, which are similar in format to the major warship chapters, but obviously not quite as detailed.

The highlight of this book are the sections focusing on the condition of the wrecks themselves. Along with many ROV and free-dive photographs, there are multibeam sonar scans of each wreck site, showing details as small as one meter across. Considering the horrible underwater visibility in the North Sea, these images frequently provide revelatory details. We finally get a good idea of the devastation wrought by a magazine explosion (almost nothing of "Queen Mary" exists forward of Q turret), the effect of 100 years on the bottom upon lightly-built destroyer hulls, and the extent of the illegal salvage carried out on many of the wrecks.

Unfortunately, this book suffers from occasional moments of stylistic excess. Some of the pages have maps or photographs splashed across the background, which can be distracting. The pages featuring ROV images are printed on glossy black paper, which *looks* nice, but is an absolute fingerprint magnet. Considering Dr. McCartney's maritime historian credentials, I'm kind of surprised at how much landlubber terminology snuck into here. Barbettes become "armoured turret sleeves," a boiler's water drum becomes a "water trough," a scupper becomes a "drain," and so on. No doubt only us hardcore naval history geeks will notice (or care) about this, but they stuck out to me.

Although it does have some minor issues, "Jutland 1916" is a pretty enjoyable work on the whole. The author assumes the reader has a better than average understanding of the battle going in, and I'd recommend studying a good set of maps first. Based on the evidence here, it would seem that a "do or die" point is approaching for the Jutland wrecks. Should they be protected as war graves, and what can be done to prevent illegal salvaging? What artifacts should be preserved before they completely disappear? Innes McCartney doesn't provide easy answers to these questions, but he does do an excellent job raising them.

*The wrecks of the Sparrowhawk and V4 had not been located when this book was published in the UK in May 2016.

[tmccarthy]

"Based on a True Story: A Memoir" by Norm MacDonald

http://imageshack.com/a/img922/2986/BKtWIT.jpg

[cookiemonste]

Just started reading the Judge Dredd comics and damn they are good.

And a random question: Could anybody recomend me a good book about the US submarine warfare in the pacific?

[tmccarthy]

Just started reading the Judge Dredd comics and damn they are good.

And a random question: Could anybody recomend me a good book about the US submarine warfare in the pacific?


The Luck of the Draw: The Memoir of a World War II Submariner: From Savo Island to the Silent Service by USN (Ret.) Captain C. Kenneth Ruiz


Thunder Below!: The USS *Barb* Revolutionizes Submarine Warfare in World War II by Eugene B. Fluckey

[tmccarthy]

Tin Can Titans: The Heroic Men and Ships of World War II's Most Decorated Navy Destroyer Squadron by John Wukovits

http://imageshack.com/a/img922/32/yOHenm.jpg

[tmccarthy]

America's First Clash with Iran: The Tanker War, 1987-88 by Lee Allen Zatarain

http://imageshack.com/a/img924/4404/c8L43d.jpg

[Subnuts]

Although I've been reading other books as well, I've been chipping away at this for almost two months now:
http://101.imagebam.com/download/zLyStPVF1nQHUx0dswfdyw/54787/547868778/517ZCutfE1L._SY408_BO1%2C204%2C203%2C200_.jpg

It's absolutely massive and in-depth, almost one million words in total, and has something like 3,000 photographs and almost 1,000 pieces of line art. Spent $100 for a signed copy shipped direct from the publisher, and I don't regret spending a penny. Still, it's an absolutely exhausting read, which explains why I'm taking a break about 4/5th of the way through volume two.

My amazon review, if anyone's curious:
https://www.amazon.com/review/R2W01X7QOILG9/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1580072496

[Jimbuna]

^ Now that looks rather tasty :sunny:

[Subnuts]

http://102.imagebam.com/download/3Fq7-9kFOO0NVUSPb3pefA/54907/549068699/51wmFzrtmUL.jpg
Not exactly the deepest book on the subject imaginable, but it has plenty of great photographs, and does a pretty good job covering the different eras of tank development equitably (1914-1939, WWII, and the Cold War each receive about the same number of pages). Also covers vehicles such as assault guns, armored cars, scout cars, counterinsurgency vehicles, etc. Also, some interesting "how it works" material in the back for us tank newbies. It even comes with two color prints (I got the M3A1 and StuG III). Not bad for $18!

