Currently: Mark Moyar's Triumph Forsaken--The Vietnam War 1954-1965, which will be followed by Red Acropolis, Black Terror (Greek Civil War) by Andre Gerolymatos; and The Kappillan of Malta, an oldie by Nicholas Monsarrat.
Cheers,
Mike.
Currently: Mark Moyar's Triumph Forsaken--The Vietnam War 1954-1965, which will be followed by Red Acropolis, Black Terror (Greek Civil War) by Andre Gerolymatos; and The Kappillan of Malta, an oldie by Nicholas Monsarrat.
Cheers,
Mike.
Last edited by Mike in Hilo; 06-17-2007 at 07:22 AM.
Just finished Mao's On Guerrilla Warfare last night.
Now, Brave New War.
To come:
No God But God
Licensed to Kill
The Village
Iron Kingdom
The Village That Died for England
Plus lots of interwar and armor stuff for the dissertation.
I recently finished Michael Oren's "Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776-Present" and highly recommend it. Currently, I'm just now finishing up John Ferling's "Almost A Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence." His "A Leap in the Dark" covering the same period was great, and this is definitely not disappointing. Next in the queue are Phillip Bobbitt's "The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace, and the Course of History" and Timothy P.Wickham-Crowley's "Guerrillas and Revolution in Latin America: A Comparitive Study of Insurgents and Regimes Since 1956."
Semper Fidelis
I really need to finish that. Very insightful and interesting book, but a bit long on the explication, perhaps. Or, I have the attention span of a 10 year old...Originally Posted by Bodhi
He cloaked himself in a veil of impenetrable terminology.
I get to read "Strategy" by Liddell Hart this week, joy to the world.
"Speak English! said the Eaglet. "I don't know the meaning of half those long words, and what's more, I don't believe you do either!"
The Eaglet from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland
At least it is far easier read than Clausewitz! Do yourself a favour and follow it up with Andre Beaufre's An Introduction to Strategy I think they make a good tandem read.
Cheers
Mark
Thanks Mark, will do.
"Speak English! said the Eaglet. "I don't know the meaning of half those long words, and what's more, I don't believe you do either!"
The Eaglet from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland
Just starting reading "Wing to Wing: Air Combat in China, 1943-45". It's the story of the Chinese-American Composite Wing. Technically a Chinese Air Force unit, it was established to train Chinese air and ground crews up to the level modern air combat. The unit was organized so that the Chinese and American components mirrored each other (Chinese CO-American CO, American pilot-Chinese co-pilot and so on among the air and ground crews). The unit flew P-40s, P-51s and B-25s. The CACW produced 5 American aces and 3 Chinese aces.
Eclectic tastes.
Both at the same time, depending the mood of the moment:
- Spy Wars - Moles, Mysteries, and Deadly Games, by Tennent H. Bagley.
- Movies - A Psychological Study, by Martha Wolfestein and Nathan Leites.
- Espionnage Business - Guerre Economique et Renseignement, by Jean Jacques Cecile (A French book. Don't know whether it is available in English.)
"But suppose everybody on our side felt that way?"
"Then I'd certainly be a damned fool to feel any other way. Wouldn't I?"
I haven't read something stupid in a while. (Note I said read, not said).
Just finished Florence of Arabia by Christopher Buckley for purely recreational reading. He has a flair for the absurd that ought to resonate with those who have savored the AO. A little slow in the beginning during the shaping ops, but after it set up the situation and characters, it just had me in stitches.
One passage that I think resonates a little too much in the non-fiction world:
On Capitol Hill, the cries of "Who lost Matar?" grew louder and louder. Senators pounded their podia, demanding answers. The president declared that he, too, wanted answers. The CIA said that although it would have no official comment, it, too, perhaps even more than the president and senators, wanted answers. The secretary of state said that there might in fact be no answers, but if there were, he certainly would be interested in hearing them. The secretary general of the United Nations said that he was reasonably certain answers existed, but first the right questions must be asked, and then they would have to be translated, and this would take time.
There were those who urged caution, and those who urged that now was a time not for caution but for boldness. Then there were those who urged a middle course of cautious boldness. There were extremists on both sides: the neo-isolationists, whose banner declared, "Just sell us the damned oil," and the neo-interventionists, who said "Together, we can make a better world, but we'll probably have to kill a lot of you in the process."
Privately, the American president was said to be torn -- between dispatching an aircraft carrier (perhaps the most dramatic gesture available to a president, short of actually landing on one); and dispatching a nuclear submarine. A distinguished naval historian pointed out on public television that submarines are every bit as lethal as aircraft carriers, but, being underwater, are harder to see and therefore "less visually impactful." It was, as another historian said on public television, "a time of great ambiguity." And yet even about that remark, reasonable people differed.
About a quarter of the way through Gordon Corrigan's Mud, Blood and Poppycock. I think he overstates his case, but generally does a good job overturning myths about WWI.
Current Reading
Christopher Hitchens's Blood, Class and Empire and God Isn't Great: How Religion Poisons Everything; Matt Simmons's Twilight in the Desert; Michael T. Klare's Blood and Oil; Scahill's Blackwater.
Guns of August
Tuchmann was a hottie, too.
American Orientalism
Finishing "American Orientalism" by Douglas Little. It was an assigned reading from a course on "Americans, Israelis, and Arabs" back in school. We only read the chapters on the peace process. I wish I had read the whole thing back then, it gives a pretty good summary of all the major US policies and interests in the Middle East since 1945.
I'm reading Britain and the Arabs by John Bagot Glubb since I can't find his Story of the Arab Legion
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/use...ts&WID=2134093
You can get it for between $12 and $20 used through B&N on-line.
"Law cannot limit what physics makes possible." Humanitarian Apsects of Airpower (papers of Frederick L. Anderson, Hoover Institution, Stanford University)
Thanks! Just don't tell Amazon I'm cheating on her.
I noticed that Potomac is already knocking down the price on my book and it's 10 months before publication. At this rate, by the time it finally comes out, they'll be paying people to take it.
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