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frankj1 Offline
#551 Posted: Wed, Nov 20 2019, 9:12 PM EST
Joined: 02-08-2007
Posts: 44,835
frankj1 wrote:
if Candide is the one with The best of all possible worlds, then I read that 45 years ago.

the fog is clearing.
This led me to Epitaph of a Small Winner, by Machado de Assis or some similar name.
I remember loving it. Especially after reading Candide.
Maybe I'll revisit...
USNGunner Offline
#552 Posted: Wed, Nov 20 2019, 9:16 PM EST
Joined: 05-17-2019
Posts: 4,402
Thief of Time. Is that the one with the midgets and the time machine? I loved that movie!

Applause
Sunoverbeach Offline
#553 Posted: Wed, Nov 20 2019, 10:48 PM EST
Joined: 08-11-2017
Posts: 15,394
You talking about Time Bandits? No machine, but a map to different time portals.
USNGunner Offline
#554 Posted: Wed, Nov 20 2019, 10:52 PM EST
Joined: 05-17-2019
Posts: 4,402
Sunoverbeach wrote:
You talking about Time Bandits? No machine, but a map to different time portals.


Yep. That's it.
Sunoverbeach Offline
#555 Posted: Thu, Nov 21 2019, 6:18 AM EST
Joined: 08-11-2017
Posts: 15,394
Loved that one as a kid. But always horrified me when his parents flamed out at the end.
CelticBomber Offline
#556 Posted: Thu, Nov 21 2019, 12:04 PM EST
Joined: 05-03-2012
Posts: 6,786
frankj1 wrote:
if Candide is the one with The best of all possible worlds, then I read that 45 years ago.



Sort of, Candide, (French for Optimism) puts forward the idea that no matter how bad your situation is you shouldn't be philosophical about it and just accept it. Thinking you can better your lot in life is considered subversive by the ruling class. Candide's situation goes from bad to worse to abominable but he keeps his optimism. But, he always suffers misfortune. It's only at the end when he meets a poor farmer who is happy because doesn't think about or expect anything from life, he just works hard on his little farm and survives that Candide and his friends assume the same attitude, that they find peace.

It was Dutch missionary's who preached to the poor that if you just accept your lot in life and know your place and never try to better yourself (I.E. try to subvert God's plan for you) you'll find true happiness. Candide was Voltaire's way of satirizing this doctrine. He was imprisoned at least twice for his writings. Basically it boils down to if you are suffering, you were made to suffer for a reason and should not question it. Just accept it.
CelticBomber Offline
#557 Posted: Thu, Nov 21 2019, 12:26 PM EST
Joined: 05-03-2012
Posts: 6,786
USNGunner wrote:
Thief of Time. Is that the one with the midgets and the time machine? I loved that movie!

Applause



Lol no but I loved that movie as a kid! Almost all of Terry Pratchett's book are set on the Discworld. A flat world carried on the backs of 4 giant elephants who in turn stand on the back of the great space turtle A'tuin.

People really use to believe this and there is an old quote about a person who asks a philosopher what does the turtle stand on? His reply is "It's turtle's, all the way down!"

Almost all of the books are satire of the real world. The first few books in the series have humor more akin to Airplane! or HotShots but, as his writing progressed the books got better and better and while still being hilarious they also started to point out the absurdities of people and what they are willing to accept while at the same time still managing to move civilization forward.

The main city Anhk-Morpork (Basically London) is a said to be run by a Democracy. One man, one vote. The Patrician was the man and he had the vote;-)

He also legitimized the thieves guild making it an official part of the government on the idea that since there was always going to be crime it might as well be organized crime. They were given a budget and were allow so much crime per year. People could pay a small yearly premium and walk without fear of being robbed.

Pratchett is English and definitely brings that dry wit the Brits are so famous for (which I love) but, sometimes he can be downright hysterical.

