Favourite Book
- Thread starter chieftiff
- Start date
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One of the first books I bought for my Kindle was
1000 Years of Annoying the French by Stephen Clarke.
Although it sounds like a mickey taking book, it's actually an historical book laying a lot of myths in French history to rest (with a bit of humour thrown in) such as the guillotine was invented in Yorkshire and the French sentenced Joan of Arc to death for wearing trousers!!
1000 Years of Annoying the French by Stephen Clarke.
Although it sounds like a mickey taking book, it's actually an historical book laying a lot of myths in French history to rest (with a bit of humour thrown in) such as the guillotine was invented in Yorkshire and the French sentenced Joan of Arc to death for wearing trousers!!
One of my all time favourites is "Jonathan Livingston Seagull", and I would like to get hold of a copy of it again. I honestly didn't put the book down until I had read it from start to finish in one hit.
p.s. I've got A* levels in English language/literature......God knows how I achieved that.
https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1743336-jonathan-livingston-seagull
p.s. I've got A* levels in English language/literature......God knows how I achieved that.
https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1743336-jonathan-livingston-seagull
Amazon.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull: A story
29 Jan 2015
by Richard Bach and Russell Munson
Paperback
£5.59
Get it by Friday, May 1
More buying choices
£0.01used & new(70 offers)
Kindle Edition
£5.31
Available for download now
Jonathan Livingston Seagull: A story
29 Jan 2015
by Richard Bach and Russell Munson
Paperback
£5.59
Get it by Friday, May 1
More buying choices
£0.01used & new(70 offers)
Kindle Edition
£5.31
Available for download now
Just finished re-reading Nicholas Monsarrat's " The Tribe That Lost It's Head"
Not for the faint-hearted or esoteric, however.
Monsarrat served WW11 Wavy-Navy Hard-Lying for most of the war.
1913 10 17
And whereas by Orders in Council bearing date the 2 April, 1909, and 10 August, 1909, sanction was given for the payment of hard-lying money to officers and men serving in Your Majesty's ships, subject to the condition that when the vessel concerned was above the status of torpedo boat destroyer payment was to be restricted to occasions when the vessel was not in commission:
And whereas we have found it necessary to direct that in future ships undergoing trials whose navigating parties are supplied in whole or in part from Your Majesty's Navy are, as a rule, to be temporarily commissioned for the purpose:
And whereas the arduous conditions attendant upon service with a navigating party or in a ship undergoing trials are in no way affected by this decision:
We beg leave humbly to recommend that Your Majesty may be graciously pleased by Your Order in Council to sanction the payment, as from 31st July, 1913, of hard-lying money at the rates and under the conditions set forth in the following Schedule in place of Schedule E of Order in Council of 2nd April, 1909, and Schedule B of Order in Council of 10th August, 1909.
The Lords Commissioners of Your Majesty's Treasury have signified their concurrence in this proposal.
Not for the faint-hearted or esoteric, however.
Monsarrat served WW11 Wavy-Navy Hard-Lying for most of the war.
1913 10 17
And whereas by Orders in Council bearing date the 2 April, 1909, and 10 August, 1909, sanction was given for the payment of hard-lying money to officers and men serving in Your Majesty's ships, subject to the condition that when the vessel concerned was above the status of torpedo boat destroyer payment was to be restricted to occasions when the vessel was not in commission:
And whereas we have found it necessary to direct that in future ships undergoing trials whose navigating parties are supplied in whole or in part from Your Majesty's Navy are, as a rule, to be temporarily commissioned for the purpose:
And whereas the arduous conditions attendant upon service with a navigating party or in a ship undergoing trials are in no way affected by this decision:
We beg leave humbly to recommend that Your Majesty may be graciously pleased by Your Order in Council to sanction the payment, as from 31st July, 1913, of hard-lying money at the rates and under the conditions set forth in the following Schedule in place of Schedule E of Order in Council of 2nd April, 1909, and Schedule B of Order in Council of 10th August, 1909.
The Lords Commissioners of Your Majesty's Treasury have signified their concurrence in this proposal.
I have recently finished reading everything Trudi Canavan wrote and I must say her books are one of my favourite ones. Here it comes:
1. The Black Magician Trilogy
2. The Age of the Five Trilogy
3. The Millennium’s Rule Trilogy - so far have read two- the third one to be released.
If you have a taste for some light fantasy books - I would suggest you pick up those.
