Hitler's U Boat War by Clay Blair.
I'm about 1/3 into the second book.
Whats this like? I read his book on Mathew Ridgeway and to be honest I was convinced by the end that Blair must have been Ridgeway`s long lost son - what a kiss arse :yuck:
I`m currently reading Pedro Riog`s - Spanish Soldiers in Russia, once again kicks the Osprey into touch (they really should be ashamed at the quality of some of thier books).
Next, well either -
Gorden Rottman`s - Infantry Tactics of WW2
or
Zetterling & Frankson`s - The Korsun Pocket
Both sitting here awaiting review :eh:
Mine's coming on the slow boat from Amazon
Serious? :eh:
Amazon.de are bloody GREAT. I order a book before midday Monday (say), and it is delivered midday Tuesday.
Maybe it is the U.K post at fault?
And Gungnir, old chap, why am I not getting notifications of post on this topic?
If you could be ever so kind and give the system a good kick in the bollocks I would be eternaly grateful.
Huh?
And that's the beginning and end of my systems knowledge.
Hmm. SEEMS to be working now.
"What big boots you have!" :-)
Finished it today, good stuff. Its on ebay if anyone wants it.
Cool - I'm looking forward to having a read. Need to finish some WW2 stuff first though.
Hitler's U Boat War by Clay Blair.
I'm about 1/3 into the second book.
Whats this like? I read his book on Mathew Ridgeway and to be honest I was convinced by the end that Blair must have been Ridgeway`s long lost son - what a kiss arse :yuck:
It's heavy reading but very interesting. Lots of information about how the various Allies handled the appearance of U-boots in their waters, how convoy routes were established, why they changed, the influence of intelligence (or lack thereof). Blair goes from broad outlines of strategic positions to details in patrols and back and that often makes it a heavy read. One moment you're reading about British-American negotations about the transfer of planes to patrol the Bay of Biscay and the next moment you're reading a paragraph per U-boot that tried to cross the Bay for a given period (including medals awarded). Practically every encounter described lists the main protagonists, what they thought they did, followed by what actually happened. Often the author notes "as we saw before" but I must confess that at that point I don't really remember if U-160 (or was it U-610 ? Or U-106 ?) actually had problems with the battery. Recurring themes are that the Admirality (and British historians) failed to appreciate the American effort, that both British and Americans failed to appreciate the Canadian effort, that King was not an anglophobe and that the U-boot threat was overestimated. He does note that such is the benefit of hindsight and that British and Americans at the time were likely to see things different. Likewise, even when he mentions that only a tiny fraction of ships crossing the Atlantic were sunk of damaged it still was a very tough job for all involved.
Compared to Silent War (by the same author) there is plenty of information about the actions and thoughts of both sides. The struggle between Donitz/Raeder and Hitler about how to use the U boot, the reasons why certain technological paths were ignored or not,...
Just finished reading Vietnam: The Australian War by Paul Ham. Lacks the kind of detail us wargamers like, but a great introductary book nonetheless. I'd recommend it to anyone new to the subject.
Just started reading The Struggle for Indochina by Ellen Hammer. Probably the most detailed single volume political background I've seen of the French Indochina War so far. No wonder it's listed in every bibliography on the subject.
I'm thinking of asking the relatives to buy me Gibbons "Decline and Fall..." for xmas. Has anyone read that?
I've read the abridged version Giles.
Not bad.
Seriously.
Cheers. I read the other day that Gibbon wrote it between 1776 and 1784, or thereabouts, which made me wonder the extent, if any, to which it was influenced by events in America.
It's one of those things I'm been meaning to read for years. Along with the Mr Men books.
IIRC, Gibbon faught in the SYW. As in the man, not the monkeys. Although monkeys might have faught in the SYW. I don't really know though.
Although monkeys might have faught in the SYW
The French, you mean?