He also wrote a book with Neil Gaiman called Good Omens which is REALLY funny!
USNGunner Offline
#558 Posted: Thu, Nov 21 2019, 12:40 PM EST
Joined: 05-17-2019
Posts: 4,402
Nice. Well, I'm gonna need some more book shelves. LOL.
MACS Offline
#559 Posted: Mon, Mar 23 2020, 10:55 PM EST
Joined: 02-26-2004
Posts: 80,735
The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie
CelticBomber Offline
#560 Posted: Mon, Mar 23 2020, 11:48 PM EST
Joined: 05-03-2012
Posts: 6,786
The Divine Comedy - Dante (Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso)
Mysteries of Modern Physics - Professor Sean Carroll (Part of The Great Courses lectures. University level lectures on Audiobook)
King Arthur: History and Legend - Dorsey Armstrong (Examine's the real history of some of the characters and how multiple legends were merged into the King Arthur story we know today)
The Skeptic's Guide to American History - Mark A. Stoler (Part of The Great Courses lectures. University level lectures on Audiobook)

All of The Great Courses lectures are amazing and well worth the listen. There must be 600 of these on every subject imaginable. Each one is broken up into multiple lectures Can be 10 Lectures or 25 Lectures per and can go from 7 to 30+ hours.

Now I also have to read

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Republic - Plato
Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger

Two Books I just finished that I would urge everyone to read.

The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel Van der Kolk M.D. ( If you've suffer any kind of physical trauma, PTSD, etc. this book will change your life.)

Talking To Strangers - Malcolm Gladwell Just mind blowing. Everyone in any kind of law enforcement should have to read this book. It's about how we believe we can tell if a person is guilty or not, Lying or telling the truth and many other things based on body language and also about how we ignore real warning signs because we don't want to believe we are being fooled. Among other things. Every opinion is backed by scientific studies on multiple levels. Stories about how Castro FLOODED the C.I.A. with his spies and almost none were caught even when there was clear evidence. It's eye opening and a bit scary.
deadeyedick Offline
#561 Posted: Tue, Mar 24 2020, 8:35 AM EST
Joined: 03-13-2003
Posts: 17,934
America's Gun Wars - Donald J Campbell

Compendium of the history and arguments for and against guns in the hands of citizens.
USNGunner Offline
#562 Posted: Wed, Mar 25 2020, 9:05 PM EST
Joined: 05-17-2019
Posts: 4,402
Stephen, physics? Check this video out.

Father of Modern Physics: James Clerk Maxwell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuWEqE4k230
frankj1 Offline
#563 Posted: Wed, Mar 25 2020, 10:41 PM EST
Joined: 02-08-2007
Posts: 44,835
CelticBomber wrote:
The Divine Comedy - Dante (Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso)
Mysteries of Modern Physics - Professor Sean Carroll (Part of The Great Courses lectures. University level lectures on Audiobook)
King Arthur: History and Legend - Dorsey Armstrong (Examine's the real history of some of the characters and how multiple legends were merged into the King Arthur story we know today)
The Skeptic's Guide to American History - Mark A. Stoler (Part of The Great Courses lectures. University level lectures on Audiobook)

All of The Great Courses lectures are amazing and well worth the listen. There must be 600 of these on every subject imaginable. Each one is broken up into multiple lectures Can be 10 Lectures or 25 Lectures per and can go from 7 to 30+ hours.

Now I also have to read

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Republic - Plato
Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger

Two Books I just finished that I would urge everyone to read.

The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel Van der Kolk M.D. ( If you've suffer any kind of physical trauma, PTSD, etc. this book will change your life.)

Talking To Strangers - Malcolm Gladwell Just mind blowing. Everyone in any kind of law enforcement should have to read this book. It's about how we believe we can tell if a person is guilty or not, Lying or telling the truth and many other things based on body language and also about how we ignore real warning signs because we don't want to believe we are being fooled. Among other things. Every opinion is backed by scientific studies on multiple levels. Stories about how Castro FLOODED the C.I.A. with his spies and almost none were caught even when there was clear evidence. It's eye opening and a bit scary.

