Here's the UK first edition cover:nisiprius wrote:??? Isn't the book entitled Murder on the Calais Coach?ruralavalon wrote:Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie.
Brian
Here's the UK first edition cover:nisiprius wrote:??? Isn't the book entitled Murder on the Calais Coach?ruralavalon wrote:Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie.
If you haven't also read "The Ages Of The Investor" as yet, I think you'll find it equally compelling. Bill always brings something of interest to the table.nisiprius wrote:Skating Where the Puck Was, by William J. Bernstein. I'm reading it a little late, but... EXCELLENT, every Boglehead should read it. Of course I say that because it feeds into my confirmation bias, but so what?
I rather enjoyed that one myself and was pleasantly surprised (as it's not my normal genre either).Igglesman wrote:The Dog Stars by Peter Heller.
I give it 4 1/2 stars our of 5. I do not usually like science fiction or postapocalyptic settings, but this book is the exception.
$200,000 is large enough to live happily ever after on if the protagonist is 95.nisiprius wrote:The Age of Edison: The Electric Light and the Invention of Modern America by Ernest Freeberg. Just started it, into Chapter 3, "Creative Destruction: Edison and the Gas Companies." Fascinating. Something interesting on every page. As good a piece of nonfiction as I've read in a long time. Technical depth, social depth. Not sure how much economics and finance there is going to be.
Finished the thriller, The Accounting by William Lashner. A little disappointing; too over the top, too hard to suspend disbelief. By the end, you are not sure whether the protagonist is going to make it or not, and I wasn't sure which I wanted to happen. I also kept being disturbed by the relatively small quantity of money involved--the story is set in the present day--and $200,000 just doesn't seem large enough live happily ever after on, even if he doesn't get himself killed by the guys he stole the money from.
One of the best Civil War histories ever: "Reveille in Washington," all about D.C. From 1861 to 1865, how it changed from a sleepy Southern city to a major center. Won the National book award (as I remember) for 1941.ruralavalon wrote:Vicksburg, 1863, by Winston Groom. Already 40% thru the book, and the seige has not yet begun. Vicksburg, in my opinion, was just as important as the more celebrated battle at Gettysburg which took place at the same time. Both ended on July 4, 1863.
Probably true.ruralavalon wrote:Vicksburg, 1863, by Winston Groom. Already 40% thru the book, and the seige has not yet begun. Vicksburg, in my opinion, was just as important as the more celebrated battle at Gettysburg which took place at the same time. Both ended on July 4, 1863.
You might like the film 'Pimpernel Smith' about an English archaeologist smuggling people out of Nazi Germany just before WW2-- a movie with Leslie Howard.nisiprius wrote:William Lashner, The Accounting. Off to a good start. (He wrote a great series of, I want to say detective novels, but we some other name--legal thrillers? about Victor Carl, who is a lawyer in Philadelphia but not a Philadelpia lawyer. He decided to end that series).
I finished Green Hazard by Manning Coles and liked it a lot and plan to dip into this series some more in future, but I'm giving it a rest for now. This is a series of comic spy thrillers that, originally and in this one anyway, concern a wisecracking British secret agent in wartime Germany. Some of it is distinctly black comedy. It's not intended to be taken seriously; amnesia and mistaken identity and all the rest of it. What I found a little hard to take in this one is that whereas in previous ones I am uncoupled from thinking too much of the reality--setting fire to a Zeppelin factory, for example. But in this one, he does things like sending out gift boxes of exploding cigars--very very serious exploding cigars that not only have a lethal blast but also spew incendiaries around the room--while all but snickering about the funny pranks they are pulling on Goering and Goebbels' people. That sort of thing, and tales of "resistance" movements, used to seem exhilarating when you only imagined these tactics being used by good guys against bad guys. Ha-ha guess what extra stuff we packed into this explosive device, what a joke it will be when the curtains and carpets catch fire, seem less amusing in these days of letter bombs, IEDs, and the Boston Marathon bombings.
Goebbels finally figures out that Hambledon's Professor Ulreth is a fraud. Hambledon's final escape from Germany is clever. He's been impersonating a brilliant chemist developing a remarkable new explosive, having switched allegiance to Germany after taking money from some Swedish businessmen and promising to give them the explosive. Naturally, the Swedish businessmen attempt to reach him at his secret laboratory in order to get either the formula for the explosive or their money back. Hambledon complains to the German higher-ups, who declare the Swedes persona non grata, escort them out of Germany, and send out an APB to the effect that any Swedes trying to contact Professor Ulreth are to be arrested and deported on sight. Hambledon and his co-worker then make their mistake by impersonating Swedes and telling cops they are businessmen trying to get their money back from Ulreth, and despite their indignant protest, escape from under Goebbels nose by having cops bump two high-priority passengers off an airline flight and forcing Hambledon into the plane.
