Read any good books lately?

I read "Helmet for my Pillow" while I was overseas. Definitely one of the better books of that type that I have read.  I saw that "Special Ops" book at Barnes & Noble awhile back, but passed on it. What were the other operations in the book besides Eban Emael and Entebbe?

stikpusher

I saw that "Special Ops" book at Barnes & Noble awhile back, but passed on it. What were the other operations in the book besides Eban Emael and Entebbe?

Alexandria Harbor 19 December 1941- Italeri's little Maiaile with Decima Flotiglia figs. Sank Valiant and Queen Elizabeth.

St. Nazaire 27 March 1942- Campbellton/ Buchanan, MBT's.

Rescue of Mussolini 12 September 1943- DFS 230, Storch.

Submarine attack on Tirpitz 22 September 1943- I am saving up for a 1/35 X Craft.

Ranger raid on Cabanatuan- Japanese light tanks and trucks,

US Army raid on Son Tay 21 November 1970- HH-53, H-3, C-130, A-1.

Entebbe 4 July 1976- C-130, Buffalo APC,

Obviously dioramas with figs would be ideal.

You would enjoy this book, Carlos. It's a methodical 6 point analysis of each raid, and makes it's points well.

Yes, this is one of those cases where I should have heeded my own standard advice of picking up something when you see it, because it might not be there later. Curious, but what is the Buffalo APC at Entebbe? I have read and seen several accounts of that mission, and they vary on what exactly the Israelis took in the way of vehicles. Except of  course the Benz.

I got my copy on Amazon and it only took a few days.

I don't know either. I'll have to see if I can find a footnote in the book with a source- it's that kind of book because it's a thesis.

My guess would be captured BTR-60s, or perhaps Land Rover mods. McRaven did use the term Buffalo, but he had some of the other details wrong too. I assume they were NOT M113's, that would have been overkill and I doubt the Herc's could have taken off with two each plus a fuel load for 2200 miles. The main use seems to have been to thwart any counter attack from town, but in the event the time on the ground ended up being shorter than planned and the APC's mostly suppressed fire from the control tower.

I had seen on one source they used BTRs, so I would wonder perhaps a BTR-40 or 152. With the 152 being in the same weight class almost as a 113. The Hercs could likely do a RATO take off with that load but... To my mind that is probably the most classic special ops mission of all those listed in the book.

Just finished "The Art of Procrastination: A Guide to Effective Dawdling, Lollygagging and Postponing". 

Sounds hilarious, but it was actually rather enlightening and described my work habits to a frightening level of accuracy.

But it also helps with recognizing procrastination and, as the book says, "using the brain's amazing capacity for self-deception to actually get a lot done" while still procrastinating. 

Doogs sounds like the story of my life...

What varies from each story is the circumstances of extraction.

E/E they counted on being relieved.

Alexandria they planned to sneek away but it was a slim chance.

St. Nazaire fight their way out.

Gran Sasso who knows, Skorzeny was a nut.

Tirpitz sneek out tho it wasn't at all possible.

Cabanatuan and Son Tay run like heck.

Entebbe leave no chance of pursuit.

Yeah, getting in, as difficult as it is, often turns out to be easier than exfiltration, after the hornet's nest has been kicked.  I don't know if you have seen any of Osprey's "Raid" series of books. But they take a single incident and dissect it completely within the same format. Great reads, if a bit light compared to other writings on the same incidents.

In my job I end up having alot of "free" time that I pass by reading:  Some that I have read or finished in the last year:

1. Atlas Shrugged.  Wow, the parallels between this book and what's happening in the US today are amazing.  I guess Ayn Rand knows what she's talking about.  For those of you who don't know this book is basically about government getting too big.  When reading it I kept thinking to myself these people sound like the Occupy Wall Street activists.  It took me about 2 years reading off and on to finish this one.

2. The Unseen Hand.  Have you ever asked yourself why the US government seems to be constantly making self destructive decisions?  Do you say to yourself "something's wrong but I can't put my finger on it?"  Read this.  Even if only half of what Ralph Epperson is saying is true its pretty eye opening.

3. The Stand.  My wife is into Stephen King and she talked me into reading this.  It was pretty good.  Its about a government virus that wipes out most of the population and the ensuing battle between good and evil.

4. The Gunslinger.  Another Stephen King book.  Didn't like this one.  Still not sure what it was about.

5. The Kingdom: Arabia and the House of Sa'ud.  This was a pretty comprehensive history of how Saudi Arabia became what it is today, starting with Abdul Aziz back in the 1870's.  Very interesting and worth reading.  I just randomly picked this one up.

6. The Harbinger.  This one is a sort of a fiction book about Judgment on the United States.  It attempts to explain why things are getting so bad in the US from a Christian perspective using all the real events but told through fictional people.

7. Animal Farm.  I read this as a teenager but didn't really get what was going on.  As an adult I see it perfectly clear. Although George Orwell was pro socialist he perfectly shows us why socialism will always end in tyranny and despotism.  Its because of the one element that will never change...human nature.