[Subnuts]

My review of Tank I wrote for Amazon:

I keep saying I'm "not that interested" in tanks, but the more I study the subject, the more I find myself digging deeper into it. Being a fan of DK's books in general, I purchased this one out of curiosity and was pleasantly surprised. My copy came with prints of the M3A1 and StuG III, although I'm not sure if every copy comes with the same. For an $18 coffee table book, it's definitely a bit more in depth than you might expect.

Anyone who's purchased any of DK's other vehicle books (Train, Classic Car, Tractor, etc.) will find themselves in familiar territory. The photographs are mostly excellent, and the 15 "feature tank" spreads have some wonderfully detailed close-ups of interior and exterior features. As I've come to expect from the DK, the two and four-page spreads are attractively laid out. Although most tank references focus mainly on World War II, this book does an excellent job covering the main eras of tank development in an equitable fashion. World War I through 1939, World War II, and the Cold War to the present each receive about the same number of pages. Along with tanks, a surprisingly healthy chunk of this book is devoted to other kinds of armored vehicles, such as assault guns, armored cars, scout cars, and counterinsurgency vehicles. The majority of the vehicles come from the Bovington Tank Museum, so there's definitely a bit of a British bias here. Thankfully, there are plenty of vehicles from other nations, and some really obscure tanks, to balance things out. There's also an excellent reference section in the back, with explanations of different types of armor-piercing shells, suspension systems, engines, etc. work, and a handy glossary.

My main disappointment is how stingy most of the individual vehicle descriptions are. Except for the 15 "feature tanks," each receives a couple sentences, along with the year they entered service, country, weight, engine, and main armament. I understand that books like this are intended as "gateway drugs" to more serious study. Considering that tanks are trade-offs between mobility, firepower, and protection, it's odd to see nothing about maximum speed, range (on road and cross-country), or armor thickness. The text will occasionally mention that a tank had "poor mobility" or was "well armored," but there's a disappointing lack of statistical data.

Some moments of shallowness aside, this book is an excellent value for money, and should fascinate anyone with an interest in tanks. I'm not sure if it's really "definitive," but it's definitely more fun to browse through than the stodgy military references I usually prefer to study.

[Sailor Steve]

The Heyday of Sail - volume 4 in Conway's History of the Ship series.
Volume 1 was about the development of the first boats into ships, ending with the Viking Longships.
Volume 2 covered the Mediterranean Galley, from the ancient Phoenicians all the way to the gun-armed Galleasses of the Renaissance.
Volume 3 talked about the development of the merchant/warship, from the British Cog through the Spanish Caravel and Galleon.
Volume 4 covers the development of the Galleon into the sailing warships of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Volume 5 gives the same treatment to the sailing merchant, from 1650 through 1830. As always, individual articles are written by the leading experts in the field, with plenty of charts, graphs, period drawings and paintings. It compares the British and Dutch East Indiamen, the Dutch Fluyt and the development of Mediterranean shipping during the period.

It is lacking in the area of Asian shipping at the time. The authors are aware of this and apologize in advance for not having included this important aspect of ship development.

That aside, the book is a fine follow-on to the first four volumes, and to someone like me well worth reading. If you're looking for sea stories or exciting adventure, skip it. These are basically good reference volumes and valued for explaining what different ship-builders and shipping companies were thinking at the time, and how this affected where and how ships were built and used during the period of the sailing merchant ship.

[Aktungbby]

It is lacking in the area of Asian shipping at the time. The authors are aware of this and apologize in advance for not having included this important aspect of ship development.


Sounds like interesting junk to me!:O: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_(ship (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_(ship))

[Subnuts]

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51C0PLodqSL.jpg
Spent some time with the new "Anatomy of the Ship" book on the Yamato and Musashi (okay, so technically it's a revised edition), and wrote a "brief" (okay, for me!) review of the book for Amazon.

