The History Book Club discussion

Hello Ed,

I echo the welcomes of Elizabeth and Liz.

You mentioned the following:

"I am 72 YOA and here to tell you waiting to do anything until retirement is risky. Do it in chunks. I have a friend of a friend who traversed the entire U.S. on an old re-built motorcycle. He did it in two week chunks, took him many years but he made it."

How did he do that? How did he get back to the point where he had left off in the previous two week stint. Did he load his motorcycle in a trailer and drive out to the spot where he had stopped the year before or did he just find housing and work in each area and then when he had enough money do the next leg of the journey. The way it is being described led me to believe that he had to take off from his original home base each and every time and travel a certain distance on his motorcycle and then travel all of the way back home. I have gone across the country on train and got off to spend vacation trips in Glacier National Park and Yellowstone (both great trips by the way); but decided when we continued by rented car to Canada (Vancouver, Victoria and Whistler) that we would fly back. How did your friend manage the logistics of his trip because I have always wanted to be able to spend more time in spots. I personally have not seen Mount Rushmore and would really enjoy that too Liz.

Amazon is a good resource on line for books and you can also buy second hand books from them; but I guess you are concerned about the postage..too bad you cannot arrange with a bookstore state side to send you a bunch of books using Airmail M Bag (for eleven pounds of printed materials it would only cost you about $25.00 which actually is a bargain) or for packages weighing up tp 4 pounds - International Surface Air Lift. I know it is not cheap.

A lot of books that we have done can be found on line free (My Early Life) was on line as well as The Histories. I am not sure if I found a free on line source for the Second World War but I might have. Coming up, The Federalist Papers is available free on line; but No Ordinary Life or even the Presidential Series books (some of them) may not be available on line.

I have to send a lot of stuff overseas to family and friends and it does get expensive but there are some creative ways where you can get things done a bit cheaper depending upon what it is.

I am delighted that you will be able to jump right in and join in on the conversations and discussions. If there is anything that we can do to help you navigate the site, please do not hesitate to ask.

Bentley wrote: "How did he do that? How did he get back to the point where he had left off in the previous two week stint."

You guessed it. He left the bike in a commercial garage, went home to his job and family and then flew or whatever to where he left off previously. Sometimes it was a year before he got back on the trail.

Thanks for your hints on Int'l mail. I was not familiar with the Airmail M bag. Eleven pounds is a pretty good chunk of paperbacks.

What's so frustrating is the comparison with HK. We can send books surface mail for about US$2-2.50 per book.

I am not familiar with International Service Airlift. Is it part of the USPS or an independent shipper?

I never think of getting stuff on-line and then downloading it into my I-touch. I gotta get with the 21st century. I don't like doing extensive reading on my desktop or my laptop.

I'll talk to the people at Powell's Bookstore in Portland, OR and see if they can accommodate me. They are pretty good and when I am in the U.S., I spend a lot of time in Portland. I assume you've heard of Powell's. I prefer them, even online, to Amazon because they are pretty much a pure bookstore and I love spending time in their main store where they sell used books right next to the new ones.

Maybe I should surrender to the e-book phenomenon and buy a Kindle. I'm resisting, though and not just because of the initial cost. I like paper and ink maybe because I worked in Educational publishing for 12 years back in the late sixties and early seventies.

Hi Ed,

That is what I thought. So he housed his bike at his last stop. I know what a logistical nightmare it is because I have tried to do it myself (sans the bike) and unless you want to do a heck of a lot of driving and be on the road for even longer, it is tough to accomplish. Did it with Amtrak (with getting off and on along the way) - that worked pretty well - renting cars as needed. But then flew back. Great idea though..there is so much to see.

If you go on to the US Postal Service site and check out international parcels; it will explain the Airmail M Bag. It really is a cheaper way to go.

International Service Airlift is also part of the US Postal Service.

Downloading would work fine for you. You should consider a Kindle or something like that. I think it would be helpful for you and you would save a bundle in the long run. The downloads are fairly inexpensive and a lot of classics are free to boot. Light, portable and you do not have to drag around tons of books. They can all be on your Kindle. And the Kindle is real easy on your eyes.

Yes, I have not only heard of it; I spent a fair amount of time in their store in Portland on my trip cross country. It was quite impressive.

I understand the love of paper; I am that way too; but you will love the Kindle and I bet if you are an avid reader by the end of 6-8 months you may have the cost of the Kindle back in terms of a return on your investment with the cost savings of the downloads never mind the convenience.

