Coffee and a book

[cincymarsdad]

I have Fire in the Sky. You're not kidding about the detail.

I really enjoy Bernard Cornwell's stuff - the Sharpe series. Good airplane reading material. I was rereading "In the Line of Fire" by whathisname for some reason, also fun stuff.

I reread "Barbarossa" by Clarke periodically about war on an unimaginable scale. I get books from the library, and of late, have turned them back in after 3-4 chapters. Haven't found a decent one.

[Vulture6]

Last book I read: Beyond Band of Brothers, Dick Winters -- a pretty good read if you are already familiar with Band of Brothers - whether the Stephen Ambrose book or the HBO mini-series. Winters wrote this book to provide more detail on Easy Company and 2nd Bn, 506th PIR. I got the impression, especially on toward the end of the book, that he wanted to get this down on paper while he still could - many of the lessons that he has been passing on verbally over the years. The last part of the book where he goes through his "leadership lessons / formula for a successful leader" is worth the price of the book. Overall, light reading... but I urge anyone who is in a position to lead troops in combat, or may some day be in that position, to get it and read the last chapter or two.

Currently reading: The West Point Military History Series: World War Two - Europe and the Mediterranean edited by Thomas E. Griess (I start class Monday)



^ Cornwell is good stuff - airplane or beach reading, or for downtime between classes, etc.

[Grimmy]

Currently working on Europe by Norman Davies

Mixing in In the Name of Rome by Adrian Goldsworthy when I'm not in the mood to hold up such a big arsed book as Europe while reading in bed.

[Sir_Krahn]

I just finished the book Semper Fi. It was a compilation of many Marine memoirs put together. I love that book now.

I am currently reading One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer. It is an awesome book so far and it is hard to put it down. It is all about a Second Lieutenant named Nathaniel Fick. It talks about him going through college, OCS, TBS, IOC, and getting assigned to his first platoon. It may talk about a lot more but that is as far as I am. It is a big help for what I plan to do.

[d'artangan]

Originally Posted by Grimmy

Currently working on Europe by Norman Davies

Mixing in In the Name of Rome by Adrian Goldsworthy when I'm not in the mood to hold up such a big arsed book as Europe while reading in bed.

Seems once you get to a certain age, reading big books in bed doesn't make you tired, just your arms.

[Grimmy]

^ no kidding.

Went to the bookstore yesterday after voting and picked up:

America Alone by Mark Steyn
The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787 by Gordon J. Wood
and
Roots of Strategy The 5 Greatest Military Classics of All Time; Sun Tzu, Vegetius, De Saxe, Frederick the Great, Napoleon edited by Brigadier General T. R. Phillips

It's gonna take me a while to get to those though, because after I finish my current reads, I intend to reread The Punic Wars by Adrian Goldsworthy and am waiting for my brother-in-law to loan me his copy of The Federalist Papers for a reread.

I want to ask y'all smart folk, who's translation of Cicero would I look to get if I was interested in reading as close as was practicable to what our Founders would have read? I'm getting to where I don't much trust newer translations of old works because my "education" wasn't deep enough for me to feel capable of sorting out PC dogma seepage.

[d'artangan]

I just started "A Salty Piece of Land" by Jimmy Buffet. This is the third book I've read by him, and I will continue to read his books (even though I wasn't that fond of his music.

[Donald]

Justed started reading "DUSTY WARRIORS" by Prof. Richard Holmes (military historian). ISBN 0 00 721284 4
Testimonies of the officers and men and dramatic details of the day to day experiences of the 1st Bn The Princess of Wales Royal Regiment tour in Iraq 2005. Professor Holmes is also a Brig. in the TA, and The Colonel of the PWRR.
A excellent and informative read.
(Incidentally, the recent award of the Victoria Cross was to Pte. Beharry of the 1Bn PWRR during that deployment)

[Donald]

Currently reading "Through Fire and Water" by Mark Higgitt.
ISBN 978-1-84596-272-2.

A narrative of personal accounts of the crew of HMS ARDENT, a Type 21 frigate which lost during the Falklands War in '82.

[Batgirl]

Just picked up Thermopylae: The Battle for the West by Ernle Bradford and looking forward to getting stuck in when I return from exercise. It was after seeing the film 300 that my interest in this period of history was sparked again and Bradford's book came recommended.