Grand unified books thread

[11B4V]

American Forces in Action Series
St-Lô(7 July--19 July 1944)

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-A-StLo/index.html

[11B4V]

Anyone read
The Blitzkrieg Legend by Karl-Heinz Frieser

This analysis was written by Colonel Karl-Heinz Frieser, a German officer/historian who used German, British, and French source documents, making excellent use of them. His basic thesis is that the German attack on France, Belgium, and the Netherlands was a near-run victory, with many potential points of failure. The Germans gambled on "Operation Sickle Cut" because they knew they could not afford a prolonged conflict. The Allies outnumbered the Germans in every significant military category, to include tanks, planes, and divisions. It took luck, persistence, and audacity for the Germans to pull off their stunning victory. When you read Frieser's narrative you will be amazed about the complacency of the Allies and their near total incompetence in preparing for the much expected German attack. If I had to pick a simple theme to sum up the collapse of the Allies, it was their commitment to their defensive plans and inability to adapt when the plan fell apart. The German plan didn't work as planned in the details, but the front line commanders had the mental agility to exploit weaknesses as they presented themselves. German commanders like Kleist, Guderian, and Rommel never lost their nerve and pressed on even as their own higher headquarters got nervous with any unexpected delay or advance. Frieser lays out the good, bad, and ugly on both sides of the campaign, much of which is glossed over in survey works of World War II. Frieser pulls the evidence together and makes the case that nearly every key aspect of the campaign went the Germans way, which with some clear thinking and decisive action, the Allies could have defeated. Excellent book - well worth tracking down and reading.

[The Minsky Moment]

Picked it up but haven't gotten to it yet.

[The Brain]

Currently reading The French Army and the First World War by Greenhalgh (Cambridge University Press). A very odd thing: the book says that the Tsar was executed in July 1917. It's not a typo or anything like that, while discussing events on the Russian front in summer 1917 suddenly "Nicholas and his family were executed in Ekaterinburg on 16 July". Which makes me doubt every fact in the book. Weird.

[The Brain]

Finished A Warrior Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of Sweden as a Military Superpower, 1611-1721, by Lunde. Lightweight and with some errors it's still a serviceable introduction to the subject since the author relies on modern works. But if you're really interested my recommendation remains Frost's The Northern Wars 1558-1721, which is an excellent book.

[11B4V]

Reading
Tomb of the Panzerwaffe: The Defeat of the Sixth SS Panzer Army in Hungary 1945 by Isaev and Kolomiets

Spot reading
Days of Battle: Armoured Operations North of the River Danube, Hungary 1944-45 by Nortbert Számvéber. He covers Operation Südwind, the last successful German offensive in the east, in very good detail. He also has excellent coverage of the Hungarian "Szent Laszlo" Division.

Started reading the first Longmire book too.

[11B4V]

Two eagerly awaited books have been pushed to 2015  MOTHER FUCKER

Stalin's Favorite: The Combat History of the 2nd Guards Tank Army

and

The Sword Behind The Shield: A Combat History of the German Efforts to Relieve Budapest 1945 - Operation 'Konrad' I, III, III

[Maladict]

2014 in reading:

Boethius, Anicius - The Consolation of Philosophy   10/10
Alighieri, Dante - Purgatorio   9.5/10
Manning, Frederic - Her privates we (The Middle Parts of Fortune)   9/10
Alighieri, Dante - The Inferno   9/10
Schalansky, Judith - Atlas of Remote Islands   9/10
Thubron, Colin - The Lost Heart of Asia   8.5/10
Cain, Susan - Quiet   8.5/10
Sebald, W. G. - The Rings Of Saturn   8.5/10
Buchheim, Lothar Gunther - Das Boot   8.5/10
Overy, Richard - The Bombing War: Europe, 1939-1945   8.5/10
Davies, Norman - Microcosm   8/10
Jamie, Kathleen - Sightlines   8/10
Kahneman, Daniel - Thinking, fast and slow   8/10
Fry, Stephen - Moab is my washpot   8/10
Faulks, Sebastian - A Possible Life   8/10
Rodger, N. A. M. - The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain 660-1649   8/10
Schlosser, Eric - Command and Control   8/10
Cellini, Benvenuto - The Life of Benvenuto Cellini   8/10
Keates, Jonathan - The Siege of Venice   8/10
Boorstin, Daniel J. - The Discoverers vol.I   8/10
Merridale, Catherine - Red Fortress: The Secret Heart of Russia's History   7.5/10
Barrow, John - The Mutiny of HMS Bounty   7.5/10
Boorstin, Daniel J. - The Discoverers vol.II   7.5/10
Adams, Douglas - The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide   7/10
Crowley, Roger - Empires of the Sea   7/10
Pamuk, Orhan - Istanbul: Memories and the City   7/10
Fry, Stephen - Making History   7/10
Sovndal, Shannon - Fitness Cycling   7/10
Wijnants, N. - Dertigersdilemma   7/10
Lundberg, W. Bruce - Steps Off the Beaten Path   7/10
Borneman, Walter R. - The Admirals   6.5/10
De Jong, Wilfried - De man en zijn fiets   6/10
Wieringa, Tommy - Een mooie jonge vrouw   5/10
      

[Admiral Yi]

Maladict wins again.

[Maladict]

 

[Eddie Teach]

Fry, Stephen - Moab is my washpot   8/10

What does he have to say about Edom?

[Maladict]

What does he have to say about Edom?

It might be in part 2 or 3, I'll let you know next year.

[jimmy olsen]

A book written specifically for Neil!

http://www.amazon.com/Crooked-Austin-Grossman/dp/031619851X/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

[11B4V]

A book written specifically for Neil!

http://www.amazon.com/Crooked-Austin-Grossman/dp/031619851X/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

AWARD-WINNING NOVELIST AUSTIN GROSSMAN REIMAGINES THE COLD WAR AS AN EPIC BATTLE AGAINST THE OCCULT WAGED BY THE ULTIMATE AMERICAN ANTIHERO--RICHARD NIXON.

Nixon was a crook. 

[CountDeMoney]

Here for the first time is the tale told in his own words: the terrifying supernatural secret he stumbled upon as a young man, the truth behind the Cold War, and the truth behind the Watergate cover-up. What if our nation's worst president was actually a pivotal figure caught in a desperate struggle between ordinary life and horrors from another reality? What if the man we call our worst president was, in truth, our greatest?

In Crooked, Nixon finally reveals the secret history of modern American politics as only Austin Grossman could reimagine it. Combining Lovecraftian suspense, international intrigue, Russian honey traps, and a presidential marriage whose secrets and battles of attrition were their own heroic saga, Grossman's novel is a masterwork of alternative history, equal parts mesmerizing character study and nail-biting Faustian thriller.

Jesus Alger Hiss Christ.
Somebody read this and tell me how Al Haig works out.