Glad to have you with us. Understand your frustration with the US Post Office.

Thanks for all the suggestions. "A plethora of riches" as someone once said. I'll be looking into them all especially on my next trip to the U.S.

Amen to the love of Powells. I only lived in the Portland area for 8 months, but we learned to love Powells very quickly. Miss it.

Hi folks

Well I am jealoous and should maybe start my cross country trip.

Anyway for Ambrose fans & others consider his "Crazy Horse & Custer" and alos the Wild Blue (a history of B24 activity in WWII but focued on George McGovern - an eventual presidentail candiate for the younger of you -)

For those who might be interested in learning more about the books Vince suggested:

Welcome Ed. I'm new here too.
Not to sound like an advertisement (I work for Barnes and Noble), but since you mentioned the Kindle, I feel that I should mention that Barnes and Noble has a free E-reader. It downloads directly to your computer, I-phone or Blackberry and allows you to download and read books without having to buy an extra piece of equiptment. That may work for you.
I do know what you mean though about preferring the actual paper and ink. I'm like that too. Nothing beats the weight, smell and feel of an actual book.

Deb, very interesting...I have always liked the Kindle (of course there are a couple of different models now); because you can carry it around and you really can now have the same sizing as most books in terms of page dimensions and even bigger text size if you like.

But a free E-reader is another great idea for Ed..goodness knows he is getting a lot of suggestions (smile). One thing that bothers me when putting reading material on my iphone (yes, I have that gadget too) is that the actual reading space and size of the font is really too small for me over the long haul..of course reading on your computer would work; but somehow the Kindle device caught my fancy because I can carry that around and the reading surface size is more book like.

Is Barnes and Noble coming out in the near future with a competitor for the Kindle device? That would be of great interest to me. But having a free E-reader does present another option for some who have better eyes than I do.

What do you do for Barnes and Noble Deb?

Bentley

Liz..you are making me laugh. I think that is why there are so many different products out there. I like the tablet Kindle size because of my eyes; but it is certainly not something you can fit in your pocket.

Poor Ed...he probably has more advice that he ever bargained for. (smile)

Bentley - Barnes and Noble just rolled out the e-reader a few months ago, so my guess is that they are sticking with that for now. I'm a (lowly) bookseller though so who knows what the corporate minds are working on.

Deb wrote: "Bentley - Barnes and Noble just rolled out the e-reader a few months ago, so my guess is that they are sticking with that for now. I'm a (lowly) bookseller though so who knows what the corporate mi..."

Nothing lowly about that Deb..you are surrounded by books...sounds terrific to me. Thanks for the info.

Hello all:

I am Rafael, 36 years old, married with 3 boys. I was born and raised in Lima, Peru. I am currently stationed in Iraq. I have been in the U.S. Army for the past 18 years and this is my third deployment to the Middle East. I love history books. My favorite books are those that deal with the Holocaust and WWII. Right now I am reading two books that discuss the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest. I hoping these books will guide me in a research project I am doing for an undergraduate class. I'm a History Major and I hope to complete my studies before I retire from the military.

Thanks again

v/r

Rafael

Hi everyone! My name is Heather, and I am a 30-something lawyer from Iowa. I was a history major in college, and I love to read about all things historical. I am really looking forward to being a member of this group.

Welcome Rafael,

Thank you for doing what you are doing for us here in the US. Your third deployment to the Middle East..that in and of itself is remarkable.

It sounds like you are a career military individual. Please feel free to recommend our site to others who are also interested in history who might be serving with you or who might be in your classes.

We are happy to have all those who love history and want to know more about all historical genres.

Which two books are you reading about the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest. Let us know how you like them We also have a thread titled What are You Reading Now where folks can keep us updated on what they are reading at any point in time.

Best wishes on your research project and if we can help you in any way; please let us know.

Your family and your boys must miss you a great deal and you them. We are of course thrilled to have you with us.

All best,

Bentley

Heather wrote: "Hi everyone! My name is Heather, and I am a 30-something lawyer from Iowa. I was a history major in college, and I love to read about all things historical. I am really looking forward to being ..."

Heather..we are happy to have you with us. There are a few folks with a legal background in the group. Just jump into any discussion when you can. We look forward to reading your posts.

Bentley

Welcome to Rafael & Heather. It is good to have more perspectives and thoughts. Hope you enjoy the reading and discussing.

