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Most of my reading is in the American Civil War field, but I have already read widely in other areas, including ancient history and World War II. Right now I am reading three books actively, and a couple others passively (which means they are strategically located around the house, if you get my drift).1. Robert Citino's The Death of the Wehrmacht, 1942. Nearly done--simply first-rate. I really understand now, for the first time, the full breakdown of German logistics from Operation Blue onward to Stalingrad and into the Caucasus. Can't wait for his new release The Wehrmacht Retreats: Fighting a Lost War, 1943, which I just ordered.
2. Brian Holden Reid's America's Civil War: The Operational Battlefield, 1861-1863. This is an interesting book, generally well done, but it is not keeping me up at night like Harsh's Taken at the Flood or Freeman's Lee's Lieutenants.
3. Stephen Fritz' Ostkrieg: Hitler's War of Extermination in the East. Another "could have had a V-8" slap on the forehead epiphanies. An outstanding synthesis of existing research brilliantly written. The scope and breadth of this aspect of WWII, where 4 out of every 5 Germans who died in the war perished, is required reading for anyone with even a passing interest in this topic.
So . . . what are you reading?
-- tps
7 comments:
I'm just finishing up my third trip through Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series and having a blast.
My wife is getting a bit irritated by the language spilling over into my everyday dy life though.....
I'm currently reading "Kentucky Rising" by James Ramage and Andrea Watkins and enjoying it.
I just finished "Antietam: The Battle that Changed the Course of the Civil War" by James McPherson, for the 2nd time. It is one of the very few books I have re-read and is as good as McPherson's works usually are.
I have a nice list of "to be read" books including "Gettysburg's Forgotten Cavalry Actions' by Eric Wittenberg, but some upcoming stuff I need to do at work may cut down on my pleasure reading time, but I have lots to look forward to reading.
Have read extensively on the USSR, beginning with TOP SECRET briefings on the Red Air Force with USAF Security Service.
But how to get young people to understand that the Nazi-Soviet war was the largest in history. (The rest of WW II comes in second!)
WORLD AT WAR (on DVD)emphasizes the STORY in history.
The opening - http://rutube.ru/tracks/3286475.html
Instead of thinking history, imagine science fiction!
TMW Man
I am currently reading (and enjoying!) Donald Frazier's "Thunder Across the Swamp: The Fight for the Lower Mississippi, February 1863-May 1863." One of the amazing things about this book is that it is 600+ pages long; I'm not aware of a lengthier secondary account of any trans-Mississippi campaign.
And, just finished reading Robert Penn Warren's "All the King's Men" which is loosely based on the life of the Kingfish, Huey Long. Quite a book about how the past can influence our lives and how are the choices we make impact others.
Hello Ted
With the Sesquicentennial occurring, I'm working my way through campaign histories/battles. Just finished Forts Henry and Donelson - Cooling and Where The South Lost The Civil War - Gott. Really enjoyed Gott's book. Currently reading Pea Ridge - Hess & Shea. I think this is one of the best Campaign studies done. Look forward to starting the 3 volume biography of T.R by Edmund Morris soon.
Many books and little time.
Don Hallstrom
I just finished William Manchester's superb bio of Douglas MacArthur. That sent me headlong into the US Army's green book official histories of MacArthur's SW Pacific campaign, starting with Victory in Papua. MacArthur's generalship in the SW Pac, although little known, was masterful.
Just finished "Cain at Gettysburg", by Ralph Peters. Currently browsing through O.O. Howard's Autobiography, and "Buckeye Blood", by Richard Baumgartner. Also "Brigades at Gettysburg", by Bradley Gottfried. In addition, I am always looking through "Maps of Gettysburg in Color, also by Gottfried.
I keep bouncing around from the hardcovers to my Kindle Fire.
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