Talking to Strangers seems like something that would make me break my decade long aversion to reading (and doing NY Times Sunday crossword puzzles). I'll put it on my order list and wait for the library system to reopen.
thanks azz hole
8trackdisco Offline
#564 Posted: Sun, Mar 29 2020, 10:10 AM EST
Joined: 11-06-2004
Posts: 60,710
Murder at St. Andrews: A Darwin Summers Mystery by James Koeper.

Was thinking of Deadeyedick when reading this. Couldn’t tell if it was a murder mystery book about golf or the reverse. Written by a guy who splits time between Texas and Wisconsin. Gives a great history of the old course at St Andrews while the mystery unfolds. Better than average read.
opelmanta1900 Offline
#565 Posted: Sun, Mar 29 2020, 10:21 AM EST
Joined: 01-10-2012
Posts: 13,954
I'm still reading a Connecticut Yankee in king Arthur's court... Been picking it up when I hit the river and soak bait.... One of my favorites of all time...
fiddler898 Offline
#566 Posted: Sun, Mar 29 2020, 12:31 PM EST
Joined: 06-15-2009
Posts: 3,782
Someone mentioned this a couple weeks ago, but I don’t recall the context: I’m reading Kafka's "Metamorphosis," in preparation for my next book, "The Cockroach," by Ian McEwan. It’s the Kafka story in reverse, apparently.
benja123 Offline
#567 Posted: Sun, Mar 29 2020, 2:02 PM EST
Joined: 03-09-2015
Posts: 1,269
whatever is free on Amazon Prime. Brilliance Trilogy by Marcus Sakey

downloaded white fang- jack London next
RMAN4443 Offline
#568 Posted: Sun, Mar 29 2020, 2:13 PM EST
Joined: 09-29-2016
Posts: 7,683
The menu from Taco Beyondo...a local Mexican place, in the mood for some good spicy Mexican foodBeer
MACS Offline
#569 Posted: Sun, Mar 29 2020, 3:11 PM EST
Joined: 02-26-2004
Posts: 80,735
benja123 wrote:
whatever is free on Amazon Prime. Brilliance Trilogy by Marcus Sakey

downloaded white fang- jack London next


White Fang was one of my favorite books in HS. That and Call of the Wild. Jack London was a great author.
USNGunner Offline
#570 Posted: Sun, Mar 29 2020, 3:20 PM EST
Joined: 05-17-2019
Posts: 4,402
I love Jack London. Superb talent.
benja123 Offline
#571 Posted: Sun, Mar 29 2020, 4:39 PM EST
Joined: 03-09-2015
Posts: 1,269
Same here- read all his books in JHS, then read jim kjellgaard sp? did more young person books in London style Big Red, I think? Wasn't allowed to have one and I read every dog book around. Call of the Wild in my downloads too. See the promo for the new movie with Harrison Ford? The CG is so bad I couldn't even watch the reel.
deadeyedick Offline
#572 Posted: Sun, Mar 29 2020, 6:58 PM EST
Joined: 03-13-2003
Posts: 17,934
This Land Is Our Land an immigrants manifesto - Suketu Mehta

Same 'ol BS about reparations and open borders we owe the 3rd world.
8trackdisco Offline
#573 Posted: Fri, Apr 3 2020, 11:07 PM EST
Joined: 11-06-2004
Posts: 60,710
Ok, which one of you jackalopes suggested I read.. Being Mortal?
izonfire Offline
#574 Posted: Sat, Apr 4 2020, 2:30 AM EST
Joined: 12-09-2013
Posts: 8,770
Celtic's Manifesto

Damn, this schitt is fucqued up...
CelticBomber Offline
#575 Posted: Sat, Apr 4 2020, 6:49 AM EST
Joined: 05-03-2012
Posts: 6,786
izonfire wrote:
Celtic's Manifesto

Damn, this schitt is fucqued up...