1. The Black Magician Trilogy
2. The Age of the Five Trilogy
3. The Millennium’s Rule Trilogy - so far have read two- the third one to be released.
If you have a taste for some light fantasy books - I would suggest you pick up those.
Currently reading "The Fighting Captain" about Capt. Frederick John Walker RN, CB, DSO with 3 bars. It was written by Alan Burn who was Walker's gunnery officer in HMS Starling until Walker's death in 1944. The book is written from the recollections of people who knew and served with Walker and it is excellent. It is well annotated which provides expanded information about naval practices and procedures for people who may have no idea of them, there are appendices which expand on the ships and submarines which fought the Battle of the Atlantic.
What is most illuminating is how close the Admiralty came to wasting Walker's talents. The man was absolutely convinced that submarine warfare was going to be the main danger in the future and the Admiralty seemed determined to keep him as far away from any such area for as long as possible. Another interesting side to the man was his determination to the point of fanaticism that his crew was to be trained to the highest level. To this end his ship and crew never went through the working up period at Tobermory prior to deployment but were personally worked up by Walker.
As an aside, if anyone has read the biography of Capt. Eric "Winkle" Brown will realise that he was aboard the carrier HMS Audacity which was sunk while escorting a convoy between Gibraltar and Liverpool. Walker was the commander of the escort group that Audacity was a part. Following its sinking Walker blamed himself for its loss but the Admiralty absolved him as it was their orders to the Audacity's commander that created the doubtful lines of command that led the carriers loss.
Essentially, the carrier was detached from the convoy after nightfall along with an escort destroyer so that the carrier could manoeuvre more freely and at greater speed than the convoy could maintain. However, by the time of her sinking the escort group had lost all 3 destroyers who had sailed from Gibraltar, two had to return while low on fuel and the other was sunk. Accordingly the escort group could only detach a corvette to accompany the carrier and that slowed the carrier. On the night in question the carrier detached to the east while Walker would have had her to the west of the convoy. The attack when it came was from the east as Walker predicted.
Despite the loss of the carrier and a destroyer as well as 2 merchantmen, the convoy was considered a major success. They succeeded in sinking 4 u-boats and shooting down 3 Focke-Wulf Condor aircraft. A fifth u-boat was sunk while transiting to shadow the convoy. Donitz wrote in his memoirs that he was forced to call away his forces because of the skilful handling of the convoy escorts. The tactics Walker used was to be the model for future convoy escort operations that broke the back of the u-boat menace.
The book is an excellent read and I highly recommend it.
What is most illuminating is how close the Admiralty came to wasting Walker's talents. The man was absolutely convinced that submarine warfare was going to be the main danger in the future and the Admiralty seemed determined to keep him as far away from any such area for as long as possible. Another interesting side to the man was his determination to the point of fanaticism that his crew was to be trained to the highest level. To this end his ship and crew never went through the working up period at Tobermory prior to deployment but were personally worked up by Walker.
As an aside, if anyone has read the biography of Capt. Eric "Winkle" Brown will realise that he was aboard the carrier HMS Audacity which was sunk while escorting a convoy between Gibraltar and Liverpool. Walker was the commander of the escort group that Audacity was a part. Following its sinking Walker blamed himself for its loss but the Admiralty absolved him as it was their orders to the Audacity's commander that created the doubtful lines of command that led the carriers loss.
Essentially, the carrier was detached from the convoy after nightfall along with an escort destroyer so that the carrier could manoeuvre more freely and at greater speed than the convoy could maintain. However, by the time of her sinking the escort group had lost all 3 destroyers who had sailed from Gibraltar, two had to return while low on fuel and the other was sunk. Accordingly the escort group could only detach a corvette to accompany the carrier and that slowed the carrier. On the night in question the carrier detached to the east while Walker would have had her to the west of the convoy. The attack when it came was from the east as Walker predicted.
Despite the loss of the carrier and a destroyer as well as 2 merchantmen, the convoy was considered a major success. They succeeded in sinking 4 u-boats and shooting down 3 Focke-Wulf Condor aircraft. A fifth u-boat was sunk while transiting to shadow the convoy. Donitz wrote in his memoirs that he was forced to call away his forces because of the skilful handling of the convoy escorts. The tactics Walker used was to be the model for future convoy escort operations that broke the back of the u-boat menace.
The book is an excellent read and I highly recommend it.
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