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What are you reading - Part II

jrlx

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593jones Very Obsessed Member

593jones

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3 hours ago, Roger Newsome said:

Breakout at Stalingrad by Heinrich Gerlach.

The translators use of some very un-German sounding expressions is a bit irritating but four chapters in it seems ok.

Roger. 

You should try 'Seelowe Nord' by Andy Johnson, a 'what if' novel of a German invasion landing on the Yorkshire coast.  His Germans do not sound very Teutonic!  Good read, though.

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Ed Russell Very Obsessed Member

Ed Russell

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Michael Jecks' Fields of Glory. Set in the 14th century (the most brutal until the 20th) Berenger Fripper leads a vintaine (in modern parlance - a recce platoon) ahead of Edward II's army pillaging through France, determined to make Philippe VI's far larger army fight on ground of Edward's choosing. The vintaine is also charged with escorting the new-fangled artillery carried in wagons. The French carry out a war of attrition which ends up with the English army half starving just north of the Somme. A large and well executed raid nets them provisions to fight and eventually Phillippe determines to fight them at Crecy. He could not have chosen a worse spot. The English infantry had a day to plough the uphill slope up which the French must charge and  there was no scope for the English position to be outflanked. Being weak in infantry Edward had his knights dismount and stand in the line with their lances as pikemen. Even the weather was against Philippe - there was  a downpour as the battle started. It was SOP for English archers to carry their bow-strings in a pocket or a purse to keep them dry and fit them just before use. No such luxury for the crossbow men. To field strip and re-string a crossbow needs time, special tools and a flat surface.  Philippe's strike weapon, the Genoese crossbowmen had to march for several minutes through a hail of arrows and by the time their rain-affected crossbows were in range, very few were left. The French knights  charged many times with admirable courage but were slaughtered by arrows, gunfire and pikes.

Really good novel by a guy who loves and understands this dreadful era and who writes like he as been there.

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alt-92 Very Obsessed Member

alt-92

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On 4/25/2020 at 1:48 AM, Ed Russell said:

Really good novel by a guy who loves and understands this dreadful era and who writes like he as been there.

Probably spent some good time with some of the re-enactment groups around.

There's a couple of YT channels (Modern History TV, Tod's Workshop) with good content for that era as well.

 

Currently reading No. 126 Wing RCAF by Ronald N. Boer (Osprey) as part of the STGB research.

 

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593jones Very Obsessed Member

593jones

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On 4/25/2020 at 12:48 AM, Ed Russell said:

Michael Jecks' Fields of Glory. Set in the 14th century (the most brutal until the 20th) Berenger Fripper leads a vintaine (in modern parlance - a recce platoon) ahead of Edward II's army pillaging through France, determined to make Philippe VI's far larger army fight on ground of Edward's choosing. The vintaine is also charged with escorting the new-fangled artillery carried in wagons. The French carry out a war of attrition which ends up with the English army half starving just north of the Somme. A large and well executed raid nets them provisions to fight and eventually Phillippe determines to fight them at Crecy. He could not have chosen a worse spot. The English infantry had a day to plough the uphill slope up which the French must charge and  there was no scope for the English position to be outflanked. Being weak in infantry Edward had his knights dismount and stand in the line with their lances as pikemen. Even the weather was against Philippe - there was  a downpour as the battle started. It was SOP for English archers to carry their bow-strings in a pocket or a purse to keep them dry and fit them just before use. No such luxury for the crossbow men. To field strip and re-string a crossbow needs time, special tools and a flat surface.  Philippe's strike weapon, the Genoese crossbowmen had to march for several minutes through a hail of arrows and by the time their rain-affected crossbows were in range, very few were left. The French knights  charged many times with admirable courage but were slaughtered by arrows, gunfire and pikes.

Really good novel by a guy who loves and understands this dreadful era and who writes like he as been there.

Yes, he's a great writer, seems like a good bloke as well.  He has a couple of websites  http://www.michaeljecks.co.uk/index.htm; https://writerlywitterings.com/ and does videos on YouTube, book reviews, short talks on inspirational writers and stationery reviews.  (Never knew there were so many brands of paper and inks!  Well worth watching.  

