Started crucible. Holy cow what fantastic writing!

It's darn good.
Guns of August is a tough, boring read.

Dp

Really glad I chose the three I did.

Hero of Two Worlds--Mike Duncan

I enjoyed it as I essentially knew nothing about Lafayette, especially after the American Revolution before reading this book.

I'm also starting to wonder why the French Revolution is called the French Revolution.

I just received a couple of days ago. About 1/3 through. Excellent overview of mindset and weaponry. A lot of new knowledge from these experimental archaeologists, who've been studying the subject for 20 years. There's great chapter on empty-hand combat as that was how many fights were finished. Very interesting. Eg. they did not punch or kick and there were laws against it. Why? Didn't want to break a hand, or worse get a deadly infection breaking someone's teeth. Kicking? Emphasis was on maintaining balance, as losing it was oftentimes deadly.

Much on the sagas here for those interested. Short, concise sentences and the layout make for easy reading and understanding. Thousands of endnotes for deeper dives. I'm in middle of the chapters on the different weapons with mass battles, tactics, raiding and dueling to come. A great antidote to Hollywood misconceptions.

Just read "We Die Alone" by David Howarth.

It is the story of Jan Baalsrud and his unbelievable escape from German occupied Norway in 1943. Just a fantastic story of never give up.

(the movie The 12th Man was based on this story)

1. The Dope, The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade-Smith ***** Pretty interesting stuff. Starts before 1900 when the trade was a maw-paw operation. Oddly enough Mexico never developed an addiction to any of the drugs they sold. Initially, the politicians used some of the profits to build schools, parks etc. Finally, the drug runners overtook the politicians, provided their own protection and it got huge. There were times when the US slowed the process but some other country always filled in the gap. Addicts need their drugs and the US addiction has never slowed.
2. The Forgotten Man, a New History of the Great Depression-Shlaes ***** Most academics try to present the New Deal as a solid and consistent political theory and that only the new Deal saved us from the Depression. This author shows the inconsistencies, conflicts and ineffectiveness of the ND. FDR frequently sent multiple staff members to the same meeting with contradictory instructions. He was in search of an answer and never married to one approach.
3. Angela's Ashes-McCourt *** supposed to be an award winning memoir. I got tired of drunk Irishmen.
4. Lincoln's Spies: Their Secret War to Save a Nation-Waller ***** well the title might have been....we won anyway. These guys Pinkerton and Baker were jokes, if not absolutely corrupt. Interesting read.
5. LBJ: The Mastermind of the JFK Assassination-Nelson***** OK stay with me here. Ignore the conspiracy angles . The author believes that only LBJ had the position and the ability to pull off the assassination. By the end of the book he has made a very credible case. What is so interesting to me, alive and in HS on the day, is he goes into great detail showing all the connections between the players. I did not know that LBJ and JEHoover were next door neighbors for twenty years. The mob connections of Hunt, Murchison and several other Texas Oil men are a surprise. Reading it for that purpose alone makes it a five star.
6. The Boston Massacre, A Family History-Zabin ***** the title is a bit of a misnomer. Yes the BM is covered but really the book is about the relationships that the citizens developed with the Brits once they were quartered in Boston. First, the hue and cry over quartering troops is muffled somewhat when you learn that the Army paid rent. In fact, many Bostonians and a few Sons of Liberty were very happy to become Landlords to the soldiers. The Brits let a certain percentage of married soldiers bring their wives and kids. They rented houses etc and became a part of the neighborhoods. There were 5 women to every 4 men when the Brits arrived. The numbers increased because of the addition of single men. Since we were all Brits at that time, friendships developed, courtships occurred, marriages happened and pregnancies', not always in that order. In other words people did what people always do. True some of the town toughs made it hard on the privates. But several of the soldier's wives got into hair pulling contests with the local ladies as well. The book puts a whole new light of the complaint of Boston about quartering soldiers. Their mayor insisted that the soldiers be stationed in town instead of Castle Island where they would not be able to respond quickly.

The First Crusade by Steven Runciman. Volume I of a three volume history of the Crusades. So far I've just reached the point where the call for the Crusade is made. The first section is entirely background, starting with the situation in the Byzantine Empire roughly 25 years before the Mohammedans came boiling out of Arabia. The Byzantines were in bad shape when Mohammed's armies showed up, starting with religious divisions between the central church in Constantinople, the Nestorians the Syria, and what we now call the Copts in Egypt. Add to that a recently ended major war against Persia from which neither empire had yet recovered, and socio-economic changes in Anatolia, as nobles enlarged and consolidated their estates and converted farmland to pasture, crowding out the small farmers who had traditionally formed the backbone of Byzantium's armies.
Then there's more about the long weakening of Byzantium, the strengthening of the Turks, the rise of the Normans, and factional fighting inside the Caliphate.

