Current Reading - January 2024

Finished up in this new year The Last Ditch: Britain's Secret Resistance and the Nazi Invasion Plans by David Lampe. As noticed in the forward to the new edition, this reissue of the 1960s era book may not contain the latest scholarship on the subject, but it is a good introduction and a pleasant read. Part of the book covers the plans the Germans had for the occupation of Britain during WW2, but the majority of the book discusses the creation, training and deployment of British units which would be the behind the lines resistance against German occupation forces. It was a surprisingly sophisticated plan that often had access to the most cutting edge explosives and other material and a carefully worked out organization where individual units would work in almost complete isolation from others to prevent the capture of some personnel from betraying the whole network. A very interesting read, highly recommended.

Lost Edinburgh by Hamish Coghill
Buildings and landmarks that defined Edinburgh over the city's history that no longer remain.

Knocked off Stalking the Atomic City, one man's adventures in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, which suggests that the author only feels alive when he's flirting with throwing his life away.

Gave up on a tedious Bismarck's First War: The Campaign of Schleswig and Jutland 1864 by Michael Embree. There was way too much of a focus on this unit being moved to that place and tables of units involved in each fight and casualty lists. And since the author assumed the reader has perfect memory, units were referred to by their designations (EG "II/26th") and it soon got very confusing as to who was on which side. There was the occasional anecdote to break up the monotony, but it was too much of a struggle to enjoy.

For those interested in this war, 1864: The Forgotten War That Shaped Modern Europe by Tom Buk-Swienty is a much better book.

The Children of the House of Cleves: Anna and Her Siblings by Heather R. Darsie
A historical biography of the House of Cleves (Anna of Cleves is the best known for her marriage and annulment from Henry VIII) and the duchy's role in the Holy Roman Empire and Renaissance Europe. Includes full color illustrated plates.

Finished Curtiss: The Hammondsport Era 1907-1915 by Louis S. Casey. This is a look at the aircraft made by Glenn Curtiss and his company during those dates. There isn't much on Curtiss himself, the book is instead focused on the specific aircraft, each of which is given its own section. Lots of photos and line drawings.

Also finished The Man Who Fell From the Sky by William Norris. The tag line says it best: "The true story of the gaudy life and bizarre demise of '20s tycoon Alfred Loewenstein - and the modern day quest to solve the tantalizing mystery of his death." Loewenstein at the time of his death was probably (at least according to the author) the third richest man on earth. The book explores his life and how he got rich. But the main focus of the author, who is a reporter, is the death of Loewenstein.

On July 28, 1928, while flying across the English Channel in his private airplane, he got up from his seat and went to the toilet in the back of the plane... and never returned. Across from the toilet was a door that lead to the outside, but while flying it was impossible for a person to even push it open, much less fall through it. And yet Loewenstein was gone. The book follows the events afterwards and then how the reporter tracked down... well, I won't give any more away.

Worth reading if you like a good murder mystery mixed in with your history.

Knocked off The Lost Pilots, a tale of a couple who became aviation heroes for flying from Great Britain to Australia in 1928, and whose personal lives ultimately took a tragic turn. More true crime than aviation history, but good for a day's entertainment.

I finished The Best Poor Man's Country last week. Since one was looking at primarily Lancaster and Chester County it helps to know the area. If I remember correctly, Lancaster County still produces more crops/acre than any other county in PA(?). The area is still rich in farms as it was back in the 18th century.

Finished from the library: Battle for the Island Kingdom by Don Hollway

Currently reading Caesar: A Biography by Christian Meier.

Finished off Mexico From the Olmecs to the Aztecs yesterday (8th edition). A good overview.

Wrapped up The Great Kantō Earthquake and the Chimera of National Reconstruction in Japan, which was a revelation in terms of being an accessible history of a great disaster that is a case study of how things really got done in Taisho Japan

Finished a very enjoyable Lunar Outfitters: Making the Apollo Space Suit by Bill Ayrey. This is pretty much a technical history, but I really enjoy these kind of books and this one is exceptional.

Knocked off A Minor Apocalypse, a decent history of Warsaw during the Great War. When the author starts out by making apologies for the limitations of his source material its hard to get excited.

Completed Colonel Parke of Virginia: "The Greatest Hector in the Town": A Biography by Helen Hill Miller. Rather than explain who Daniel Parke was, I've linked his name to a Wikipedia page and posted the introductory info from that page below.

