Grand unified books thread

[Alatriste]

I'm reading "The Most Dangerous Enemy" Stephen Bungay's book on the Battle of Britain, translated into Spanish. I generally avoid translations, but I couldn't resist buying a book I was already interested in at just 9,95 euros.

Big Mistake.

The translator can't tell oil (lubricant) from fuel, thinks General Staff was a man, changes unit designations randomly (for example Fighter Command becomes 'Unidad de Cazas', i.e. Fighter Unit), doesn't know what a dispersal is... and that's just in the first 80 pages. The poor guy obviously hadn't got a clue about aircraft, engines and/or military matters.

Hey, don't laugh ( ) you haven't got to translate a paragraph on Bf190 and 110 slats and how they operated when it's painfully obvious he didn't have the slightest idea of what a slat is. I feel sorry for him, because it's evident he tried his best but this work should have gone to a specialist, someone versed at least in aeronautical terms and jargon, if not knowledgeable in military history.   

[Gups]

Just reread 1984 for the first time in about 20 years. Goes without saying that it's a great book but I found parts of the 1984 worls a bit difficult to swallow this time round. My biggest problem is the comparative freedom given to the Proles. What self-respecting uber-totalitarian givernment doesn't care what 85% of the population think?

Currently reading Bad Science by Ben Goldacre. Fantatic book lampooning alternative therapies (vitamin pushers, hmoeopaths etc) and big pharma which should be required reading for all journalists, doctors and science teachers.

[Syt]

Burned some of my xmas gift vouchers from the company on:

The Vietnam War (Mark Atwood Lawrence) - been looking for a brief, readable overview of the conflict for some time

The Fall Of The West: The Death Of The Roman Superpower (Adrian Goldsworthy) - crumbling Empires are fun to read about

[HisMajestyBOB]

Currently reading Bad Science by Ben Goldacre. Fantatic book lampooning alternative therapies (vitamin pushers, hmoeopaths etc) and big pharma which should be required reading for all journalists, doctors and science teachers.

Check out the Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan. It's similar to that, and quite good.

[Neil]

.  Yamamoto knows nagumo is over his head and that Kurita is the man for the job

Kurita is always the man for the job.

Marik rules.

Davion!

Oh god, you're one of those. 

[Neil]

Was Final Crisis finished?  Or did they decide to just let it die and go on to Blackest Night?

They sort of finished it.  Between Final Crisis and Marvel's Ultimatum, 2009 might have been the worst year for Events in the history of comics.  If Jeph Loeb were assassinated, I'd hold a celebration.

[The Brain]

I just finished a book callled Guerilla Pilot in Biafra (in Swedish with English summary). One of the participants tells the unlikely story of how Swedish count von Rosen led Swedish pilots in small Swedish sports planes in very successful attacks on the Nigerian army and air force during the Nigerian-Biafran war. Fascinating little piece of history.

[Syt]

Also just ordered:
Crazy '08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History

[jimmy olsen]

I can't fucking wait!

[Sheilbh]

The Safeguard of the Seas, N.A.M. Rodgers' first volume of his three volume history of the navy.  Very good.

[HisMajestyBOB]

I just started the first book of the Dresden Files series, Storm Front. It's pretty catching.

It's the first e-book I've bought while here in Korea. It's so nice paying only $6.50 for a fiction book rather than 18,000 Korean won.

[jimmy olsen]

I just started the first book of the Dresden Files series, Storm Front. It's pretty catching.

It's the first e-book I've bought while here in Korea. It's so nice paying only $6.50 for a fiction book rather than 18,000 Korean won.

What site did you buy that off of?

It's urban fantasy right?

[garbon]

It's urban fantasy right?

Black wizards?

[vcarter706]

I read Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons" a little while back. Since then, it's been biographies of Stalin and books on the Russian Revolution. Hooray.

[HisMajestyBOB]

I just started the first book of the Dresden Files series, Storm Front. It's pretty catching.

It's the first e-book I've bought while here in Korea. It's so nice paying only $6.50 for a fiction book rather than 18,000 Korean won.

What site did you buy that off of?

It's urban fantasy right?

Amazon.

And yep, urban fantasy, with a bit of a film noir feel. It's good fun so far. The author is obviously a fan of Raymond Chandler, although in this case it was an abrupt appearance of a man with a sword, not a gun.