Finally finished "The Middle Part of Fortune".

Salty soldiers tale of life in the trenches.

Much of the dialogue is written in "Cockney", so as an American I found it a little difficult to follow in spots. It's kind of like "Trainspotting" in this regard.

Very descriptive look at British Army life during WWI, particularly the complex relationships between enlisted, NCO's, and officers.

Stalingrad
 

Currently enjoying Antony Beevor's Stalingrad.

That is a good one, flintlock

Brand new Luftwaffe themed book :)
"Nächte im Bomberstrom" (Nights in the bomber stream) by Paul Zorner.
Zorner is a Luftwaffe 59 victory nightfigher ace, awarded both Knights cross and Oak leaves.
He started as a transport pilot, mostly over the med, the ill-fated Iraq expedition and Ukraine before volunteering for nightfighter training.
Zorner describes basically his whole Luftwaffe career and postwar soviet captivity, with focus, of course, on the night fighting.
It is sofar the best account I read on how a nightfighter team in a Me 110 actually worked, with a lot of Luftwaffe slang.
For an aviation book it has quite drastic photographs, for example of torn and burned bodies after a RAF bombing raid or of crashed RAF bombers with remains of the crew shattered about, but it is really a decent and very honest personal account.
Zorner researched the identity of most of his victims (via Lostbombers.co.uk), coming to the realization that he personally killed around 350 people in his air victories, which he found quite sobering. On the other hand, he seemed quite motivated and still proud of his work, as every bomber he shot down could not drop its bombload on a german city.

In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front.

Not exactly cheery, but very good so far.

PD

Beginning to get immersed in SH4. Just got in:

US Submarines 1941-45, by Jim Christley and Tony Bryan, a 50 page well illustrated paperback.

Submarines: The Silent Service in World War II, a DVD I'll need to find the time to view.

Submarine Stories edited by Paul Stillwell
Great collection of tales by U.S. submariners from the beginning to the nuclear age. Lots of WWII accounts of battle, personalities, politics, technology.

ALso just reread Take Her Deep by Galatin & Silent Running by Calvert

And haven't started Scorpion Down by Ed Offley yet

Picked up all these while I repaired my rig. Lightning storm fried my old system. New motherboard and a added a pretty good UPS as insurance, hopefully.

Question, anyone read any of this series? There are several in print, paperbacks, on Cod, Tang, Wahoo, Argonaut.

U.S.S. Cod (SS-224): American Submarine War Patrol Reports (Riverdale Books Naval History) (Paperback)

Finally managed to finish reading Beano Annual 1974 .. Awesome :rotfl:

"Discharged Dead", the wartime adventures of a submarine stoker [British 'T' Class subs he served on in the Second World War]; true account, published 1956.

Also recommend "Convoy" by Martin Middlebrook if you desire factual information of their movements etc. during the Second World War.

These books [inc Beano] are out of print but could probably be found on E-Bay or specialist Bookshops.

Just picked this up at the USS Cod two weeks ago. I've just finished the first WP and it is nice but a bit stuffy to read. Not at all like the narratives I've been reading. It is interesting but not for everyone. BTW, the USS Cod is very well preserved and I had a great unguided tour followed later by a tour guide taking me back on deck to answer some of my questions. Great folks taking care of a sweet ole gal.

I've been reading Roscoe's US Submarine Operations in WWII. Great read for book published in 1949.

That's what I was thinking, "Just the Facts, Ma'am" sort of narrative. But, I might order one out of curiosity.

BTW - Ordered Roscoe's 2 volume set "Submarine Operations & Destroyer Operations" from some used outfit and still waiting for it. Think this edition was printed in the 50's.

Long ago I borrowed Roscoe's Sub Ops book & Blair's Silent Victory from the local library. My recollections of these is no doubt a conflation of the information from one book to the other. But I do remember my amazement at Silent Victory, blow by blow through the pacific. Good time to permanently add them to the shelf.

Anyway - GREAT books in this list!

"Very Special Intelligence" by Patrick Beesly
(C) Hamish Hamilton Ltd. 1977

My second time through this one. It is an absolutely vital
book for anyone trying to comprehensively study and
understand the battle of the atlantic.

It Follows the Admiralty Operational Intelligence Center (OIC) from
1939 through 1945 with and Discusses in detail the often this often
Overlooked component of the battle that was in many ways absolutely
vital to Success in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Similar Centers were eventually set up in Canada and The US for prosecution
of the Battle.

an Excellant book for any battle of the atlantic historian or enthusiast.
M

I've had two on my list for a long time...
On my next trip to the local Barnes & Noble (maybe tonight) :hmm:

Blind Mans Bluff
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Got kinda tired of Submarines and Naval Warfare so I my current reading list is:

Foundation's Edge by Issac Asimov (I just finished reading the 1st three books of the series)
The Hichiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Duglas Adams
and
Probability Moon by Nancy Kress

Yea I'm on a big Sci Fi trip right now.

I also read "Cold Allies" by Patricia Anthony, a very intresting combonation of WWIII and UFOs.

Blind Man's Bluff is interesting. Account of peacetime "secret" stuff going on in the deep. I would be interested in your review or comments on this book, if you were so inclined.