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Old 10-20-22, 03:31 PM   #1951
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Originally Posted by mapuc View Post
I'm going to tell you about a huge book I got from my Uncle after he died.

Author Yann Arthus-Bertrand
Title Earth from above.

It is a wonderful book with lots of photos of our beautiful earth.

Markus
just finished a book written by one of LBJ's attorneys (barr mcclellen) about his direct involvement with several political murders, including that of Jack Kennedy.


now i am reading a very scholarly book by martin middlebrook (english chap) on the 1943 missions to Schweinfurt and Regensberg.

with his combat record, curtis lemay was lucky to have survived the war.
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Old 11-21-22, 01:12 PM   #1952
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Saved me some money today-Was at our local recycling station and beside throwing out old and/or damage things, people can also place things that works in an area called basar and there I found 4 books.

They are not in anyway related to sub, surface and/or air warfare.

Not reading them right now but I can't wait to read them.

Those books I found was:

1. Treasures of Yesterday by Henry Garnett-Book is from 1964 It's a History in archeology.
2. Don Quijote of Mancha book 1 and 2. By Miguel de Cervantes
3. William Shakespeare collected dramatic works.
This is the thickest book I have ever own-Around 1300 pages.
I have wanted to read Shakespeare in a long time.

Markus
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Old 11-21-22, 02:44 PM   #1953
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Originally Posted by mapuc View Post
Saved me some money today-Was at our local recycling station and beside throwing out old and/or damage things, people can also place things that works in an area called basar and there I found 4 books.

They are not in anyway related to sub, surface and/or air warfare.

Not reading them right now but I can't wait to read them.

Those books I found was:

1. Treasures of Yesterday by Henry Garnett-Book is from 1964 It's a History in archeology.
2. Don Quijote of Mancha book 1 and 2. By Miguel de Cervantes
3. William Shakespeare collected dramatic works.
This is the thickest book I have ever own-Around 1300 pages.
I have wanted to read Shakespeare in a long time.

Markus
you are welcome to the Shakespeare. as far as i am concerned, he is the ultimate cure for insomnia. don't get mad at me: i learned that in English Lit in high school. nothing put me to sleep faster than Ye Olde Bard.

however, since this is the forum for reading material, i am re-reading Hit the Target by Bill Yenne.
just finished reading James Parton's excellent narrative on Ira Eaker titled Air Force Spoken Here.
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Old 11-21-22, 05:02 PM   #1954
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you are welcome to the Shakespeare. as far as i am concerned, he is the ultimate cure for insomnia. don't get mad at me: i learned that in English Lit in high school. nothing put me to sleep faster than Ye Olde Bard.

however, since this is the forum for reading material, i am re-reading Hit the Target by Bill Yenne.
just finished reading James Parton's excellent narrative on Ira Eaker titled Air Force Spoken Here.

Now I'm going to read stuff like:
Hamlet Act 1 scene 5.

Hamlet
- Where wilt thou lead me? Speak. I'll go no further.
Ghost
- Mark me.
Hamlet
I will.
Ghost
My hour is almost come
When I to sulfurous and tormenting flames
Must render up myself.


Hamlet
Alas, poor ghost!
Ghost
Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing
To what I shall unfold.
Hamlet
Speak. I am bound to hear.
Ghost
So art thou to revenge when thou shalt hear
Hamlet
What?
Ghost
I am thy father's spirit,
Doomed for a certain term to walk the night,
And for the day confined to fast in fires....

Going to be some heavy reading.

Markus
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Old 11-21-22, 06:11 PM   #1955
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Coincidentally, my wife also recently bought the collected works of Shakespeare. Small world.
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Old 01-03-23, 09:27 AM   #1956
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Amazon won't let me publish my review of Arado Ar 234 Blitz: The World's First Jet Bomber for some reason, so I'll just post it here.