I'm going to find you... just a matter of time. All I have to do is find a herd of goats with a surprised look on their faces.
CelticBomber Offline
#576 Posted: Sat, Apr 4 2020, 6:57 AM EST
Joined: 05-03-2012
Posts: 6,786
frankj1 wrote:
Talking to Strangers seems like something that would make me break my decade long aversion to reading (and doing NY Times Sunday crossword puzzles). I'll put it on my order list and wait for the library system to reopen.
thanks azz hole



I really hope you read or listen to this book.... It's amazing. I really enjoyed listening to it. The author reads it himself so he emphasizes his points in the way he wrote them rather than someone else's interpretation of his words. You get to hear his anger or frustration or shock or amusement as he meant you to.

I'm currently finishing The Divine Comedy again... We're in Heaven and he's just met Beatrice. I love the writing...

Instead of He said to..... or He replied.

Every time someone speaks to another it's "and He to me". Or "Me to he" etc...

Makes it sound more formal and personal. More intimate, which really fits the setting.
izonfire Offline
#577 Posted: Sat, Apr 4 2020, 7:02 AM EST
Joined: 12-09-2013
Posts: 8,770
CelticBomber wrote:
I'm going to find you... just a matter of time. All I have to do is find a herd of goats with a surprised look on their faces.

🤔... 🖕🏽 🤣🤣🤣
Speyside Offline
#578 Posted: Sat, Apr 4 2020, 8:31 AM EST
Joined: 03-16-2015
Posts: 13,106
CB, I just finished the body keeps score. You were right. Now I am rereading The Warrior Diet.
Gene363 Offline
#579 Posted: Sat, Apr 4 2020, 8:38 PM EST
Joined: 01-24-2003
Posts: 31,934
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

By Laura Hillenbrand

"Louie’s life, with its athletic feats, air combat, plane crash, shark attack, strafing, years as a POW, and slavery, is truly singular. But as unique and dramatic as it is, his story offers lessons that can guide those of us who lead much more ordinary lives. It stands as a testament to the breadth of the realm of possibility, demonstrating that with perseverance, courage, and resourcefulness we can prevail over hardships we imagined were insurmountable. And it demonstrates both the corrosive, life-consuming nature of bitterness and the transcendent liberation and peace that are the gifts of forgiveness. An odyssey of exceptional hardship, pain, trial, and triumph, Louie’s life is like no other, yet it carries lessons that speak to all of us. He is truly an inspiration.”

This is a quote from the author that says it all.
frankj1 Offline
#580 Posted: Sat, Apr 4 2020, 9:57 PM EST
Joined: 02-08-2007
Posts: 44,835
Not Louie, TW's dog?
Gene363 Offline
#581 Posted: Sat, Apr 4 2020, 11:00 PM EST
Joined: 01-24-2003
Posts: 31,934
frankj1 wrote:
Not Louie, TW's dog?


Louis Zamperini Olympian, WWII Vet and POW

Quote:
Louis Silvie Zamperini (January 26, 1917 – July 2, 2014) was an American World War II veteran, a Christian evangelist and an Olympic distance runner. He took up running in high school and qualified for the US in the 5,000 m race for the 1936 Berlin Olympics. In 1941, he was commissioned into the United States Army Air Forces as a lieutenant. He served as a bombardier in B-24 Liberators in the Pacific. On a search and rescue mission, mechanical difficulties forced Zamperini's plane to crash in the ocean. After drifting at sea for 47 days, he landed on the Japanese occupied Marshall Islands and was captured. He was taken to a prison camp in Japan where he was tortured. Following the war he initially struggled to overcome his ordeal.
izonfire Offline
#582 Posted: Sat, Apr 4 2020, 11:12 PM EST
Joined: 12-09-2013
Posts: 8,770
Celtic’s mind.

