What book are you reading now?
- Thread starter Ex-Dragoon
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Retired AF Guy
Army.ca Veteran
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"The Tolls of Death" by Micheal Jecks. Seventeenth in the series that takes place in early 14 th century England. Deals with two officials who investigate various crimes, usually murder. Very entertaining, plus, the stories are well researched giving the reader an idea of what life was like in medieval England.
"Gods War: A New History of the Crusades" by Christopher Tyerman. A new history of the crusades. While it deals mostly with the Crusades in the Middle East, but also lesser campaigns such as the Albigensian Crusade in southern France; the re-conquest of Spain; and those in the Baltic's. Well researched and very informative.
"Gods War: A New History of the Crusades" by Christopher Tyerman. A new history of the crusades. While it deals mostly with the Crusades in the Middle East, but also lesser campaigns such as the Albigensian Crusade in southern France; the re-conquest of Spain; and those in the Baltic's. Well researched and very informative.
Colin Parkinson
Army.ca Myth
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Just finished "The moment of Truth in Iraq" & "Ghost Soldiers" about the liberation of the POW camp in the Philippines.
Yrys
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Finished The Great Karoo, by Fred Stenson. Will trade it for a 
flag flown in Afghanistan at PB Wilson. [will send the flag with the book -(this is part of my daughters high school project about what "support the troops" means, and what it doesn t mean. PM me if interested]
A well researched book that tells a fictional story about 1 CMR Canadian Scouts serving in the Boer War. Hardships, boredom, small and large engagements, egotistical officers, grief, love- all the usual elements of a good book.
Couldn't help myself from drawing parallels to Afghanistan - move and dig in, hit and run tactics used by an elusive enemy, [often mixed with civilians] - move and dig in cold, small engagments, sniping, railside bombs, prisoners with [or without] legal status, thirst, execution by Boers of captured Canadians, move and dig in wet, sniping, aerial recce [balloons], rotten tents, broken equipment, move and dig in hungry... [sound familiar?]
Cheers!
flag flown in Afghanistan at PB Wilson. [will send the flag with the book -(this is part of my daughters high school project about what "support the troops" means, and what it doesn t mean. PM me if interested] A well researched book that tells a fictional story about 1 CMR Canadian Scouts serving in the Boer War. Hardships, boredom, small and large engagements, egotistical officers, grief, love- all the usual elements of a good book.
Couldn't help myself from drawing parallels to Afghanistan - move and dig in, hit and run tactics used by an elusive enemy, [often mixed with civilians] - move and dig in cold, small engagments, sniping, railside bombs, prisoners with [or without] legal status, thirst, execution by Boers of captured Canadians, move and dig in wet, sniping, aerial recce [balloons], rotten tents, broken equipment, move and dig in hungry... [sound familiar?]
Cheers!
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In a slightly different vein from Lil_T and Yrys....... 
I'm currently reading Phillip Bobbitt's Terror and Consent: The Wars for the Twenty-First Century -- a truly excellent book that follows on from his Shield of Achilles: War, Peace and the Course of History.
I finished Shield of Achilles, which provided a lot of the theoretical underpinnings of his views, just before christmas. Santa, being a pretty sharp chick, brought me Terror and Consent, which is more forward-looking, examining various futures (plural intentional).
Both books are a terrific blend of history, legal philosophy, and strategic thinking -- providing interesting views on some "truths" about how we're seeing/fighting Islamic terrorism.
And for those that would find Bobbitt's works a little too geekish (OK, wa-aaay too geekish) ......
Santa also brought Kurt Vonnegut's Armageddon In Retrospect. It's a collection of some of his unpublished fiction and nonfiction regarding war and peace; especially interesting are his thoughts on the 1945 firebombing of Dresden, which he had to help clean up as a POW.
I always seem to have at least two-three books and a couple of academic-type journals on the go......there's at least another half-dozen or more books sitting in the 'ready rack'......plus a bunch of journal articles..... current news commentaries...... :
I'm currently reading Phillip Bobbitt's Terror and Consent: The Wars for the Twenty-First Century -- a truly excellent book that follows on from his Shield of Achilles: War, Peace and the Course of History.
I finished Shield of Achilles, which provided a lot of the theoretical underpinnings of his views, just before christmas. Santa, being a pretty sharp chick, brought me Terror and Consent, which is more forward-looking, examining various futures (plural intentional).
Both books are a terrific blend of history, legal philosophy, and strategic thinking -- providing interesting views on some "truths" about how we're seeing/fighting Islamic terrorism.
And for those that would find Bobbitt's works a little too geekish (OK, wa-aaay too geekish) ......
Santa also brought Kurt Vonnegut's Armageddon In Retrospect. It's a collection of some of his unpublished fiction and nonfiction regarding war and peace; especially interesting are his thoughts on the 1945 firebombing of Dresden, which he had to help clean up as a POW.
I always seem to have at least two-three books and a couple of academic-type journals on the go......there's at least another half-dozen or more books sitting in the 'ready rack'......plus a bunch of journal articles..... current news commentaries...... :
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Catching up on 10 issues of Canadian Geographic, a most underappreciated publication.
J
jollyjacktar
Guest
The Assassins, A Radical Sect in Islam by Bernard Lewis.
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Right now, I am reading The Forest by Edward Rutherfurd. It's quite interesting. It's a collection of stories focused on a location instead of the characters, although some of the characters are descendants of those in the original story. So far, it's really good and I wouldn't mind finding some of his other, similar books.
OldSolduer
Army.ca Relic
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Zombies??? Where???
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Kyle Burrows said:
bahaha. I actually had to go Google this and see if it's real! ;D
Reading Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls..after reading most of Hemingway's work I figured I might as well read one of his most well known. Excellent so far, as usual.
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I just finished The Places in Between by Scottish historian Rory Stewart. He journals about his walk across Afghanistan in winter of 2002 after the fall of the Taliban.
http://www.rorystewartbooks.com/
It's a pleasure to read and gives a real appreciation for the culture and history of Afghanistan. Besides that, if you're on on your way to Afghanistan, I think this would be a fine book to gain knowledge of the treacherous landscape and the difficulty involved in negotiating the labyrinth of tribal law where alliances shift like desert sands.
Partial-spoiler: a very funny scence ensues when the author comes across two British (presumably) SAS in the desert. :-X
http://www.rorystewartbooks.com/
It's a pleasure to read and gives a real appreciation for the culture and history of Afghanistan. Besides that, if you're on on your way to Afghanistan, I think this would be a fine book to gain knowledge of the treacherous landscape and the difficulty involved in negotiating the labyrinth of tribal law where alliances shift like desert sands.
Partial-spoiler: a very funny scence ensues when the author comes across two British (presumably) SAS in the desert. :-X
