Stopped in a middlin'-large-box electronics store and got moderately excited at the sight of a boxed Canon Rebel T1i for less than I paid for my XTi... until I realized it was a body only, with no charger or lens or nothin'. Pass.
Stopped in a hobby shop that had a large and well-stocked spinner rack of books from Osprey Publishing. Perusing the selection, I noticed that they had a fairly large number of titles at closeout pricing. Unsurprisingly, these were titles linked to the more obscure corners of military history, at least from a general American viewpoint.
I stocked up.
See, I could sit down and draw you a rough outline of the WWII European or Pacific Theater of Operations, or the goings-on from the Channel to the Alps in '14-18, and growing up where I did, I was immersed in U.S. Civil War history on nearly every other school field trip it seems. So when confronted with military history reading, especially from the premier vendor of military history snack food, these days I tend to gravitate towards topics on which I am woefully under-informed with the hope of rectifying the situation somewhat.
- Victor Units of the Cold War
Stratojets and Stratofortresses everybody knows about, but I'm thin on knowledge of Britain's V Force during those early Cold War days. I picture Group Captain Mandrake in the office of one of these Buck Rogers-looking beasts.
- Niagara 1814: The final invasion
The last time we invaded Canada, our boys were hampered by bad logistics and poor strategic planning. Lets hope our current DoD contingency plans reflect that hard won experience.
- French Foreign Legion 1872-1914
I already have many of their guns, so I'm going to read more about who used them, where, and why...
For the sake of your fiscal well being do NOT visit the Osprey home page.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ospreypublishing.com/
Their series on Weapons is particularly enticing.
http://www.ospreypublishing.com/weapon/
The British empire may have become a fossil by the time of the cold war, but they did have the coolest jets.
ReplyDeleteI tend to look further back with my Osprey purchases. Mongols, Romans, Greeks, pretty much anything pre-Renaissance.
ReplyDeleteChris,
ReplyDeleteIn my over six linear feet of shelved Osprey books, I do have some old stuff, too. ;)
(Although my "Campaign" series only goes back as far as Qadesh or so...)
WE WILL HAVE TO ARRANGE A VISIT TO THE STRAND BOOKSTORE AS WELL YOU WILL LIKE THE HISTORY DEPARTMENT ALSO THE RARE BOOK SECTION THEY HAVE BARGAINS
ReplyDeleteBUT BE ADVISED BRING MONEY AND YOUR LITTLE RED WAGON TO CARY THE HEAVY TOMES HOME OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS AS WELL
They still don't have one on the Canadian Patriot War of 1837 — or better yet, two, one for set of combatants.
ReplyDelete"each set of combatants," I meant -- which might actually require three books, depending how you look at it.
ReplyDeleteFrench Foreign Legion on Kindle, do ye say? buy with one click. *poink* :)
ReplyDeletesecret word: siege ssunent.
Yes, yes, yes, but How Was Their Balsa? Was it that awful Midwest stuff which might as well be oak, or was it the good stuff from Hazel, like 4lbs/ft^3?
ReplyDeleteDid they have rubber? Did they have winders? Did they have Jap tissue, and nitrate dope? Did they have Ambroid, and Hot Stuff? Did they have DT fuse? Did they have NIB Cox motors preserved in the back room, for sale only to those known to the proprietor? Did they have Tatone timers?
There is no reason to enter a hobby shop except to buy materials to build an airplane, so that you can fly it.
Ok, I will grant you the model railroads, which are also cool. And, yeah, boats. Yeah, and chemical apparatus.
You know, boy stuff.
Ah yes, the V bombers. The first wave of any attack against the Warsaw Pact - SAC following behind to mop up afterwards ;-)
ReplyDeleteWhilst I always liked Vulcan, especially its short(ish) take-off and spectacular climb post, I still prefer the Lightning as my favourite plane of the period (English Electric, not Lockheed) - have you read about its 'secret' U2 attacks?
Whilst probably not up to your recent visit (in numbers certainly), a trip to the RAF Museum at Cosford is worth the effort.