8. 1984.  I never read this book, also by George Orwell, but like Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged this book is almost prophetic.  The bigger the government the more the intrusion.  Heck, yesterday I was reading news about a new TV that has facial recognition software built in to it so it can tell who's watching TV and taylor the experience to that individual.  I thought to myself wow!  That sounds just like Big Brother.

9. The Bible.  I set out to read the Bible cover to cover.  It's taken me almost 3.5 years reading it off and on again.  Technically, the Bible is a compilation of 66 books and letters.  I've read most of it as individual books but never from beginning to end.  As of today I'm in the Book of Revelation and should be finished in the next day or two.

10. Demonic.  Although I'm not a big Ann Coulter fan this was a very good book.  Just the section on the French Revolution was worth the read.  This book is basically about mob mentality and the results of succumbing to it.

11. The Everlasting Hatred.  This book by Hal Lindsey explains why the Arab-Israelli conflict seems to be never ending.  Very informative and eye opening.

12-14. The Hunger Games trilogy.  These were recommended to me by my wife.  The first book was really good, the second was ok and the third was the worst.

There are at least 2 other books but I can't recall their titles right now.  And yes...this was just 2012.

While not exactly a thinking-man's books, I've recently completed re-reading my collections of Conan- The Barbarian  and Deadpool (continuing series) comics...  good stuff and no critical thinking is necessary.

The last real book I read was Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel, a very interesting look into why the world's civilizations developed the way they did.   Truly a thought provoking read.

if you REALLY liked Crytonomicon, you might also lilke Gravity's Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon; it also has a  Marine, submarines and Swartzkommando

www.amazon.com/.../1881325407

Dre

While not exactly a thinking-man's books, I've recently completed re-reading my collections of Conan- The Barbarian  and Deadpool (continuing series) comics...  good stuff and no critical thinking is necessary.

The last real book I read was Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel, a very interesting look into why the world's civilizations developed the way they did.   Truly a thought provoking read.

G- I read Tarzan as a kid and couldn't really get into it.   But I'd like to read John Carter sometime to see how it fares in print- the movie wasn't terrible but I didn't know the story.  

" I Could Never be so Lucky Again "  by Gen Jimmy Doolittle .  His accomplishments and contributions to aviation are amazing to read about. He did so much more than just the Tokyo raid.

Just finished Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent, and am now reading T.E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph.

I just finished Shelby Foote's three volume series "The Civil War". The clash of personalities among the Union and Confederate General Officers was a surprise, and Lincoln was different from what I always believed.

Jim

I just finished "Reports of the Inspectors of the Mine in the Anthracite Region of Pennsylvania for the Year 1883", an old book that I got off eBay. Being from a coal-mining background and family, I've been researching the history of Scranton Pa's mining.

This book was fascinating, talking of all the improvements, accidents, deaths, and hazards of mining coal--as well as the lessons learned and recommendations for future miners. It has diagrams, pull-out maps and illustrations, and I genuinely couldn't put it down.

I ordered five more copies of reprints from different years of the late 1800's.

"Under Ice" the biography of Waldo Lyons: arrived today.

It's all about developing the technology to sail submarines below the polar ice cap. Won't mean much in just a few years.

Just read "Green Eggs and Ham" for the upteenth million time, this time for my grandsons. No one can deny that this is a good book.

Nothing beats the classics Sub... Shakespear, Dumas, Dickens, Conrad, Hemingway, Seuss...

Dang right!

I love reading about people in general, so bios are my favorite, like the one's I've read on/by John Lennon, George Harrison, Jackie Chan, John Madden, Jim McMahon, Kenny Stabler, Denis Potvin, Rita Hayworth, Chuck Yeager, Erich Hartmann, well, you get the idea. Right now I'm reading Rickenbacker's, and it's awesome!

Hi

Still reading  " A DIRTY JOB " by CHRISTOPHER MOORE. Weird ! ( a loaner from a neighbor )  Now I usually read CLIVE CUSSLER and authors like that , and of course ANYTHING on WW 2 ships ! The most impressive books I think I've read over the years are ones like " MEIN KAMPF " by you know who . and other WW-2 generals and admirals .

You certainly get an insight into their thinking . Now I do like , and I guess it's cause I can look at all the great " pichurs" is the SQUADRON/SIGNAL and OSPREY books .   Tanker-builder

I read over 30 books in 2012. By far the most I have ever read in a year.

A Kindle and a job in security was the reason.

I just started reading this on my Kindle today.

That is a decent read Mike. Read that one several years ago, but not one I will read again every so often like "Ghost Soldiers", "Incredible Victory" or "The Longest Day"....

I finally finished up "Wings of Gold". On the one hand it gives short shift to the big picture of the carrier war. On the other hand it brings a far more up close and personal view to that war. The attrition/loss rates of those naval aviators was pretty high and even when we were an unstoppable juggernaut, lots of brave young men were to never come home. Not to mention the junior and mid grade officer views of the senior leadership. Overall a very good book. Now to finish up "The Guns of August" in the next few days. Talk about learning something on every page. I am oh so glad that I picked up this book.

Does "Anatomy and physiology" and "Human Kinetics" count? It is interesting and educational so....

They are books, right?

Yes, big, thick books....