What Are You Currently Reading?

[Gunz]

Re-reading Bruce Catton's brilliant Civil War trilogy, The Coming Fury, Terrible Swift Sword and Never Call Retreat...arguably the most eloquent and incisive account of the war, it was commissioned for the Centennial. It's 56 years old but could've been written yesterday. Excellent maps.

For those of you who tend to read the latest books, don't neglect the thousands of amazingly great military works published in the past that are still relevant. Some are out of print but you can always buy used copies in great condition, usually at bargain prices.

As for brand new, I wanted a copy of C.S. Forester's Rifleman Dodd, written in 1933 and republished in 1943 by The Infantry Journal.

I found a newly minted copy of Rifleman Dodd by this company, that re-prints out-of-print works. It's well worth a look.

www.kessinger.net

 

[Dienekes]

My graduation present from my parents was a leather bound The Art of War from the Easton Press Military History collection as the first book to start my own personal collection <to be accumulated over my lifetime because those things are damn expensive>. I don't know what it is about leather bound books that makes me want to just sit and drink a lowball of whiskey while reading them, but I fucking love 'em.

 

[POGgonerogue]

Masters of Chaos, then Lions of Kandahar.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

It's been a while since I've picked up this good friend. Sunday morning on the deck with coffee, cigar, and Puzo's The Godfather.

 

[AWP]

Re-reading Bruce Catton's brilliant Civil War trilogy, The Coming Fury, Terrible Swift Sword and Never Call Retreat...arguably the most eloquent and incisive account of the war, it was commissioned for the Centennial. It's 56 years old but could've been written yesterday. Excellent maps.

Did you ever read any of Shelby Foote's work? I haven't but I'm told it is excellent.

 

[Gunz]

Did you ever read any of Shelby Foote's work? I haven't but I'm told it is excellent.

I haven't...but I've heard the same. Catton, to me, has always been the definitive authority. But I think I'll "put my Foote down" on the next Amazon browse.

 

[Gunz]

It's been a while since I've picked up this good friend. Sunday morning on the deck with coffee, cigar, and Puzo's The Godfather.

Nothing like a good re-read of a great story after some years. I recently re-read Shogun. I'd forgotten just how damn satisfying that big novel is.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

I recently re-read Shogun.

Thanks for that. I've not read that yet, next in que!

 

[BrassOverBolt]

The Way of Men by Jack Donovan and Under the Black Flag: the Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates by David Cordingly

 

[RackMaster]

A Secret Well Kept - The Untold Story of Sir Vernon Kell, Founder of MI5 by Constance Kell

 

[CQB]

This is sort of a mash up. I read The Feathermen by Ranulph Feinnes some time ago. It's a good little pot-boiler with a vivid description of the Battle of Mirbat, an SAS action in Oman.
The film The Killer Elite is based on the book & is a clever adaptation. I suggest both.

 

[EasyDay]

When the bullet hits your funny bone by Billy Allmon.

 

[AWP]

Y'all need to go buy this book.

Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy, The Exile: The Stunning Inside Story of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda in Flight (Bloomsbury, 2017).

 

[CDG]

Just finished Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage. What a book. The things those dudes went through, and the amount of time they spent in the worst possible conditions, was just insane. If you haven't read this book, put it on your list.

Just started American Commando: Evans Carlson, His WWII Marine Raiders, and America's First Special Forces Mission.

 

[AWP]

Just finished Endurance: Shacckleton's Incredible Voyage. What a book. The things those dudes went through, and the amount of time they spent in the worst possible conditions, was just insane. If you haven't read this book, put it on your list.

Just started American Commando: Evans Carlson, His WWII Marine Raiders, and America's First Special Forces Mission.

"Shack" and his men were beasts. That is a great book.

 

[81FO]

Just finished...

very good, the writing is different from other memoirs I've read. Also the authors tract or experience was a unique one.

and just started



Will be reading book 2



& book 3

in order...



I keep paperbacks like these in my bag for downtime or when waiting around... always have been partial to accounts written in 1st person.

 

[Isiah6:8]

Just finished the new Mitch Rapp book Enemy of the State. It comes out September 7th. If you enjoyed the series so far, worth continuing. I'll try loading the book cover when I get to a computer, says the file is too large from my phone.

 

[Frank S.]

"What happened" by Hillary Clinton.

A revealing, if unsurprising passage:

 

[Red Flag 1]

@:.

 

[SaintKP]

Just finished Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, highly recommend it if you're into graphic westerns with some surreal and mystical elements to it.

Thinking about rereading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, I understand why she gets hated on but I think its a bit of groupthink when it comes to it honestly.