Done Reading, Done Reading, Now Reading

In my last Done Reading, Now Reading post I was part way through this book:

which I have since finished and enjoyed.

The book provided a good overview of post WWII through Cold War politics through the lives and experiences of these two contrasting men.

Quite an uncertain and scary time in our nations history, being close to the verge of nuclear war.

Following the US Military History theme, I moved on to this book, another Half Price Books Clearance section rescue:

Those blasted English, how dare they!  It's hard to image a foreign nation coming into ours and having the nerve to burn our capital.  Well, it was pretty easy since our troops had abandoned Washington the day before.  I never really paid much attention to the War of 1812, but I found this book a fascinating read.

A 1991 Upper Deck Ron Hassey was my bookmark.

Ron is protecting the plate much unlike our soldiers were protecting the Capitol.

Like I said I've been on a military history kick lately, I'm sure I'll get back to baseball books again soon.  But for now I'm reading an awesome book about the Confederate raider CSS Shenandoah which preyed on New England whalers long after the South had surrendered.

I dig sailing ships so this book is right up my alley.

Bookmark is a 1990 Upper Deck Robby Thompson.

Robby is picking off Northern baserunners.

Good reading.

Done Reading, Now Reading

Last month I finished reading All The Factors Of Victory by Thomas Wildenberg.

The book followed the life of Admiral Joseph Mason Reeves considered the father of carrier aviation and tactics.  Interesting man, especially in that he lived until 1948 and was able to see the impact his command had in the US victory in WWII.

All The Factors Of Victory bookmark.

I always use a baseball card as a bookmark.

I'll just grab a random card out of my miscellaneous box.

I then thought I would give an auto-biography another try, and thought that Pappy Boyingtons should be engrossing.  Normally I have a hard time reading auto-biographys as they are usually not as well written and I just feel like I'm not getting all the facts.  Well, I got a couple chapters in, and again I couldn't take any more.

I'll have to find a good biography about Boyington.

Baa Baa Black Sheet bookmark

So now I'm reading about the Cold War and the impact that these two political figures had on it.

So far a really good read, with lots of new information I was unaware of about the end of WWII and the volatile land grab in Europe between the Soviet Union and the United States.

The Hawk And The Dove bookmark

Done With That One, Now On To This One - Jackie Robinson

Finished book 2 of a 3 part series on American history.

From Sea to Shining Sea is an overview on American history from 1787 to 1837, with an emphasis on our nations Christian heritage and how our future was threatened by greed, pride, and self-righteousness.

Book 1, The Light and the Glory went from 1492 to 1793.

Excellent reading for any history buff.

But now it's time to change the pace and read something baseball again.

We finally saw "42" the movie about Jackie Robinson.  

Great movie.

I had started reading Robinson's autobiography a few years ago but put it down shortly after I started.

I can't remember why.

Seeing the moving renewed my interest in it, and so far I'm engrossed.

I think seeing the moving gave me a better perspective on what he had to endure.

Robinson wrote this book in 1972.

Done With That One, Done With This One, Now On To Another One

Done with that one.

Denny McLains autobiography.

So bad I couldn't finish it, and it's rare that I don't finish a book, even a bad one.

I just couldn't take all the crap anymore.

Nothing was his fault, obviously distorts and exaggerates stories, can't remember the details.

Blah, blah, blah.

I need another break from baseball after this junk.

Done with this one.

I had to read about real heroes after Denny McLains garbage.

This in an outstanding and riveting book about six Medal of Honor recipients.

Their stories are captivating enough but all the additional detail the authors added for background to the medals history and of the conflicts these soldiers were in made it such a great read.

And a quick read too.

My wife gave me this book for Fathers Day.

Now on to another one.

I picked this one up at a little bookstore on a recent family trip to California.

The Pacific is my favorite theater of operation in WWII.

Plus I was attracted to the jacket art which is very similar to that of Gordan Pranges' books (At Dawn We Slept, Miracle at Midway...)

Done With This One, Now On To That One

Just finished reading this book:

I really like Daniel Okrents writing.

Although at times his sentences are rather long and confusing, he packs a lot of information in.

He documents a single game between the Brewers and the Orioles in 1982 but then fills in the blanks with all kinds of historical background so that you really get a good visual of the characters and the surrounding circumstances.

I took this book to Spring Training with the vision of reading it while laying in the sun out on the grassy berm while taking in a ballgame or two.  Nope.

Instead I did the next best thing...scoring the games I went to.

That put me a week behind in my reading but eventually I got the book done.

Now it's on the this one:

Denny McLain, fascinating character.

He was talked about at length in a previous book I read Kiss It Goodbye, and that got me interested in finding out what Denny had to say about himself.

From the jacket, the book is "..typical in it's portrayal of a star destroyed by success, but atypical in that the star had a sense of humor and a lack of self-pity."

Hmmmm.  We shall see.