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What are you reading - Part II


jrlx

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About two weeks ago I've finished The birth of Classical Europe, by Simon Price and Peter Thonemann, which I strongly recommend. I learned a lot and it gave me a clear view of Europe's history from 1750 BC to about 400 AD.

 

I immediately started reading Heroic Failure: Brexit and the politics of pain, by Fintan O'Toole. I'm just about to finish it. It's very illuminating (as well as tragically funny) about the deep roots of Brexit in the English psyche, both of the ruling classes and of the regular pro-Brexit citizen. The latest edition (Sept. 2019) comes with an additional end chapter. Highly recommended.

 

Next I'm considering reading George Orwell's Notes on nationalism. Should be a good complement to Heroic Failure.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

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"Promise Me You'll Shoot Yourself - The Downfall of Ordinary Germans, 1945" by Florian Huber.

 

A sombre and gripping study of the "suicide epidemic" which swept Germany at the end of WW2. Not an easy read by any means but absolutely fascinating particularly the way the author traces the German psyche from the adulation of Hitler in the 1930s to the realisation that things were starting to go horribly wrong and eventually to terror, despair and fear of retribution particularly at the hands of the Russians.

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Armageddon, the Battle for Germany 1944-45, by Max Hastings. just over half way through & a vastly interesting read. I like the way Hastings puts it all in perspective, I've appreciated that. At the same time reading After Stalingrad by Adelbert Holl. Interesting as a 1st hand account of what German POWs suffered in Stalin's Gulag camps. Holl himself comes across as an unsympathetic, arrogant, rabid nationalist, at least to my mind anyway. I'd be interested to read more of what happened upon their return to Germany, the book doesn't go that far.

Steve.

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Finished reading Orwell's "Notes on Nationalism". Very interesting and clear, as usual. Unfortunately, still completely relevant.

 

I'm now reading "Introducing Particle Physics : A Graphic Guide", by Tom Whyntie , Illustrated by Oliver Pugh.

9781848315891.jpg

 

Very easy to read, as there's little text and many pictures, but it's a well grounded introduction to the subject. I need to refresh and update my knowledge on the subject and what's better than start from the beginning? :)

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finished "Introducing Particle Physics : A Graphic Guide", by Tom Whyntie , Illustrated by Oliver Pugh, last week and immediately started reading:


Gravitational Waves: How Einstein's spacetime ripples reveal the secrets of the universe, by Brian Clegg

9781785783203.jpg

 

A really good overview of the subject, very clear and interesting.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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Boy dare I post what I am reading?  It can take me a year to read a book, or like the 2017 annual edition of this book I read it in a month.   But don't worry, I don't remember what I read 2 mins later.

 

My current read (2018 Volume)......😟 (sorry, it's what I am into right now).  The 13 page chapter on the importance of sheep, was a tough one to get through.

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Finished Armageddon, as noted above, some of the last parts touched on what Dave @Skodadriver was reading above that, sobering stuff indeed. Now reading the English Patient, one of those books I've been meaning to read for years. For some reason I keep getting Juliette Binoche visions. :)

Steve.

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Finished reading Gravitational Waves, by Brian Clegg, which is a good introduction to the subject.

 

I've already started reading:

 

Reality is not what it seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity, by Carlo Rovelli

9780141983219.jpg

 

Very interesting. Starts with the first glimpses of scientific thought in the Classic Antiquity.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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18 hours ago, jrlx said:

Finished reading Gravitational Waves, by Brian Clegg, which is a good introduction to the subject.

 

I've already started reading:

 

Reality is not what it seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity, by Carlo Rovelli

9780141983219.jpg

 

Very interesting. Starts with the first glimpses of scientific thought in the Classic Antiquity.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

That’s on my to-read pile - have his one on Time to finish first

 

Halfway through Anthony Beevor’s Arnhem which is good (but not a light read)  

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My newly arrived copy of Canadian Silver Stars - The CL-30 'T-Bird' in Canadian and Overseas Service by Patrick Martin and Bryan Volstad.  Wonderful inspiration for the T-33 fan, I just need the Platz kit to be readily available at half the cost!

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5 hours ago, LostCosmonauts said:

Halfway through Anthony Beevor’s Arnhem which is good (but not a light read)  

That's in my wish list. I still have his book about the Ardennes to read.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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On 11/8/2019 at 1:52 AM, stevehnz said:

Armageddon, the Battle for Germany 1944-45, by Max Hastings. just over half way through & a vastly interesting read. I like the way Hastings puts it all in perspective, I've appreciated that. At the same time reading After Stalingrad by Adelbert Holl. Interesting as a 1st hand account of what German POWs suffered in Stalin's Gulag camps. Holl himself comes across as an unsympathetic, arrogant, rabid nationalist, at least to my mind anyway. I'd be interested to read more of what happened upon their return to Germany, the book doesn't go that far.

