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Post by Berthier on Jan 4, 2020 11:03:02 GMT
Currently reading the Robert Curthose - Duke of Normandy by Charles Wendell David.
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Post by macbeth on Jan 6, 2020 22:34:03 GMT
Over the Christmas break I finished "The War of the Three Gods" and really enjoyed it. My next project was "A Brief History of the Birth of the Nazis" by Nigel Jones which concentrates on the Freikorps during the Weimar Republic period. As ever, the Brief History series always gives me some new knowledge. Admittedly this is a period of history that I am relatively uninformed about. So how did I get this book? One of my wife's colleagues is moving to North Queensland and in the process is selling up his books and bookshelves. I had already acquired one of the 5'x7' shelves (YAY!!) and as moving day gets closer he began to offload some of the books for free. The Jones book and another similar one match up with what Wf(X) is reading so he passed them on Back in Canberra I had packages waiting from pre Xmas Book Depository orders - first was the final part of Adrian Goldsworthy's "Vindolana" trilogy "Brigantia" which I powered through - the series is well worth a read. Now I am just shy of 50 pages into "The Viking Wars" by Max Adams which gives an overall picture of the Viking era in Northern Europe putting Alfred's achievements in context. Cheers
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Post by gregorius on Jan 7, 2020 1:43:08 GMT
I've just finished Sword of Kings and as usual Cornwell didn't disappoint. I'm just about to begin R.W. Peake's fifth installment of his what if Caesar saga. Cheers, I have since finished Peake's tome and have just begun the 6th installment of the Roland Innes Saga by Wayne Grant. Cheers,
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Post by Haardrada on Jan 16, 2020 21:27:05 GMT
I finally got round to ordering The Perilous Frontier by Thomas J Barfield...It arrived today. đ
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Post by macbeth on Jan 19, 2020 21:47:55 GMT
So as last week drew to a close I finished off "The Viking Wars" - a great read.
I am now reading "A Brief History of the Anglo Saxons" by Geoffrey Hindley and there is a certain amount of overlap with the last book.
In addition a classically educated workmate just loaned me "Conquest and Empire" by A.B Bosworth - a history of the reign of Alexander the Great.
Cheers
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Post by notintheface on Jan 20, 2020 0:11:57 GMT
I have just commenced reading Bernard Cornwell's "Starbuck Chronicles". Already my interest in the American Civil War is being stirred! Never really had much to do with that period although many years ago I did enjoy reading "Red Badge of Courage". The civil war series by Shelby Foote is a great read
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Post by notintheface on Jan 20, 2020 0:14:03 GMT
Iâm having another crack at Trial by Fire by Jonathan Sumption
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Post by macbeth on Feb 17, 2020 6:51:56 GMT
I powered through the "Brief History of the Anglo Saxons" and followed it up with a series of modern short stories set in Lagos, Nigeria. "Lagos Noir" part of the Akashic Noir series of publications was a nice distraction. I think I will gab a few more of these.
Next I read "The Modern Mercenary" by Sean McFate, a former PMC operative in DynCorp who was part of the group that demobilised and recreated the Armed Forces of Liberia. It was an interesting critique of the new world order and the creation of a private market for force. Lots of comparisons to the Medieval Period, specifically the Italian Condotta era.
Now I am about a quarter of the way through "Africa's World War" an history of the inter connection of the Rwandan Genocide and the Congo War.
Cheers
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Post by gregorius on Feb 17, 2020 22:40:37 GMT
I've just finished reading A Great and Glorious Adventure by Gordon Corrigan. Lent to me by good friend Peter Spitz, it covers the period of the HYW. Nothing new, but a very readable account of the conflict from origins through to the final departure of English forces from continental Europe. I would certainly recommend it.
Cheers,
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Post by timurilank on Feb 18, 2020 22:27:44 GMT
Received Sowing the Dragonâs Teeth by Eric McGeer yesterday. This book is cited as a reference under the army notes for the Nikephorian and Konstantinian Byzantine.
The book includes the translations of two military treatises the Praecepta Militaria of Nikephoros Phokas and the revised version included in the Taktika of Nikephoros Ouranos. A further five chapters cover the Byzantine army, its organisation, deployment, tactics and campaigns. The Hamdanid and Fatamid armies are also covered in detail.
