Western Desert reading - Bardia

Bardia: myth, reality and the heirs of Anzac by Craig Stockings.

I borrowed and read this book a little while ago and have kept it hanging around while i got round to blogging it. Its not the sort of coffee table ra ra Anzac book that has been spewed out lately but is well researched and written.

It basically covers the battle for Bardia in January 1941 where Commonwealth forces attacked the small defended town and for the loss of 130 killed and 326 wounded captured 35000 or so Italian prisoners. Being an Australian its always been on my radar as the main assaulting unit was the 6th Australian division but this book really goes into the why and how of the Italian defeat.

There is a lot of background on the events leading up to the battle, the battle itself and the aftermath. Craig Stockings covers a lot of ground that fills out this period and theatre of the early war especially with regard to the Italians and their preparedness to be part of an axis alliance. He also shows how the British and Australian armies had partly learnt from the first world war, as many of their leaders were veterans, especially here with a deliberate assault on a defended position but still had a way to go with armour and its use. The planners were well aware that tanks were vital but his explanation of events show how unsupported infantry struggled against entrenched and committed Italian troops. The British army was still learning this lesson in Normandy when they were only just adopting combined units.

This is a book that will be on my list to get out again and reread because there is so much good quality information contained in it.

5/5  

Black library reading over the holidays

I've been doing a lot of reading over our Christmas holidays. Not least because I happened to find a cache of Black Library books which had just come into our Warnambool public library. These include four books from Sandy Mitchell ( Alex Stewart) who is the author of the Dark Heresy series and the Ciaphus Cain series as well. I'm liking his writing style.

Currently I'm plowing through the Ciaphus Cain omnibus. These omnibus books are great value with three novels and a couple of extra short stories thrown in.

During a trip down to Geelong I happened to walk into an Angus & Robertson bookstore and was very surprised to find a pile of current release Black Library books on deeep discount. Standard novels for $5 AUD and the omnibus editions for $10 AUD. Two bags of books later I was a very happy shopper. 

More novels from the Black Library

Ive just put down "Soul Hunter" by Aaron Dembski-Bowden which is a nicely done book on the Night Lords Traitor Marine Chapter. I was almost hesitant to start reading it because i thought it would be too full of hack slay chaos blah blah blah. Well written with a mix of Heresy era background and present day (40K) writing this book was a relief after a handful of Black Library books that seemed to be loyalist propaganda rather than good stories.

From the smattering of "void" battle and ship boarding actions and characters that seemed very real with their conflicting natures to the revelation of the poor state of the Chapters resources this book seemed to be thoroughly thought out and written as a novel rather than a cookie cutter Chaos manuscript.

As several reviewers have noted on the Black Library website this book shows a Chapter less afflicted by Chaos because of the reason they left the Empire of Man. I would hazard to say they are almost closer to the depiction of the Fallen in Gav Thorpes "Angels of Darkness" than to the other Traitor Space Marine Chapters. My recommendation is get the book is you want some more perspective on why one of the "less" corrupted Chapters went over to Horus and into the Eye.

I'll have to watch out for "The First Heretic" which is coming in November.

"Enforcer" omnibus novel

Another Omnibus edition has come into my posession from the Games Workshops' Black Library. "Enforcer" by Matthew Farrer. Who like Henry Zou also happens to be an Australian author. The softcover contains three novels and some extra bonus material. This author seems to really know his Warhammer 40000 background as there is so much of the detailed mechanics of the story that rings true with what i've read of the background setting.

The first book "Crossfire" reads almost like a "standard" detective story set in the dark future with lots of shootouts between the Adeptus Arbites heroine Shira Calpurnia and the baddies. The second "Legacy" was the stand out for me with a couple of pretty good twists although the actions of the tech priest seemd to jar a bit with the actions of an supposedly intelligent character.  The third book "Blind" ran on from consequences of the ending of the second but took a completely different twist.

These Omnibus editions are great value at a little under the price of two regular paperbacks.

Novels and reality

I've been reading again a bit lately and a couple of books have caught my attention.

"House to House: an epic memoir of war" by SSG David Bellavia is one i've had from my local library. 
It recounts the experiences of the author who served in the US Army in the battle for Fallujah in 2004. This book had some really interesting ( and horrific) stuff in it but seemed a bit disjointed almost like some of it had been cut out or rearranged. John R. Bruning (a military historian) shares the writing in this one. i couldnt put this one down until i'd finished it.

Along those lines i picked up "Ground Truth" by Patrick Bishop in a discount bin. It's a book about 3 Para's return to Afghanistan in 2008. A very different book by a journalist rather than a soldier and one which explores some of the wider issues that the British army is facing as it fights a war which has reshaped the lives of all servicemen and women from that country.

I've also just read a couple of books released by the Black Library and set in the Warhammer 40000 universe.

The last book in the Ravenor Trilogy "Ravenor Rogue" by Dan Abnett. The first two i got from our local library and i liked them so much i bought the Omnibus when it came out. A great read, lots of twists and turns but maybe just a little bit too long.

"Emperors Mercy" by Henry Zou who is an Australian author also features an Inquisitorial band in the lead roles. He leaves it nicely open for a sequel at the end too. I felt this book dwelled a bit on the suffering of the population for a Science Fiction novel.