Hi all! My name is Roby from Southern California. I'm married with a 24 month old baby boy. I am in the health care profession. I'm here since I have fallen off the book reading wagon (thump... thump!) and would like to get back on it again. What better way than to join a reading group so I can stay on track and at the same time get my neurons and synapses active again. I've always loved reading non-fiction and autobiographies and have always been interested in history. Here's to an enjoyable time and looking forward to having fun while doing one of the things we all love to do!

Hello Roby,

We are glad to have you with us. You must have your hands full with a young baby. And he must be a lot of fun too.

Happy to help you stay on track and we look forward to your posts.

All best,

Bentley

Rafael wrote: "Hello all:

I am Rafael, 36 years old, married with 3 boys. I was born and raised in Lima, Peru. I am currently stationed in Iraq. I have been in the U.S. Army for the past 18 years and this is my ..."

HI Rafael

Glad to have you with us - for World War II you might find Stephen Ambrose's books (build from oral histories) on World War II of interest. He was an Eisenhower biographer and had access I think to a lot.

Alos my daughter once gave me a book written by a soldier who fought in WW II that was quite good - "delivered from evil" - I forgot the name of the author.


Stay safe

Vince

Hello to all the newcomers - I have just joined as well (last month) and I am looking forward to the discussions on the Federalist Papers and No Ordinary Time.

I was also a History major in college, and can't really kick that habit. Though my father, Vince, is much more widely read than I am.

Delivered from Evil is by Robert Leckie and was the text for my college WWII class.

I was recently watching Young Indiana Jones with my daughter (10) and the supporting documentaries that come with it. (This one was about Princeton and Paul Robeson) and she said to me "Mom, I love history... think I can study it in college?" Made my day! Of course, I am sure she meant along with being a chef, musician and artist!

It is exciting to have such a wide range of people involved. I read the preface of No Ordinary Time last night, and was tempted to keep reading, but I controlled myself.

Hello everyone,

I've always loved history although I've mainly centered that love in historical fiction. But for the last few years, I've truly enjoyed reading some historical nonfiction. My love for certain topics is expanding and so I'm looking forward to enjoying our discussions here. I was a High School English teacher for 15 years and am now a Legal Secretary (retired, moved to CO and returned to NY). Love spending time with family (son and granddaughter, and other siblings)and friends. Fascinated by Presidents/Prime Ministers/royalty and their cabinet members/ministers, etc. Starting DKG tonight. Glad to be here.

Hello Viviane...glad to have you with us. Historical fiction is good too; and is always fun to read.

Guess you are back in NYC...and what an interesting change in careers. I think you will enjoy the group and we look forward to reading your posts.

Doris Kearns Goodwin's books are always conversational and easier to get into quickly.

Bentley

Hi folks,
I'm a writing professor at a state university here in Michigan. Originally I'm from Iowa too, Heather. Great state for readers. I read more fiction than non-fiction, mainly because I read fiction faster. I'm interested in lots of history topics, but have particular interests in African history and British history particularly 18th and 19th century and also the history of Christianity. But if it's well-written, compelling history, I'm game for most things.

Hi Andrea,

Welcome.

I am a reader - just like you - with very similar interests. I think you will find Doris Kearns Goodwin easy to read - just like good fiction.

I hope you will join us for the discussion on No Ordinary Time.

As far as history of Christianity, I am currently taking a class that has me reading lots on that subject!

Glad to have you aboard!

Best,

Hi Andrea,

Welcome to the History Book Club. It is great to have a writing professor in the group..probably you can help us with our grammar...I am sure that you will see a lot of grammatical short cuts and bloopers here but I hope you will be understanding (lol). Glad to have Michiganites in the group...you will find that we are rather an international group...we have completed two books by Churchill which may have been interesting to you since you like British history. And African history would make for an interesting subsection. Do you know of some books dealing with African history that you have been wanting to tackle.

As Alexis pointed out we are about ready to start the discussion for No Ordinary Time so you have joined at the right moment.

Thrilled to have you with us. If you need any help finding your way around the book group folders, please let me know..we are happy to help out.

Bentley

Hello all,

Living on Long Island after some travel and living in Asia for a few years and half a year in Colorado. I now live in Huntington Station, NY.I was married for 14 years and have two sons and one grandaughter. I taught High School English for 15 years, retired and am now doing legal secretary work, with two courses left to complete for a paralegal certificate. I review books for an online site and various publishing companies and agencies as a thoroughly enjoyable hobby - not paid for this but so many, many free books.
I have always loved history which has always gone hand-in-hand with my love of international literature, especially historical fiction. Glad to meet all of you as well and looking forward to our discussions.