Steve.

In case anyone is interested I've just picked up the Kindle edition of Armageddon for 99p. I know e-books aren't ideal for reproducing maps, diagrams, photos etc but it was far too good a bargain to miss! 

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On 11/18/2019 at 12:57 AM, jrlx said:

Finished "Introducing Particle Physics : A Graphic Guide", by Tom Whyntie , Illustrated by Oliver Pugh, last week and immediately started reading:


Gravitational Waves: How Einstein's spacetime ripples reveal the secrets of the universe, by Brian Clegg

Have to ask Jaime: based on recent reading, are you intending building a Universe for your next project?  :hmmm:🔭 

 

Still ploughing through:

on-politics-alan-ryan-9780140285185.jpg

So much territory covered that can only read in sections and then go away and think for a week or so before continuing.

 

Robert Macfarlane's:

Underland.jpg

Will hopefully fill the Christmas holiday with prose of  wonder.

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1 hour ago, TheBaron said:

Have to ask Jaime: based on recent reading, are you intending building a Universe for your next project? 

:D not really, building small aircraft models is already daunting enough for me... I'm just refreshing and updating my knowledge of Physics.

 

Thanks for another great pointer to a book: On Politics. It's now in my wishlist.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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On 11/8/2019 at 1:52 AM, stevehnz said:

 After Stalingrad by Adelbert Holl. Interesting as a 1st hand account of what German POWs suffered in Stalin's Gulag camps. Holl himself comes across as an unsympathetic, arrogant, rabid nationalist, at least to my mind anyway.

..if you can find it, try this one, his 'first' Stalingrad book - covers the period September 42 and first entering the city to surrender February 43. I think Jason did a paperback reprint at some point..

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Currently dipping in and out of "The Lottery and Other Stories" by Shirley Jackson.

 

I'm not a great fan of short stories but I had read and enjoyed a couple of her major novels ("The Haunting of Hill House" and "We Have Always Lived in the Castle") so I decided to give this collection a go. I'm very glad I did. "The Lottery" itself made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The other stories are in varying degrees weird, disturbing, amusing and sometimes just plain odd. Jackson has a genius for describing scenes of everyday American life, particularly domestic life, where something is out of kilter but it's not immediately obvious what or why. 

 

It's not a book I'd want to read from cover to cover in one go but it's great for dipping into when I'm between books or wilting under the sheer volume of information in something like Max Hastings' "Armageddon".

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James Holland's, "Normandy 44" a bit over a third of the way through it, every thing I wanted it to be re putting things into perspective & very readable to boot. A big thanks to those who recommended this to me when I asked the question in a separate thread recently. Not having realised he'd covered Burma too, I can see this coming along some time.

Steve.

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On 04/11/2019 at 00:09, jrlx said:

About two weeks ago I've finished The birth of Classical Europe, by Simon Price and Peter Thonemann, which I strongly recommend. I learned a lot and it gave me a clear view of Europe's history from 1750 BC to about 400 AD.

 

I immediately started reading Heroic Failure: Brexit and the politics of pain, by Fintan O'Toole. I'm just about to finish it. It's very illuminating (as well as tragically funny) about the deep roots of Brexit in the English psyche, both of the ruling classes and of the regular pro-Brexit citizen. The latest edition (Sept. 2019) comes with an additional end chapter. Highly recommended.

 

Next I'm considering reading George Orwell's Notes on nationalism. Should be a good complement to Heroic Failure.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

Jaime,

 

I've read Fintan O'toole's book and I didn't rate it as much as you did.

 

Without going into detail, because I'm conscious that it could get political, I found his analysis amusing but not terribly accurate. He got some facts wrong, and given that he was writing from Ireland, rather than in the UK, I thought he lacked understanding of how people outside the political or media "bubbles" think of it.

 

It's a shame, because I was looking forward to reading it. Incidentally, I have read both of Tim Shipman's books (All out war and Fallout) on the same subject and they are both excellent. In my opinion of course 🙂

Edited by Whofan
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15 minutes ago, Whofan said:

I have read both of Tim Shipman's books (All out war and Fallout) on the same subject and they are both excellent. In my opinion of course

Hi @Whofan

 

Thank you very much for your comments on O'toole's book and recommendation on Tim Shipman's books. I'll take a look at both of Shipman's.

 

Having lived in the UK while I was doing my MSc Project, I'm always interested in better understanding the country and the people.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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