I just picked up some books from a second hand book seller (it was a antique shop as well so that kept my fiance busy!)

The last voyage of the Scharnhorst - descibes the last sortie of the ship from both points of view

The lone wolf- voyage of the Emden - A history of one of the most successful surface raiders of WW1 and what happened to the crew afterwards (the shore party got away while HMAS Sydney sank the Emden, they made it back to Germany, which was an adventure in itself!)

3 time life books about WW2

Prelude to war

The Italian Campain

Battle of the Adlantic

Plus one other

Lemon! : History of the cars that failed - has cars like the Edsel, Leyland P76 (pretty much any car produced by Leyand in the 60's and 70's), others that should never have been allowed on the road, Lada's Niki

Can't read about subs all the time.

I'm currently reading Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons. After that I'll probably start on re-reading George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series to refresh my memory before A Dance with Dragons comes out.

If you are into fantasy even the slightest bit or even medieval europe, you owe it to yourself to check out Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series, it's outstanding.

I've just finished Eyes Of The Fleet, and am starting another history from the age of sail: USS Essex and the Birth of the American Navy, by Frances Diane Robotti and James Vescovi. It has some very entertaining stories about the construction of an early frigate and the people who built and served in her.

The Battle of Kursk
By Glantz

This has too be the best book on this battle for me, two thirds into it and enjoying it.

Good book. Currently I'm reading Twilight of the U-boat. It reads more like a story book with facts interjected. Not bad.

Just started Convoy by Dudley Pope. Not a bad read all up so far. Really strange photo on the cover of one of the US battleships being sunk in Pearl Harbour, considering it is a British book about a RN Leiutenant trying to work out how to stop Uboats attacking from within the middle of convoys!

After only two days I finished USS Essex and the Birth of the American Navy. It's a nice little book, telling the complete story from its launch to its capture by the British in 1813. USS Essex was the first American warship to enter the Pacific Ocean, and also participated in actions against the Tripoli pirates. It's a fun little book, and fills in quite a few answers I didn't know about the period before.

I've started another classic, The Caine Mutiny. More to come soon.

I just picked up Das Boot from the library, a bit tattered but otherwise in good nick....not bad for 20p ;)

So...no need to guess what I'm reading now :up:

The Caine Mutiny, by Herman Wouk: not a review, but a book report.

If anyone is familiar with the movie they'll know the story: in the middle of the Second World War an old WWI 'four piper' destroyer now converted to a mine sweeper is shackled with a captain who is slowly losing his grip on reality. The crew suffers under his strange behaviour as best they can. Then comes a situation so desparate that the XO feels he must sieze control of the ship. The Caine is saved, and the XO finds himself facing a court-martial, and the charge is mutiny. If he is found guilty, he might hang. The trial is the highlight of the story, and it is all seen through the eyes of a young ensign, who is facing possible accessory charges himself.

The Caine Mutiny and The Cruel Sea:
Having recently read The Cruel Sea, I couldn't help but notice remarkable similarities between the two books. Both Authors served during the war, Nicholas Monsarrat in Corvettes and Herman Wouk in Destroyer-Minesweepers. Both books were published the same year, 1951. There are similarities in their experiences, and those show up in the books. Both stories start with young officers arriving on board; both feature wonderful descriptions of life at sea in small ships; both feature good men and detestable ones and both have scenes of the men coping with life ashore while their ships are in safe ports for refit. Both authors also put pieces of themselves into more than one character; Keefer, like Wouk, is a budding author; Keith is the new boy on the block and Greenwald, like Wouk, is Jewish, which has a bearing on the story.

Both books also partly hinge on the dislike of Regular and Volunteer officers for each other.

The Caine Mutiny-book and movie:
The book is a fantastic read; the old phrase "I couldn't put it down" is apt. It seems overlong at some points; reviewers of the movie complained that it would have been better without the long romance between the ensign and his girl, and the relationship with his mother. This is easier to take in the book, because it sets up his emotional state and frames the main story in seeming real life. In the movie it seems to get in the way, rather than help. There are many more scenes in the book of Commander Queeg's slow breakdown, and it flows more naturally. When it comes to the actual trial, there is a lot more in the book, making the movie seem a little choppy. That said, Queeg is certainly one of Humphrey Bogart's finest roles, and it's well worth seeing. The book also has a lot more on Ensign Keith's training days, leading up to his assignment to the Caine. The movie leaves a lot of this out, as movies must. The book also contains a bit of anti-semitism: The lawyer, Barney Greenwald, is Jewish, and reflects some of Wouk's feelings about his perception of his treatment while in the navy.

The end of the movie is far different from the book. In both, when Keith first comes aboard he is appalled by what he considers to be a slovenly ship run by a slovenly captain, and he is glad when the the very martial Queeg first comes aboard. By the end of the movie Keith is glad to be reunited with Commander de Vriess, realizing that he is a good example of a captain who understands his men and knows how to get the best out of them. In the book this never happens. Instead, Keefer, the unlikable man who started it all, ends up being the Caine's new skipper. He gets a commupance, finding out that he and Queeg are not so different after all. Probably the saddest figure is the XO, Lieutenant Maryk, who decides to make the navy his life, only to have that destroyed after the court-martial; even though he is aquitted he'll never have a real career as an officer.

In spite of some flaws, this is one of the best books I've ever read. I've been a fan of the movie for years; now I have to see it again just so I can make a better comparison.

Just got "Clear the Bridge" by Dick O'Kane - the story of U.S.S Tang's war against Japan. I read it years ago, but only got a copy from ebay, I had bought the book in August but it took a sceinic trip on the way to Australia!

Finished "Debot of Honor by" Tom Clancey and now reading the next installment in the line "Executive Orders" Awsome books both.

Kirsten - Fabric of Officers

still reading it , still good

Black may by michael gannon,I'm really liking this book:up:.After that clay blairs hitlers u boat war then panzers on the eastern front by gerhars raus.

Blair bashes Gannon somewhat in his first volume--Hitler's U-Boat War, but I like both authors nonetheless.

I've just started The Mammoth Book Of Eyewitness Naval Battles, by Richard Russel Lawrence.

It covers pretty much every major naval battle from the first ones, and goes all the way to the first Gulf War. The author isn't the best, and he actually makes quite a few errors (at least compared to others I've read), but reading Herodotus' report on the battle of Salamis, or Cassius Dio giving an eyewitness account of Actium is utterly fascinating.

Right now I'm in the middle of the Anglo-Dutch wars.