Hello Viviane,

Good for you Viviane....we are glad to have you. We wish you well on achieving your paralegal certificate.

A love of history is the common thread for our little group. I would love to read more international history; so as I have offered to Andrea, please select for us some recommendations which we can poll our group members about.

We hope that you gain something from the group and we look forward to reading your posts.

Where in Asia did you live...I have spent a lot of time traveling in China with relatives having lived there as well as in Singapore. Have always enjoyed the mystery of Asia.

Bentley

Hi. I have always been interested in history and as yet, I have really never done much reading in this genre. I think the main reason is that I don't want to read dull text books and I've not been sure what to read. I'm going to join in the reading starting with the next selections. I do hope to read the Andrew Jackson selection but not sure I'll get to it. Looking forward to joining.

Hi Andrea & Viviane

Good to have more folks

Andrea - there is no spell check here - and I type fast so don't judge me by my spelling

Viviane - well it is intereseing that you were in Asia - in western Europe if you had "retired" you would not be "now wolring" as something else but welcome.

Vince

Welcome Marsha..you can always read at your pace and join in on the discussions as you go along. You have joined at a good time since we are about to kick off our next spotlighted book.

Look forward to reading your posts.

All best,

Bentley

Bentley wrote: "Hello Viviane,

Good for you Viviane....we are glad to have you. We wish you well on achieving your paralegal certificate.

A love of history is the common thread for our little group. I would ..."
Hi Bentley,
I lived in Kobe (central Japan) for one year, Sasebo (southern Japan) for another year, and the final year was spent in Yokohama. This was in the early 1980s. Three years ago, I spent three months in Seoul, Korea.

I absolutely love Asian fiction and history. It is generally not perceived by Westerners the same way Asians experience it, but one works with what one has.

Viviane wrote: "I absolutely love Asian fiction and history. It is generally not perceived by Westerners the same way Asians experience it, but one works with what one has."

Hence the need to discuss things with people who have the experience. It is nice to have such a variety in our group. It helps us see things through other people's eyes. Welcome to you, and everyone else!

Viviane wrote: "Bentley wrote: "Hello Viviane,

Good for you Viviane....we are glad to have you. We wish you well on achieving your paralegal certificate.

A love of history is the common thread for our lit..."

When I visited there on business I loved the Japanese people; they could not have been nicer. The Asian culture has many admirable qualities.

Not to worry, those who fear their spelling is not up to snuff. I always tell people that I think of my job as teaching thinking, not spelling or grammar, and since most of my students are 18-19 years old, I don't really need to be a sage to teach them a bit about logic and civil discourse. But they teach me lots of things everyday. Today, I got a rundown on the next generation of video game consoles. I tried to appear fascinated:).
Welcome to Marsha, I too have not read as much history as I would like. Hope to use the group as inspiration.

That is good Andrea..I think Vince was already worried because using his wife's German keyboard is not helping the cosmetics of his posting (smile).

Video games...it used to be the young folks were interested in sports.

We hope to inspire; just select a book and just keep reading it to the finish.

Bentley

Jason wrote: "Greetings everyone!
Well, my name is Jason and I live in CT.
I am 30, and work in corp. accounting.
I have a degree in music performance, and am currently looking at graduate programs.
I lov..."I'm just getting caught up with reading the introduction posts. Jason, my son is a music performance major in classical guitar. What instrument do you play?

Viviane wrote: "Bentley wrote: "Hello Viviane,

Good for you Viviane....we are glad to have you. We wish you well on achieving your paralegal certificate.

A love of history is the common thread for our lit..."

Viviane..were you in Kobe when they had any of the earthquakes? That area seems to be on some fault which has reoccurring seismic disturbances.

Bentley wrote: "Viviane wrote: "Bentley wrote: "Hello Viviane,

Good for you Viviane....we are glad to have you. We wish you well on achieving your paralegal certificate.

A love of history is the common thread..."

No, that earthquake occurred many years after I lived there. I did, however, live on the street (known as Foreigner's Street) that was totally destroyed during that earthquake and which has been totally reconstructed.

Hello Vivianne,

Isn't that interesting that they called the street where you lived Foreigner's Street!

Totally destroyed during the earthquake; goodness..you must be very relieved that you were not living there at the time. The Japanese are a very productive people; I am not surprised that the entire street has been totally reconstructed. I wish they could lend some of that assiduousness to New Orleans and possibly our government to even get that city reconstructed after Katrina.

