READ ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY?

[Stanley]

I read the section on the Great War in Norman Davies' 'Europe' and came across this (LINK). Norman relates that when Elsie first went to the War Office to offer the organisations services she was told "My good lady, go home and sit still".

[Stanley]

Well into Strachan on WW1. Fascinating stuff. One of the subjects he covers in great detail is the accuracy of naval gunnery and it comes as something of a shock to realise that they were so inefficient. As early as 1909 trials of British 12" armour piercing shells showed that they were almost useless at ranges over 9,000 yards, the shells broke up before penetrating enemy armour. Further, due to the fact that the Admiralty hadn't adopted the latest aiming system, Pollen's director, at extreme ranges only 5 shells out of over 200 fired in one action hit the target.
Another surprising statistic is that a German armoured cruiser had an endurance of only seven days at economic speed and five days at speed. Add to this that in order to operate far from home they had to have friendly sources of coal and you begin to realise how many difficulties had to be overcome in order to operate a fleet at sea. The main conclusion that can be drawn with hindsight is that at the beginning of the Great War neither Britain of Germany had efficient systems or clear war aims. The history is littered with cock-ups. Remember Beatty's famous remark at Jutland? "There seems to be something wrong with our ships".

[Stanley]

Having a rest from WW1. I'm reading Slocum again, 'Voyage alone around the world' in which he tells the story of the first lone navigation around the world under sail in his sloop Spray. A wonderful read, if you've never read it, seek it out! (LINK)

[Stanley]

Finished Slocum and moved on to re-read Arthur Ransome, 'Racundra's First Cruise' again. I never tire of these books and love the accounts of small boat sailing in open water.

[Stanley]

I came across a reference to a book written by Adlard Coles, a noted yachtsman who bought Racundra and described a voyage over the North Sea in 'Close Hauled'. I found a paperback copy on Bookfinder for £3 inc P&P and the cheapest new paperback was £44! I can never understand book pricing.

[Stanley]

Continuing my maritime theme I am re-reading Barry Cunliffe, 'The extraordinary voyage of Pythias the Greek' If you've never read it, give it a go. It's a detective story, a romance and a brilliant text book on archaeology. Pythias sailed from Marseilles as far as Iceland (we think) in the 4th century BC. The book gives an eminently readable history of civilisation and sea power in the Mediterranean at the time when it was innovating and laying the foundations of Western Civilisation. It should be in every school.....

[Stanley]

Nothing on the go at the moment, too busy with me gate post! Am waiting for an old yachting book, 'Close Hauled' by Adlard Coles.

[Stanley]

Started on Close Hauled. Interesting but an exasperating writer. He had a generally low opinion of foreigners, misses out essential details like wind direction and treats the 'crew' badly. It was his wife actually. I know that some of this is down to his era, it was written in the mid 1920s, but it jars when you are reading it.

[Tripps]

I've bought that Joshua Slocum book Sailing alone around the world. (£1.94 delivered) Had to - when I saw that he was born in 1844, and set off in 1895. Wooden boat no modern navigation gear, no satellite telephone. Still pirates in the Red Sea are though I notice. The modern ones say they have no option since all their fish have been plundered.

[Stanley]

Wonderful book David.... I think you'll enjoy it.
Finished 'Close Hauled' and it's an interesting book but spoiled for me by Coles' lack of detail and lack of appreciation for the boat. He doesn't strike me as a very nice man, all foreigners are suspect, he is always right and he has some very peculiar views on certain subjects. I suppose that in the 1920s there were quite a few of this type of Little Englander about....
One for Tizer here. The kosher copy of A History of American and English Machine builders arrived yesterday and is a superb, well read but tight hardback first edition of 1916 by Yale University. I've had a reprint by Lindsay Publications for many years and comparison with the original shows that they got it exactly right. In case you're wondering why I wanted another, I am giving my new friend Muthomi the Lindsay edition and also a modern reprint of 'The Amateur and his Lathe' by Sparey, probably the best book ever written on the lathe and its operation. That should get him going.....

[Stanley]

I've had a god re-read through some of my books on engineers and machine builders and got them out of my system. I watched a recording of 'The Killing Fields' the other night and was triggered off to reread Shawcross, 'Sideshow', his investigation of the illegal bombing of Cambodia done in secret by Nixon and Kissinger. He published in 1979 and I first read the book in 1983. In 1984 the film 'The Killing Fields' was released and is an excellent account of the tragedy that was Cambodia. The illegal interference of Nixon and Kissinger and total mismanagement of foreign policy resulted in the tyranny of the Khmer Rouge and the mass slaughters that followed. Why read this again? We need to remember the terrible mistakes that were made and their genesis.

