What Are You Reading?

I'm definately getting Human smoke now though. This site works...Books reccomendations and 2 of us on the look out for it now.

 

Coming to the end of...

The Killing of Obergruppenfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich
By Callum Macdonald

Terrible price paid to rid the world of this evil man.


Next up in a few days...

Twilight of the Gods: The Decline and Fall of the German General Staff in World War II
By David Stone

 

3 on the go at moment for research reasons...MI6 the history of the secret intelligence service 1909 to 1949 Keith Jefferey

GCHQ the secret wireless war1900 to 1986 Nigel West

The Puzzle Palace James Bamford

Shhhhh....We're being watched....

 

Shifty's War
Marcus Brotherton

Mr. Powers (RIP Sergeant) was a shining example of a human being, a family man, an airborne ranger and a sniper. We owe the "Greatest Generation" so very much!!! The world will be much worse off when they are gone.

And as Major Richard Winters said to Mr. Powers after Lt. Welsh finally pulled his lottery ticket home, "You are a good soldier. You have nothing to explain when you get home".

Also reading Iron Kingdom to get a background on Prussian organization and history from Frederick the Elector onwards. Very interesting. Especially the intrigue v. Hapsburgs and Catherine.

P.S. Urgh -
My Dad once told me "paranoids" are the only people who know what is going on really (that might be an old one though).

 

Just started Doomed from the Start by William Bartsch. Lots of great research here, a quality read for the serious historian. Story of the US fighter pilots in the Philippines in WWII.

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Martin Luther King could achieve what he could because the feds sent troops down south twice. As the post-reconstruction era shows us if the Feds had remained passive Ole Jm Crow would have remained in firm control. King's pacifism did not win Civil Rights so much as the fear of another massive federal intervention did. Gandhi benefitted greatly from the decline of the British Empire after two devastating wars.Their methods worked only when they either had the protection of the government or when their adversary was so weakened that it took little effort for them to evict them.Pacifism works only under certain circumstances.

Can you imagine Quakers or anti-war/nuclear protestors in Hitler's Germany or Stalin's Russia? They would either be in jail or dead. The Gestapo and the NKVD would have annihilated King and Gandhi. All their moral power is nothing versus the power of the centralized state and its weaponry. Do not delude yourself. It is men who are willing to use violence who have determined the course of history and government.

 

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Still reading about Chennault, and while I understand that the author knew the General at some point, and liked him (therefore the book takes a slight "Chennault was AWESOME" slant...but, no real overt hero-worship, which I was afraid of), I'm having to revise my thoughts on Stilwell and Marshall. Gonna have to find some books on them to get a balanced perspective. As for the book, its good, but I also may be a bit biased...I read Carlos d'Este's "Patton: A Genius For War" last year, which has set the bar for biographies, in my opinion...and set it VERY high. Still, this isn't a bad book at all. Just not as detailed as I would like.

 

Chenault and Stillwell did NOT get along. Stillwell was regular Army, and viewed Chenault as a mercenary of the worst kind. Their distrust of each other was a factor in the Doolittle Raid. IF the raider's had taken off according to plan, it is unlikely any of the bases in China would have been ready for them. Stillwell was chafing against his orders to cooperate with Chenault, and when ordered to have certain supplies ready without being told why, he basically blew it off.

 

I've started reading Flyboys. So far I'm rather disappointed. The author seems intent on making points rather than informing and over uses the term "Flyboys" to the point where I cringe when I see it.

 

Stillwell was a product of the traditional school of warfare: land troops, and lots of them, will take the day. Okay, throw in some tanks, because they bring portable artillery and are still stuck on the ground. Airplanes are good for scouting and bringing supplies in. He never really understood how to use air cover or coordination or the importance of air superiority (although he was quick to fuss about the Japanese having it and the AVG/14th AF not being there while his forces were getting arsehumped by planes with big red balls on them). He was actually ordered to supply the 14th Air Force with something like 10,000 tons a month, but never really came close to that. Chennault's forces were usually flying on fumes and sheer orneriness, and relegated to fighting a mainly defensive battle. He did manage to cause some severe damage to Japanese shipping, sending B25's (and later B24s) out after cargo ships, troop ships, and pretty much anything that floated and was sporting the rising sun. But he was forced to curtail those missions in order to save gas and to bomb targets designated by somebody staring at a map back in an air conditioned office in Washington. What's impressive is how much he WAS able to accomplish, given the restrictions he had to fight against. Reading this book ("The Flying Tiger" by Samson), I picture Chennault as the Rommel of the CBI, using P-40's instead of Panzers.

 

Walcheren - Operation Infatuate
By Andrew Rawson, 2003

The Starkey sacrifice
The Allied Bombing of le Portel 1943
By Míchael Cumming, 1996

 

Finished Red Rabbit, a 'Jack Ryan' novel by Tom Clancy. Not his best work but better than the average out there for political thrillers.

 

The Wreck of the Torrey Canyon, by Crispin Gill, Frank Booker and Tony Soper

Just finished this slim book (128 pages, 31 photos) about a shipwreck off the English coast in 1967. The Torrey Canyon was a 1st generation 'super tanker' of 118,000 tons and nearly 1,000 feet long. She ran aground at the Seven Stones southwest of Lands End and could not be refloated. It was decieded to bomb the ship from the air to try and burn up the remaining oil before it could be discharged into the sea. Some 161 1,000 lb bombs, 11,000 gals of kerosene, 3,000 gallons of napalm and 16 rockets were dropped/fired on the wreck over 3 days. Judging from available photos much of the wreck was still visable after these attacks.

The book goes on to explain the effect on the local beaches in Britain and France along with the effect on local wildlife. Eventually the Captain was declared at fault for trying to pass too large a ship though such a narrow channel all to save a half hour sailing time. Not a bad we

 

I remember the Torrey Canyon disaster very well, one of the first real 'Eco' disasters for the UK. A lot was leaned the hard way about how to deal with oil tanker spills ie do everything differently to the way it was done with TC......

 

Apperntly the Fleet Air Arm and RAF got some greif over having over 25% of its ordanence miss such a large and unmoving target. It could be worse, there were people over here who proposed using a baby nuke on the BP rig spill!

 

...and 'Liberia' immediately became a new bogey-country ; no-one had ever heard of it before......

 

Its right next to the Kingdom of Zenda and west of the Grand Duchy of Fenwick correct?

 

I think at the time that any vessel 'Registered In Liberia' was considered to be probably crewed by alcoholics and would sink at any moment.

Anyhow, to this day the TC affair is considered not to be the Wilson Government's finest hour.......