What are you reading right now? - Page 130

mapuc · 03-08-22, 11:14 AM

Right now I'm reading

The Grand Chessboard by Zbigniew Brzezinski.

Here it is in pdf

https://www.cia.gov/library/abbottab...sBoard.doc.pdf

Markus

Subnuts · 05-02-22, 08:55 AM

I've been re-reading the first edition of Norman Friedman's US Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History this last week. Even though it's his first full-length book, it holds up remarkably well, even if the pre-Fletcher era is kind of rushed.

On a related note, I've been purchasing a lot more of my books off-Amazon because they don't seem to have much respect for their long-time customers any more. I was a Top 5000 reviewer there for a long time, but every time I write a new review for them, it gets buried at the bottom. Between that and having nine of my reviews unceremoniously deleted back in December, I feel like I'm just writing reviews for them out of tradition more than anything else.

KaleunMarco · 05-02-22, 09:42 PM

just finishing rereading Blind Man's Bluff by Sherry Sontag. It gets better every time i read it.

started on Humane by Samuel Moyn but it is not very enjoyable. i do not recommend it.

if you want more detail send me a PM.

as i put down Humane i will be starting The Afghanistan Papers by Craig Whitlock. i hope it is better than the previous book.

Subnuts · 06-29-22, 08:37 AM

I'm currently reading The Devil's Device by Edwyn Gray, about Robert Whitehead and the early history of the torpedo. Tried reading it about a decade ago, but I'm enjoying it a lot more this time. Very interesting blend of historical, technical, and biographical details. I've also been reading Torpedo: The Complete History of the World's Most Revolutionary Naval Weapon. Has its moments, but more of a coffee table book and nowhere near as focused.

Actually, I'm ALWAYS reading about three or four books at a time, I just keep forgetting this thread exists!

Otto Harkaman · 06-29-22, 09:55 AM

These look interesting to me

Quote:

The former Chief of Naval Operations recounts his overhauling of naval practices, dress, and forces his view of America's international role, and his frequently unsatisfactory relationships with Nixon, Kissinger, and other Nixon-administration officials.

Quote:

Zumwalt is a compelling portrait of the controversial military man who is widely regarded as the founder of the modern U.S. Navy, Admiral Elmo Russell “Bud” Zumwalt. Chief of Naval Operations during the decades-long Cold War crisis, Zumwalt implemented major strategic innovations that endure to this day, especially in his campaign against racism and sexism throughout the fleet. Larry Berman, the author of Perfect Spy, offers a fascinating, detailed look at an extraordinary man—winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom—an inspiring portrait of leadership that is essential in these troubled times.

Otto Harkaman · 06-30-22, 03:49 PM

Adding to my reading list

https://www.amazon.com/Who-Can-Hold-.../dp/0399178643

KaleunMarco · 07-01-22, 10:49 AM

Ian Fleming. Novel #4 of his first six: From Russia With Love.

Fleming had grown tired of his former-SAS assassin and with this novel he intended to end the short series of short stories ala Arthur Conan Doyle and The Final Problem. However, his fans reacted the same as Doyle's short story fans did and he was forced to bring back his popular hero for several more short stories.

Otto Harkaman · 07-01-22, 11:08 AM

^ ah interesting

I have several books about Ian Fleming, fascinating man

Subnuts · 08-06-22, 07:19 AM

Here's my review of the new "Anatomy of the Ship" book on the aircraft carrier Hiryū:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-r...SIN=1472840267

I've had quite a few misgivings with the direction the series has taken over the last few years, but I'm pretty happy with how this one came out, and I've never seen an IJN warship depicted at such a high level of detail before.

Mork_417 · 08-06-22, 10:52 AM

Submarine Warfare in World War I, by Charles River Editors.
In audiobook form.

KaleunMarco · 08-06-22, 11:26 AM

i was looking over my library for something that i had not read in a while and came upon Palace Guard by Mike Wallace. it is about the Nixon White House and all of the characters that infested the place from 1969 until 1974.

ET2SN · 09-10-22, 11:52 AM

I'm going to order this book. I'm a bit of a B-29 junkie. Those folks were just starting to figure out that there was a "jet stream" over the Pacific. Navigation was mostly limited to star shots and many of the B-29's were, simply, lost somewhere over the ocean.

ET2SN · 09-10-22, 02:23 PM

As a follow-up on a rainy day, I'm not sure if I'll order this book:

It is part of a series and this book is massive. Which is great if you enjoy being flooded with information and you have strong wrists.

One thing both authors seem to miss, Charles Lindberg had volunteered to teach fighter pilots how to conserve fuel and cruise their aircraft when they weren't dog fighting. Lindberg was a civilian and a celebrity (and its also notable that he wasn't sent to the ETO

) but desperate times call for desperate measures and Lindberg was "embedded" with a P-38 squadron (and possibly an F-4U squadron) in the Pacific. It has been documented (but not proven) that Lindberg shot down one, and possibly two Japanese fighters, while he was training these squadrons.*

The higher-ups in these squadrons went ape when the reports of Lindy shooting down Zeros got to them. Lindberg was very much a civilian with no chance of getting commissioned into military service due to his cozy relationship with the German government prior to the war.

