The Military History Group discussion

So, what books are you currently reading?

Been reading The Annotated Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. After the battle of Shiloh, Halleck has assumed command in the field and Grant has moved his headquarters to Memphis.

Plus there's another book on microbes.

The Age of Faith by Will Durant

Vicksburg by Donald L. Miller

I'm currently reading Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage by Noah Andre Trudeau. For a military history book it is easy to read. A few nits - maps are marginal and background on military leaders are minimal. The map issue is a personal pet peeve of mine. If the author is going to have maps then the maps and writing should reflect each other. The author shouldn't reference locations and then not place those locations on the map...

Patton’s Payback: the Battle of El Guettar and General Patton’s Rise to Glory

I am halfway through Singapore Burning: Heroism And Surrender In World War II by Colin Smith and so far it is outstanding. It was a terrible defeat of the British forces defending the city and the author is unbiased in his reporting of the mistakes made. And it has maps!!!

Two books I’m currently reading that would be of interest here are Flintlock and Tomahawk: New England in King Philip's War and The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 (classic!).

I’m currently on James Holland’s “Normandy ‘44”. My wife and I are taking a trip to Europe in the fall and Normandy was a must. I only know broadly what happened during the campaign, so I wanted to read a book on the subject. It was between this, Hastings’ book, and Beevor’s book. I picked Holland’s because I really like his podcast and some of the lectures of his that I’ve seen on YouTube. It’s really good so far.

Jill wrote: "I am halfway through Singapore Burning: Heroism And Surrender In World War II by Colin Smith and so far it is outstanding. It was a terrible defeat of the British f..."

Glad to hear you are enjoying the book Jill, it's a pretty good account on the fall of Singapore.

Two military books that I am currently reading are "The Other Side of the Wire, volume 1: With the German XIV Reserve Corps on the Somme, September 1914-June 1916" and "Bismarck's War: The Franco-Prussian War and the Making of Modern Europe".

Right now I am reading Verdun: The Left Bank which is part of the Battleground Series, and Salamanca Campaign 1812 by Tim Saunders about one of Wellington's victories in the Peninsula.

I am currently not reading anything right now, because I just finished Peter Harts book on World War One, right now I am trying to decide on what to read next. I just watched both "Gods and Generals" and "Gettysburg" a few days ago, and I am thinking of reading a book on the Civil War, but I am not sure yet. I feel like I still want to read something on World War One, but I am not sure.

Currently reading Dreadnought by RK Massie. I've previously read his biographies on Peter and Catherine the Greats. He's an excellent author that employs little mini bios of the important players. I'm trying to get a really solid foundation on the politics and alliances in Europe leading up to ww1 before plunging into the conflict itself. Also read The Proud Tower and Guns of August by Tuchman.

Really looking forward to getting into the Russian revolution next.

^ The Guns of August is fantastic. I also loved The Zimmermann Telegram, which must be one of the best histories of a specific incident ever written.

R.K. Massie is one of my favorite authors, especially his biography of Peter the Great, but I also like almost all of his books.

Creighton, have you read Scott Hartwig's book To Antietam Creek? It's the first of two on that great battle. The comcluding book on the battle itself will be out in August.

Totally agree about that Peter the Great Betsy. And I'm sold on the Zimmerman Telegram Patrick, appreciate the recommendation.

Tuchman and Massie are a couple of my favorite history authors.

Props for starting this thread Creighton!

^ Tuchman is a great 20th Century author, period.

I read Nicholas and Alexandra: The Classic Account of the Fall of the Romanov Dynasty as a freshman in high school, on my own initiative, and was completely enthralled.

Nick wrote: "I'm currently reading Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage by Noah Andre Trudeau. For a military history book it is easy to read. A few nits - maps are marginal and backgrou..."

I love that guy! I just finished Bloody Roads South: The Wilderness to Cold Harbor, May-June 1864

Right now I am reading A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them.

Both of these titles are rough to read. The book about the Wilderness/Cold Harbor campaign is so horrifying that I made it my bathroom book; go into the room, read a couple pages, then leave it right there till next time. Egan's is terrible in a different way, and of course, both are well written.

Donna wrote: "Nick wrote: "I'm currently reading Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage by Noah Andre Trudeau. For a military history book it is easy to read. A few nits - maps are marginal..."

I have not read either of those books mentioned by Trudeau, but I've read Southern Storm: Sherman's March to the Sea which is pretty good, although the last time I read it was in 2020, it might come up time for me to re-read it.

Creighton wrote: "Donna wrote: "Nick wrote: "I'm currently reading Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage by Noah Andre Trudeau. For a military history book it is easy to read. A few nits - map..."

I read that one as well as the Gettysburg book. I thought Trudeau was a little rough on Sherman, but it was very well written. This guy has become on of those authors whose work I'll read just because of who wrote it.

Jill wrote: "I am halfway through Singapore Burning: Heroism And Surrender In World War II by Colin Smith and so far it is outstanding. It was a terrible defeat of the British f..."

Thanks for the information on Singapore Burning I am getting a copy from the library. I have always been fascinated by the Singapore story and, although it is fiction, the best book on the whole sorry episode remains J G Farrell's 'The Singapore Grip'. By the way a really mediocre TV series was made out of the book - don't let it influence your attitude to the novel.