When it was first published in 1988, the "Anatomy of the Ship" entry on the battleship 'Yamato' quickly became the definitive modeler's guide to the ship, with second-hand copies fetching upwards of $150 whenever it went out of print. I never was a serious model builder, but I spent hours poring over Janusz Skulski's remarkably detailed schematics. This new (and presumably final) edition retains most of the plans from the original while adding nearly 400 more, including dozens of new close-up detail views, and a couple hundred devoted solely to the 'Musashi.' The biggest visual improvement lies in Stefan Draminski's incredible computer models of the two ships, detailed right down to individual rivets and deck planks. These are presented alongside Skulski's traditional line drawings, and give a much more fully fleshed-out idea of how the ships would have appeared in real life.

The Japanese destroyed most of the data on these ships at the end of World War II, along with just about everything on their internal arrangements. That said, this edition features some new drawings of the hull structure, and the deck plans are a bit more detailed in places. Anyone seriously interested in scratch-building or super-detailing their 'Yamato' or 'Musashi,' or in the aesthetic details of Japanese warships, will find this book indispensable. If the devil is really in the details, than this book needs an exorcist. You'll find diagrams of chequer plate arrangements, the funnel's hood and gutter, the degaussing cable socket, the bridge's wind baffle, crane platforms, the turret awning stanchions, and so on and so forth, to an almost absurd extent. At 336 pages, this is the biggest "Anatomy" yet, and the most detailed since the one on the HMS 'Dreadnought.'

As someone who owned the original edition, this edition has some annoying omissions and quirks in presentation which keep me from giving it five stars. As nice as Mr. Draminski's computer models may be, whoever decided to present six to a page, with the middle pair falling right into the gutter, needs to find a new day job. Some of the plans aren't treated much better, with important details falling into the binding. Some of the earlier Anatomies got around this problem by separating the plans across two pages with an inch-wide space in the middle. Some of the plans have been reduced in scale to fit alongside the computer models, while others have been omitted completely in this edition. Many of the drawings depicting the interior arrangements of the 18-inch turrets and their ammunition handling facilities, ammunition cross-sections, and the main fire control computer are gone. Although the histories of the ship are more detailed, the introduction omits some of the tables and minor details that were in the first edition.

Although it has some irritating flaws, this is no doubt going to be THE go-to book for anyone seriously interested in these ships, or who intend to build one of the dozens of commercially available model kits of them. As much as it frustrates me that material from the original was removed, there's so much new detail in here that it's practically a new book, and any new books in this series are a good thing to me!

[GM_Skidjit]

Listening to Steel Hearts, Iron Boat on Audible. I have Iron Coffins and Das Boot in coming this week.

[SeaDrake]

I am reading multiple books as always about 10 at a time ( no joke that is the only way I know how to without losing my interest in reading I get board easy)
lets Das Boot, For my country's freedom by Alexander Kent, a couple of star wars and star trek books and oh I am review applied physics.
you see I am disaled can not get around very well due to spinabafata and other things I am also autistic so bear with me
I live on a fixed income of less then $700

:Kaleun_Cheers:

[Commander Wallace]

Listening to Steel Hearts, Iron Boat on Audible. I have Iron Coffins and Das Boot in coming this week.


Great books to be reading / listening to. :Kaleun_Thumbs_Up:

I am reading multiple books as always about 10 at a time ( no joke that is the only way I know how to without losing my interest in reading I get board easy)
lets Das Boot, For my country's freedom by Alexander Kent, a couple of star wars and star trek books and oh I am review applied physics.
you see I am disaled can not get around very well due to spinabafata and other things I am also autistic so bear with me
I live on a fixed income of less then $700

:Kaleun_Cheers:

Sorry to hear of your health Issues but it doesn't seem to be holding you back at all. :Kaleun_Salute: If you get bored easily, the mission generator on Silent Hunter 3 can be custom tailored with merchants, Warships or both. You can also set your attack from astern or abeam. Doing that, you can approximate and simulate the attacks, stories and accounts you just read about. Maybe others know if you can do that with other submarine simulations.

