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Just started - Seal Team Six by Howard E. Wasdin
Last 3 I read were - Lone Survivor, American Sniper, and No Easy Day
:nod:
Last 3 I read were - Lone Survivor, American Sniper, and No Easy Day
:nod:
What book are you reading now?
- Thread starter Ex-Dragoon
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Just finished "The Deserter's Tale", by Joshua Key.
Eye In The Sky
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Trying a new author out for a bit; Dean Koontz. Just finished What the Night Knows and am a few chapters into 77 Shadow Street.
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Eye In The Sky said:
Koontz isn't bad for a fun read, but I find him to be a Stephen King Lite. Doesn't go in depth with his characters like King, but still a decent light read.
Eye In The Sky
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Its decent stuff to flip thru after I hop in the fartsack. King is better though, I have The Stand to go at next.
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"A Briefer History in Time" by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow.
Not as difficult to read as I thought it would be, but I'm only half way through and haven't got to quantum mechanics or string theory yet. Hawking writes really well, so that us common folk can actually understand him (sort of anyway). It is a very short book of only about 120 pages, but a lot of pages need to be read a couple times to wrap your head around it.
Recommended for any science enthusiast. If you like watching geeky science documentaries about physics or the universe, you will like this book.
Not as difficult to read as I thought it would be, but I'm only half way through and haven't got to quantum mechanics or string theory yet. Hawking writes really well, so that us common folk can actually understand him (sort of anyway). It is a very short book of only about 120 pages, but a lot of pages need to be read a couple times to wrap your head around it.
Recommended for any science enthusiast. If you like watching geeky science documentaries about physics or the universe, you will like this book.
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dangerboy said:
You found it? Where brother?
dileas
tess
FJAG
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Just doing a flurry of research and have completed the following:
Where Men Win Glory by John Krakauer - written in 2010 this book deals with the life and death of Pat Tillman, the pro footballer who joined the 75th Ranger Regt after 9/11 and was killed in a friendly fire incident in Apr 2004 in Afghanistan. A good read and interesting study of a complex character. Bit heavy handed when dealing with the so-called "press machinery" created by the White House to spin "hero" actions. On the other hand it was a bit superficial in dealing with the problems that arose in the various investigations into the incident. The account of the incident itself is very well done but a bit more of a follow up on the various shooters would have been valuable.
Kandahar Tour by Lee Windsor et al. - written in 2008 it deals with some background of Canada's involvement in Afghanistan and the build up and deployment of 2 RCR BG of TF 1-07. Fairly good overview of the ops and written with a pro military attitude.
FOB DOC by Ray Wiss written in 2009 and is essentially a journal of his three month tour with TF 3-07. While originally deployed with the Role 3 MMU he spent most of his tour as an on-site doctor at FOBs so offers some insight into the functioning of those bases.
Canada in Afghanistan: the war so far by Peter Pigott written in 2007. A very good analysis of what Afghanistan is all about, why Canada is there and what we have accomplished to date. Unfortunately it ends in 2007 and I would dearly love to see an update. On the down side its a little superficial when dealing with actual operations - few details here.
My Life With The Taliban by Abdul Salam Zaeff written in 2010. Absolute rubbish. I was looking for some insight into the motivation of the Taliban and how they see the world. What I got was a rambling discourse about what a happy life one has as a religious warrior amongst some of the finest, most ethical and devout comrades a man could have - that is right up until you are captured by the Americans when degradation comes your way daily. Every page is name dropping virtually every one of the mujahideen/taliban and in this respect there is a little value in tracing who's who in their hierarchy. All-in-all very disappointing if what you are looking for detailed information about why the Taliban did what they did and do what they do. The best you'll get is that everyone in Afghanistan is corrupt and only the Taliban are devout enough to bring order and morals to the people (all of who incidentally love the Taliban dearly). I was expecting much more from someone who was with the Taliban from the beginning and ended up being their ambassador to Pakistan.
Where Men Win Glory by John Krakauer - written in 2010 this book deals with the life and death of Pat Tillman, the pro footballer who joined the 75th Ranger Regt after 9/11 and was killed in a friendly fire incident in Apr 2004 in Afghanistan. A good read and interesting study of a complex character. Bit heavy handed when dealing with the so-called "press machinery" created by the White House to spin "hero" actions. On the other hand it was a bit superficial in dealing with the problems that arose in the various investigations into the incident. The account of the incident itself is very well done but a bit more of a follow up on the various shooters would have been valuable.
Kandahar Tour by Lee Windsor et al. - written in 2008 it deals with some background of Canada's involvement in Afghanistan and the build up and deployment of 2 RCR BG of TF 1-07. Fairly good overview of the ops and written with a pro military attitude.