Betsy wrote: "Right now I am reading Verdun: The Left Bank which is part of the Battleground Series, and Salamanca Campaign 1812 by Tim Saunders about one of Wellington's victories in the Peninsula."

Have you read Alistair Horne's 'The Price of Glory; Verdun 1916' which in my very limited experience is a amazing and moving account of the battle and the part it played in French and German history.

An excellent book for anyone interested in war and its complexities within both a colonial and post colonial world is Alistair Horne's 'A Savage War for Peace: Algeria 1954-1962'.

I credit The Price of Glory with starting my interest in WWI. I even went to a convention in San Francisco so I could hear Alistair Horne speak. It's an unforgettable book..

Betsy wrote: "I credit The Price of Glory with starting my interest in WWI. I even went to a convention in San Francisco so I could hear Alistair Horne speak. It's an unforgettable book.."
He is, or was ( I hope he might still be alive) a brilliant historian and his books on the battle of Paris in 1870-71 and on the Fall of France are also superb. I wish I had heard hi speak!

He passed away in 2017. He was a fine gentleman. He signed my copy of the book, and talked to me a bit. Highlight of my trip. ☺

I just finished Singapore Burning: Heroism And Surrender In World War II by Colin Smith] and it was well worth reading. I will say that it takes some real concentration since the author covers most of the battles/skirmishes leading up to the Japanese occupation. It is not a fast read but I really learned so much from it. I will be putting up a review in a couple of days

Working my way through Brian Kilmeade’s Sam Houston & the Alamo Avengers.

Jill wrote: "I just finished Singapore Burning: Heroism And Surrender In World War II by Colin Smith] and it was well worth reading. I will say that it takes some real concentra..."

Look forward to your review Jill!

Just starting Pacific Alamo by John Wukovits about the Battle of Wake Island.

I am reading Joshua Levine’s book about Dunkirk. I am interested because it is linked heavily to the film. I like how it looks at soldiers before the evacuation and how it compares the events as survival rather than a battle.

Matt......have you read The Miracle of Dunkirk by Walter Lord ? It is really an interesting look at the "glorious retreat".

Interesting. Thanks I will look into that one.

Coming up on the final chapters of J.M.S. Careless’s Canada: A Story Of Challenge, the revised 1970 edition. Not the name I would want as a historian 😏 , but Careless was good. This is is the second comprehensive history of Canada that I have read, after Roger Riendeau’s A Brief History of Canada, 2000 edition.

I love thinking about geography, and one of my retirement goals is to know the INTERNAL geography of countries much better. Lately I’ve been working on Italy, the UK, Australia, trying to get the counties, regions, features more firmly fixed in my mind. So I appreciate that Careless opens with a consideration of the geographic regions of Canada. I have really never thought much about the Canadian Shield, or even been aware of the water-logged Hudson Bay Lowlands, so this is wonderful material. YouTube travel and geography videos, if used very selectively, can help with the visualization.

Patrick wrote: "Coming up on the final chapters of J.M.S. Careless’s Canada: A Story Of Challenge, the revised 1970 edition. Not the name I would want as a historian 😏 , but Careless was good. This ..."

Sounds good - and I love your views on understanding the geography of different countries/regions - reading a recent history of the Crimean War made me think about how the UK and France could sail all their men and material straight to the battlefield while every Russian man and bullet had to walk or be carried by horse transport over maybe thousands of miles, even though they were ostensibly on 'home' territory. Geography is something we don't really pay enough attention to as a factor in history.

As a matter of fact, I just ordered a huge old college textbook Economic Geography., that I once thumbed in a bookshop and should have bought then (you know how that goes!).

I seem to be running into King Philip’s War a lot in my reading, so I thought I would undertake a classic history of the subject, Douglas Leach’s Flintlock and Tomahawk: New England in King Philip's War. This is very well balanced between military, political, and social history, with plenty of conflict detail as best can be reconstructed.

Hey Patrick, I remember reading Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick. That was my first introduction to King Phillip's War and I found it fascinating. Looking forward to seeing your thoughts on Leach's book you referenced.

The Philbrick is one I’d like to read!

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War is so good it should be required reading for every high school student in the U.S.

Creighton wrote: "I am currently not reading anything right now, because I just finished Peter Harts book on World War One, right now I am trying to decide on what to read next. I just watched both "Gods and General..."

The Eric Larson book Demons of Unrest is a pretty good read.

I just finished James Holland books “Sicily ‘43”, I thought it was really good. Holland has this ability to use the writings and stories of certain soldiers, civilians, and generals who were involved, showcase their story, and bring them all together to craft a good story about the campaign.

James Holland has recently published another two books on the Italian campaign that may interest you - "The Savage Storm: The Battle for Italy, 1943" and "Cassino '44: Five Months of Hell in Italy".

I am currently reading a book about the International Legion in the Ukraine.

To Die With Such Men: Frontline Stories from Ukraine's International Legion

Shannon Monaghan

Mike wrote: "I am currently reading a book about the International Legion in the Ukraine.

To Die With Such Men: Frontline Stories from Ukraine's International Legion

[author:Shannon Monaghan..."

Sounds like a very interesting book, Mike!