Good luck with everything and I hope you keep going strong. :sunny:

[Jonesy]

The Luck of the Draw: The Memoir of a World War II Submariner: From Savo Island to the Silent Service by USN (Ret.) Captain C. Kenneth Ruiz


Thunder Below!: The USS *Barb* Revolutionizes Submarine Warfare in World War II by Eugene B. Fluckey


Thanks for the suggestions, I have to get my hands on those too.

I am currently reading
"Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan" by Clay Blair Jr

which is full of interesting details, but perhaps even too much detail, i seems to list every war patrol in the war....which might prove to be too much.


I also have the habit of reading several books at the same time, normally 3 or 4, and I usually rotate between then, picking one a day.

outside the naval field I am currently also reading:

Mob Boss: The Life of Little Al D’Arco, the Man Who Brought Down the Mafia
by Jerry Capeci, Tom Robbins, beeing a fan of the Sopranos, goodfellas, etc, I enjoy books on the american mob.

and also

The Last Coyote (Harry Bosch series #4) by Michael Connelly

[MGR1]

Just finished "Finland at War: The Winter War (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Finland-War-Winter-1939-40/dp/147280631X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496356532&sr=8-1&keywords=finland+at+war)" by Vese Nenye et al.

A good account of the events of 1939-40. Volume two (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Finland-War-Continuation-Lapland-1941-45/dp/1472815262/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PMS53GMHM0FNEV3W9YNZ) details the Continuation and Lapland Wars - one of the few books in English to do so.

Mike.:)

[tmccarthy]

Never Call Me a Hero: A Legendary American Dive-Bomber Pilot Remembers the Battle of Midway by N. Jack "Dusty" Kleiss

http://imageshack.com/a/img923/2853/7zRRPx.jpg

[tmccarthy]

Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich by Norman Ohler

http://imageshack.com/a/img924/4593/b05dG8.jpg

[álvaro]

I am reading "the child of the peonza" by José Barceló. It is based on real events. The protagonist is Hubert Sasse, a member of the crew of the U-755, whose corpse reached the Spanish coasts. It is very well written and narrated, I am convinced that you will love it. I was so impressed by the story. I recommend it to everyone. Astonishing in every respect. If you want to document, I leave the web where you can do it:
Https://www.uhistoria.com/uhistoria/historia/inhistoria.htm
You can special interest in the text written in yellow.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
The book is in Spanish, but I think it will be in English too.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
yo stoy leyendo "el niño de la peonza" de José Barceló. Está basado en hechos reales. El protagonista es Hubert Sasse, un miembro de la tripulación del U-755, cuyo cadáver llegó a las costas españolas. Está muy bien escrito y narrado, estoy convencido de que os encantará. Me ha impresionado tanto la historia. Lo recomiendo a todo el mundo. Sorprendente en todos los aspectos. Si quereis documetaros, os dejo la web donde podeis hacerlo:
https://www.u-historia.com/uhistoria/historia/inhistoria.htm
Poded especial interes en el texto escrito en amarillo.
Espero que lo disfruteis tanto como yo lo he hecho.
El libro está en español, pero pienso que estará también en ingles.

[Subnuts]

I just finished reading French Battleships of World War One by John Jordan and Phillipe Caresse. I've reviewed it for Amazon, if anyone's curious: https://www.amazon.com/review/R35XCMDHP8TFKH/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1591146399

[Jimbuna]

^ Not a big I ever recall coming across but I did enjoy your review :yep:

[fred8615]

The Divine Wind: Japan's Kamikaze Force in World War II by Rikihei Inoguchi & Tadashi Nakajima, with Roger Pineau.

This is the ebook edition from the Microsoft Store. I had the paperback for years, but lost it in the flood last August.

[Shadow]

I'm trying to get my hands on Michael A. Palmer's The War That Never Was (1993), supposedly better than even Red Storm Rising.

However, it's pretty much impossible to find here in Argentina. Might have to import it.

