Grand unified books thread

[The Brain]

Are those Carl Milles statues?

[Savonarola]

Are those Carl Milles statues?

Good eye

Yes, Milles was an artist in residence at Cranbrook from 1931-1951.  Cranbrook has the largest collection of Milles sculptures outside of Sweden.

[The Brain]

Are those Carl Milles statues?

Good eye

Yes, Milles was an artist in residence at Cranbrook from 1931-1951.  Cranbrook has the largest collection of Milles sculptures outside of Sweden.

You should visit his place in Stockholm. It's nice.

[Syt]

Resisted some impulse buys today. C.H. Beck is one of (the?) biggest German publisher of history books. On a number of topics they have quite exhaustive tomes. E.g. I have their book on the 19th century which is very good, but also comes at well over 1500 tightly printed pages. Was at the book store today and they had similar volumes about the migrations period from 4th to 9th century, one about Russian history from Middle Ages to the eve of revolution, another about the Renaissance ....

Really tempted, but I still have so many books to read.

[The Minsky Moment]

And the Dymaxion house, which is today at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI:

I've been to the Ford; I remember the house.

[Malthus]

And the Dymaxion house, which is today at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI:

I've been to the Ford; I remember the house.

Given all the benefits listed on the website, I'm kinda surprised they were never built. I do wonder what the drawbacks were.

[Savonarola]

I finished Judith Herrin's Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe which covers the period between Ravenna being made capital of the Roman Empire in the West and Charlemagne hauling away their monuments to build the Cathedral at Aachen.  It reminded me of Lord Norwich's books in that she's able to make a quite readable text out of an obscure era.  Has anyone read her Byzantium (or anything else by her); I'm curious if the rest of her works are worth pursuing.

[KRonn]

Just finished a book "Girl with a Sniper Rifle". Female Russian sniper in WW2.  I've wanted to read something about female Russian snipers, having seen mention of them often enough in WW2 books. Good book, the woman told of her life before, during and after the war. Aside from the war experiences it was interesting to see the daily life before the war.

I've read mostly books of US service members, but I try to read books from service members of various nations in WW2. Get a feel for what it was like all around. I find myself feeling for all of them and what they went through.

I have books to read on US women fliers in WW2, and a Russian infantryman. Just finished a book Spearhead about a US tanker and his unit. They were among the first (and few) to receive Pershing tanks in the last few months of the war. Much needed to replace the Shermans! But so late in the war and very limited numbers.

[The Brain]

Anyone read Verdun, by Paul Jankowski? Is it any good?

I recently got it delivered, and I opened it. Before I even got to the first page of text I came across a map, simply called "The Western Front in 1916". On the map the borders of France include Alsace and Lorraine, which is shaded and has the text "ALSACE and LORRAINE, Occupied since the Treaty of Frankfurt (10 May 1871)". LOLWUT? Is Jankowski a revisionist kook? Should I bother with the book at all?

[Habbaku]

  That is pretty wild. I'm not sure it should affect the read much, but it gives up his biases early on at least.

[The Brain]

I get the image of a wild-eyed Bonapartist who doesn't recognize the Third Republic and therefore not Frankfurt.

[Habbaku]

Well, who does recognize the Third Republic?

[The Brain]

Dammit, I've looked around a bit and I can't seem to find a modern book on Verdun in English that doesn't have red flags. I've read The Price of Glory (and it's quite old). Any tips are welcome.

I don't think I will bother with Jankowski's book, since I can't trust him regarding even basic facts.

[The Brain]

Any Languish Teuton know of a good German book on Verdun?

[Threviel]

Any Languish Teuton know of a good German book on Verdun?

We were there on the camping trip a few years back and in every place that I could I looked for books from the French or German, or any really, perspective, I ended up with nothing. But I do believe we had a discussion in the thread on good books on Verdun, se if you can find something there.