Category: History

031426 • Thrift Store Finds

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Great Battles of the Civil War • A big book by Civil War Times Illustrated magazine. I was lucky this wasn’t priced very high. I’m not sure who decided such a dark color for the text was a great idea for this cover. That happens far more than it should.

Korean War Heroes • I had to wait a week for this to be half-off, as the prices at the 88th & Sheridan ARC are higher on books as they couldn’t keep enough on their shelves. I read a few stories in there already while I was waiting for Dad to finish his shopping/hunting.

The Battle of Midway • a 2011 book in great shape, a no-brainer!

Against the Odds: Battles at Sea 1591-1949 • Looking forward to this one. Also, glad I have never been in a battle at sea.

Sovereigns of the Sea: The Quest to Build the Perfect Renaissance Battleship • I’m a big fan of the old battleships from the age of sails.

One Hundred Days: The Memoirs of the Falkands Battle Group Commander • I remember the Falklands War, and followed it when I was a kid in the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post back in the day, and I’ve read books about it. This will be interesting, the Admiral’s take on how things went down.

031126 • Recent Thrift Store Finds

  • Typical big book on the topic that for some reason I’ve never come across before.
  • I read an old LIFE magazine interview with Stalin’s daughter, so this is going to be more of a dive into her experiences.
  • I read a touching story of Germans capturing some Americans who were taking care of a dying pal, and they all sang together after he passed. A great reprint of a 1959 book.
  • Version 1.0.0
  • There are so many sad stories from this event.
  • The final stories from journalists who were killed doing their job, including Daniel Pearl. There is almost never any justice.
  • Preparing for the movie “Young Washington” by reading this.
I only need a few more Jack Carr books to complete the set!
I’m halfway through re-reading all of the Brad Thor books!
This book was decades in the making, and I got a GREAT deal on it!
With my recent interest in airships, of which I previously thought were uninteresting, this was the perfect book to find.
Every time I see an interview with her, I learn something, so this book is going to be a great read.

I got a great deal on a lot of these books from Global Thrift on 88th in Arvada.

Death Traps: Unfortunately Inaccurate?

I started this book years ago; this video debunks the authors’ take that the Sherman tank was a death trap, and a terrible tank. The video explains that Belton Cooper, the author, worked at a maintenance depo, and wasn’t actually out in the field fighting in any way with the Sherman, but he did get to see tank after tank as they came into the depo, smashed and burned, bodies inside… horrible stuff. So he does know a lot of what he’s talking about, but it is from a perspective that doesn’t relay all of the facts, but rather is an emotional perspective, recalled many years later and not referencing objective information.

As the video elaborates, Cooper isn’t intentionally deceiving anybody, he’s just giving his view and opinions based on what he experienced. It does go to show that just because something is in book form, that doesn’t mean that the information inside is completely reliable. This is a great reason to become well-read on a topic and not rely on one volume for knowledge and conclusions on topics.

I’m still going to read this book at some point, I doubt every single thing in it is inaccurate, but I will take it as the opinion of a veteran who had to deal with some very heavy experiences during the war.