[tmccarthy]

North by Northwestern: A Seafaring Family on Deadly Alaskan Waters by Sig Hansen

http://imageshack.com/a/img922/2964/fISrVw.jpg

[Jimbuna]

http://i.imgur.com/c2swtFJ.jpg

[Jimbuna]

http://i.imgur.com/qhxjCM1.jpg

[tmccarthy]

Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World's Deadliest Jobs by Andy Hillstrand and Johnathan Hillstrand

http://imageshack.com/a/img922/2695/wq9Hs8.jpg

[excel4004]

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/[img]https://image.ibb.co/fBkZOk/Konvoi.jpghttps://image.ibb.co/fBkZOk/Konvoi.jpg

Konvoi U-Boot-Jagd auf die Geleitzüge SC.122 und HX.229 (1943) - Ullstein Taschenbuch (1. November 2001)https://ibb.co/edA13k

[Dowly]

Just finished "Finland at War: The Winter War (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Finland-War-Winter-1939-40/dp/147280631X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496356532&sr=8-1&keywords=finland+at+war)" by Vese Nenye et al.

A good account of the events of 1939-40. Volume two (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Finland-War-Continuation-Lapland-1941-45/dp/1472815262/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PMS53GMHM0FNEV3W9YNZ) details the Continuation and Lapland Wars - one of the few books in English to do so.

Mike.:)Been meaning to check out those books. :yep:

Fun fact: One of the co-authors, Toni Wirtanen, is better known as the singer in a Finnish rock band "Apulanta".


Started reading Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia by Joseph Pistone. Good read so far. :up:

https://www.amazon.com/Donnie-Brasco-Undercover-Joseph-Pistone/dp/0451192575

[Subnuts]

I've just started reading Tiger! The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth by Stuart McKay. It's quite fascinating, but being a 400-page tome with very small text, it's going to take a serious investment in time and concentration.

I recently finished Vought F-8 Crusader: Development of the Navy's First Supersonic Jet Fighter. You can read my review here if you're interested: https://www.amazon.com/review/R2VKX5A9P2CEIK/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1580072429

[tmccarthy]

Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made by Jason Schreier

http://imageshack.com/a/img922/8684/mNfge0.jpg

[mapuc]

I bought the book in 88-89 read it and some years later I saw a two-part series on TV.

Now when a new remake have been made for cinema I thought it could be interesting to read the book again.

Stephen King "IT" (Swedish)

Markus

[STEED]

Re-reading this one again as it was a bit hard going first time around..

Kharkov 1942: Anatomy of a Military Disaster Through Soviet Eyes

David M. Glantz

[Dowly]

Legions of Rome: The Definitive History of Every Imperial Legion by Stephen Dando-Collins

https://www.amazon.com/Legions-Rome-Definitive-History-Imperial/dp/1250004713

[tmccarthy]

White Water, Red Hot Lead: On Board U.S. Navy Swift Boats in Vietnam by Dan Daly

http://imageshack.com/a/img923/5031/Eo2Zss.jpg

[Dowly]

Just finished "Finland at War: The Winter War (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Finland-War-Winter-1939-40/dp/147280631X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496356532&sr=8-1&keywords=finland+at+war)" by Vese Nenye et al.

A good account of the events of 1939-40. Volume two (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Finland-War-Continuation-Lapland-1941-45/dp/1472815262/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PMS53GMHM0FNEV3W9YNZ) details the Continuation and Lapland Wars - one of the few books in English to do so.

Mike.:)Got both of the books yesterday (English versions). From the little I've had chance to read them they appear to be very well written. The "sin" of foreign writers who've written books about the Finno-Russo wars is oversimplifying things, which is definitely not what you get with these books. The reader is introduced to the topic with lots of photos, commander bios (both sides), maps and diary entries both official and personal. :yeah:

[Subnuts]

Just finished reading The Unseen Olympic, part of a series of books by The History Press on the famous ocean liners of the early 20th century. I've really enjoyed all the books in the series...but this one is borderline terrible. Workmanlike text, well-known photographs, and more than a quarter of the pictures aren't even of the Olympic!