Whew!!! Not good...
Palama Offline
#583 Posted: Sun, Apr 5 2020, 12:22 AM EST
Joined: 02-05-2013
Posts: 24,926
Gene363 wrote:
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

By Laura Hillenbrand

"Louie’s life, with its athletic feats, air combat, plane crash, shark attack, strafing, years as a POW, and slavery, is truly singular. But as unique and dramatic as it is, his story offers lessons that can guide those of us who lead much more ordinary lives. It stands as a testament to the breadth of the realm of possibility, demonstrating that with perseverance, courage, and resourcefulness we can prevail over hardships we imagined were insurmountable. And it demonstrates both the corrosive, life-consuming nature of bitterness and the transcendent liberation and peace that are the gifts of forgiveness. An odyssey of exceptional hardship, pain, trial, and triumph, Louie’s life is like no other, yet it carries lessons that speak to all of us. He is truly an inspiration.”

This is a quote from the author that says it all.


Great book! Applause
Gene363 Offline
#584 Posted: Mon, Apr 6 2020, 9:18 AM EST
Joined: 01-24-2003
Posts: 31,934
Palama wrote:
Great book! Applause


Nothing like redemption.
Gene363 Offline
#585 Posted: Mon, Apr 6 2020, 9:20 AM EST
Joined: 01-24-2003
Posts: 31,934
The Coastwatchers: Operation Ferdinand and the Fight for the South Pacific

By: Eric A. Feldt

Quote:
The Coastwatchers is the story of the unsung heroic civilian spotters of World War 2 who roamed the coastlines of their home islands and reported back enemy sightings to Allied Intelligence. Author Eric Feldt led Operation Ferdinand, part of the build-up to the Normandy landings, in which the Coastwatchers, by this time on the US Navy's payroll, played a critical role. His intimate knowledge of Ferdinand, and his familiarity with the Coastwatchers of the Pacific islands, provides a unique perspective on this little known but important chapter of military history.
Gene363 Offline
#586 Posted: Sun, Apr 12 2020, 10:02 PM EST
Joined: 01-24-2003
Posts: 31,934
Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice

By: Adam Makos

A sad, but interesting story that takes place before and during the Korean War.

Quote:
Devotion tells the inspirational story of the U.S. Navy’s most famous aviator duo, Lieutenant Tom Hudner and Ensign Jesse Brown, and the Marines they fought to defend. A white New Englander from the country-club scene, Tom passed up Harvard to fly fighters for his country. An African American sharecropper’s son from Mississippi, Jesse became the navy’s first black carrier pilot, defending a nation that wouldn’t even serve him in a bar.
MACS Offline
#587 Posted: Sun, Apr 12 2020, 10:12 PM EST
Joined: 02-26-2004
Posts: 80,735
Before They are Hanged - Joe Abercrombie
deadeyedick Offline
#588 Posted: Mon, Apr 13 2020, 12:25 PM EST
Joined: 03-13-2003
Posts: 17,934
Just started Death By China a global call to action by Peter Navarro & Greg Autry

Seems appropriate reading about now.
cacman Offline
#589 Posted: Mon, Apr 13 2020, 1:37 PM EST
Joined: 07-03-2010
Posts: 12,217
Just finished
Spearhead by Adam Makos
An autobiographical account of an American tank gunner, his enemy, and a collision of lives in WWII

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
A third book on the 1996 Everest expedition in which 17 climbers lost their lives.

Currently reading
A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman
A fictional story about Indian pot hunters (not MJ)
CelticBomber Offline
#590 Posted: Mon, Apr 13 2020, 2:21 PM EST
Joined: 05-03-2012
Posts: 6,786
izonfire wrote:
Celtic’s mind.

Whew!!! Not good...



You wish! If you read my mind you'd be drooling right now like you took the biggest dose of LSD ever taken by one man.