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Although I don't have a copy of the Monogram Monarch book published by the same authors in 1992, detailed information on the Arado Ar 234 has always been difficult to come across. Despite being the first operational jet bomber, I've only been able to find a handful on the "Blitz," mostly small monographs, Osprey titles, and books for modelers, compared with hundreds (perhaps even thousands!) of titles on the Me 262 and unbuilt Luftwaffe jet fighters. Needless to say, any serious, in-depth look at the plane is more than welcome at this point.

Like any good Classic title, there's an enormous amount of "good stuff" crammed into this book's 320 pages. Starting with a couple of brief introductory chapters on Arado's history through 1942 and the development of jet engines in Nazi Germany through that year, it proceeds to describe each major variant of the "Blitz" in great depth, with a large number of first-hand accounts and mini-biographies of many of the important figures in the Blitz's development and service. The operational histories of the aircraft in its bomber and reconnaissance guises are quite detailed, as are the chapters on development and flight testing. There's also quite a bit of material on night fighter conversions, testing of captured aircraft, new engines and wings, and unrealized plans to employ the "Blitz" as a guided missile carrier. The appendixes also include a wealth of information, including a list of all known Ar 234s and their Werknummern, call sign, unit code, and final fate, information on camouflage and markings, unit commanders, and excerpts from the pilot's operating instructions.

It's also quite strong on a visual level. There are more than 600 illustrations in total, including rare photos from the flight test program and of the aircraft in action, assembly shots, candid moments with officers, pilots, and ground crews, images of captured aircraft, original technical diagrams, and a few detailed sketches of proposed and unbuilt future variants. We also get quite a few beautiful color plan and profile views by Janusz Swiatlon and a few exterior schematics by Arthur Bentley. Many of the photographs are rather dark and grainy (I suspect the Nazis had bigger priorities than producing high-quality propaganda by the time the Ar 234 entered service!) but are nonetheless priceless historically.

Unfortunately, it also shares some of the same negative qualities of other Classic Publications titles, mostly that it's aimed mostly at Luftwaffe grognards who don't require the same level of hand-holding as we merely very interested folks do. There are no maps, the glossary is woefully incomplete, and thank goodness the internet exists to explain to me the difference between a "Geschwader" and a "Gruppen!" It also feels a little rough around the edges in spots; I understand that J Richard Smith intends for this to be his final book before retiring, so that might explain why.

Although it does expect a greater-than-average familiarity in some areas, this is almost certainly the definitive single-volume "Blitz" book. If you can deal with the expected quirkiness of the format, it's well worth owning.
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Old 01-25-23, 03:59 AM   #1957
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So, a couple of books showed up today in a Prime delivery van.

The first is BLACK TUESDAY OVER NAMSI written by Earl J. McGill. This is the story of B-29's flying out of Japan and meeting Mig-15's for the first time. Its an odd chunk of history I'm really looking forward to understanding. More about this book after I finish wading through..

The second book is the main reason for this post. Its my latest dive into "alternate history" and I'm still on the fence.

THE GREAT NUCLEAR WAR OF 1975 by William Stroock tells the story of a three day war between the US and the Soviet Union. Well, it tries to which is why I'm not sure if I'll read the rest of the series (Yes, its book 1 in a series).

Stroock uses the keystones of the Alternate History genre to mostly deliver a hot mess. Part of this I can understand, its a post-nuclear war world and there aren't many people to tell the story. Things are mostly confused as the new President (Nelson Rockefeller) tries to keep the government and nation running from a high school in Wyoming. Stroock makes some tactical errors, its as if he wrote down the names of famous people and events from the 1970's and 1980's on cards and threw them into a hat, to be retrieved at random. Plot lines (and there are a ton of them) pop up at random and go no where. The famous names tend to stick to their foibles from the 1980's, no one has a moment of catharsis and rises (or falls) to the new challenges.

Part of the plot involves the Battle Staff from the Looking Glass EC-135. They all survive and two of the higher rank officers are tasked with figuring out what the #### just happened. The good news is that it looks like "we won", the bad news is that we fired the first shot.