I got bored of Christie (I actually like her Middle Eastern ones the best, her second husband was an archaeologist and she accompanied him on digs 'of all husbands, the archaeologist is best, as you grow older you grow more fascinating to him') but MOTE is a good one. The movie was excellent (was Peter Ustinov Poirot? He was in 'Death on the Nile'. David Suchet plays Poirot in the TV series).ruralavalon wrote:Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie.
gerrym51 wrote:different countries different titles. some times Agatha Christie books can have 5-6 titles depending on what part of the world your innisiprius wrote:??? Isn't the book entitled Murder on the Calais Coach?ruralavalon wrote:Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie.
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/aga ... as-end.htmAgatha Christie also wrote romantic novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. As well, she wrote four non-fiction books including an autobiography and an entertaining account of the many expeditions she shared with her archaeologist husband, Sir Max Mallowan.
General Grant's "Memoirs" cover Vicksburg succinctly, what Grant did and why he did it. One of the great books on the Civil War, written with great clarity by the most important man to write a history of that war.ruralavalon wrote:Vicksburg, 1863, by Winston Groom. Already 40% thru the book, and the seige has not yet begun. Vicksburg, in my opinion, was just as important as the more celebrated battle at Gettysburg which took place at the same time. Both ended on July 4, 1863.
I believe it was Albert Finney who played Poirot. Great cast: Bergman, Widmark, Connery, Balsam, Perkins, just to name a few.Valuethinker wrote:I got bored of Christie (I actually like her Middle Eastern ones the best, her second husband was an archaeologist and she accompanied him on digs 'of all husbands, the archaeologist is best, as you grow older you grow more fascinating to him') but MOTE is a good one. The movie was excellent (was Peter Ustinov Poirot? He was in 'Death on the Nile'. David Suchet plays Poirot in the TV series).ruralavalon wrote:Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie.
That book is often recommended to young Army officers. I read it the summer before I was commissioned and found it fascinating and informative.hudson wrote:In the three or four books I've read on Vietnam lately...the Americans had one serious and persistent enemy.
Platoon Leader: A Memoir of Command in Combat (A friend gave me a stack of "Infantry" magazines published by the Infantry School at Ft. Benning. They recommended this book....so I put it on my Amazon wish list years ago....and finally read it.)
by James R. McDonough
http://www.amazon.com/Platoon-Leader-Me ... 0891418008
The author was a Lieutenant....Commission....West Point...Class of 69...jump school, ranger school...jungle school...IOBC Fort Benning..4 months troop time in the 82d Airborne.
He served in the 173d Airborne in Vietnam in approximately June 1970...returned summer of 71...was platoon leader 6 months...
His job was a platoon leader; his platoon was usually 20 men....platoons are designed to be 43 strong. They defended a small village in Binh Dinh province of South Vietnam.
McDonough believed that the best way to operate was to do daily/nightly aggressive patrolling/ambushes.
The turnover in his platoon was very high. Everyone that survived with had been injured at least once.
He operated in jungles and rice patties. It seems as though he was well supported with supplies, medivac helicopters, and fire support.
Info about the author:
born in New York City, The United States March 14, 1946
James R. McDonough is is the former director of the Florida Office of Drug Control and the secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections from 2006 to 2008. A Brooklyn native, he graduated from both MIT and West Point and served as an Army officer in Vietnam. He rose to the rank of colonel before retiring and taking a series of national positions in drug law enforcement and security. He worked under the national drug czar before becoming the drug czar of Florida in 1999.
I was commissioned June 1952 - this book came out on AUGUST 1, 1971.randomwalk wrote:That book is often recommended to young Army officers. I read it the summer before I was commissioned and found it fascinating and informative.hudson wrote:In the three or four books I've read on Vietnam lately...the Americans had one serious and persistent enemy.
Platoon Leader: A Memoir of Command in Combat (A friend gave me a stack of "Infantry" magazines published by the Infantry School at Ft. Benning. They recommended this book....so I put it on my Amazon wish list years ago....and finally read it.)
by James R. McDonough
http://www.amazon.com/Platoon-Leader-Me ... 0891418008
The author was a Lieutenant....Commission....West Point...Class of 69...jump school, ranger school...jungle school...IOBC Fort Benning..4 months troop time in the 82d Airborne.
