I'm back

Well I'm back from my involuntary break. In the upcoming days I'll be catching up with my reviews. I have at least seven to do. I'm also going to try to do some posts on other topics like I used to do when I first started out.

Not ded

Benn having some computer fun. I hope to be back up and posting on Monday or Tuesday

The Serbs Choose War by Ruth Mitchell

The Serbs Choose War by Ruth Mitchell. The memoir of Billy Mitchell's [the pioneering airpower theorist] sisters time in Yugoslavia during the second world war. It's claimed that she was the only foreign woman to join the Chetniks. She doesn't actually appear to have achieved anything. She seems to have spent her time wandering around Yugoslavia with a chip on her shoulder [it seems to run in the family] until she's captured by the Gestapo. This was published during the war it comes off as a propaganda piece in support of the Serbs. Interestingly enough the communists are only mentioned twice both times rather dismissively.

Not recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.

Alien Wars: The Soviet Union's Aggression Against the World, 1919 to 1989 by Oleg Sarin and Lev Dvoretsky

Alien Wars: The Soviet Union's Aggression Against the World, 1919 to 1989 by Oleg Sarin and Lev Dvoretsky a rather disjointed history of Soviet involvement in conflicts after World War II. One gets the feeling reading this that the authors believe that they are providing earth shattering details but they really don't. I'm sure the information was new information to Russians but not to those of us in the West. There is some excerpts from declassifyed documents as well as accounts from Russian soldiers but there isn't enough there to make it worthwhile.

Not recommended.

Dragonmaster by Chris Bunch

Dragonmaster by Chris Bunch. This is a fantasy novel about a young man achieving his dream of flying a dragon. Naturally there just happens to be a war going on so he ends up in the newly created dragon units. There's nothing particularly new or innovative here. The older generals don't know what to do with dragons so are gifted hero must show them. Beautiful women fall in his lap and he naturally has a nemesis on the other side. The writing is solid but it's a little unnerving to occasionally hear 1990s slang. This is the first in the Storm of Wings trilogy I'll probably pick up the others. This is fluff but enjoyable fluff.

Recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.

Life in a Medieval Village by Francis and Joseph Gies

Life in a Medieval Village by Francis and Joseph Gies this is a social history of the English village of Elton around the end of the 13th century. The usual topics are covered organization, religion, Justice and industry. A decent enough summary. This would probably serve best as an introduction or as a quick brush up read.

Recommended!

Second to None: The Fighting 58th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force by Kevin R. Shackelton

Second to None: The Fighting 58th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force by Kevin R. Shackelton. This is a unit history of this Battalion recruited from Toronto. The author a relative of one of those who served has done an excellent job mixing unit history's with primary sources. I think this was geared towards a nonspecialist audience there's occasionally description of terminology which surprised me but it isn't too frequent to be frustrating to the expert. We need more History's like this for Canadian units.

Highly recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.

The Renaissance in National Context edited by Roy Porter

The Renaissance in National Context edited by Roy Porter. This is a collection of essays discussing various countries involvement and reaction to the renaissance. Countries covered are England, France, Hungary, Germany, Belgium and Holland, Poland and three Italian city states. The essays are for the most part pretty good although they do tend to break down into lists of when renaissance texts were translated or published in the country. Unfortunately the authors seem to assume some background knowledge so it can be slightly difficult to follow things. Some essays talk about literature while others politics. I would have preferred a more uniform treatment.

Recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.

The Awful End of Prince William the Silent: The First Assassination of a Head of State with a Handgun by Lisa Jardine

The Awful End of Prince William the Silent: The First Assassination of a Head of State with a Handgun by Lisa Jardine. A very short actually more like a long journal article book on the impact of the wheel-lock pistol. Its use in assassination as well as in warfare. This is actually pretty good. The Freudian business about sexuality seemed a little forced but there's only a few pages taken up with it.

Recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.

On Latimer

It doesn't surprise me that he received day parole. What does surprise me is that the review board as part of their ruling State that lack of remorse is insufficient to deny day parole. Strange I always thought the point of parole was to reward rehabilitation. How can one be rehabilitated if one does not acknowledge one's crime in the first place? It'll be interesting to see just how quickly this is pointed to as a precedent in other cases.

Generals: Ten British Commanders Who Shaped the World by Mark Urban

Generals: Ten British Commanders Who Shaped the World by Mark Urban. This is a set of biographies of well what the subtitle says. The book includes George Monck, Marlborough, William Howe, Duke Of York, Wellington, Gordon, Kitchener, Allenby, J.F.C. Fuller and Montgomery. Naturally any student of British military history can quibble with the selections. Personally I would have included Wolf instead of Howe. That aside the biographies are pretty good. Urban doesn't shy away from criticizing when that's necessary. This is definitely popular history but it's still pretty good.

Recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.

War at Sea in the Age of Sail 1650-1850 by Andrew Lambert

War at Sea in the Age of Sail 1650-1850 by Andrew Lambert. This is part of a larger series on the history of warfare. This is supposed to be an introductory volume on the topic. The series is of varying quality this is one of the better ones. In a relatively short amount of space a lot of technical detail on tactics, strategies and chip design are presented. Frequently this includes illustrations maps and diagrams.

Highly recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.

Bahamarama by Bob Morris

Bahamarama by Bob Morris is another in the long line of Florida mysteries. Although much of the action takes place on a British island in the Caribbean. Are hero a former Miami Dolphins football player has recently been released from prison for a murder he didn't commit. The supposed victim is out to get him. Further complicating things is that his girlfriend is kidnapped. Excellent story that is fast-paced and sprinkled with just enough pop culture references. I've already ordered two more books by the author.

Highly recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.

Rebellion in Kildare, 1790-1803 by Liam Chambers

Rebellion in Kildare, 1790-1803 by Liam Chambers. Short account of the 1798 rebellion in this county of Ireland. the book started off as a thesis so the writing is occasionally verbose. Chambers places the uprising within its political context as opposed to religious differences. I'm not really sure how this fits into other research on the rebellion but on face value it seems reasonable enough.

Recommended.

Is available through Abebooks.

Blood Is Dirt by Robert Wilson

Blood Is Dirt by Robert Wilson is a hard-boiled detective novel set in Africa. Our hero is hired to help an importer who had some money stolen from him quickly he ends up gruesomely murdered. The standard hard-boiled plot devices are here but they been tweaked in interesting ways. The book also contains some very snappy dialogue.

Highly recommended!

Is available through Abebooks.