During my recent holiday in Budapest I managed to get through three books. The first was a bit obvious and has been on my 'to read' list for some time:
It is difficult not to feel a degree of sympathy for the position in which Hungary found herself in the 1940s. This volume covers the siege of Budapest, together with other aspects of the war in as far as they impacted on the main story. Although I was familiar with the 'broad sweep' of the campaign, Ungvary's text has added considerably to my knowledge. Of particular interest to me were the many maps - especially the one which revealed the front line on 17 January 1945 to have been only a couple of blocks away from my hotel! Recommended reading.
Next up was one of those impulse purchases from Amazon:
Written by a journalist, this book chronicles the Soviet involvement in Afghanistan from before the military deployment and is based on interviews with many of those involved. A very readable account of a complex situation.
As well as actual history I read a fair bit of historical fiction and so I was interested to see this book (promising to be the first in a series) set during the English Civil War of the 1640s.
Sadly I didn't care for it. It follows the well-trodden path of maverick hero who is both disaster prone and implausibly lucky, complete with pantomime villains (and heroine) in the background. I gather that the second book of the series is now in print and would be interested in the views of anyone who has read either of them.
I have another holiday coming up, so plenty more book to read!
I have another holiday coming up, so plenty more book to read!
6 comments:
Tim, read the first, excellent book, as ou say lots of interesting information. The last, I completely agree a pastiche of Sharpe set in the ECW, but it did make me wonder about a refight of Brentford.
The second sounds very interesting
Fire at Will
Great minds Will? It was particularly interesting (and not a little disturbing) to read the Budapest book while actually there.
Tim...
http://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2011/01/traitors-blood-by-michael-arnold.html
...and...
http://steve-the-wargamer.blogspot.com/2012/03/devils-charge-review.html
...agree to disagree?? :o)
Steve-the-Wargamer
2 Wargamers = 3 opinions! Such is the joy of our hobby.
The Budapest book is very good- I keep meaning to reread it now my general knowledge of the Eastern Front has increased so much in the ten years since I first read it. Was thinking of doing a low level RPG style campaign of it using NUTS!
Cheers,
Pete.
Pete
I will be most interested to see how your plans develop.
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