[Stanley]

Sideshow still has my attention. Incredible how bad foreign policy decisions were and the flawed man who generated and implemented them. The sad thing is that nothing has changed.

[Stanley]

Finished Sideshow and on to Haldeman 'The Ends of Power', the story of Watergate. A partial book by a bully but contains a lot of facts hidden during the enquiries.

[Stanley]

I decided I needed an antidote to all the sordid and dishonest behaviour in Sideshow and Ends of Power so I got Diarmid MacCulloch's magnificent book 'A History of Christianity' down, a good 1000 page read and very soothing.

[Stanley]

Steadily away on 'A History of Christianity'. A wonderfully comprehensive read and full of surprising facts about the development of religion and how many of these ancient decisions echo down to us today. I'm in the sixth century now and re-learning about Gregory the Great and Augustine. Not an easy read but if any of you are that way inclined well worth the effort. Not least because I like Diarmid and his world view and he is, in addition, a wonderful scholar with a gift of getting incredibly difficult stories across in a way that a laymen can understand.

[Bruff]

I've had it for years, but I've started Christopher Andrews' Secret Service: The Making of the British Intelligence Services. This chap is now historian to MI5 - a controversial appointment at the time among some historians (how could he be impartial?).

Any way, that to one side it's a hoot, at least so far. This cast of Victorian characters who you can just picture, who are variously mad, quite brilliant, bumbling etc, the type we all recognise. There's General Sir Redvers Buller, who on being presented with an incredibly comprehensive intelligence dossier on South Africa, discarded it noting 'he knew everything there was to know about South Africa'. Then the rather junior naval officer who in an attempt to get the navy to gather intelligence, suggested equipping a frigate with a years supply of supplies and paint and a brief to sail the oceans painting a large 'C' for capture, or 'B' for burnt on any British ship it came across, with the 'game' being over if the frigate was ever spotted. He argued the shipyards and bases would soon be full of 'Cs' and 'Bs'. Needless to say, this wasn't taken up.....

Richard Broughton

[Stanley]

You've just cost me £14 Richard on Bookfinder....

[Stanley]

It should be here today Richard.....

[Stanley]

'Secret Service' arrived on Monday and seeing as I was on page 666 of 'A History of Christianity' it seemed a good place to swap horses. Richard was right, a fascinating and at times (in the early days) hilarious read about 'intelligence'. I'm enjoying it and it gives some interesting insights into the general history of the times. Amazing how the participants were all upper class, well connected and too often from Eton!

[plaques]

Half way through Bruff's recommended "The End of Time" when a really nasty head cold stopped play. You need more than two brain cells in action to get through this book. So far I found it a very difficult read. Possibly every scientist, mathematician. cosmologist and astrophysicist that ever lived gets a mention. Not that they were wrong but that they just missed the opportunity in their calculations to follow up the line of thought that he has since spotted. I'm determined to finish it but not sure that I will re-read it to get a better understanding.

[Stanley]

Some books are like that aren't they, good research but badly presented in that you get confused by detail. 'Secret Service' hovers on the brink of this but just manages to avoid the worst consequences.

[LizG]

Just finished The Boleyn Inheritance by Phillipa Gregory. It is mainly about 2 of the wives of Henry VIII, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard; one lived, one died (at 16). The era of Henry VIII sounded like an appalling, violent time in which to live.

[Stanley]

I think you may be right Liz....



I had occasion to look up my late friend Roger Perry's book, 'The Writing on the Wall' on Bookfinder this morning. I am a wealthy man! Even a tatty copy is listed at over £80.

[Stanley]

Richard, I finished 'Secret Service' yesterday. A good book and from a conversation with my mate Steve Constantine, a very well respected historian. Lots of new light shed on some puzzling incidents, particularly during the inter-war period. A good read, thenks for alerting me to it. Back to Diarmid now and Christianity. (Starting on page 667!)

[Stanley]

I'm off Christianity again for a while and reading Joseph Stiglitz, 'The Price of Inequality'. Excellent account of modern capitalism and the effects of inequality in distribution of wealth. Some quite amazing facts, for instance: "... consider the Walton family; the six heirs to the Walmart empire command wealth of $69.7 billion which is equivalent to the wealth of the entire bottom 30% of US society". Stiglitz gives multiple examples like this in his exposure of inequality and out of control capitalism. Well worth looking at!