I've written a more in-depth review if anyone's interested:
https://www.amazon.com/review/R3IUM07L9TQ4I0/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

[tmccarthy]

Storm of Steel: The Classic Memoir of World War I Combat by Ernst Junger

http://imageshack.com/a/img922/4159/kbaFZH.jpg

[Jimbuna]

https://i.imgur.com/NR65nkG.jpg

[Catfish]

Right now reading "The three body problem" by Liu Cixin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three-Body_Problem_(novel) and it is from 2008! :o
Beginning with the Cultural revolution and Mao this is a very critical book, and then it easily swings into a full blown Science fiction novel. It helps to have a little(!) background in natural science, details are explained in the appendix though.
Took a long time to get through to the west. Seems China is a it more advanced than "we" thought, but whatever it is an interesting read :yep:
First of three books of the "remembrance of earth's past", film being shot in 2016 will be shown in 2017 or so i read.

[tmccarthy]

The Great War: A Combat History of the First World War by Peter Hart

http://imageshack.com/a/img922/9347/R9mxvz.jpg

[kilerkg]

Chris Ryan Safe - How to stay safe in a dangerous world, by a former SAS solider.
https://www.hodder.co.uk/assets/HodderStoughton/img/book/340/isbn9781473664340-detail.jpg

[Pionier]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/11/Nicholas_Monsarrat_-_The_Cruel_Sea_book_cover.jpg

The Cruel Sea, a novel by Nicholas Monsarrat
It's a very good and realistic book, about our beloved Flower-class corvette :Kaleun_Cheers:

[Aktungbby]

Pionier!:Kaleun_Salute: I'M JUST GETTING INTO A CHRISTMAS KINDLE GIFT BOOK MY DAUGHTER GAVE ME:https://panmacmillan.azureedge.net/pml/panmacmillancorporatesite/media/panmacmillan/cover-images/virginia-rounding/__thumbnails/9781447241089the%20burning%20time_jpg_263_400.jpg ...insight into an era in which what was orthodoxy one year might be dangerous heresy the next. The first martyrs were Catholics, who cleaved to Rome in defiance of Henry VIII's break with the papacy. But with the accession of Henry's daughter Mary - soon to be nicknamed 'Bloody Mary' - the charge of heresy was levelled against devout Protestants, who chose to burn rather than recant... a gripping insight into a time when people were willing to die, and to kill, in the name of religion.

[komi]

I recently got a copy of 'Między Warszawą A Tokio: Polsko-Japońska Współpraca Wywiadowcza 1904-1944' ('Between Warsaw and Tokyo: Polish-Japanese Intelligence Cooperation 1904-1944') by Kuroyama Hiraoki and Andrzej Pepłoński. As the title suggests, it discusses Polish-Japanese intelligence alliances during that period, such as attempts at secret support for each other against the common enemy in the Russo-Japanese war and the cooperation between Japanese and Polish agents during WW2 (which included getting documents for Jewish refugees to escape the Nazis and go to safety in Japanese territory). I think it's some fascinating history, just wish there was an English translation available to make the reading easier...

https://historia.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Mi%C4%99dzy-Warszaw%C4%85-a-Tokio.jpg

[kilerkg]

The one that got away - Chris Ryan - Bravo Two Zero Mission

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a9/The_One_That_Got_Away_%28book_cover%29.jpg/220px-The_One_That_Got_Away_%28book_cover%29.jpg

It's shocking to read how horribly prepared the unit was, from a overarching command point. Piss poor ammo supply, No claymore's or M203's, 50 year old outdated maps, no Intel given which was available, wrong radio frequencies given and they didn't know / weren't told that it reached freezing temperatures at night. What's worse is that seemingly no lessons were learned for the future missions. You would expect the SAS to be given what ever tools/equipment they need for the job. Scary stuff!

I've got Andy McNab's book as well so will give that a read at some point to what differences there are.

[Jimbuna]

https://i.imgur.com/a9x6v7M.jpg

[Otto Harkaman]

Peter Hennessy, James Jinks, "The Silent Deep: A History of the Royal Navy Submarine Service Since 1945"

https://pxhst.co/avaxhome/7a/6d/003e6d7a_medium.jpg

"The Ministry of Defence does not comment upon submarine operations" is the standard response of officialdom to enquiries about the most secretive and mysterious of Britain's armed forces, the Royal Navy Submarine Service. Written with unprecedented cooperation from the Service itself and privileged access to documents and personnel, The Silent Deep is the first authoritative history of the Submarine Service from the end of World War II to the present.

