Just when you thought SFWA couldn't make themselves more irrelevant they do

Science Fiction Writers of America abuses the DMCA. Somebody needs to walk the plank over this.

Eva and Adolf by Glenn B. Infield

Eva and Adolf by Glenn B. Infield is nominally a biography of Eva Braun. While reading this something was bugging me. It just didn't sound right. Some quick research and it became apparent why. Infield was apparently quite infamous for cooking sources. There is also an amazing amount of material from Braun's point of view even though there doesn't seem to be any sourcing.

Not recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.



For more WWII book reviews take a look at My World War II bookshelf.

My Battle of Algiers: A Memoir by Ted Morgan

My Battle of Algiers: A Memoir by Ted Morgan Is a memoir of the authors a journalists experience in the French military. He was conscripted. After going through basic training he ended up in a dysfunctional unit where he ended up beating a prisoner to death. After this he was transferred to Algiers to work on a propaganda newspaper. The book contains an excellent short history of the conflict from beginning to end.

The question of torture comes up quite a bit.Morgan suggests that it was successful but destroyed French legitimacy. He doesn't discuss how much time was wasted chasing down bad information extracted. A very interesting look at the Algerian war.

Recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.



For more reviews take a look at My Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Partisan and Guerrilla Warfare bookshelf.

Fire And Stone: The Science of Fortress Warfare 1660-1860 by Christopher Duffy

Fire And Stone: The Science of Fortress Warfare 1660-1860 by Christopher Duffy is an excellent history of fortifications. The book describes the selection of a site for fortification, the building, design, armament and siege tactics. There are quite a few references to the French architect Vauban. There are photos and illustrations on just about every page that help explain the often technical descriptions. There's a glossary as well as suggestions for war gaming and visiting fortifications today. There are substantial notes and a bibliography. Sadly not much in English. There's an earlier volume on early modern fortifications I'll be picking up as well.

Highly recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.

Killing Hitler: The Plots, The Assassins, and the Dictator Who Cheated Death by Roger Moorhouse

Killing Hitler: The Plots, The Assassins, and the Dictator Who Cheated Death by Roger Moorhouse as the title suggests this is a history of various assassination attempts against Adolf Hitler. Coverage is not only of the well-known General's plot but also consists of various obscure attempts and considered attempts. There's superb background information on unusual plots and on Hitler's security. There is an excellent section on the Polish resistance to the Germans. The Polish resistance is all but unknown in the West I was unaware of it. The book is well worth it just for this chapter. Moorhouse spent quite a bit of time in the archives as well.

Highly recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.



For more WWII book reviews Take a look at My World War II bookshelf.

Superb US soldiers blog from Iraq

Truly excellent stuff, Army of Dude.

Red Mutiny: Eleven Fateful Days on the Battleship Potemkin by Neal Bascomb

Red Mutiny: Eleven Fateful Days on the Battleship Potemkin by Neal Bascomb is a history of this famous action in the attempted Russian revolution of 1905. Bascomb starts out by saying that he is writing an unbiased history. Apparently he believes in the concept of a historian as an unbiased observer. This seems rather silly. The description of the treatment of the sailors prior to the mutiny is very well-done as well as the reaction of the Russian czar. However Bascomb tends to lean a little heavy on fictional reconstruction. There's internal monologue of individuals as well as a substantial amount of direct quotes. Much of these are not footnoted. The book contains short biographies of important individuals, notes and a large bibliography which I will be using to track down more material.

Recommended with caveats. Definitely more of a "popular history" then scholarly.

I can stop if I want to....

Seen on Andrew Wheeler's blog.

61%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Mingle² - Dating Site

How to Lose a Battle: Foolish Plans and Great Military Blunders by Bill Fawcett

How to Lose a Battle: Foolish Plans and Great Military Blunders edited by Bill Fawcett contains accounts of why battles were lost. I could go into a long-winded explanation but why bother. Spectacularly inaccurate giving the wrong year for the destruction of the Roman legions. And their are other mistakes. The only saving grace is the chapter on Gettysburg which was at least interesting and did give some points to ponder. Thought it would be at least funny it's not.

Don't waste your time not recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.

Added books to the TBR pile

New books from the past week or so.

• Bartlett, Thomas and Jeffery,Keith [Editors] A Military History of Ireland some background reading for a possible project.
  
• Glantz, David M. August Storm: The Soviet 1945 Strategic Offensive in Manchuria another part of my project to get my hands on everything Glantz has produced.
• Department of the Army Small Unit Actions During the German Campaign in Russia study written by German officers interrogated by the Americans.
  
• Dyer, Gwynne and Viljoen, Tina The Defence of Canada Volume 1 In the Arms of the Empire 1760-1939 sadly they appear never to have gotten around to volume 2.
  

