What book are you reading now?
- Thread starter Ex-Dragoon
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Two books that I just finished and want to recommend, ESPECIALLY to aspiring or new officers.
1) One Bullet Away by Nathaniel Fick (USMC, Ret.)
and
2) The Unforgiving Moment: A Soldier's Education by Craig M. Mullaney (US Army, Ret.)
Both of them were very good, similar in theme, but different enough to make both of them worthwhile. They both deal with the challenges that a 20-something officer will deal with, especially in terms of interacting with members twice their age and with far more experience, whom they now command.
If you've done BMOQ/BMQ, you'll laugh at the stories of basic training, even though one is US Army and the other a Marine, the experiences are at times, eerily similar to mine.
One Bullet Away's author attended Dartmouth, and his experiences again often mirror mine at civvy-U, so I enjoyed that, and the author of Unforgiving Moment went to West Point, and then was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, which was interesting to read as well.
Both end up leading platoons in Iraq and/or Afghanistan, and the perspective from which the stories are told give an interesting insight into the life of a young officer, both personally and professionally.
Cheers.
1) One Bullet Away by Nathaniel Fick (USMC, Ret.)
and
2) The Unforgiving Moment: A Soldier's Education by Craig M. Mullaney (US Army, Ret.)
Both of them were very good, similar in theme, but different enough to make both of them worthwhile. They both deal with the challenges that a 20-something officer will deal with, especially in terms of interacting with members twice their age and with far more experience, whom they now command.
If you've done BMOQ/BMQ, you'll laugh at the stories of basic training, even though one is US Army and the other a Marine, the experiences are at times, eerily similar to mine.
One Bullet Away's author attended Dartmouth, and his experiences again often mirror mine at civvy-U, so I enjoyed that, and the author of Unforgiving Moment went to West Point, and then was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, which was interesting to read as well.
Both end up leading platoons in Iraq and/or Afghanistan, and the perspective from which the stories are told give an interesting insight into the life of a young officer, both personally and professionally.
Cheers.
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Just finished reading "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien, I will admit I did not read all the appendixes and skimmed through the poems. Now I am trying to decide which book to read next:
Men of Steel - I SS Panzer Corps: The Ardennes and Eastern Front, 1944-45 by Michael Reynolds
Or
A Game of Thrones - A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1 by George R. R. Martin
Two very different genres I know, but both good books (at least I think they are).
Men of Steel - I SS Panzer Corps: The Ardennes and Eastern Front, 1944-45 by Michael Reynolds
Or
A Game of Thrones - A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1 by George R. R. Martin
Two very different genres I know, but both good books (at least I think they are).
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tango22a said:
I’ve been rereading all my Wilbur Smith novels for the past couple of months (I've been a fan since I was a teenager and read most 3 or 4 times, they make great subway or vacation reading). Polished off all the Ballantyne and Courteny series in anticipation of this new one, and am now working through some of the stand alone books. The wife borrowed one off of me when we were in Cuba and now she’s hooked too.
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~Wanted to revive this topic because it's such a great resource.
I'm reading Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings by Mary Henley Rubio. It's a biography and was a finalist for the British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction: 2009.
Canadian history buffs will find it fascinating, I think. But the book is quite sad; this remarkable woman's life was marred by tragedy.
The next book I read will have to be a bit more fun and light-hearted. Any suggestions?
I'm reading Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings by Mary Henley Rubio. It's a biography and was a finalist for the British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction: 2009.
Canadian history buffs will find it fascinating, I think. But the book is quite sad; this remarkable woman's life was marred by tragedy.
The next book I read will have to be a bit more fun and light-hearted. Any suggestions?
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I will start a two part series shortly;
Citizen of the World, The Life of Pierre Elliot Trudeau 1919-1968
dileas
tess
Citizen of the World, The Life of Pierre Elliot Trudeau 1919-1968
dileas
tess
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Just finishing "Decoding the New Taliban: Insights from the Afghan Field" (great summary in pretty good detail of how the Taliban works in various provinces, although the chapter on Kandahar by the Globe & Mail's Graeme Smith was more Taliban interview narrative than exposition of structure), and just starting "Canada and Other Matters of Opinion" by Rex Murphy (outstanding writing and thinking so far).
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Just finished reading "Fusiliers - How the British Army lost America but learned to fight" by Mark Urban, interesting book on the the British Army during the American Insurrection based on the 23rd, Royal Welch Fusiliers. Now I want to read another book "Rifles" which is about the 95th, Green Jackets.
If anybody has read it, let me know if it is worth trying to find it for some holiday reading.
If anybody has read it, let me know if it is worth trying to find it for some holiday reading.