Bentley

Hi, all, my name is Rick Beyer, and I live in Lexington Massachusetts. I think it is fair to say I am pretty much a total history geek, enthusiastic about all kinds of history, especially US history. New to Goodreads, and pretty new to the whole online social thing.

I am the author of The Greatest Stories Never Told series of history books, the fourth of which is coming out in November. I am also a documentary filmmaker specializing in historical projects.

World War II has always been a strong subject of interest, and that has intensified in the last few years because I am working on a film about an unusual World War II deception unit Relatively recent reads in this area include Max Hastings gripping book, Armageddon The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945, and the first two books of Rick Atkinson’s Liberation Trilogy, An Army at Dawn and The Day of Battle. I have read many of Steve Ambrose’s books, and I like him, although he is such a huge fan of his subject (the American soldier in WW II) that he sometimes loses objectivity. I think his best books are not the bigger ones, but the smaller unit histories he did, Band of Brothers E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest and Pegasus Bridge. One of the books I would like to find and read is a good biography of Bernard Law Montgomery.

I have also read a lot about the Civil War and Revolutionary War. I am a big fan of the classic Civil War writers Bruce Catton and Shelby Foote. I recently read and recently enjoyed the book "They Have Killed Papa Dead!" The Road to Ford's Theater, Abraham Lincoln's Murder, and the Rage for Vengeance by Andrew Pitch. In terms of the Revolution, I am particularly interested in the early days here in the Boston area.

I look forward to discovering some new books to read, and participating in as much of the discussion as I have time for!

rb

Hello Rick.welcome of course. We are pleased to have you join us. Your introduction has given us so many suggestions for current and future reading; and we are always thrilled to have authors join us as members.

I am also a big fan of Foote and Catton among others.

All best,

Bentley

Rick-- Thanks for you recommendations, and evaluations, of so many books! I visited Boston once, a few years ago, but didn't have time to see much. I hope to get back someday and really spend time. And welcome to the group. It is good to have total history geeks join the ranks.

Elizabeth

Welcome, Rick. Your own books look very interesting as well as the ones by other authors you have mentioned.

My name is Larche Osborne-Simmons, and I am interested in American, Classical, WWII, and US legal history. I became hooked by history when, while serving in the Middle East, I was able to visits the ruins of an European fortress. I attended the University of New Orleans where I learned under the famous historian Stephan Ambrose and the Loyola University Chicago where I received my undergraduate degree in history. I received my JD from Loyola Law School Chicago.
I sometimes discuss books on my blog, but I will list and discuss them here now.

Hello Larche,

Welcome to the History Book Club. Your background will fit in nicely with the group's interest areas.

It must have been very interesting for you when you served in the Middle East to be so close to some of the world's most famous antiquities and locations.

How exciting to have been taught by Stephen Ambrose; you certainly should be proud of your credentials. There are a few here with a legal background; and we do appreciate your bringing your discussion about non fiction and other historical books to this group's threads.

Do you live in New Orleans or in the Chicago area or have you since transported yourself to another US location?

All best,

Bentley

Hi Bentley,

Thanks for your kind interest. I now live in Chicago.

Steven Ambrose was an exciting teacher. He never gave a dull lecture, and he always invigorated class with special visitors. He once arranged for me and nine other students to have lunch with Hans von Luck, the German panzer commander, and John Howard, the British officer who led the assault on Pegasus Bridge. We were scheduled to dine with John Keegan but then the first Iraq war began, and Keegan was called away by some English news service -- bad luck :(

As of late, I've been reading about the history of Christianity, specifically the early history. I soon plan to turn my attention to scientific history. I must buy and read a book about the history of Syrian Jews first, but I will then tackle one or more of Richard Dawkins' books. I really admire his "out campaign."

Hope to see you around and, again, thanks.

Larche

It sounds like you had some wonderful experiences...thanks to Ambrose as well. Too bad about Keegan.

You are quite ambitious with your reading...you can also make some recommendations that we can add to our prospective group reading list to discuss as a group. Just send me a PM with your recommendations and I will add them to the list. I will then poll the group to see which ones they are most interested in.

Look forward to your posts.

Bentley

I'm sorry for troubling you once more, but, not being particularly computer savvy, I can't figure out how to send PMs on this site. How is it done?

OK....no problem...do you see where the inbox is in the upper right hand corner..right beside where it says hi and your name. You click on that and then you can see everyone who has sent you a note and then you can reply. I will send you a note first, I will add you as a friend which makes sending a note easier. Otherwise, you have to click on the person's profile; look under the profile heading itself and click send a message. Hope this helps.