Current Reading - September 2018

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Current Reading - September 2018

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1jztemple
Sept. 18, 2018, 9:50 am

2AndreasJ
Sept. 18, 2018, 10:53 am

I've sort of stalled on Cavalry Operations in the Ancient Greek World. Partly because reading time's been in short supply, partly because I'm frankly not enjoying it all that much.

3John5918
Sept. 18, 2018, 11:46 am

I've also stalled on Antony Beevor's Arnhem: the Battle for the Bridges. Reading it very slowly indeed.

4Rood
Sept. 19, 2018, 11:41 am

Just started David Stuttard's Nemesis: Alcibiades and the Fall of Athens. The 380 page book follows the life of Alcibiades ... the boy wonder of Athens: rich, handsome ward of Pericles, friend of Socrates; skilled general and politician, but later, also a traitor ... one who went over to Sparta ... and then to the Persians. The book has received great reviews, but I've not yet read enough to give an opinion.

5rocketjk
Bearbeitet: Okt. 7, 2018, 11:06 am

I finished On Watch, Elmo Zumwalt's fascinating, if extremely detailed, memoir as his time as Chief Naval Officer during the Nixon Administration. It was not really written as a history, as Zumwalt wrote it very soon after the events, and as a memoir the book is neither as balanced nor as objective as one would want from a traditional history. Nevertheless, read from this remove, time-wise, On Watch comes across as vivid reflection of many of the issues of the 1970s, especially as experienced from within the military establishment and from within the Nixon/Kissinger bizarro world.

There's very little about war per se, but lots about the ins and outs of military procurement, and the dangers perceived within military leadership by the Soviet arms buildup and the ways in which they thought Kissinger was mishandling the SALT talks.

My more in-depth comments can be found on my 50-Book Challenge thread.

6rocketjk
Bearbeitet: Okt. 25, 2018, 2:46 pm

Today I zipped through the first 35 pages of Day of Infamy, Walter Lord's very popular (at least in its day, which was the late 1950s) history of the Pearl Harbor attack. Lord is the author of the classic history of the Titanic, A Night to Remember. Lord tracked down dozens of participants/survivors of the battle from both sides and pieced together an impressive string of "you are there" memories and experiences. In that way, the book is similar to The Longest Day, Cornelius Ryan's history of D-Day, which I read earlier this year.

ETA: I finished Day of Infamy in about four sittings. I would say that it's still a very valuable document.

7LorisBook
Nov. 1, 2018, 5:37 am

I finished Never in Finer Company in October and have posted my review. It was both evocative and atmospheric.

If I may ask, what is the best way to track down the Division in which a family member served during WWI? My email is on my profile if you have suggestions.

Thank you for your time, Lori