He served in the 173d Airborne in Vietnam in approximately June 1970...returned summer of 71...was platoon leader 6 months...
His job was a platoon leader; his platoon was usually 20 men....platoons are designed to be 43 strong. They defended a small village in Binh Dinh province of South Vietnam.
McDonough believed that the best way to operate was to do daily/nightly aggressive patrolling/ambushes.
The turnover in his platoon was very high. Everyone that survived with had been injured at least once.
He operated in jungles and rice patties. It seems as though he was well supported with supplies, medivac helicopters, and fire support.
Info about the author:
born in New York City, The United States March 14, 1946
James R. McDonough is is the former director of the Florida Office of Drug Control and the secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections from 2006 to 2008. A Brooklyn native, he graduated from both MIT and West Point and served as an Army officer in Vietnam. He rose to the rank of colonel before retiring and taking a series of national positions in drug law enforcement and security. He worked under the national drug czar before becoming the drug czar of Florida in 1999.
McDounough sounds like he was very lucky (or a very charismatic leader).randomwalk wrote:The Vietnamese had fought the Chinese, and then the French, for their freedom. That's why it is known as 'The American War' ie merely one in a series. Their own analyses rated the Americans poorly as soldiers adapting to local conditions compared to the French (albeit superior in technology and firepower). The US was fighting patriots on their home ground, and a nation innured to endless hardship and suffering. Almost the perfect soldiers, really. With modern technological developments like mortars, rocket launchers and the AK47, which turned a small fire team into the equivalent of a platoon or company in earlier wars, they became almost unbeatable given their resourcefulness and determination. The West lost the permanent technological and organizational advantage which had allowed it to overrun the world in the 1700s and 1800s.hudson wrote:In the three or four books I've read on Vietnam lately...the Americans had one serious and persistent enemy.
Platoon Leader: A Memoir of Command in Combat (A friend gave me a stack of "Infantry" magazines published by the Infantry School at Ft. Benning. They recommended this book....so I put it on my Amazon wish list years ago....and finally read it.)
by James R. McDonough
http://www.amazon.com/Platoon-Leader-Me ... 0891418008
Armies tend to prepare to fight the last war, so the US went into Vietnam configured to refight Korea and WW2-- airpower and armour intensive, with the addition of helicopter airmobility. In very different terrain with a different opponent. It's rare (Kuwait 1990) that you get to fight the war you prepared for, and even when you do (France, 1914-1915, where the British had been prepared by the Boer War of 1900-1903) it often turns into something very different. The battle tactics of 1862 worked well against smoothbore armed redcoats in 1782, but not as well against blues and grays armed with rifled muskets and minie bullets-- the effective range of shooting had trebled to 300 yards, thus a defender could manage 9-12 accurate volleys against an attacking line, rather than 2-3. (best described in The Killer Angels by Shaara).
That book is often recommended to young Army officers. I read it the summer before I was commissioned and found it fascinating and informative.The author was a Lieutenant....Commission....West Point...Class of 69...jump school, ranger school...jungle school...IOBC Fort Benning..4 months troop time in the 82d Airborne.
He served in the 173d Airborne in Vietnam in approximately June 1970...returned summer of 71...was platoon leader 6 months...
His job was a platoon leader; his platoon was usually 20 men....platoons are designed to be 43 strong. They defended a small village in Binh Dinh province of South Vietnam.
McDonough believed that the best way to operate was to do daily/nightly aggressive patrolling/ambushes.
The turnover in his platoon was very high. Everyone that survived with had been injured at least once.
He operated in jungles and rice patties. It seems as though he was well supported with supplies, medivac helicopters, and fire support.
Info about the author:
born in New York City, The United States March 14, 1946
James R. McDonough is is the former director of the Florida Office of Drug Control and the secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections from 2006 to 2008. A Brooklyn native, he graduated from both MIT and West Point and served as an Army officer in Vietnam. He rose to the rank of colonel before retiring and taking a series of national positions in drug law enforcement and security. He worked under the national drug czar before becoming the drug czar of Florida in 1999.
Steve Coll wrote the definitive book about America and Afghanistan pre 9-11.goldendad wrote:'Charlie Wilson's War' by George Crile