Current Reading - May 2019

Finished a couple of interesting books.

The Schweinfurt-Regensburg Mission: The American Raids on 17 August 1943 by Martin Middlebrook. Another excellent book from Middlebrook with a detailed breakdown of the mission, first person quotes and a detailed analysis.

In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown by Nathaniel Philbrick. A very well done book. I've read several books about the Yorktown campaign and the events that lead up to it yet this book seemed to cover the ground with some new and interesting observations.

Shake Hands With The Devil by Romeo Dallaire

Dallaire was the general in charge of the UN force in Rwanda at the time of the genocide. He also includes some interesting reflections on the Canadian army during his younger days.

Completed a really esoteric Destructive and Formidable: British Infantry Firepower 1642 - 1765 by David Blackmore. Not recommended for anyone except those truly interested in the subject.

Finished The Ship That Changed the World: The Escape of the Goeben to the Dardanelles in 1914 by Dan van der Vat. Pretty interesting history and reasonably well written, although the author is rather judgemental.

The best books this month were Sabers through the Reich (B+) and Broken Wings (A-). In terms of the former this covers different ground than does Rottman's Osprey booklet and ideally you want both. As for the second I was hoping for more of an operational history that would be a step up from what is currently available but it is a model of what the institutional history of an air force should look like.