Author: Randy Rydberg

A fairly mellow fellow who likes to read history books.

120124 • Blade Runners vs Pickleheads

The last time we beat this team, (which is extremely rare), it took a shootout, and that was years ago. This time we beat them by one point. And this is without their ringer, who makes the entire team nearly unbeatable when he shows up, which is most of the time. They are a good, competitive team without him. When he shows up, their really good players click, and make great plays to get ahead early and then coast the rest of the game. EVERY SINGLE TIME. At least he didn’t show up this time and we had a decent game.

113024 • Thrift Store Finds

Duel of Eagles • This was in the Fiction section, and is a reprint of his 1970 volume. The author actually commanded a fighter squadron in the Battle of Britain!

Modern Fighting Helicopters • I have several books in this series, and I remember seeing this one and for some reason, didn’t get it. It was probably not on half-off, and when I went to get it the next week it was probably gone. That is how that works. But, now it is part of the Grand Library! It has some really neat diagrams and illustrations, and even goes so far as to show through illustrations common helicopter flight and fight tactics.

Battles and Battlecruisers • I’ve been reading a different book on Battleships, after reading the Time/Life book on Dreadnoughts, so this was an easy choice. There are a few other books published in this style that this goes with.

The New York Times: Complete World War II 1939-1945 • It is fun to read these as they were so wrong about so much back in the day. Something that hasn’t chanced at all. It even has a DVD with almost 100,000 articles!

Smithsonian: History • I really like these Smithsonian books. I was passing this one up because it was full price, but if you see in the recent post about how I bought the same book again on accident, this is the one I used the return credit on. I decided to drive back and use the credit on the full price of this book as opposed to hoping it would be there next Saturday for half-off. And, I didn’t want to have a doubled book purchase on my mind all week long.

The Dressmakers of Auschwitz • These books are fascinating reads, the first-hand accounts of people who went through so much.

U.S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth • I went from having zero books on Grant not so long ago, to having several good ones now. All due to that History Channel miniseries about him. A nice break from reading about dictators, there are actually interesting leaders that aren’t evil to read about! Winston Churchill is one I need to read more about and already have numerous books on.

Always Check The List

I have a list, the purpose of which is to avoid what happened today: I purchased a book I have already. The line was long, and I just saw the book over the counter, so I bought it because: The title is generic, (World War II: A Photographic History) and the cover was totally different from the book I knew I had at home. However, they were the same size. I had to trek back to the thrift store to exchange it for a book I had my eye on, (Smithsonian: History) but wasn’t half off. Always consult The List.

Newer Historical Books

It blows my mind how a well-written 800-page book like this can go for only $2. It is interesting how more recent books on historical figures have a different viewpoint compared to older books, for various reasons. Apparently, there were 1,500 people who knew Napoleon and left writings about him, and there is so much to discern from these writings because of different viewpoints, biases, various intentions, including from Napoleon’s own writings, it is difficult to figure out where the truth lies. Which is why newer books by good authors (presumably) can uncover what older books can’t. In the case of Soviet topics, Russia has vast archives which are limited, if allowed at all, to an author. Many things have never been released, and those that have give newer works a different result from older books.

Still, I like reading the older books and they all aren’t rendered obsolete by newer ones. “The Guns of August” (World War I) by Barbara W. Tuchman, and “Adolf Hilter: The Definitive Biography” by John Toland, for example, are still highly regarded even though they are both around fifty years old. It is a shame more people don’t pick up on such great reading, it isn’t as if it is too expensive to get into. And the stories are for the most part, real.

My favorite form of history book however are the first-hand accounts, those are never outdated by newly released material.

V: The Original Miniseries Soundtrack

After spending a lot of time attempting to find some information on the intro track for “V”, I fired off an email to the creator and director of “V”, Kenneth Johnson. I knew he had a web site, so, I might as well. I had a response within the hour, and he said he’d just send me a copy of the soundtrack! Very cool.

And, just for reference, the original four-hour miniseries is an outstanding piece of work. The second miniseries is really good, aside from one plot-line. The weekly series was a goofy joke, due to NBC interference and massive budget cuts. The 2009 re-boot lost the spirit of the original and I’ll never watch it again, very disappointing. Kenneth Johnson was only involved in the first miniseries, and it shows.