Tag Archives: military

An English shield-maiden and England’s army

Posted on April 20, 2020 by smellincoffee

Time for two mini-reviews! First up, The Making of the British Army.   Retired brigadier Allan Mallinson  traces the history of Britain’s army to the creation of the New Model Army during the English civil war. Unlike armies of old, the … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Bonaparte’s Sons

Posted on April 6, 2020 by smellincoffee

Bonaparte’s Sons © 1998 Richard Howard 400 pages This is the second (of three) posts published during Read of England which have nothing to do with England. I’m trying to get them out of the way before the English stuff … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

American Rifle

Posted on October 18, 2019 by smellincoffee

American Rifle: A Biography © 2008 Alexander Rose 512 pages The quintessential American firearm is the rifle,   which through centuries of colonization and growth,  has served in both myth and fact.  I use myth not in the modern disparaging sense, … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Scarlet Thief

Posted on April 7, 2019 by smellincoffee

The Scarlet Thief  © 2013 Paul Fraser Collard352 pages Captain Arthur Sloames stepped off the boat with a terrible secret.  He wore on his shoulders the coat of a dead man.  When his transport left England, he was but Jack … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Old Man’s War

Posted on September 2, 2018 by smellincoffee

Old Man’s War© 2005 John Scalzi320 pages Boot camps on Earth may promise to make a new man out of you, but the intake camps of the Colonial Defense Forces do it for real. At the tender age of seventy-five, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Rifleman Dodd and The Gun

Posted on April 6, 2018 by smellincoffee

The Gun, and Rifleman Dodd© 1933 C.S. Forester311 pages “There was sorrow in Dodd’s heart as he looked down on the pitiful scene, but it did not prevent him from turning away and setting himself to survey the next adventurous … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Fool’s Errand

Posted on February 8, 2018 by smellincoffee

Fool’s Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan © 2017 Scott Horton 318 pages Incredible as it sounds, it is nearly possible for a child conceived in the first week of the US invasion of Afghanistan to have come … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews, World Affairs | Tagged , , , , | 17 Comments

These Rugged Days

Posted on November 22, 2017 by smellincoffee

These Rugged Days: Alabama in the Civil War© 2017 John Sledge296 pages Although Alabama was not the site of as many bloody battles as Virginia and Tennessee in the Civil War, it was not a quiet backwater only troubled at … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Grunt

Posted on November 2, 2017 by smellincoffee

Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War© 2016 Mary Roach285 pages I’ve never given much thought to the idea of military science. What might it involve? The chemistry of better weapons, the psychology behind successful strategy gambits? The science encountered … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Lockout

Posted on October 19, 2017 by smellincoffee

Lockout© 2016 John J. Nance412 pages Something very strange is happening at 35,000 feet. A lost and unresponsive Airbus is feeding false data to its pilots, assuring them that they’re halfway over the Atlantic and nearing New York, but any … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | 10 Comments