What are you reading at the moment?

The Black Bull - Normandy to the Baltic - with the 11th Armoured Division. By Patrick Delaforce.

Just started it, is it any good. Almost mint, I got it for less than half price from a bookshop in Hay On Wye.

Cheers

Kevin

 

RAF Bomber Command At War by Rupert Mathews. An excellent factual account of bomber command and those brave men who many times were sent on suicide missions.

 

I don't know, but I would like to know. Please let us know your opinion of it when you've finished?

I'm currently reading The Bridge At Remagen by Ken Hechler.

 

Italy's Sorrow by James Holland.
Hardback copy, just like new -a steal at 50p in charity shop

Lesley

 

Osprey's B-29 units of WW2 - I've been always a fan of B-17s and Liberators. B-29 is almost a plane of different era, but it's definitely interesting

 

I'm now reading Pendulum of War by Niall Barr, about the battles at El Alamein. Really good account of the battles so far (I'm only partway in) with some real identification of the failures to communicate within the British commanders.

 

Shattered Sword. The story of Midway from both the Japanese and American points of view.

 

Just finished "Quartered Safe Out of Here" by George MacDonald Fraser.

And what a fantastic little read.

 

A wonderful book Michael, written with superb humour.

 

I'm re-reading, Helen of Burma.

 

Steve I liked the way he kept the conversations between the soldiers in Cumbrian it did make me laugh.

 

I remember sometimes having to read those conversations twice in order to fully understand what he was saying. Londoners, what are they like!!!

 

I did think that when I was reading the book

 

There was an abridged version that the author himself read 'in character' on Radio 4 and that was available online for a while. Once you've heard that, the text mentally converts itself much more easily.

Rather busy, but if anybody wants to hear it I can probably fire up my old computer and email a copy when the weekend comes.

 

I'm about half-way through Lavinia Greacen's biography of Dorman Smith 'Chink: A Biography'.

It is in parts interesting, in parts alarming and in parts amusing!

As usual in biographies, DS gets the benefit of the doubt in all cases, although Graecen does describe very well how DS's personality was out of place on the staff.

The most amusing part is the description of 9th Australian Division's attack on 9th July 1942 s 'embodying the principles of the indirect approach'!

All through the book so far, I'm up to August 1942, Greacen makes regular comments about DS worrying about whether he was now ahead or behind his contemporaries in promotion - I'm not sure how much that is based on DS documents or it is more her voice coming through.

In the chapter on 'First Alamein', at no point is it made clear how small Rommel's German forces actually were - which is convenient to any description of British high command during July 1942. In addition, and this might be an oversight, but I cannot recall a single reference to DS visiting any forward HQ or getting into the front-line to see for himself. Perhaps I have missed something, but this may account for the fact that there are no discussions of the high casualties suffered during many of the July battles.

Annoyingly, no footnotes are given, rather only a list of sources is given for each chapter. I don't like the way that many of the desert war chapters reference Correlli Barnett's Desert Generals which was heavily influenced by DS!

An interesting account, but I would suggest it should be used with much caution.

Regards

Tom

 

Following on a tip from Gaines in the US, I recently bought this book on Kindle.
Naples '44: An Intelligence Officer in the Italian Labyrinth , 31 Jul 2002
by Norman Lewis 4.6 out of 5 stars 65 customer reviews

It's attraction for me was that it covered Naples in 1944 which is when I spent a month in hospital there and even mentions the 92nd British General Hospital itself, which was where I spent a miserable few weeks recovering from a bad spell of Impetigo.

A harrowing tale, if a tad too short for my liking and a splendid read.

Just finished reading it and thoroughly recommend it to anyone who wants to know what Naples was like in 1944.

Ron

 

Just bought and am reading.....

'The Bagnold sun Compass - History and Utilisation' by Kuno Gross......

 

End Game Burma, by Michael Pearson. From the little I have read so far looks good... and covers the period in Burma I'm interested in.

 

One of my bedside reading books follows my interest in Vichy France and the occupation of France.Its a publication entitled Politics,Society and Christianity in Vichy France by W D Halls,first published in 1995.

It portrays the struggle for the soul of France from the various factions, interests and the involvement of the churches,predominately the Catholic Church in their attitude to the new order.....Churches,Nazis,Free French, Jews and the Resistance against the background of Petain's Vichy rule and collaboration.

A very good insight to the occupation and the Select Bibliography includes what I would describe as "juicy publications"

 

Politics,Society and Christianity in Vichy France by W D Halls.