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Post by macbeth on Mar 3, 2020 1:18:46 GMT
I took a few days off and headed back to my ancestral home (Bendigo, Victoria) where I was able to catch up on a fair bit of reading.
I finished 'Africa's World War' and then followed it up with
'Venice Noir' another of the Akaskic Noir series - short stories, and quite intriguing 'Zona Alfa' an Osprey Wargame based on the Russian fiction genre of operating in the Forbidden Zone in near future setting. Looks promising. 'The Looting Machine' by Tom Burgis another history of Modern Africa, but about the economic effects of "The Resource Curse" and less about the war. Very good.
I got carried away in the moment a couple of weeks ago and went hunting on the web for two books in 'The Corps D'Elite' series - originally a French publication but these two along with a book on the Samurai that I picked up at a bookfair years ago have made it into English translations. (There are others but so far all searches suggest they are only available in French). I ordered 'The Foreign Legion' and 'The Afrika Korps' and both arrived recently. I am now partway through 'The Afrika Korps'
Cheers
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Post by gregorius on Mar 3, 2020 22:18:16 GMT
I took a few days off and headed back to my ancestral home (Bendigo, Victoria) where I was able to catch up on a fair bit of reading. I finished 'Africa's World War' and then followed it up with 'Venice Noir' another of the Akaskic Noir series - short stories, and quite intriguing 'Zona Alfa' an Osprey Wargame based on the Russian fiction genre of operating in the Forbidden Zone in near future setting. Looks promising. 'The Looting Machine' by Tom Burgis another history of Modern Africa, but about the economic effects of "The Resource Curse" and less about the war. Very good. I got carried away in the moment a couple of weeks ago and went hunting on the web for two books in 'The Corps D'Elite' series - originally a French publication but these two along with a book on the Samurai that I picked up at a bookfair years ago have made it into English translations. (There are others but so far all searches suggest they are only available in French). I ordered 'The Foreign Legion' and 'The Afrika Korps' and both arrived recently. I am now partway through 'The Afrika Korps' Cheers David is your interest extending into the 20th century? Is there a new project in the offing? Cheers,
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Post by macbeth on Mar 5, 2020 23:04:40 GMT
I took a few days off and headed back to my ancestral home (Bendigo, Victoria) where I was able to catch up on a fair bit of reading. I finished 'Africa's World War' and then followed it up with 'Venice Noir' another of the Akaskic Noir series - short stories, and quite intriguing 'Zona Alfa' an Osprey Wargame based on the Russian fiction genre of operating in the Forbidden Zone in near future setting. Looks promising. 'The Looting Machine' by Tom Burgis another history of Modern Africa, but about the economic effects of "The Resource Curse" and less about the war. Very good. I got carried away in the moment a couple of weeks ago and went hunting on the web for two books in 'The Corps D'Elite' series - originally a French publication but these two along with a book on the Samurai that I picked up at a bookfair years ago have made it into English translations. (There are others but so far all searches suggest they are only available in French). I ordered 'The Foreign Legion' and 'The Afrika Korps' and both arrived recently. I am now partway through 'The Afrika Korps' Cheers David is your interest extending into the 20th century? Is there a new project in the offing? Cheers, Just a bit of dabbling Greg - every now and then something else piques my interest
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Post by macbeth on Mar 5, 2020 23:12:14 GMT
This morning I finished 'The Afrika Korps' odd to find a near hagiography of German military units from a French author but there you go I am now reading his other book in the series 'The French Foreign Legion'. There were other books proposed for the series but some simple searches on the web suggest that none of them were translated to English. I hunted these three down because I sometimes become an obsessive collector of series. I saw the Foreign Legion book in my old College Library in the early 80s and upon discovering that there was a book on the Samurai in the series I began to salivate. (I actually saw the book on the shelves of my Ju Jistu instructor around that time). Having managed to get myself a copy of 'The Samurai' two decades later I then felt the need to acquire the rest. Cheers
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Post by macbeth on Mar 9, 2020 6:46:29 GMT
So this afternoon I finished off "The French Foreign Legion" so have now read my newly acquired Corps D'Elite series in short order.
This one was a series of anecdotes about the Legion across its history. Not stellar but a good quick read.
Cheers
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