What Are You Reading Now...? II

[Richard]

Catton, Bruce. Mr. Lincoln's Army. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Co., 1952.

It was one of my maternal grandmother's favorite books and was given to me for Christmas by my Aunt; the memories of Grandma return every time I open the book and see her signature inside the front cover.

The book is very readable, and of a writing and story telling style similar to that of Stephen E. Ambrose.

Richard

[Dusty]

"The South Was Right!" by the Kennedy Bros.

Cuts through all the yankee BS.

[MR2]

Werwolf! The History of the National Socialist Guerrilla Movement, 1944-1946 By Perry Biddiscombe (1998)

Near the end of the Second World War, a National Socialist resistance movement, known as the Werwolf, flickered briefly to life in Germany and its borderlands. Dedicated to delaying the advance of the Allies on both fronts, the Werwolf succeeded in scattered acts of sabotage and violence. By the spring of 1945, it also showed signs of becoming a vengeful Nazi reaction against the German populace itself. 'Collaborators' and 'defeatists' were frequently assassinated, and crude posters warned that certain death would follow any failure to resist the enemy.

[Stingray]

Originally Posted by Lan

A People's History of The United States- Howard Zinn

The next book I read will be-

A Patriots History of The United States- Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen

I liked "A People's History", it has been a long time since I read it. I was looking through my old books and saw it. I think it's about time to read it again. History books are written by the victor.

[JohnnyBlack]

Originally Posted by Stingray

I liked "A People's History", it has been a long time since I read it. I was looking through my old books and saw it. I think it's about time to read it again. History books are written by the victor.

I had to read Zinn in high school U.S History. My teacher was kind of a lib and hated men. (she was in the middle of a messy divorce that she took out on us)

Not a bad read whatsoever but I'd like to read the "patriots" version to get a different angle.

Just finished "Get Selected" and am 3/4 through "Chosen Warrior" by Dick Couch.

[casualkid]

Atlas Shrugged. Seems fairly appropriate for the present.

[MR2]

Just finished: Karpyshyn, Drew - Mass Effect 1 Revelation (2007), a SciFi military intelligence mystery set in the future. Interesting premise and plan to read the second in the series.

[jkirkthomas]

One of the best books I've read lately is "The Parable of the Tribes" by Andrew Bard Schmookler. The subtitle is "The Problem of Power in Social Evolution" and it's an excellent discussion of why the world is the way it is. It also makes a great argument for why we all need to "keep and bear arms." He says, "Imagine a group of tribes living within reach of one another. If all choose the way of peace, then all may live in peace. But what if all but one choose peace, and that one is ambitious for expansion and conquest?"

There are only four possible outcomes for the other tribes: be destroyed; be conquered, absorbed and transformed; withdraw to a safer place; or become just like the aggressor and fight back. Nowadays we no longer have the option of withdrawal because there's no place left to go, and no one wants to be either destroyed or conquered, so our only other option is to fight back. We must become as capable of making war as our adversary or suffer the consequences. Short of running away, which we con no longer do, it's the only sane alternative.

Schmookler says the lesson of the parable of the tribes is that "no one is free to choose peace, but anyone can impose upon all the necessity for power." The book is a condensed version of his doctoral dissertation and his argument is extremely well thought out, logical, very persuasive, and has conclusions that to me are inescapable. All those people singing "Give peace a chance" have no idea what they're talking about. Peace never did have a chance, and never will. I think everyone should read this book, and I'm astounded that it isn't better known.

[ODA CDR (RET)]

Just finished "The faiths of the founding fathers" David L Holmes (quick read)

Just started "1491" New revelations of the Americas before Columbus. Charles C Mann

[Stiletto11]

Lincoln Uber Alles by John Avery Emison

Secession is a political divorce.

[cjwils3]

Lately, I've been reading "The Gift of Peace" by the late Joseph Bernardin, who was the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago. In short, he wrote the book during the last few years of his life in the mid 90's, while he was dying from pancreatic cancer. He was accused of having sexually abused a young seminarian some twenty years before, and the case drew international attention. Through it all, Cardinal Bernardin never relented in his faith in God and this ultimately led him to reconcile with his accuser (who was then dying of AIDS). As it turns out, the man had indeed been molested, but by another priest.

IMO, it's an extraordinary read about faith and perserverance through life's trials.

[Survival7201]

I have been reading David Barton books.. "American History in Black and White" and now "Original Intent"..
I find them well documented and well written.

Ron:

[Badger52]

While awaiting in-bound books (1 for the SOG library, 1 on Clandestine Radio Oprs) I found this at the gunshow down the road yesterday.

Co-authored by Brigadier C. Aubrey Dixon OBE, and Dr. Otto Heilbrunn, 1955. Picked it up for a friend but am going to read it first before shipping it out. Using recovered documents from both sides, they discuss the 2 perspectives in guerilla warfare in general, and specifically look at both sides of Russian partizans that harangued the German war machine, and German efforts to run counter-guerilla ops, down to drawings & dicta from both sides. Also, are discussions of what atypical roles other members of the guerilla force may play, though they may not be an armed member participating in direct ops.

One quote from the forward by Lieut.General Sir Reginald F.S. Denning struck me as prescient:

Guerillas used for our own purposes behind the enemy's lines must operate under the oder of the Commander-in-Chief of the Field. If this is not done, it is possible that their action will not contribute towards the main object, which is the defeat of the enemy's armed forces in the field; in fact it may impede the attainment of this object. .... It is only the Commander-in-Chief in the Field who can decide the guerilla action which will help him to attain his object.

Somehow, I think Sir Reginald wasn't thinking of an unconventional force being micro-managed from 8,000 miles away...


Anyway, was a nice score for less than a McD's meal.

[Rob_Frey]

"The Annotated and Illustrated Journals of Major Robert Rogers" annotated by Timothy J. Todish and illustrations by Gary S. Zaboly.

[Roguish Lawyer]

The Art of Worldly Wisdom by Baltasar Gracian