Colonel Daniel Parke Jr. (1664 – December 7, 1710) was an American-born military officer, planter, politician and colonial administrator who served as the governor of the Leeward Islands from 1706 to 1710, when he was lynched by a mob in Antigua. Best known for his military service in Europe under the Duke of Marlborough during the War of the Spanish Succession, Parke was the only governor in Britain's American colonies to be murdered.

Born in 1664 in the colony of Virginia into a prominent colonial family, Parke was sent to England at a young age before returning to English North America in 1674. In 1685, he married Jane Ludwell, the daughter of colonial official Philip Ludwell. Parke returned to Virginia after a second stay in England and pursued a career in politics, being elected to the House of Burgesses in 1693 and appointed to sit on the Governor's Council in 1695.

In 1701, he moved to England for a second time and in the next year began serving as an aide-de-camp to Marlborough after the War of the Spanish Succession broke out. After the 1704 Battle of Blenheim, he personally delivered the duke's victory dispatch to Queen Anne. Parke did not receive the governorship of Virginia as he had hoped, and instead was subsequently appointed as the governor of the Leeward Islands in 1706.

Parke travelled to Antigua in 1706, focusing his efforts on improving colonial fortifications and suppressing smuggling. Popular discontent against his administration resulted in two assassination attempts against him. In December 1710, tensions came to a head between Parke and the island's colonists as a mob of militiamen attacked his house, murdering him. After his death, Parke's estates and debts were passed onto his children.

The quote doesn't do justice to the full story as told in the book. Parke was a schemer and a rake. He intrigued in Colonial Virginian politics and in English politics. It all makes for a pretty interesting story. The book is a bit slow at times but worth the effort.

Finished a short but well written First Across the Continent: Sir Alexander MacKenzie by Barry Gough.

Wrapped up America's Round-Engine Airliners, which is as much an exercise in nostalgia as it is an exercise in technical history.

I thought that Race with the Wind: How Air Racing Advanced Aviation by Birch Matthews would be a better book. There are a lot of nice photos and illustrations with plenty of text, but the author seems to lack focus. With a premise of how air racing advanced aviation, he wanders off topic often, including almost a whole chapter on a person who tried to enter the MacRobertson London-Melbourne race with a plane that wasn't able to make the distance and how he kept trying to modify it and get it certified. Not really on topic and not terribly interesting either. There are a number of errors in the book, some technical, some that should have been caught in proofreading. Oddly, after spending most of the book describing air racers and military aircraft and what they had in common, he concludes that air racing didn't really advance aviation, at least not military aviation.

I have the author's book Cobra!: Bell Aircraft Corporation, 1934-1946 and found that excellent, so it is unfortunate that this book is such a disappointment.

>18 Shrike58: I saw in your review on the book page that Specialty Press is now out of business. That's a shame, I have a lot of books I enjoyed from them.

>20 jztemple: My understanding is that the proprietor had an exit strategy as retirement loomed and they were winding down for awhile. In fact, the book in question I picked up as part of their close-out sale!

Finished a fun How to Survive in Medieval England by Toni Mount. Lots of good information presented in a lively format.

Wrapped up The Other Great Game, a magisterial examination of great power competition in East Asia, from the "opening" of Korea, to that unhappy country's annexation by Japan.

And to finished off the month, a short but very good The Longest Afternoon: The 400 Men Who Decided the Battle of Waterloo by Brendan Simms.

From the library: The Manuscripts Club by Christopher de Hamel (2023 US release)
Great complement to Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts

The Time Traveler's Guide to Regency Britain by Ian Mortimer (2022 US edition)
I read the previous 3 installments and finally got around to reading this one. I've thought of the Regency Era ending with George III's death in 1820.

>25 princessgarnet: It's the only Mortimer Time Travelers book I haven't gotten yet.

My understanding is that the Regency period is informally considered to end with Queen Victoria's ascent to the throne, for the convenience of having named periods in British history. For the same reason, the Edwardian period is considered to end at the beginning of WW1.

Finished the skimming of Missouri, a guide to the "Show Me" state. one of the American Guide Series. The info on business and other transportation activities along the Mississippi is interesting. Lots of writers started or continued activities in this state. Everybody knows Mark Twain!

Now on to Montana

>1 jztemple: Just noticed I put this in the January reads. Just leave it or move it up to February. . .it would be a dup as I don't know how to delete things here.

>28 ulmannc: I don't know if I could move it, but it really doesn't matter. Leaving it here is fine.

>29 jztemple: Thanks. PS: I hope the groundhog was right. I would like an early spring!!

>24 jztemple: Making a not very wild guess, are these the defenders of La Haie Sainte?

>31 scunliffe: Yes