Cold War Command: The Dramatic Story of a Nuclear Submariner by Dan Conley

https://pxhst.co/avaxhome/89/c4/0035c489_medium.jpeg

The part played in the Cold War by the Royal Navy's submarines still retains a great degree of mystery and, in the traditions of the 'Silent Service,' remains largely shrouded in secrecy. Cold War Command brings us as close as is possible to the realities of commanding nuclear hunter-killer submarines, routinely tasked to hunt out and covertly follow Soviet submarines in order to destroy them should there be any outbreak of hostilities.

[tmccarthy]

I Fought for the Kaiser - Memoirs of a Reluctant Soldier 1914-1915 by Julius Koettgen

https://imageshack.com/a/img923/5104/ytmwDs.jpg

[Murph89]

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/outlander/images/f/f9/Drums_of_autumn.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140420000249 Book 4 in the outlander series.

https://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/9781491863190_p0_v1_s550x406.jpg
A ton of information for collectors or those just interested in vintage .22's

[STEED]

AUSCHWITZ

The Nazis & The Final Solution

By Laurence Rees

Not light reading material.

[Murph89]

https://s18.postimg.org/sxwc2nyrt/book_s2.jpg
I've sampled some books on Amazon and will start with this one to get a better understanding of what it was like to be a crewmember. Knowing what I know now I wish that I'd have visited the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago when I was stationed in Great Lakes for "A" school in the Navy and visited this boat in person.

[Catfish]

Reading the second book of the "remembrance of earth's past" trilogy, "The dark forest". I must say all other books i have read in the last years really are getting pale in comparison, the idea and concept of this is just grand. Most characters are not very well developed, and you seldom feel a real sympathy, but then you do not need to, it is all about telling the story.
And there's the third book still to read, *looking forward*.
#5 member of the wallfacer project :03:

A female chinese technician who has been spared from being killed during Mao's "cultural revolution", is forced to work in an astrophysical facility in the 1960ies, like western SETI, being the chinese version and a military facility researching the use of strong radio waves as weapons. They are sending also out messages into space, not expecting an answer. The technician soon discovers that sending radio messages into space will take decades to get to the nearest star system, and the signal is also much too weak. While using some of the restricted time to prove some own solar theories, she finds a way to use one of the sun's atmosphere shells as an amplifier, sending one short string of information.

Decades later an incoming answer is accidentally being found, advising to better stop messaging. Instead the technician, having seen the brutality of communist rule in China and now living in the time of the late cold war, sends an invitation with the request to stop mankind from destroying itself.

This all is being told along with other story strings, about a computer game called "The three body problem". The latter is exactly the problem the aliens have with their triple suns and their planet, but the best human scientists have to give up on a solution because the problem is virtually unsolvable. Which is why the aliens decide to leave their chaotic planet, and evacuate to earth. The voyage will last 450 years, the same time the earth has to prepare for the invasion.

At the time of first radio contact in the 1950ies, humanity is technologically behind the "aliens", though the latter fear that earth will be superior in some 200 years. But the aliens have some aces up their sleeve, they are able to block earth's scientists to transgress a certain line of scientific evolution and development with their "sophons", proton-sized supercomputers sent for espionage and to halt scientific progress on Earth.. and all that is being written, stored or spoken, can be immediately read. A real problem..

[Solid_Stalker]

Making Things Move DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and Artists by Dustyn Roberts.
I'm enjoying it, very practical book :)

[Subnuts]

Currently about 2/3rds of the way through Norman Friedman's Naval Anti-Aircraft Guns and Gunnery. It's a pretty solid tome, richly detailed, well illustrated, and surprisingly readable. But egads, is the editing terrible. I keep on having to back up and re-read passages every few pages because of typos and garbled sentence structures. I'm still learning a lot from it, but I wish Dr. Friedman's last few books were more carefully written and edited.

I'm currently awaiting my copy of Murray Barber's new V2: The A4 Rocket from Peenemunde to Redstone. I've always been more interested in the V2 in the context of the development of rocketry, than as a weapon, so this book should hopefully fit the bill.