Recent Reading

(Updated 2008 06 15)
Once again, on the assumption that anyone gives a damn, here are some things from the recent reading list:

• War At Sea in the Ironclad Age, by Richard Hill. A nice little paperback survey of the transitional era of naval architecture (roughly 1860 to 1905), when countries were still working out the best uses of armor and steam. Although I don't actually know any steampunks, I would think this book would be a must read for them. (Ever wonder what a Scotch Boiler is? You'll find pictures and explanations here.) Odd, 3-D maps of various obscure naval battles, too, like Lissa, the Yellow Sea, and the bombardment of Sveaborg.
  
• Counselor: a life at the edge of history, by Ted Sorensen. Sorensen was "Kennedy's speech writer," as virtually all descriptions of him begin, but he was much more, essentially an intellectual troubleshooter for JFK. If you're a fan of the 50's and 60's, as I am, you may want to give this a shot, despite the occasionally self-justifying passages.
  
• My Battle of Algiers: a memoir, by Ted Morgan. Morgan is the author formerly known as Sanche de Gramont, a name he changed in the process of severing his connections with his native France and generally well-born origins. Another 50's book, complementary to St. Michael and the dragon; Memoirs of a paratrooper, by Pierre Leulliette, unfortunately out of print.
  
• Wars of National Liberation, by Daniel Moran. One of the John Keegan-edited Smithsonian History of Warfare series. Moran writes like an historian, unfortunately, with the last chapter (on recent insurgencies and their like) being especially weedy -- almost as though he was trying not to take any very recognizable position, since we don't know who's going to "win" yet, in places like Afghanistan, Chechnya, et al. But on the earlier conflicts, including Algeria, Indochina, and Africa, it's at least a useful survey. Nice maps, too.
  

Upcoming reading (as in, books I'm about to start)

• An Edge in the Kitchen, by Chad Ward. A big, beautifully researched book on cutlery. If you cook, you need to know this stuff.
  
• Literary Feasts, edited by Sean Brand. A collection of meals from literature, sent by my son and daughter-in-law for Father's day. Looks great.