You'd understand time, space, light, matter, energy, sex, drugs and rock 'n roll like never before.... You can't handle the truth!

You can barely handle goats! Shame on you


Whistle
CelticBomber Offline
#591 Posted: Mon, Apr 13 2020, 9:38 PM EST
Joined: 05-03-2012
Posts: 6,786
Book of Poetry tonight. This has always been one of those I could never forget. Always makes me think of my Dad. Every day getting up and breaking his back. Not for fame or glory but just for us. Nothing to the rest of the world but, a hero to me.

The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot


Mistah Kurtz - he dead. ----- A reference to Heart of Darkness (1899) is a novella by Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad.

A penny for the Old Guy ------ A reference to Guy Fawkes


I

We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar

Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other kingdom
Remember us - if at all - not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.

II

Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
In death's dream kingdom
These do not appear:
There, the eyes are
Sunlight on a broken column
There, is a tree swinging
And voices are
In the wind's singing
More distant and more solemn
Than a fading star.

Let me be no nearer
In death's dream kingdom
Let me also wear
Such deliberate disguises
Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves
In a field
Behaving as the wind behaves
No nearer -

Not that final meeting
In the twilight kingdom



III

This is the dead land
This is cactus land
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man's hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star.

Is it like this
In death's other kingdom
Waking alone
At the hour when we are
Trembling with tenderness
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone.

IV

The eyes are not here
There are no eyes here
In this valley of dying stars
In this hollow valley
This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms

In this last of meeting places
We grope together
And avoid speech
Gathered on this beach of this tumid river

Sightless, unless
The eyes reappear
As the perpetual star
Multifoliate rose
Of death's twilight kingdom
The hope only
Of empty men.

V

Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o'clock in the morning.

Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow

For Thine is the Kingdom

Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow

Life is very long

Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow

For Thine is the Kingdom

For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but with a whimper.

CelticBomber Offline
#592 Posted: Mon, Apr 13 2020, 9:48 PM EST
Joined: 05-03-2012
Posts: 6,786
opelmanta1900 wrote:
I'm still reading a Connecticut Yankee in king Arthur's court... Been picking it up when I hit the river and soak bait.... One of my favorites of all time...



This book and the movie The Time Machine have had a thought churning in my head for over 35 years. If you could go back in time to the Dark Ages or even further back what 3 books would you take with you. You only get 3 and have to live out the rest of your life there. What would you take? I still don't have a definitive answer.
ZRX1200 Offline
#593 Posted: Mon, Apr 13 2020, 9:57 PM EST
Joined: 07-08-2007
Posts: 61,476
Just got a couple of Lawrence Block books in the Scudder series I haven’t read yet.
Gene363 Offline
#594 Posted: Tue, Apr 14 2020, 11:41 AM EST
Joined: 01-24-2003
Posts: 31,934
Just finished, Harms Way

By James Bassett

Quote:
Harm’s Way is a thrilling novel of naval fortitude and survival in the combat for the Pacific Ocean. It culminates in a brilliant sea battle off the coast of the strategic island of Levu-Vana where the fate of the Pacific conflict hangs in the balance.


I don't read many novels, but this one wasn't too bad after reading nonfiction accounts of the Coast Watchers and the battle for Guadalcanal.
Gene363 Offline
#595 Posted: Tue, Apr 14 2020, 12:28 PM EST
Joined: 01-24-2003
Posts: 31,934
American Murder Houses

By: John Lehto

Quote:
Writer Steve Lehto recounts the stories behind the houses where Lizzie Borden supposedly gave her stepmother “forty whacks,” where the real Amityville Horror was first unleashed by gunfire, and where the demented acts of the Manson Family horrified a nation—as well some lesser-known sites of murder that were no less ghastly.
8trackdisco Offline
#596 Posted: Wed, Apr 15 2020, 8:59 PM EST
Joined: 11-06-2004
Posts: 60,710
Finished ..... Being Mortal by Atul Gawande.

