Summer Reading

I'm taking advantage of time off from taking classes at FSU to get some reading done this summer. Not only did I read a few more of the books in the Aubrey-Maturin series while we were in Hawaii, but I finally read Raymond Feist's Serpent War series. It's the set of his books that I haven't read - for some reason the first time I picked them up a decade ago, they just didn't appeal to me. Having read them, some of the events of later books make a lot more sense. Continuity, what an idea...

From "fun" reading material, I've moved on to something a bit more educational in nature. My first serious summer reading was Richard Evans' The Third Reich in Power, which is a frightening view of how the Nazis ran things before the beginning of World War II. Among other things it shows the beginning of the concentration camps, the betrayal of working class that brought them to power, and the concessions they had to make in Bavaria to prevent revolt.

Staying with World War II, I moved to Anthony Beevor's Stalingrad. Beevor provides both the background to the German invasion of Russia, conflict between Wehrmacht Generals and Hitler over how and when to invade, the brutal tactics used by both the Germans and the Soviets, the grim reality of the siege of Stalingrad, and the horror inflicted by the Soviets on the trapped Germans after the Soviets finally counterattacked. This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the Eastern Front, particularly the mass rape of German women by the Red Army, and Stalin's insistence on creating a buffer between the Soviet Union and Germany after the war...

Today, while resting an injured foot (don't ask), I finished Stephen O'Shea's The Perfect Heresy. What does this have to do with the World War II theme above? Not much. I just have this batch of 15 books to work through, and five of them are about the Albigensian Crusade. If there must be a theme here, you could say they are all about the persecution of an inoffensive religious minority. O'Shea gives a very readable and sympathetic account of Cathar religion, the culture of the Languedoc, the tactics used by the Cistercians, Dominicans, Popes Innocent, Gregory, and Benedict, and the French crown to crush the Cathar heresy, and to take over the independent realms of the region.

This evening I am starting on Victor Davis Hanson's A War Like No Other, which was a well-appreciated Birthday gift from Sam and Carolyn - I probably haven't thanked them for sending it, but I have been looking forward to it.

Posted by Chris at June 27, 2006 06:25 PM