The minor characters tend to fall into one category, they may have already gotten a lethal dose of radioactivity but now they just want to get back to normal. Normal people in this book tend to be very fatalistic, I would argue they are overly fatalistic. A case in point, a woman is carrying the body of her husband out of a hospital and a stranger hands her a shovel, The stranger then offers to dig her husband's grave in exchange for all of her money. The woman gets angry but gives in. The stranger then says, "You aren't looking so good. Tell you what, I'll dig your grave as a freebie".
(Ba Dum Sha..)

Just once, I'd like to see one of the minor characters get told to do something and say "I've had a really bad day, how about if you go #### yourself?". Instead, you are presented with "I used to be a business man but I've been living in my basement for the last two weeks..". OK, then.
What happens next? Its too bad we'll never know.

To be brutally honest, this book needed an editor or two and several re-writes. It really reads like a first draft of notes which were sent to the printer. When you see a famous name you recognize, you already know what's going to happen. So, what's the point of investing your time?

Which is a shame, this book (and, I'm guessing, the rest of the series) has a lot of potential as a concept. TGNWO'75 is, well, not recommended unless you enjoy a true challenge and have a bottle of Aspirin on the shelf. You'll need both of them.
This isn't the original novel of World War Z by Max Brooks. It isn't even close.
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Old 01-25-23, 10:33 AM   #1958
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ET2SN View Post
So, a couple of books showed up today in a Prime delivery van.

The first is BLACK TUESDAY OVER NAMSI written by Earl J. McGill. This is the story of B-29's flying out of Japan and meeting Mig-15's for the first time. Its an odd chunk of history I'm really looking forward to understanding. More about this book after I finish wading through..

The second book is the main reason for this post. Its my latest dive into "alternate history" and I'm still on the fence.

THE GREAT NUCLEAR WAR OF 1975 by William Stroock tells the story of a three day war between the US and the Soviet Union. Well, it tries to which is why I'm not sure if I'll read the rest of the series (Yes, its book 1 in a series).
no novels here. :-)

re-reading Morison Volume 5 - The Struggle for Guadalcanal.
it is reminding me of the first effective use of submarines by Japan.
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Old 01-25-23, 10:53 AM   #1959
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no novels here. :-)

When did I say it was a novel?

I mean, it might hope it was a novel but its more like published word salad.


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Old 01-25-23, 12:55 PM   #1960
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When did I say it was a novel?

I mean, it might hope it was a novel but its more like published word salad.


word salad.
that's a new adjective.
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Old 02-02-23, 03:08 AM   #1961
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Old 03-25-23, 07:26 AM   #1962
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Just picked up a copy of the old Time Life Series on WW2. The Battle of The Atlantic.

Magazine "Bringing History to Life" series. Titled U Boat Hunters in The Atlantic. Lots of articles and illustrations about the Uboats, destroyers and actions.

Hardcover: "A Game of Birds and Wolves".. The story about how the Royal Navy used war games to simulate action in the Atlantic to counter the Uboat threat. And the young women of the service, WRENs were instrumental in helping to develop strategies.
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Old 05-01-23, 04:23 PM   #1963
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Audio Book: Slowly listening to John Toland's "The Rising Sun, The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936-1945

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Old 05-01-23, 06:20 PM   #1964
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Audio Book: Slowly listening to John Toland's "The Rising Sun, The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936-1945
re-reading Downfall by Richard E. Frank. Very scholarly work with many firsthand citations and many previously confidential documents from both US and Japanese governments, including Ultra and Magic.

the final year of the war is discussed from both Japanese and US governments' POV and should be required reading in HS and College History courses.

"Downfall replaces the myths that now surround the end of the war and the use of the bomb with the stark realities of this great historical controversy."
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Old 05-01-23, 06:31 PM   #1965
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^ Thanks for the recommendation
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