What Are You Currently Reading? 2008

[jonSlack]

Recently finished Easterly's "The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good." The emphasis the author places on bottom-up as opposed to top-down (Searchers vs. Planners) approaches to economic development has relevance in COIN operations in my opinion (Company level battlespace owners making things happen in their AO vs. large DIV HQ driven operations).

I am currently about a quarter of the way into Ryszard Kapuscinski's "The Shadow of the Sun." I enjoyed his "Travels with Herodotus" when I read it over the summer on my vacation. "The Shadow of the Sun" concentrates on Africa whereas the author talked about several different regions of the world in "Travels with Herodotus."

Prior to Easterly's book, I read "The Centurions" and have "The Praetorians" toward the top of my stack.

[Tom Odom]

I read Robert Baer's The Devil We Know after a friend came in a gave it to me to look at. The review is on the SWJ Blog as of yesterday.

Reading Scorpion Down by Ed Offley now as a change of pace after my CSM suggested it.

I read the Bishop of Rwanda as a different perspective on the genocide and aftermath. Still gotta do a review.

Going hunting the next 9 days! Drew, I sighted the 9.3 in yesterday with Norma 232 grain Vulkans at 2650 FPS. If Bambi stands behind a bush like the OPFOR does to defest MILES, look out!

Tom

[120mm]

I read Robert Baer's The Devil We Know after a friend came in a gave it to me to look at. The review is on the SWJ Blog as of yesterday.

Reading Scorpion Down by Ed Offley now as a change of pace after my CSM suggested it.

I read the Bishop of Rwanda as a different perspective on the genocide and aftermath. Still gotta do a review.

Going hunting the next 9 days! Drew, I sighted the 9.3 in yesterday with Norma 232 grain Vulkans at 2650 FPS. If Bambi stands behind a bush like the OPFOR does to defest MILES, look out!

Tom

All the old German hunters I know like 9.3 x 62 on Reh. Moving slow, it really doesn't mess up that much meat and really does take Bambi from behind that bush....

[ipopescu]

I'm currently finishing Steve Biddle's "Military Power: Explaining Military and Defeat in Modern Battle" Does anyone remember if this book was discussed on a SWC thread?

[Mark O'Neill]

I am enjoying it - and I seem to have flagged every second page (not quite sure what I am going to do with all that flagging though....)

Well worth a read.

Cheers

Mark

[Wildcat]

Finished Bellavia's House to House a few weeks ago, and I've been pecking away at Bing West's The Strongest Tribe, and going back to check my notes in Fiasco for my research.

My best friend graduates from law school this May and is going straight into a six-figure litigation job, so for Christmas I'm getting him a copy of Happy Hour Is for Amateurs: A Lost Decade in the World's Worst Profession. I'm going to give it a quick read before I wrap it up, just because what I've read so far looks absolutely hilarious.

[Cavguy]

Just finished "Stilwell and the American Experience in China", by Barbara Tuchman;"From Muskets to Missiles: Politics and Professionalism in the Chinese Army" - 1945-1981, by Harlan Jenks; "The Geography of Thought" by Richard Nisbett; and "A Military History of China" by David Graff and Robin Higham. All related to one of my grad school classes.

I have 500 word reviews of Tuchman and Jenks' works if anyone is interested. Geography of thought was a very interesting book about scientific studies proving easterners and westerners approach problems from different angles based on societal upbringing.