Hamburger Hill May 11-20, 1969 by Samuel Zaffiri

Hamburger Hill May 11-20, 1969 by Samuel Zaffiri is an excellent study on this infamous battle from the Vietnam War. Hamburger Hill became the poster child of the failure of US strategy. The Hill was taken with a very high cost and lives and then after a short time abandoned. Which allowed the North Vietnamese to move back in. The book describes the original reason for seizing the Hill. The varies miscalculations that resulted in the US troops attacking an entrenched North Vietnamese army unit are laid out. The nasty World War I style trench warfare is superbly discussed. The author interviewed some veterans for the book. There accounts give a sense of urgency which is unusual for the often clinical analysis of military history. The political fire storm after the battle is briefly mentioned. The book concludes with some short analysis from the major players about whether the battle was worthwhile. The book contains a bibliography, Index and pictures.

Highly recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.

The Moonshine War by Elmore Leonard

The Moonshine War by Elmore Leonard is a period piece about Southern bootleggers in the 1930s. The main character recently of the Army engineers is continuing his father's bootlegging business. His father put away some alcohol to age as an "insurance policy". Naturally others want it to. Particularly a former buddy from the army now working as a prohibition agent. There are plots and counterplots. Everyone has an agenda.

This is one of Leonard's earlier novels originally published in 1969. He hadn't completely hit his stride yet. Still a nice diversion.

Recommended.

Is available through Abebooks.

Panzer Battles: a Study of the Employment of Armor in the Second World War by F. W. von Mellenthin

Panzer Battles: a Study of the Employment of Armor in the Second World War by F. W. von Mellenthin is part memoir and part tactical treatise on the use of tanks in battle. The book covers the authors experiences in Poland, France, North Africa [on Rommel's staff], in Russia and finally in the West. The book has some problems when discussing the Eastern front. There's a very stereotypical analysis of Soviet tactics. There's no mention of deep operations everything is described as an attacking wave of humanity not thinking or learning.

The book is firmly in the "it was all Hitler's vault" tradition of World War II history. Apparently the German army never did anything wrong. There is also quite a bit of excuse making for example the treatment the Ukrainians received is excused by mentioning Western allies bombing of German cities.

This is interesting more for what it says about the thought processes of a member of the German staff then as a history.

Recommended with caveats.

Is available through Abebooks.



For more WWII book reviews Take a look at My World War II bookshelf.

Tet Offensive, 1968: Turning Point in Vietnam by James Arnold

Tet Offensive, 1968: Turning Point in Vietnam by James Arnold is yet another Osprey title. I have the first edition they've already released a third, so I'm not really comfortable criticizing some of the analysis. It has all the usual hallmarks of any Osprey title. Even the first edition it's a decent summary if you just need a short description of the campaign.

Recommended.

Is available through Abebooks.



For more reviews take a look at My Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Partisan and Guerrilla Warfare bookshelf.

For whom the bell tolls by Ernest Hemingway

For whom the bell tolls by Ernest Hemingway is the classic Spanish Civil War novel. An American dynamiter is sent to destroy a bridge. To do this he needs help of a guerrilla band. Much of the book is taken up with talking about the operation and other things. Much of that talking is convoluted. Irritatingly occasional Spanish phrases are not actually translated. There are a few profound or at least supposedly profound statements on war. I don't know whether they were innovative at the time but most have seeped into general consciousness.

Recommended.

Is available through Abebooks.

War and Society in Europe, 1870-1970 by Brian Bond

War and Society in Europe, 1870-1970 by Brian Bond is an attempt to put the effects of war on society in context. It's a rather interesting book rather controversial in places. I agree with some things and not others. Bond seems to be trying to fine points of disagreement with "traditional" military historians. This is from a larger series of books on European history.

My biggest criticism is the series editor's introduction. Basically he says that if one is not interested in "war and society" then won is interested in "military history "which basically makes a person a right wing nut job. He could have made his point easily without ad hominem attacks.

Recommended with some caveats.

Is available through Abebooks.

Added books to the TBR pile ending August 12th

Yes I've stolen the idea from Andrew Wheeler. Perhaps someone will be interested in comparing just how fast something makes it from the to be read mountain to the completed bookcase. I'll try to do this every week we will see how long that is going to last. I'll be more likely to post if I don't have something else to put up on a Monday. Occasionally something will probably get reviewed before it gets listed in one of these posts. If I happen to be done a book and some new mail has arrived then I'll often grab something from the new package instead of from the pile.