Still, Lindberg's contribution to the war was massive and mostly undocumented. It was a case of the wrong guy being the right guy at the right time. Without his help, it would have been almost impossible to have P-38s and ,later, P-51s escort the bombers over Japan.

*- The book is titled Pacific Sweep by William N. Hess and tends to read like a hot mess. Hess does a very short intro in each chapter and then basically cuts and pastes after action reports (verbatim) by fighter pilots into the bulk of each chapter. This book is tough to find and was mostly sold as a cheap "throw away" paperback during the 1970's. While the background story is great, the delivery is very ham-handed.

KaleunMarco · 09-10-22, 09:46 PM

reading a book about Lyndon Johnson's responsibility in Jack Kennedy's assassination. it is early on and the topic du jour is LBJ's childhood.

mapuc · 10-20-22, 02:41 PM

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.

Format of the book
High=370 mm
Width=295 mm
Thickness=45 mm
Pages 454.
It is a wonderful book with lots of photos of our beautiful earth.

Markus

03-08-22, 11:14 AM	#1936
mapuc Fleet Admiral Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Denmark Posts: 19,574 Downloads: 37 Uploads: 0	Right now I'm reading The Grand Chessboard by Zbigniew Brzezinski. Here it is in pdf https://www.cia.gov/library/abbottab...sBoard.doc.pdf Markus __________________ My little lovely female cat

05-02-22, 08:55 AM	#1937
Subnuts The Old Man Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Connecticut Posts: 1,658 Downloads: 14 Uploads: 0	I've been re-reading the first edition of Norman Friedman's US Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History this last week. Even though it's his first full-length book, it holds up remarkably well, even if the pre-Fletcher era is kind of rushed. On a related note, I've been purchasing a lot more of my books off-Amazon because they don't seem to have much respect for their long-time customers any more. I was a Top 5000 reviewer there for a long time, but every time I write a new review for them, it gets buried at the bottom. Between that and having nine of my reviews unceremoniously deleted back in December, I feel like I'm just writing reviews for them out of tradition more than anything else. __________________ My Amazon.com reviews

05-02-22, 09:42 PM	#1938
KaleunMarco Silent Hunter Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Gone to Texas. No More Kleptocratic Government for me! Posts: 4,080 Downloads: 440 Uploads: 28	just finishing rereading Blind Man's Bluff by Sherry Sontag. It gets better every time i read it. started on Humane by Samuel Moyn but it is not very enjoyable. i do not recommend it. if you want more detail send me a PM. as i put down Humane i will be starting The Afghanistan Papers by Craig Whitlock. i hope it is better than the previous book. __________________ there are only two things in the world: submarines and targets. Fortis et stabilis et fidelis, semper ------------------------------------------------------------ Silent Hunter 4 1.5 Gold Edition on CDROM LAA enabled Dell XPS with 32 GB Ram running Win10

06-29-22, 08:37 AM	#1939
Subnuts The Old Man Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Connecticut Posts: 1,658 Downloads: 14 Uploads: 0	I'm currently reading The Devil's Device by Edwyn Gray, about Robert Whitehead and the early history of the torpedo. Tried reading it about a decade ago, but I'm enjoying it a lot more this time. Very interesting blend of historical, technical, and biographical details. I've also been reading Torpedo: The Complete History of the World's Most Revolutionary Naval Weapon. Has its moments, but more of a coffee table book and nowhere near as focused. Actually, I'm ALWAYS reading about three or four books at a time, I just keep forgetting this thread exists! __________________ My Amazon.com reviews

06-30-22, 03:49 PM	#1941
Otto Harkaman Grey Wolf Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Lexington, Kentucky Posts: 926 Downloads: 31 Uploads: 0	Adding to my reading list https://www.amazon.com/Who-Can-Hold-.../dp/0399178643 __________________ "If you want to know the age of the Earth, look upon the sea in a storm." -Joseph Conrad USS Pompano (SS-181) https://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-pompano-181.htm

07-01-22, 10:49 AM	#1942
KaleunMarco Silent Hunter Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Gone to Texas. No More Kleptocratic Government for me! Posts: 4,080 Downloads: 440 Uploads: 28	Ian Fleming. Novel #4 of his first six: From Russia With Love. Fleming had grown tired of his former-SAS assassin and with this novel he intended to end the short series of short stories ala Arthur Conan Doyle and The Final Problem. However, his fans reacted the same as Doyle's short story fans did and he was forced to bring back his popular hero for several more short stories. __________________ there are only two things in the world: submarines and targets. Fortis et stabilis et fidelis, semper ------------------------------------------------------------ Silent Hunter 4 1.5 Gold Edition on CDROM LAA enabled Dell XPS with 32 GB Ram running Win10