The Looming Tower: Al Queda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright and also Waging Modern War by Wesley K Clark. Finished The Texas Rangers by Walter Prescott Webb and the second book on the Mexican cartels and Texas Quarter Horses. I read Black Flags and Black Banners some time ago. Lawrence Wright is more enjoyable to read and lays out complicated connections in a much simpler way. Good read.

"Zero Fail- the rise and fall of the secret service"

Go Down Together: the True Story of Bonnie and Clyde by Jeff Gunn

Shows how Bonnie was just along for the ride and how inept Clyde and his cohorts in crime really were.

One hilarious anecdote was Clyde and two of his henchmen were on foot in Northern Oklahoma closely pursued by lawmen and needed to get a car to steal. They came upon a bunch of old ladies at a house with several cars. The old ladies were in the front yard playing croquet and Clyde sent one of the henchmen to steal one of the cars from the old ladies. He approached the ladies with his .45 pointing at them and demanded a car. The old ladies proceeded to attack him with croquet mallets and subdued the henceman until the cops arrived. After seeing the old ladies attack, Clyde and the other henceman kept going on foot.

Tackling the Lee Child's books on Jack Reacher . After the Jack Carr books which were great.

BigJim49 AustinNowDallas said:

---

Tackling the Lee Child's books on Jack Reacher . After the Jack Carr books which were great.

---

Both are very enjoyable.

What do you think of Zero Fail?

Has anyone read Waging Modern War by Wesley K. Clark? What did you think of it?

Twilight of the Gods_ Ian W. Toll - it's a must for Pacific Theater buffs.

Right now I'm on the first volume of Pogue's biography of George C. Marshall.

Why aren't we producing men, leaders and statesmen like Marshall anymore? Or are we, and they simply aren't stepping forward?

That's a good question and I don't know the answer. One thing that I enjoy when reading about WWII are the communications from leaders such as Marshall, MacArthur, Eisenhower, and Nimitz. They did a great job of justifying their orders/decisions/beliefs instead of just giving yes/no answers without explanation.

Atomic Habits

Magna Carta by Dan JonesI wasn't aware that it had been reissued numerous times over a few centuries. According to the author, it's revival in the 17th century was more impactful than when it was originally issued.

Power and Thrones by Dan JonesI'm working through this one and I'm going to need to reread once I'm done. It's basically covers everything from the end of the Roman Empire to the Age of Discovery, I believe. Lots of moving pieces.

The Civil War in the American West by Alvin M. Josephy, Jr.

Rise and fall of the third Reich

Civil War Acoustic Shadows by Charles Ross.

I've been checking out the Battle Order Series lately. I'm reading US Infantry Divisions 1942-43 right now. Interesting and hard to get info.

Great book, learned a lot

The King of Confidence: A Tale of Utopian Dreamers, Frontier Schemers, True Believers, False Prophets and the Murder of an American Monarch- Harvey-****, story of a Morman con man

An American Marriage: The Untold Story of Abraham and Mary Todd-Burlingame-****- the woman was BSC and the author makes no excuses for her.

Napoleon, a Life- Andrew Roberts, *****, as expected of this author, the book is excellent. Much better than other bios that I have read.

Somehow I reached old age and had never read the Count of Monte Cristo. A friend told me it was the best book ever written. So I tackled all 1243 pages, which explains my lack of production. I do believe it is the best book ever written. The author was the son of one of Napoleon's generals.

I recently finished Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose about the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Currently reading Ships of Oak, Guns of Iron by Ronald D. Utt. It's about "The War of 1812 and the forging of the American Navy".

The Napoleonic Wars: An Illustrated History 1792-1815 by Michael Glover

Aquin said:

---

The King of Confidence: A Tale of Utopian Dreamers, Frontier Schemers, True Believers, False Prophets and the Murder of an American Monarch- Harvey-****, story of a Morman con man

An American Marriage: The Untold Story of Abraham and Mary Todd-Burlingame-****- the woman was BSC and the author makes no excuses for her.

Napoleon, a Life- Andrew Roberts, *****, as expected of this author, the book is excellent. Much better than other bios that I have read.

Somehow I reached old age and had never read the Count of Monte Cristo. A friend told me it was the best book ever written. So I tackled all 1243 pages, which explains my lack of production. I do believe it is the best book ever written. The author was the son of one of Napoleon's generals.

---

His father was half black, the illegitimate son of a French nobleman. I have a biography of his father which is fascinating. The father became a general during the revolution, but apparently Napoleon never really trusted him.

Great book! Man, those guys wer3 crooked as the day is long.

Texas Ranger by John Boessenecker. Frank Hamer is a bad***!! Have enjoyed the book.

Jubal: The life and Times of General Jubal A. Early, CSA Defender of the Lost Cause by Charles C. Osborne.

A Life in Code The Life of Elizabeth Smith Friedman