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I just finished Lowell Greens books then Hilliers book. Going to Canex tomorrow to get it signed
Retired AF Guy
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How War Came: The Immediate Origins of the Second World War 1938 - 1939 by Donald Cameron Watt.
"It is the most comprehensive and, all ambiguities aside, the best single study of the road to war from the Munich conference to September 1939 that we are ever likely to have." Book review in Commentary Magazine in Feb 1990. Couldn't agree more with the last quote. A highly enjoyable look at all the players, big and small, in the lead-up to World War 2. The unfortunate part is that its no longer in print, but copies are available online.
"It is the most comprehensive and, all ambiguities aside, the best single study of the road to war from the Munich conference to September 1939 that we are ever likely to have." Book review in Commentary Magazine in Feb 1990. Couldn't agree more with the last quote. A highly enjoyable look at all the players, big and small, in the lead-up to World War 2. The unfortunate part is that its no longer in print, but copies are available online.
ballz
Army.ca Veteran
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"On Killing" by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman.
Funny thing is I despise most things to do with psychology, and that's why I never bought this book sooner. I knew the manner in which it would be written, and thought I'd probably find myself cussing at it while reading. Not very far into it, but it hasn't disappointed so far.
Funny thing is I despise most things to do with psychology, and that's why I never bought this book sooner. I knew the manner in which it would be written, and thought I'd probably find myself cussing at it while reading. Not very far into it, but it hasn't disappointed so far.
OldSolduer
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Re reading "On Combat" by LCol Grosman. There are some valuable insights into such things as auditory exclusion, breathing, etc. I recommend it for any soldier, but particularly MCpl and above.
I tried to read "Fifteen Days" but gave up half way through, but too much emotional stuff came up, so I shelved it. Same with "Shake Hands With the Devil".
I tried to read "Fifteen Days" but gave up half way through, but too much emotional stuff came up, so I shelved it. Same with "Shake Hands With the Devil".
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Big Silverback said:
"Shake Hands With the Devil" is one of the most frustrating, painful true stories I've ever read. I was almost tearing my hair out reading it. At one point in the book I actually jumped out of my armchair yelling "don't wait for permission from Ottawa ... do something ... now" :-[ my kids thought I was nutzzzz .... (I'm not really nutzzz just a little emotional at times
)!Edit to add:I mean no disrespect to Senator Dallaire or anyone associated with the mission in Rwanda by my comment above. I met Senator Dallaire and watched him speak and he speaks so well of the Canadian Forces that people in the audience line up as prospective CF members after wards and ask him questions about how to "get in." He was tasked with a difficult mission and was, is still, severely criticized for it yet his response has been the utmost in honest self-reflection. So my reaction to the book was visceral and unfiltered by my frontal lobes. The mission seemed doomed form the "get go" because Canada seemed to be one of the few countries taking interest in the plight of Rwanda. According to the book, Canada brooked the Lion's Share and they did it in a vacuum characterized by international indifference. But, in the small amount of reading I've done on Canadian Forces missions, a theme re-occurs which transcends authorship; it's something this country MUST fix: commanders in theatre are being ham-strung by Ottawa. And although I think it's a democratic virtue to have civilian oversight of our military, there are times when our command--the people who are there commanding with their 'boots on the ground'-- the people for whom lives are at stake--MUST, simply MUST be given latitude to make timely & potentially life-saving decisions.
How long will it take before Enemies of Canada 'glom onto' this inherent systemic weakness in our civilian-military communication structure in order to exploit it to their advantage??? Or will it, sometime in the future, contribute to our eventual Athenian 'kiss of death' as our country is reduced to the absurd by a Kafkaesque preference for bureaucracy over the nation's security????
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Finished " A Soldier First: Bullets, Bureaucrats and the Politics of War " a few weeks ago.
The more I think about it the more I feel disappointed. Overall it wasn't very well written. It needs the hand of a professional writer or editor. The book starts off good with the first years of his career but then while providing interesting info on his postings it also begins to lack the detail to hold a readers interest. Perhaps he took on too much in such a small book.
And to be honest I wasn't very impressed by his performance at the parliamentary committee detainee hearings. Yes he did a good job of defending his record as CDS but I thought he was overly harsh on diplomat Richard Codvin's testimony.
The more I think about it the more I feel disappointed. Overall it wasn't very well written. It needs the hand of a professional writer or editor. The book starts off good with the first years of his career but then while providing interesting info on his postings it also begins to lack the detail to hold a readers interest. Perhaps he took on too much in such a small book.
And to be honest I wasn't very impressed by his performance at the parliamentary committee detainee hearings. Yes he did a good job of defending his record as CDS but I thought he was overly harsh on diplomat Richard Codvin's testimony.