07-01-22, 11:08 AM	#1943
Otto Harkaman Grey Wolf Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Lexington, Kentucky Posts: 926 Downloads: 31 Uploads: 0	^ ah interesting I have several books about Ian Fleming, fascinating man __________________ "If you want to know the age of the Earth, look upon the sea in a storm." -Joseph Conrad USS Pompano (SS-181) https://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-pompano-181.htm

08-06-22, 07:19 AM	#1944
Subnuts The Old Man Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Connecticut Posts: 1,658 Downloads: 14 Uploads: 0	Here's my review of the new "Anatomy of the Ship" book on the aircraft carrier Hiryū: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-r...SIN=1472840267 I've had quite a few misgivings with the direction the series has taken over the last few years, but I'm pretty happy with how this one came out, and I've never seen an IJN warship depicted at such a high level of detail before. __________________ My Amazon.com reviews

08-06-22, 10:52 AM	#1945
Mork_417 Lieutenant Commander Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: DB-15 Posts: 850 Downloads: 263 Uploads: 0	Submarine Warfare in World War I, by Charles River Editors. In audiobook form. __________________ Heading to AM49.(U-553)

08-06-22, 11:26 AM	#1946
KaleunMarco Silent Hunter Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Gone to Texas. No More Kleptocratic Government for me! Posts: 4,080 Downloads: 440 Uploads: 28	Palace Guard by Mike Wallace i was looking over my library for something that i had not read in a while and came upon Palace Guard by Mike Wallace. it is about the Nixon White House and all of the characters that infested the place from 1969 until 1974. __________________ there are only two things in the world: submarines and targets. Fortis et stabilis et fidelis, semper ------------------------------------------------------------ Silent Hunter 4 1.5 Gold Edition on CDROM LAA enabled Dell XPS with 32 GB Ram running Win10

09-10-22, 11:52 AM	#1947
ET2SN Ocean Warrior Join Date: Oct 2017 Posts: 2,571 Downloads: 60 Uploads: 0	I'm going to order this book. I'm a bit of a B-29 junkie. Those folks were just starting to figure out that there was a "jet stream" over the Pacific. Navigation was mostly limited to star shots and many of the B-29's were, simply, lost somewhere over the ocean.

09-10-22, 02:23 PM	#1948
ET2SN Ocean Warrior Join Date: Oct 2017 Posts: 2,571 Downloads: 60 Uploads: 0	As a follow-up on a rainy day, I'm not sure if I'll order this book: It is part of a series and this book is massive. Which is great if you enjoy being flooded with information and you have strong wrists. One thing both authors seem to miss, Charles Lindberg had volunteered to teach fighter pilots how to conserve fuel and cruise their aircraft when they weren't dog fighting. Lindberg was a civilian and a celebrity (and its also notable that he wasn't sent to the ETO ) but desperate times call for desperate measures and Lindberg was "embedded" with a P-38 squadron (and possibly an F-4U squadron) in the Pacific. It has been documented (but not proven) that Lindberg shot down one, and possibly two Japanese fighters, while he was training these squadrons.* The higher-ups in these squadrons went ape when the reports of Lindy shooting down Zeros got to them. Lindberg was very much a civilian with no chance of getting commissioned into military service due to his cozy relationship with the German government prior to the war. Still, Lindberg's contribution to the war was massive and mostly undocumented. It was a case of the wrong guy being the right guy at the right time. Without his help, it would have been almost impossible to have P-38s and ,later, P-51s escort the bombers over Japan. *- The book is titled Pacific Sweep by William N. Hess and tends to read like a hot mess. Hess does a very short intro in each chapter and then basically cuts and pastes after action reports (verbatim) by fighter pilots into the bulk of each chapter. This book is tough to find and was mostly sold as a cheap "throw away" paperback during the 1970's. While the background story is great, the delivery is very ham-handed.

09-10-22, 09:46 PM	#1949
KaleunMarco Silent Hunter Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Gone to Texas. No More Kleptocratic Government for me! Posts: 4,080 Downloads: 440 Uploads: 28	reading a book about Lyndon Johnson's responsibility in Jack Kennedy's assassination. it is early on and the topic du jour is LBJ's childhood. __________________ there are only two things in the world: submarines and targets. Fortis et stabilis et fidelis, semper ------------------------------------------------------------ Silent Hunter 4 1.5 Gold Edition on CDROM LAA enabled Dell XPS with 32 GB Ram running Win10

10-20-22, 02:41 PM	#1950
mapuc Fleet Admiral Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Denmark Posts: 19,574 Downloads: 37 Uploads: 0	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. Format of the book High=370 mm Width=295 mm Thickness=45 mm Pages 454. It is a wonderful book with lots of photos of our beautiful earth. Markus __________________ My little lovely female cat