• Clayton, Anthony Forearmed: History of the Intelligence Corps I've been looking for more guerrilla warfare material this has a chapter devoted to it. The rest looks interesting.
• Arnold, James R. Tet Offensive 1968: Turning Point in Vietnam another Osprey title unfortunately this is the first edition they've already released a third.
• Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on the Judiciary International Terrorism, Insurgency, and Drug Trafficking:Present Trends in Terrorist Activity From Joint Hearings before the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. Senate (Ninety-Ninth Congress) first session May 13, 14 and 15, 1985. After a quick look through the contents this will probably go straight to the reference shelf.
• Magyar, K. P. Prolonged Wars: A Post Nuclear Challenge an US Army study.
• Reynolds, Richard T. Heart of the Storm: The Genesis of the Air Campaign Against Iraq, Volume 1 official history.
• Simon, Jeffrey editor Security Implications of Nationalism in Eastern Europe. Conference proceedings which apparently has some good summaries of the situation before the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Mouse on the Moon by Leonard Wibberley

The Mouse on the Moon by Leonard Wibberley is the second book in the Mouse series. This time the Prime Minister of the Duchy of Grand Fenwick wants to install plumbing in the castle the queen also wants a fur coat. To achieve this he asks for a loan from the Americans telling them it's for space exploration

Not as funny as the first book in the series The Mouse That Roared but still enjoyable. The satire and humor is a little more gentle. I will probably be picking up the other three books in the series.

Recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.

Warfare in the Enemy's Rear by Otto Heilbrunn

Warfare in the Enemy's Rear by Otto Heilbrunn describes various guerrilla, commando and partisan operations from World War II and tries to develop the best practices for the future. There is an excellent summary of operations specifically on the Eastern front that I was unaware of. Some of his conclusions could be debated. There's in appendices that includes the instructions given to the British forces in the Burma campaign. The book contains footnotes and a bibliography.

Recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.




For more WWII book reviews Take a look at My World War II bookshelf.

For more reviews take a look at My Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Partisan and Guerrilla Warfare bookshelf.

The Prometheus Deception by Robert Ludlum

The Prometheus Deception by Robert Ludlum is the final novel published by Ludlum before his death in 2001 [a lot has been published posthumously]. Like in most of his novels there is an overarching conspiracy which will change the world as we know it. This time it's a corporation selling spy equipment for police surveillance. Actually it's not as over-the-top as his others although it's still pretty over-the-top. There were actually a few twists and turns that genuinely surprised me which is pretty unusual these days. He managed to forecast some of the psychology of policymakers after a terrorist attack like September 11. There are some nasty technical errors I don't think you could use a Stinger missile against a motorboat, C4 won't explode if you shoot it either. A nice diversion

Recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.

RSS

RSS is now switched to full.

Ancient History bookshelf

Here is a list of some of my ancient history book reviews. As of late May 2008 I stopped updating this page. To see all of my reviews use the Ancient History tag located in the sidebar.

Baker, G.P. Tiberius Caesar

Caesar, Julius and Hirtius, Aulus translated by Carolyn Hammond Seven Commentaries on the Gallic War With an Eighth Commentary by Aulus Hirtius

Cernenko, E.V. Scythians 700-300 B.C.

Cottrell, Leonard The Great Invasion

Kaplan, Robert D. Mediterranean Winter: The Pleasures of History and Landscape in Tunisia, Sicily, Dalmatia, and Greece

Mackay, Christopher S. Ancient Rome : A Military and Political History

Mango, Cyril Byzantium: The Empire of the New Rome

Parenti, Michael Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome

Taylor, Lily Ross Party Politics in the Age of Caesar

Wacher, John The Coming of Rome

Wise, Terence Armies of the Carthaginian Wars

Flodden by Niall Barr

Flodden by Niall Barr describes the battle of 1513 that led to the destruction of the Scottish nobility and death of the Scottish king James IV. The armies of both the Scottish and British are described. Interestingly enough the Scottish army was more technologically advanced than the English. The Scots were using the Swiss system. The political background to the conflict is laid out. The description of the battle itself is excellent. The perplexing decisions of the Scotts are explained. They had the high ground but gave up that advantage. The text is complemented by drawings of the battle as well as art work and photos. The book contains notes, bibliography and an index. Several appendices have extracts from the primary sources. An excellent source on this decisive battle of the conflict between Scotland and England.

Highly recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.

The RSS feed

I think some of you are using the RSS feed. would you like full posts or short ones? Let me know in my comments section. It doesn't really matter to me.

Clausewitzian Friction and Future War by Barry D. Watts

Clausewitzian Friction and Future War by Barry D. Watts attempts to answer the question of whether friction will continue to exist after the revolution in military affairs. Watts answer is not surprisingly that it will still exist. Actually considering the increasing complexity of combat systems I would think more friction would take place. He uses chaos theory and evolutionary theory to discuss the problem of disconnected events taking place in a regulated system. The analysis is interesting. There is a clear discussion of the development of the concept of friction in various writings. I would have preferred a larger discussion of modern examples of friction. He uses some from the first Gulf War particularly the air campaign. This was published in 2004 it has updates from earlier versions.

Highly recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.

