Tag Archives: military

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 , , , , , , , | 19 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 →

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The Age of Napoleon

Posted on August 17, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Age of Napoleon© 1975 will Durant870 pages Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me – or didn’t.  Will and Ariel Durant intended for Rousseau and Revolution to be the final volume in their epic … Continue reading →

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The Irish Soldiers of Mexico

Posted on August 6, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Irish Soldiers of Mexico© 1997 Michael Hogan298 pages And it was there in the pueblos and the hillsidesThat I saw the mistake I had madePart of a conquering army, with the morals of a bayonet brigadeAnd amidst all these … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Revolutionary Summer – Independence Kickoff

Posted on June 16, 2017 by smellincoffee

288 pages © 2014 Joseph J. Ellis Earlier in the week I read Joseph Ellis’ Revolutionary Summer to kick off my yearly tribute to American Independence.   Ellis should be familiar to readers here, as I enjoy his narrative histories … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments