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What are you reading these days?

• Message 1.Β 

  Posted by Grumpyrambler (U13925122) on Friday, 15th May 2009

  I want to pass on to readers a fine series of books by David Fiddimore. he has written, so far, 4 books in a series. It starts with "Tuesday's War" I strongly recommend them to you. Not only are they gripping to read, but they are also very well written. Enjoy!!

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  Posted by Northern_Andy (U2943874) on Friday, 15th May 2009

  Hi Grumpy.
  
  Are the books of which you speak fact or fiction?
  
  In the last few months I have read:
  
  Stalingrad by A. Beevor (for about the 10th time)
  
  Fallen Eagle by Robin Cross (not a bad book at all)
  
  Bomber Command by Max Hastings (excellent and comprehensive)
  
  Iron Coffins by H. Werner (good account of U Boat war)
  
  The Last Days of Hitler by H.T. Roper (Very comprehensive)
  
  Aushwitz by L. Rees (horrific and comprehensive)
  
  But at the moment have a bit of light relief with Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus novel "Exit Music" (signed by the author no less!)
  

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  Posted by Nik (U1777139) on Friday, 15th May 2009

  It is some time I did not read a book, the last I read some times ago was Emmanuel Todd's "Après l'Empire" (a text analysing why America will not be able to create the Empire it dreamt in the late 1990s). Todd is an amazing thinker - and do not imagine any anti-american French basher (I think he is also of jewish origins). Also do not imagine me being any anti-american basher reading that and trying to find arguments despite all my comments "against" US or Britain (do not get me wrong, I have not any great civilisational objection to US or Britain: my main concern is that the interests of US and Britain hardly ever coincided with the national but even the regional interests in my naighbourhood, in fact they were directly responsible even for tragedies we lived here - simple as that).
  
  What I really liked in the book is that it was one of those rare times that I find a guy so honest as to recognise things other writers would not even dare to think. I was amazed to read in one of the chapters of the book on the world's situation commenting on the Jugoslav wars, saying that the main reality was a phase demographic difference of 2-3 decades between christian (serbians and croatians) and muslim populations (bosnian and kosovar) - and he said this without emphasising in religions as other more naif thinkers but emphasising in social-familial structures : even more amazingly he noted that even the war between Croatians and Serbians was basically hiding the underlying reality that both Croatians and Serbians were anxious to face off that phase difference with Bosnians and Kosovars.
  
  That amazing statement was a reality that every Balkan person (even Bosnians and Kosovar Albanians) understand at least subconsciously but rarely dare speak out - let alone here a foreign writer. Todd is a superb thinker, a level above the rest of his generation.

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  Posted by U3280211 (U3280211) on Friday, 15th May 2009

  The Todd book sounds interesting Nik.
  
  I'm currently enjoying Jim Baggott's "Atomic: The First war of Physics and the secret history of the A-bomb, 1939-1949" (Icon Books 2009)
  
  Seems that our futures were decided by some very angry and virtually imprisoned, heavy-drinking scientists (and assorted wives) in Los Alamos, between April 1943 and Late 1945.

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  Posted by Parti-NG-ton Blue (U13898629) on Monday, 18th May 2009

  I am currently reading "Kasztner's Train" the story of Reszo Kasztner, A man who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews and yet was put on trial and later murdered for his negotiations with Adolf Eichmann. Very good read so far. I would recommend highly

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