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Billy54 Established Member

Billy54

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Finished "Chinaman's Chance" by Ross Thomas and thoroughly enjoyed it. (see my post previous page). Just started "Behind That Curtain" by Earl Derr Biggers, it's his third Charlie Chan novel. I have read the first two and enjoyed them both, his books are nothing like the Charlie Chan B movies based upon the same character, the books are far superior.

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jackroadkill Very Obsessed Member

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Having polished off Gone Fishing I re-read Colin Forbes' "Tramp in Armour".  I read it as a kid thirty years ago and, whilst it's not the most highbrow literature I've ever read, I really enjoyed reading it again.  The story is about a Mathilda tank that gets stuck behind the lines when the Germans invaded France after storming through Belgium in May 1940.

 

I finished that today and am now starting on a re-read of James Holland's "Battle Of Britain", which is superbly researched and full of amazing first-hand photographs.

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alt-92 Very Obsessed Member

alt-92

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Guareschi's Don Camillo.

The burly, post-WW2 papal representative and his wartime socialist frenemy Beppe. 

In many ways a remarkable view on post-war Italian politics and attitudes.


 

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noelh Very Obsessed Member

noelh

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Tramp in armour, I read it many years ago. My copy is long gone now. There is some truth in it. I read once of a British tank that found itself joining a German column completely un noticed. 

 

I haven't read Holland's Battle of Britain but just finished again Bungay's 'The most dangerous enemy'. I also re read 'Wings on my sleeve' Eric Brown. Noting that seventeen pages were missing. Too late to get my money back!

 

However I was delighted to rediscover 'Carrier Pilot' by Norman Hanson who flew Corsairs in the Pacific. My favourite fighter and book. It's a classic tale and unflinching in it's description of the life of a carrier pilot. 

 

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Pete in Lincs Blabber Mouth

Pete in Lincs

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Last night I started to re read The Generals Daughter by Nelson DeMille. It's been a long time since my first read but I enjoyed it then. I liked the film too.

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alt-92 Very Obsessed Member

alt-92

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It's one of the reasons why there's a Heyford in the stash for starters :)
But it's a very thorough and well written first hand account of all the stuff you've heard of about knickebeins, V-1's, early radar, the Bruneval raid... 
 

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noelh Very Obsessed Member

noelh

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58 minutes ago, Markh-75 said:

VERY GOOD book! Long but very good.

Dr. R.V. Jones was a very clear man.

I need a long book right now. I'll fly through Carrier Pilot. 

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Markh-75 Very Obsessed Member

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I have many good books, up in my loft; i will be getting a couple down soon as i'm nearly finished the one i'm on! I'll get my Pacific books down too, and put one or two up. The Pacific books are about some of the real men behind the characters in the Pacific mini-series, like Sid Philips, Eugene Sledge etc; good books too.

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Bonhoff Very Obsessed Member

Bonhoff

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Roald Dahl's "Fantastic Mr. Fox"

 

(Stepkids bought me a box set of Roald Dahl's books, thought I'd ought to make a start)

 

IanJ 

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Lothian man Established Member

Lothian man

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On 4/30/2020 at 11:07 PM, jackroadkill said:

Having polished off Gone Fishing I re-read Colin Forbes' "Tramp in Armour".  I read it as a kid thirty years ago and, whilst it's not the most highbrow literature I've ever read, I really enjoyed reading it again.  The story is about a Mathilda tank that gets stuck behind the lines when the Germans invaded France after storming through Belgium in May 1940.

 

I finished that today and am now starting on a re-read of James Holland's "Battle Of Britain", which is superbly researched and full of amazing first-hand photographs.

Oh yes! I loved that too as a young teenager.

 

There was - in the late 60s I think - a series of paperbacks for teenagers/older children. Each was about 2/3 the size of a normal Penguin in terms of length and width. I remember one about the crew of a Grant tank. I remember being very confused by the number of people and all their different roles - not being familiar with the details of the interior of a M3 (though I did have the Airfix one).

 

 

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Whofan Very Obsessed Member

Whofan

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Having just finished Enemies Within by Richard Davenport-Hines, an account of how the Russians spies (Burgess, etc) were recruited and operated, I've started Sticky Fingers, a biography of Jann  Wenner, founder and editor of the magazine Rolling Stone.

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