What are you reading right now?

[Dowly]

Finally ordered me a book about ancient Rome, so starting on
'In the Name of Rome: The Men Who Won the Roman Empire' by Adrian Goldsworthy

[Red October1984]

Started Sword Point by Harold Coyle a few days ago...

I like it... Harold Coyle is a pretty good writer. I wish Team Yankee had a better ending though.

[Jimbuna]

[Sailor Steve]

The Copernican Revolution: Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought, by Thomas S. Kukn, Harvard University Press, 1957.

[Jimbuna]

Show off

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Show off

No, I was looking over all the stuff I just have sitting on the shelf that I've never read, and I was thinking about a biography of Raleigh and looking for Morison's biography of Columbus. I couldn't find Columbus, and I cursed Sir Walter Raleigh (he was such a stupid git), and then I spotted that one. I thumbed through it and it looked like an easy read written for the layman, and I thought "Why not?"

So there it is.

[markdenny]

Just finished TORPEDO JUNCTION by Homer Hickman jnr really good read highly recommended and on a slightly different note SMILE the story of Brian WILSONS lost masterpiece.

[Hottentot]

Mikhail Heller's "Cogs in the Soviet Wheel: the Formation of Soviet Man" from 1988. It's for the thesis so I'm supposed to be motivated, but man, this book is still giving me headache. I was referred to this book by another one from 2009. The author of the latter book said that Heller's book is still one of the few comprehensive studies of the Soviet man and praised it highly. So off I went to library to get it and started reading.

The introduction didn't have anything to do with what the book is supposed to be about: it was Heller's rant about Gorbachev. The book itself has very little to do with the concept of the Soviet man. Heller mostly goes pages and pages about how evil the Soviet system is. He refers to George Orwell's 1984 more than to any, I don't freaking know, proper research or source. There are few good points and very valid observations in there, but they have to be picked up from the text mass that seemingly doesn't relate to anything.

Funnily enough I also had a book "Soviet Man" by Georgi Smirnov on my shelf a while ago and found it equally chore to read, but only for a different reason: Smirnov wrote like a devoted Soviet supporter and went on for pages and pages about the imperialist propaganda and how the capitalist countries are envious of the communist glory. It was just as useless, only from an opposite point of view.

Not that I wouldn't know how to approach a book -any book-, especially on a controversial subject such as the USSR, but sometimes I have to wonder why didn't I pick an easier subject.

[Sepp von Ch.]

Now S. Harper´s Kampf um Enigma. Die Jagd auf U-559,

[STEED]

Just finshed the first of four books by Jonathan Trigg..

Hitler's Gauls
The History of the 33rd Waffen SS Divison Charlemagne

Now reading his second one..

Hitler's Flemish Lions
The History of the 27th SS-Freiwilligen Grenadier Divison Langmarck (Flamische NR.1)

[Red October1984]

Apparently, I have two large stacks of military books on their way to me from my friend.

I'll post the titles later but apparently there are some good naval books he threw in there for me.

[Red October1984]

Here's my take from my friend's 3 large crates of books

Ghost Recon Choke Point-Peter Telep

The Hunters-WEB Griffin

Red Sand-R. Karl Largent

Act of Valor-Dick Couch and George Galdorisi

HMS Ulysses-Alistair Maclean

Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage-Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew

Operation Napoleon-Arnaldur Indridason

Close Combat- WEB Griffin

The Honor Of Spies-WEB Griffin

Victory and Honor-WEB Griffin

Marshalling the Faithful: The Marines' First Year in Vietnam-Charles W. Henderson

Give Us This Day-Sidney Stewart

Secret Honor-WEB Griffin

Rites of War- C. A. Mobley

Kill Alex Cross-James Patterson

A Code For Tomorrow-John J. Gobbell

The Intruders-Stephen Coonts

Kilo Class-Patrick Robinson

Black Wind-Clive Cussler

Firing Point-George Wallace and Don Keith


That's a pretty good haul I think. Never read any of these but I've heard of many of the authors.

[Jimbuna]

[Sailor Steve]

Looks good! I have an older book on German coastal flotillas which looks to be similar.

[Jimbuna]

When I first looked at it I was immediately impressed with the amount of comprehensive attention to detail regarding weapons, equipment, flotillas, areas of operations etc. not to mention the abundance of photographs.