Tartansabre
New Member
Yes, I have an interest in the Middle East-Persian Gulf , especially Iran/Syria/Yemen. I will keep Seale and Margolis in mind.The tome by Fisk may take a while to get through...
What are you reading at the moment?
- Thread starter ngatimozart
- Start date
“A Line In The Sand: Britain, France And The Struggle That Shaped The Middle East” (Barr)
“Setting The Desert On Fire” (Barr)
“The Berlin-Baghdad Express: The Ottoman Empire And Germany's Bid For World Power” ;McMeekun)
“Lawrence In Arabia” (Anderson)
“Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming Of Age Between The Arabs And Israelis, 1956-1978” (Bird)
Apologies for getting carried away. Always happy to share book titles.
“Setting The Desert On Fire” (Barr)
“The Berlin-Baghdad Express: The Ottoman Empire And Germany's Bid For World Power” ;McMeekun)
“Lawrence In Arabia” (Anderson)
“Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming Of Age Between The Arabs And Israelis, 1956-1978” (Bird)
Apologies for getting carried away. Always happy to share book titles.
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Tartansabre
New Member
Not at all, thank you for the suggestions, much appreciated.
maybe get them on my Christmas wants list??
Cheers
David
maybe get them on my Christmas wants list??
Cheers
David
Slowly making my way through older issues of "Revista Militar" - a military magazine that the Portuguese Army has been publishing since 1849, and the oldest of its kind still being published today without interruptions since the first issue.
In particular in those older issues (900 pages per year...) it is quite interesting in the topics it covers - from organizational charts and descriptions via detail maneuver descriptions to even physics lessons - and its "contemporary military history" section tends to cover whatever current war there is all over Europe. In the first issue it's a report on the current state of the Caucasus War and the then ongoing occupation of Daghestan for example, from the Russian perspective.
It helps that the publicly available digitized versions of even those old issues were done with full OCR and are thus both searchable and can be simply copy-pasted for translation. And even Google Translate is surprisingly good with 170-year-old Portuguese.
In particular in those older issues (900 pages per year...) it is quite interesting in the topics it covers - from organizational charts and descriptions via detail maneuver descriptions to even physics lessons - and its "contemporary military history" section tends to cover whatever current war there is all over Europe. In the first issue it's a report on the current state of the Caucasus War and the then ongoing occupation of Daghestan for example, from the Russian perspective.
It helps that the publicly available digitized versions of even those old issues were done with full OCR and are thus both searchable and can be simply copy-pasted for translation. And even Google Translate is surprisingly good with 170-year-old Portuguese.
David Graeber - Debt. It's an anthropological view on the economics of debt and currency. It's an interesting though in some parts debatable big picture view of the anthropological history of debt and the role currency played in early human societies. In large part he successfully shatters the Enlightenment-era myth that pre-currency economies were based on direct barter.
Tartansabre
New Member
With current events in the Ukraine, I have just started reading David Stahel's book ' Kiev 1941 Hitler's Battle for Supremacy in the East'
history seems to be repeating itself ??
history seems to be repeating itself ??
It's a very good read although for me personally his works utilise too much personal accounts and vignettes. If you want go much deeper into the nitty gritty bit of things I'd recommend Glantz's works.
Buttar's "Retribution" covers the Soviet liberation of the Ukraine; fighting in Kharkov and various other places which are in the news now.
Buttar's "Retribution" covers the Soviet liberation of the Ukraine; fighting in Kharkov and various other places which are in the news now.
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Redlands18
Well-Known Member
I have found Audible to be a great way to read Books, can listen while doing other things
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #30
Working my way through David Eddings books.
Redlands18
Well-Known Member
I have to admit to being a huge epic fantasy fan, was a big Eddings fan back in the day. Huge fan of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series am currently listening to an Australian Author James Islington and his Licanius trilogy.
I enjoyed the Wheel of Time quite a bit, but Jordan couldn't prune his story branches to save his life. Towards the end you went through ~800 pages where barely anything happened because there were so many parallel story threads. I suspect it's part of why he never finished it.
Redlands18
Well-Known Member
Actually Robert Jordan passed away in 2007 at the age of 59 and that is why he didn't finish it. It was completed by Brandon Sanderson between 2008 and 2014. If you are not aware, It is now a hit TV show on Amazon Prime. In the end it was a 14 book series 11 by Jordan, 3 by Sanderson and yes it got bogged down a bit through books 8-10 but Sanderson done an amazing job finishing it using notes left behind and working with Jordan's Widow(also she was Jordan's editor).
I knew someone else finished his work using his notes, but I vividly recall the pacing, and the dozen or so parallel story threads running through it towards the end, so I don't believe that he would have wrapped up his story in ~3 more books. I'm not surprised that another author did so. Honestly I haven't gotten around to reading the last 3 by another author, and I'm not sure if I will.
For the TV show, I'll do my usual thing and wait until it's either at least 3 season in, or over completely. I rarely have the patience to wait for the next season.
Redlands18
Well-Known Member
Actually if you like your epic fantasy I do recommend Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson who is the leading Fantasy Author going around today. He does step up the pacing in the last 3 WOT books and by the last book Its basically down to 3-4 threads but still with most of the major characters.
My reading list is pretty long, but I'll tack him on to the end of it and check him out eventually.
Just finished "Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain" by David Gerard. All about bitcoin, blockchains & the crypto currency world and the hugely shaky foundations (criminal, psychological and technical) it's built on. If you've ever thought about investing your money in bitcoin etc, have a read of this first.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #39
I am an epic fantasy and sci fi fan. Have read most of Robert Jordan's WOT and like the TV series so far. Also Frank Herbert's Dune series; haven't seen the latest movie yet. Of course JRR Tolkien; have all the books and movies, plus one of my cousins was an extra in the LOTR movies (lucky bastard). Peter F Hamilton is another favourite. Like the GOT TV series, but haven't read the books.
FoxtrotRomeo999
Active Member
Your email .... and Grantlee Kieza's book The Kelly Hunters. Book looks at the Police involved in hunting down the Kelly Gang ... and addresses a lot of why the history has been muddied by various later narratives. Not a bad read. Bought it at Glenrowan, whilst waiting for coffees during a rest stop between Melbourne and Canberra.. my wife's comment "you could have bought it cheaper at Target". Such is life....