Three parts depressing, two parts enlightening. Not the best reading choice for just before bedtime during a pandemic.
In the end, it should help me navigate the final twists and turns of life.
Gene363 Offline
#597 Posted: Wed, Apr 15 2020, 10:30 PM EST
Joined: 01-24-2003
Posts: 31,934
cacman wrote:
Just finished
Spearhead by Adam Makos
An autobiographical account of an American tank gunner, his enemy, and a collision of lives in WWII

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
A third book on the 1996 Everest expedition in which 17 climbers lost their lives.

Currently reading
A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman
A fictional story about Indian pot hunters (not MJ)



Spearhead was a good one, I bought a signed copy of the book for my veteran son at valorstudios.com
Gene363 Offline
#598 Posted: Sat, Apr 18 2020, 2:25 PM EST
Joined: 01-24-2003
Posts: 31,934
Just finished, The Soldier Who Came Back

By Steven Foster with help from Alan Clark

The story of a most audacious escape attempt by two British POWs in WWII.

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/soldier-who-came-back-nazi-prison-camp.html

Quote:
A book based on Steve Foster’s painstaking research into his father’s life as a POW and his escape.

In Northern Poland in 1940, at the Nazi war camp Stalag XX-A, two men struck up an unlikely friendship that was to lead to one of the most brazen and remarkable wartime escape stories ever told.

Antony Coulthard (nicknamed ‘The Professor’) was the privately educated son of wealthy parents with a first-class honours degree in modern languages from Oxford. The other man, Fred Foster, was the son of a bricklayer from Nottinghamshire who had left school aged 14.

Held in captivity, this seemingly mismatched pair would bond together and hatch a risky plan: they would perfect their German, forge travel documents, disguise themselves as travelling salesmen – and simply walk out of the camp.

Their journey would take them into the very heart of the Third Reich, stopping en route to sightsee and drink at a notorious Nazi watering hole.

‘It was a clever strategy, but a high-risk one. Success or failure would depend entirely on one thing: their ability to pass themselves off as native German speakers. The weight of this rested largely on Antony, whose fluency would be their passport to freedom. The serious challenge was to get Fred’s skills up to a level where he could just about pass muster during the time required. It would be, as Fred put it, “one big bluff”.’

What happened next is both heart-stopping and tragic.
Speyside Offline
#599 Posted: Sat, Apr 18 2020, 4:49 PM EST
Joined: 03-16-2015
Posts: 13,106
Beyond Good and Evil
Friedrich Nietzsche
Gene363 Offline
#600 Posted: Mon, Apr 20 2020, 2:09 PM EST
Joined: 01-24-2003
Posts: 31,934
Finished this one in two days.

The Crash of Little Eva

By: Barry Ralph

An epic story of survival that includes a lookout the initial role of the US in Australia and the Pacific.

Quote:
"Little Eva" was a USAAF Consolidated B-24 Liberator which, returning from a bombing mission, got lost and crashed having exhausted its fuel supply on 2 December 1942 north-west of Burketown, Queensland (near the Gulf of Carpentaria).

The crew had taken to their parachutes before the crash. The survivors, now in two groups, set out on foot. Two of the crew travelled east and came across people after twelve days. The other party travelled westerly, with the only surviving member being found some five months later.

The aircraft, part of the 321st Squadron, 90th Bombardment Group based at Iron Range was returning with four other B-24s from a bombing raid on a Japanese troop convoy about 80 km north of Buna, Papua New Guinea. "Little Eva" lost touch with the other aircraft and returned to the base on its own. A severe thunderstorm disabled the radio, causing the flight to lose its way and run out of fuel. Lieutenant Norman Crosson, the pilot, gave orders to bail out. Most of the crew members parachuted to safety, however one was killed when his parachute snagged on the aircraft and another who did not jump was killed when the plane crashed at about 2:45am near the Burriejella waterhole.
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