FOB DOC by Ray Wiss written in 2009 and is essentially a journal of his three month tour with TF 3-07. While originally deployed with the Role 3 MMU he spent most of his tour as an on-site doctor at FOBs so offers some insight into the functioning of those bases.
Canada in Afghanistan: the war so far by Peter Pigott written in 2007. A very good analysis of what Afghanistan is all about, why Canada is there and what we have accomplished to date. Unfortunately it ends in 2007 and I would dearly love to see an update. On the down side its a little superficial when dealing with actual operations - few details here.
My Life With The Taliban by Abdul Salam Zaeff written in 2010. Absolute rubbish. I was looking for some insight into the motivation of the Taliban and how they see the world. What I got was a rambling discourse about what a happy life one has as a religious warrior amongst some of the finest, most ethical and devout comrades a man could have - that is right up until you are captured by the Americans when degradation comes your way daily. Every page is name dropping virtually every one of the mujahideen/taliban and in this respect there is a little value in tracing who's who in their hierarchy. All-in-all very disappointing if what you are looking for detailed information about why the Taliban did what they did and do what they do. The best you'll get is that everyone in Afghanistan is corrupt and only the Taliban are devout enough to bring order and morals to the people (all of who incidentally love the Taliban dearly). I was expecting much more from someone who was with the Taliban from the beginning and ended up being their ambassador to Pakistan.
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Which begs the question (with the possibility of some recommended works), what topic/thesis are you researching?FJAG said:
Given that "research" implies focused reading as opposed to
My wife gave me a used copy of The Orangeman: The Life & Times of Ogle Gowan for Christmas. The book, which was published in 1986, is a fictionalized biography on one of the men who made 19th Century Ontario. Gowan was a not very nice guy who was the illegitimate son of a prominent Protestant landowner in County Wexford. Among other things he had a shotgun wedding with his step niece, forged a deed to the estate in an effort to get around his father's will which left it to the legitimate side of his family and toadied, backstabbed and abandoned various Orange personalities with the best of them. I have just finished part one, which deals with his life in Ireland and ends with him disgraced in the eyes of the Orange societies and about to move to the Brockville area in 1829.
While I have not got into his life in Canada, I know he founded the Orange Lodge, was a crony of Sir John A Macdonald, was wounded twice at the Battle of the Windmill in 1838, became a staunch enemy of George Brown of the Globe and in later life was tried (and acquitted) for having sex with two 12-year old girls. He was not a very nice guy, at best. What most of us have forgotten, or never knew, was that in the decades before Confederation the mostly Protestant Irish were the dominant people in what became Ontario with more than a third of the population claiming Irish birth or descent. Gowan and the Orange Lodge played a major part in shaping Ontario and among his descendants were both a Premier of the province and one of the women who instigated the Persons case.
While I have not got into his life in Canada, I know he founded the Orange Lodge, was a crony of Sir John A Macdonald, was wounded twice at the Battle of the Windmill in 1838, became a staunch enemy of George Brown of the Globe and in later life was tried (and acquitted) for having sex with two 12-year old girls. He was not a very nice guy, at best. What most of us have forgotten, or never knew, was that in the decades before Confederation the mostly Protestant Irish were the dominant people in what became Ontario with more than a third of the population claiming Irish birth or descent. Gowan and the Orange Lodge played a major part in shaping Ontario and among his descendants were both a Premier of the province and one of the women who instigated the Persons case.
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Dangerboy gave me electronic copies of all of my favourite writer's books, Jack Whyte!! 
Dude you rock, so guess what I will be reading for the next while? ;D
dileas
tess
Dude you rock, so guess what I will be reading for the next while? ;D
dileas
tess
FJAG
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cupper said:
Thanks for that.
My library has a very good website search engine and lending program. Many of the recommendations are on that site and I've been working my way through the list. Your thread will let me add a few more that they don't have but seem fairly happy to order in even when they can't get a loan from another region
FJAG
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Journeyman said:Which begs the question (with the possibility of some recommended works), what topic/thesis are you researching?
Given that "research" implies focused reading as opposed toentertainmentescaping from 'family' over the holidays.
I'm working on my third book which is a work of fiction set in Afghanistan (as well as several other locales) in the time frame Sep to Dec 2005. My Cdn based research concerns the stand up of the KPRT, the wind down of Camp Julien and the subsequent arrival of the PPCLI battle group.
Family has all gone back home, the TV is currently atrocious and its too cold for a walk on the beach.
By the way does anyone have any idea if Camp Nathan Smith had any other name before the Canadians gave it that name and further what American unit constituted the KPRT just before we came? I know Task Force Bayonet had overall command of RC-S but I've spent way to many unsuccessful hours trying to find out those two facts.
:cheers:
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SHOCK DOCTRINE The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein which I found out to be an appeal to emotion rather than reason. I prefer reading and re-reading Ann Coulter's books which puts me in touch with reality. ;D
