Ok, so a small break from the snark.....getting back to routine after the Christmas break is hard...BUT there are some good things to look forward to in 2013. NO, not more pontificating, bloviating speeches by our 44th President...I'm talking books here. History books to be more specific...and there are some good ones coming in 2013 that I have been eagerly anticipating....in addition to the totally awesome stack I received for Christmas and my birthday.
I must compliment my +1 for her excellent mixture of volumes chosen. I am really trying to broaden my understanding of the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 (more on that later) and the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Oh, and Monsters Hunting as well...okay, strictly speaking that is not a history book, BUT getting the first 3 books in a single volume for less than $20 on Amazon is too totally awesome to pass up. So, on to the Grouchy Historian best books of 2013 (So far):
Rick Atkinson has written THE trilogy of the US military in Europe during World War II. The first two volumes were absolutely magnificent, and I expect this one to be equally awesome. Atkinson's ability to weave strategic, operational, and tactical history combined with his meticulous research will make these books the standard works on the U.S. Army in the ETO. I would even go so far to say that this trilogy will become for World War II history what Shelby Foote's The Civil War: A Narrative has become for Civil War history.
Max Boot is that rare combination of military historian, pundit, and military analyst that make his books and syndicated columns equally interesting to me. An expert in "small wars", insurgencies, and guerrilla warfare, Boot is writing what will likely be the definitive history of guerrilla and irregular warfare throughout history. I am particularly looking forward to his analysis of irregular warfare and the lessons that might be applicable to Western armies facing increasingly lethal Islamic insurgencies and terrorist actions in Africa and the Middle East.
Peter Tsouras, like Ralph Peters, is one of my favorite authors for specific genres. While Ralph is an especially great grouchy critic of the US military and how it has conducted the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan and how Western socities are dealing with the Islamist threat in general, Peter has become the king of alternate military history. Alternate history is probably my favorite fiction type...especially when it is done well. Tsouras has edited some really fine anthologies of alternate military history, as well as authoring several of his own. The Eastern Front in World War II has always been a particularly undeserved area of Grouchy Historian study, something I am trying to fix with several of David Glantz' marvelous volumes. I am hoping that Tsouras' look at Stalingrad will offer some food for thought as I continue my study.
Well, that's about it...I am sure other excellent works of history will be published in 2013...but for now, given my extensive backlog and my revised goal of reading 33 books this year, I'd better get busy.
More books, less brain-numbing television...that's my plan......................Hey... is that Castle on TV?
Peter Tsouras, like Ralph Peters, is one of my favorite authors for specific genres. While Ralph is an especially great grouchy critic of the US military and how it has conducted the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan and how Western socities are dealing with the Islamist threat in general, Peter has become the king of alternate military history. Alternate history is probably my favorite fiction type...especially when it is done well. Tsouras has edited some really fine anthologies of alternate military history, as well as authoring several of his own. The Eastern Front in World War II has always been a particularly undeserved area of Grouchy Historian study, something I am trying to fix with several of David Glantz' marvelous volumes. I am hoping that Tsouras' look at Stalingrad will offer some food for thought as I continue my study.
Well, that's about it...I am sure other excellent works of history will be published in 2013...but for now, given my extensive backlog and my revised goal of reading 33 books this year, I'd better get busy.
More books, less brain-numbing television...that's my plan......................Hey... is that Castle on TV?
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