The Unfair Advantage by Mark Donohue with Paul Van Valkenburgh

The Unfair Advantage by Mark Donohue with Paul Van Valkenburgh is the classic account of racing car set up by one of its best practitioners. The book is massive coming in at over 150,000 words. It is really a technical treatise masquerading as a memoir. Donohue for example won the 1972 Indianapolis 500. There is only a few pages discussing the race more space is taken up with description of the car. Many of the technical innovations that Donohue and Roger Penske developed are still in use to this day. This was also the beginning of race teams as businesses there's an interesting discussion of the factory system and how well it worked or didn't. He really wasn't impressed with Ferrari for instance. Originally the print run in 1975 was very small but it was updated with some new material and republished in 2000.

If you have any interest in racing you must buy this book.

Highly recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.

To Catch A King by Jack Higgins

To Catch a King by Jack Higgins is a fast-paced thriller about World War II. The Germans are trying to gain the willing or unwilling support of the Duke of Windsor. This is prior to the attack on Britain. The characters are particularly well done. The action moves fast enough that some of the contrivances passed by quickly. Higgins often uses the same handful of plot points in his books luckily there was only one in this case that I noticed.

Highly recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.

The Great Invasion by Leonard Cottrell

The Great Invasion by Leonard Cottrell is a military history describing the invasion of England by the Romans. The work starts with Julius Caesar's rather aborted invasion. The largest section is made up of the discussion of the campaign under Claudius. The book concludes with the final operations near the end of the 1st century. It is based on archaeological as well as primary source analysis. This was originally published in 1962 so there have been recent archaeological finds he didn't know about. Descriptions of campaigns and battles are clear. Cottrell is conscious that he is writing for people who may have first hand experience of combat in World War II. He draws comparisons some more questionable than others. There's no bibliography or Notes occasionally a source is mentioned in a footnote.

Recommended particularly for its coverage of the post-Caesar campaigns.

For more ancient history book reviews Take a look at My Ancient History bookshelf.

Hitler As Military Commander by John Strawson

Hitler As Military Commander by John Strawson describes Hitler's command style throughout the second world war. The book follows the standard view that Hitler was successful when having the initiative but a disastrous failure when being dictated to. There are some iconoclastic opinions here for example that the hold order after the failure to seize Moscow was actually successful and not a mistake. The strategic analysis is excellent explaining some decisions which show the connectedness of the different fronts. The book does not contain endnotes but there is a bibliography.

Highly recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.



For more WWII book reviews Take a look at My World War II bookshelf.

A Short History of New Zealand by Gordon McLauchlan

A Short History of New Zealand by Gordon McLauchlan is well what the title says. The book deals with New Zealand history from its formation thousands of years ago, its discovery by the Polynesians then the Europeans through to 2003. For the most part this is a political history although there were occasional nods to social history topics. There isn't really enough space to deal with anything in-depth. I don't know much about New Zealand history so this was a welcome summary at least now I know some of the major figures and events. Unfortunately this was written by a reporter there is no endnotes, bibliography or suggested readings although occasionally books are mentioned in the text. Pictures are on basically every page mostly head shots. There's a timeline of important events.

Recommended although I'll be looking for something more extensive.

Is available through Abebooks.

Strip Tease by Carl Hiaasen

Strip Tease by Carl Hiaasen is perhaps infamous for being the original book that the horrible movie of the same name was based upon. A stripper tries to get custody of her daughter back from her wheelchair stealing former husband. The book has wacky characters. The pervert congressman perhaps being the most over-the-top. The book is funny and also contains some interesting social commentary about sugarcane. Although the plann that leads to the climactic scene doesn't really make much sense. At least the main character realizes this at the time.

Recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.

Seven Commentaries on the Gallic War With an Eighth Commentary by Aulus Hirtius by Julius Caesar and Aulus Hirtius translated by Carolyn Hammond

Seven Commentaries on the Gallic War With an Eighth Commentary by Aulus Hirtius by Julius aesar and Aulus Hirtius translated by Carolyn Hammond is an up-to-date translation of Caesar's Gallic campaigns from Oxford University Press. As the title says this also contains the eighth commentary which continues on from where Caesar finished. The translation is very readable which is nice the text also seems to be complete. There's a 40 page introduction that nicely puts the text in context. How the text was viewed by various writers over the years is also mentioned. There's a further reading section which suggests some excellent sources. There's a glossary of terms and names. There are maps. Notes provide more information however they are endnotes, in my view footnotes at the bottom of each page would be easier, so would-be unnecessary to flip back and forth.

Highly recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.



For more ancient history book reviews Take a look at My Ancient History bookshelf.

Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen

Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen is a humorous novel about ecological terrorists in Florida. The characters are off the wall bordering on parity but still quite enjoyable. The humor is more situational than anything else. This is not great literature but an excellent diversion for a couple of hours.

Recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.