Vulcan, yeah! Awesome plane.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff.
Able: You keep your English Lightning, I'll take the Lockheed. Still my favorite warbird of all time...
ReplyDeleteAll The Best,
Frank W. James
I once read a book on the history of the French Foreign Legion. They seem to have been very good at losing valiantly.
ReplyDeleteFrench Foreign Legion...the only French military force that has actually fired their weapons, and are dropped only when broken over the heads of their enemies or coated in the blood of their owners.
ReplyDelete@Frank W. James: I'm with you there. The P-38 was the one thing that got me hooked on WW2 history. Love that plane!
Not sure if its part of the V-series, but I always liked the looks of the Vampyre. Saw one up at the Evergreen museum in McMinneville, Oregon (well worth the visit if you're in the Portland area, only an hour drive, which you will NOT regret). Very sexy looking little beast!
bookcloseouts com _Store _Browse _Geography-History-Military
ReplyDelete633 Squadron - Operation Crucible
World War II for Dummies
Duty: A Father, His Son, and the Man Who Won the War
The Dark Defile: Britain's Catastropic Invasion of Afghanistan, 1838-1842
and hundreds more...
"The 188th Crybaby Brigade: A Skinny Jewish Kid from Chicago Fights Hezbollah" ?????
I've always liked the Osprey monographs, and got hooked on their Fortress series. There's something noble and futile about most fixed fortifications (especially ones that expect to substitute for mobile forces), and a lot of ingenuity and technology went into them throughout the ages. My favorite are the US coastal defenses of the Endicott Period, none of which were seriously tested although the Japanese never did take Fort Drum in Manila Bay. On the other hand, Fort Drum never got to trade fire with Fuso and Yamashiro either.
ReplyDeleteWhenever home I check their website and order any in that series that have been released since last time. Then it's deck chair and beer time.
Doesn't take a lot to keep me happy.
April 30, 1863 was a pivotal moment for the generating the firm belief in the Legion to never surrender.
ReplyDelete"Will you surrender this time? There are only 5 of you left, and still over a couple thousand of us."
"Only if we get to keep our weapons, and you care for our wounded."
"We can refuse nothing to men like you."
Always been a P-39/P-40 guy myself. Also the LaGG-3 (Lakirovanny Garantirovanny Grob), because I got a soft spot for the underdog.
ReplyDeleteVulcans are stupendously cool. They can wing over 90° to the horizon and not fall out of the sky for one.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIJOE_DC-n8
The Douglas Porch book "The French Foreign Legion" is a killer read (if a bit of phone book)
ReplyDeleteAnd there's a nonprofit that's restoring a Vulcan bomber http://www.vulcantothesky.org/
Tam
ReplyDeleteI always loved to see the Vulcans when they flew over my house, and don't forget they flew from Ascension island to bomb the Falklands - nobody thought it could be done except the RAF.
Stuart
All you P-38 nuts should check out The Last Dogfight by Martin Caiden (cyborg, final countdown, etc.). Amazing book, and as much as any character (though they're great, too) the Lightning is the star. May be the best book of the genre and definitely the best by him. Wore out the library's copy as a teenager and just ordered one of the 30 or so copies on Amazon (no ebook yet). Couldn't take the chance that one of you fine folks would beat me to the last copy.
ReplyDeleteI remember The Last Dogfight. Pretty good reading. I also read, long ago, a book called The S.O.Bees by Don Dwiggins, a fictionalized account of VF-17 (actually the Jolly Rogers). It wasn't bad, what I can remember of it.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget, today is the 150th anniv of the Battle of Cameron where the Legion was vastly outnumbered and they built their reputation for not surrendering ("Faire Camerone!")
ReplyDeleteYo, Justthisguy:
ReplyDeleteBuild any rubber scale stuff, or is it all AMA endurance?
On the Vulcan - used to see one fly every year at the Abbotsford Airshow in Canada - they could do a 360 degree circle within the confines of the field. Also, their cockpit is soooo small, that the pilot's and co-piot's seats are staggered.
BSR