Current Reading: January 2024

Happy New Year (fingers crossed)!

First away with The Fall and Rise of French Sea Power, the author writes well about the period from the collapse of French naval power in 1940, to its emergence as a nuclear power in the early 1960s. Less good is that the man could not tell the difference between a light and a heavy cruiser if his life depended on it; Canuel's gaffs with the small details annoy me.

>1 Shrike58: Maybe it's my old age but I seem to notice significantly more of these technical gaffes as well. I guess I should come out of retirement and offer myself to publishers as a technical proofreader ;)

Finished up in this new year The Last Ditch: Britain's Secret Resistance and the Nazi Invasion Plans by David Lampe. As noticed in the forward to the new edition, this reissue of the 1960s era book may not contain the latest scholarship on the subject, but it is a good introduction and a pleasant read. Part of the book covers the plans the Germans had for the occupation of Britain during WW2, but the majority of the book discusses the creation, training and deployment of British units which would be the behind the lines resistance against German occupation forces. It was a surprisingly sophisticated plan that often had access to the most cutting edge explosives and other material and a carefully worked out organization where individual units would work in almost complete isolation from others to prevent the capture of some personnel from betraying the whole network. A very interesting read, highly recommend.

Just wrapped up Myasishchev M-50 and M-52, another of the author's deep dives into Soviet aircraft history. If nothing else the illustrations and pictures are glorious.

Gave up on a tedious Bismarck's First War: The Campaign of Schleswig and Jutland 1864 by Michael Embree. There was way too much of a focus on this unit being moved to that place and tables of units involved in each fight and casualty lists. And since the author assumed the reader has perfect memory, units were referred to by their designations (EG "II/26th") and it soon got very confusing as to who was on which side. There was the occasional anecdote to break up the monotony, but it was too much of a struggle to enjoy.

For those interested in this war, 1864: The Forgotten War That Shaped Modern Europe by Tom Buk-Swienty is a much better book.

>5 jztemple: Noted: I've flirted with reading Embree over the years.

Finished Divided Houses, the third volume of Sumption's Hundred Years War history. It's quite good, but I'll be taking a little break before getting started with volume 4.

Oh yeah, wrapped up The International Brigades the other day; this is a really good take on the subject, as much social as military history.

Knocked off The Warrior Generals, an examination of operational art in Parliament's war with the rest of the British Isles. There's nothing wrong with it except it reminds me that I'm overdue in regards to reading a good biography of Oliver Cromwell.

Ploughed through John Marsden's Galloglas on the flight yesterday. More genealogy and less military history than I was expecting, but not bad.

Just finished A Welshman in Mesopotamia. Quick read, but interesting and fills in some gaps on the siege of Kut, the conditions, and the well-documented lack of medical support. A great addition to the history of the Campaign.

Into Nancy Wake, about an Australian woman who married a rich Frenchman, helped various folks escape to Spain from Vichy France, bolted over the Pyrenees herself, went to England, enlisted into the SOE, and went back into France to assist the Resistance. Definitely a Thrilling Tale. Also reading George B. McClellan and Civil War History, a nuanced look at that most frustrating of the Civil War generals. The author has little patience with the 100 years later psychoanalysis of McClellan. Not exactly an admiring look at the man, but not unsympathetic either.

And to finished off the month, a short but very good The Longest Afternoon: The 400 Men Who Decided the Battle of Waterloo by Brendan Simms.

>9 Shrike58: Looking forward to see ing what you come up with on Cromwell. I started Antonia Fraser's definitive biography of him a couple of times, but got so overwhelmed with detail that I put it down to rest my brain. Not really the book for a first introduction to the man, but I haven't stumbled across another one yet.

>9 Shrike58: Long ago I read John Buchan's biography of Oliver Cromwell. I remember finding it interesting and enjoyable, but it was published in 1934, so there's probably much additional research done since. 96 LT members list the book, but there are no posted reviews. I believe I read the book before I started reviewing my reading here, so I don't have a review of my own to refer to, either.