tomas
Trail Wise!
Posts: 1,906
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Post by tomas on Mar 25, 2021 14:23:34 GMT -8
I just picked up Vietnam - An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975 by Max Hastings. A colleague who I respect as a military analyst recommended it and suggested that it will replace Karnow's book on Vietnam in terms of broad history of the war.
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Post by hikerjer on Mar 25, 2021 19:26:21 GMT -8
I just picked up Vietnam - An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975 by Max Hastings I'm in the midst of it right now and have been for a while. While I find Hastings books generally pretty easy to read, I'm a bit bogged down in this one. But, it is at least on a par with Karnow. Hastings makes the point and stongly documents it, that Vietnam was a war neither side deserved to win and that there were very few good guys at the highest levels.
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tomas
Trail Wise!
Posts: 1,906
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Post by tomas on Mar 26, 2021 5:15:37 GMT -8
While I find Hastings books generally pretty easy to read, I'm a bit bogged down in this one. Well it was a very long war.... :D I suspect I will also get bogged down and need another book as a break. Hastings makes the point and stongly documents it, that Vietnam was a war neither side deserved to win and that there were very few good guys at the highest levels. I finished the first two chapters last night and overall liked it. He makes the vicious nature of the Communist ideology plain and brings up the long muted point about Ho admiring and emulating Stalin. I was dismayed with him repeating the old canard that the FFL was filled with former members of the SS; that nonsense has long been disproven.
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Post by starwalker on Mar 27, 2021 18:42:44 GMT -8
I'm reading a book which I inherited from my Mom which originally was a gift from my Mom to my Grandfather. It is moving to see their handwriting in the book, hers in the introduction and his notes in the body of the book. The book is The Song of Songs by Dan T. Muse who was a bishop in the Pentecostal Holiness Church when he wrote this in 1947. Song of Songs is another name for Song of Solomon which is the most sensual book in the Bible. Being Pentecostal, he of course writes from a spiritual point-of-view, taking the view that the Bride in the book are Christians and the Bridegroom is Jesus. Being a conservative Christian (but liberal politically), I've enjoyed his interpretation of the book so far. The author is buried in Oklahoma City and died 3 years after he wrote the book at 67 according to Find a Grave. I find his picture humorous. Muse's obit
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Post by bobcat on Apr 8, 2021 15:01:58 GMT -8
“Wilding” by Isabella Tree. A British writer and her farmer husband take their farm out of production and steer their land to heal as a natural ecosystem. If you like conservation and biodiversity, this is a great read.
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reuben
Trail Wise!
Gonna need more Camels at the next refugio...
Posts: 11,137
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Post by reuben on Apr 16, 2021 9:27:46 GMT -8
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FamilySherpa
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Tangled up in Rhododendron
Posts: 1,791
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Post by FamilySherpa on Jun 17, 2021 7:22:08 GMT -8
Has anyone else read the falcon thief?
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FamilySherpa
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Tangled up in Rhododendron
Posts: 1,791
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Post by FamilySherpa on Aug 31, 2021 12:35:36 GMT -8
Currently reading an old one from required summer reading circa 8th grade (almost 30 years ago). I don't really remember appreciating this book very well back then, but its quite enjoyable now.
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Post by cweston on Aug 31, 2021 12:47:09 GMT -8
As little as possible, because I'm 2 weeks out of cataract surgery, and my eyes become easily fatigued by reading and computer screens. But I recently read this book... ...which I found extremely powerful. It's a black writer writing to white audiences with a level of candor and transparency that we (white readers) are usually spared at all costs. A fairly short, quick read that is very powerful.
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Post by starwalker on Sept 1, 2021 22:19:56 GMT -8
I just finished a biography of Daniel Webster by Remini (can't remember is first name and too lazy to get up and look). It was interesting to know just how much influence he had on the way we look at our democracy, always wanting it to stay together and willing to do what wasn't politically expedient to help. I knew he was important to our history, but didn't know that. He also had some warts which I didn't know about and Remimi told about, but they were rather typical of politicians, rumors of infidelity, love of money, and love of liquor.
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Post by downriver on Sept 3, 2021 14:05:21 GMT -8
I’m about to start this...
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trinity
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Post by trinity on Sept 24, 2021 10:32:43 GMT -8
I just started Ed Abbey's "One Life at a Time, Please." It is the perfect book for my current mood. Angry, curmudgeonly, uncompromising, unapologetic. His diatribe against ranchers and cowboys in the opening essay (the transript of a speech delivered at the University of Montana) is a classic, and extremely satisfying. Not for the politically correct.
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Post by starwalker on Sept 24, 2021 17:37:09 GMT -8
I'm reading a Christmas present which I bought for my grandson--Ghosts of America-Oklahoma. He lives at the Grand Canyon and has a number of books about haunted places there, so I decided to buy him one about Oklahoma. He's in 8th grade, that is a perfect time for these kind of books.
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desert dweller
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Power to the Peaceful...Hate does not create.
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Post by desert dweller on Sept 27, 2021 14:29:46 GMT -8
Not for the politically correct. Is that the one where he opens the talk with a joke from a bumper sticker that says, "Cowboys make better lovers. Just ask any cow?" Probably not a good way to get friendly with a crowd in Montana.
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Post by downriver on Sept 28, 2021 1:20:15 GMT -8
I just started Ed Abbey's "One Life at a Time, Please." It is the perfect book for my current mood. Angry, curmudgeonly, uncompromising, unapologetic. His diatribe against ranchers and cowboys in the opening essay (the transript of a speech delivered at the University of Montana) is a classic, and extremely satisfying. Not for the politically correct. That’s an awesome essay by Abbey! I laughed my ass off the first time I read it! “Gunfiire in the parking lot.” Haha! I would have loved to have been at the University of Montana when he spoke. He also pulled out a .44 magnum (handgun) while giving his talk! Unfortunately, what he talked about then is still going on at our public lands. And it’s been nearly forty years since he gave that talk. My (bastardized) nom de plume here is taken from another great Abbey essay/book: Down the River with Henry Thoreau. Regards, DR
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