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Some good books there Mike and Marc!

The February 2021 theme read page is now open and ready for discussion/comment. The theme is on the North African campaign in 1941 (80th anniversary). You can read any book or books of your choice, including novels; that covers the war in North Africa during 1941; land, air or sea:

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Just made an update for the April theme read which will now include Crete:

1941 - Invasion of Yugoslavia and/or Greece and/or Crete.

I thought I had a read Antony Beevor's book on Crete but it appears not and also that I don't even have a copy in my library so I rectified that and ordered a PB edition:

Crete: The Battle And The Resistance by Antony Beevor

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Just made an update for the April theme read which will now include Crete:

1941 - Invasion of Yugoslavia and/or Greece and/or Crete.

I thought I had a read Antony Beevor's book on Crete but it ap..."

That's good, because I thought it already was:

The Lost Battle: Crete 1941

Fantastic AR. Crete is on my list to buy and read but I will wait until April now. Look forward to it.

Great, now I'm compelled to reread it(Beevor) in April. If I recall correct it covers the Greece campaign as well. Also if memory serves correct it went too deep into some personalities, but propably wont hurt to endure them again. Haven't opened the book since 2015 so my memory can fail me hard.

I didn't really care for Beevor's book on Crete. This is the best book I've read on Crete so far:

Ten Days to Destiny: The Battle for Cre

Funny enough I had a copy of that book Marc but I'm not too sure if I still have it.

Ten Days to Destiny: The Battle for Crete by G.C. Kiriakopoulos

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Just made an update for the April theme read which will now include Crete:

1941 - Invasion of Yugoslavia and/or Greece and/or Crete.

I thought I had a read Antony Beevor's book on Crete but it ap..."

"Damn your eyes"...well "Damn your fingers!" Now I had to go order books on Crete, to fill a gaping hole on my shelf. Ordered from Abebooks:

Crete: The Battle And The Resistance by Antony Beevor

and

The Lost Battle: Crete 1941 by Callum A. MacDonald

Two excellent books that filled a gap in your marvellous library Mike, obviously they were required purchases!

I've just opened the April 2021 theme page which is any book/s of your choice that covers the 1941 invasions of Albania, Yugoslavia, Greece and /or Crete:

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Just a reminder for folks that the June theme is on Operation Barbarossa and/or Finland's Continuation War, so start looking around for a good book to read :)

Any suggestions, specifically on Finland? The only book l've found, by Hans Peter Krosby, seems to be available only in Finnish.

Liz V. wrote: "Any suggestions, specifically on Finland? The only book l've found, by Hans Peter Krosby, seems to be available only in Finnish."
One of the most recent in English must be Finland at War: the Continuation and Lapland Wars 1941�45 Can say nothing about the quality all writers are new to the field and none have any previous background to history. T. Wirtanen is a(very) popular musician and Nenye&Munter are owners of the one the biggest board game shops in Finland.

In Finnish there are a ton of books, it's one of those countries where WW2 is like the most important thing about our past and nothing happened before or after that if you compare the amount of books written.

Liz V. wrote: "Any suggestions, specifically on Finland? The only book l've found, by Hans Peter Krosby, seems to be available only in Finnish."

I have a copy of this book on the subject that I am yet to read:

Finland's War Of Choice: The Troubled German-Finnish Coalition in World War II by Henrik O. Lunde

I found this one as well:

Hitler's Nordic Ally?: Finland and the Total War 1939 - 1945 by Claes Johansen

Thank you Perato and AR.

I have set up the page for the June theme read in case anyone wants to get a head start:

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I have set up a 'special' theme read page for July for those members who wish to read Nick Lloyd's book; "Loos 1915". The theme is open to any book covering the Battle of Loos:

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I have also set up another 'special' theme page to allow group members to join in and read some of the books of James D. Hornfischer:

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I have set up the page for the groups August theme read. The subject is any book or books of your choice that covers a WW2 biography/autobiography or covers any aspect of WW2 Special Ops:


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Some of my biographies and autobio interview books may be of interest.

Colin wrote: "Some of my biographies and autobio interview books may be of interest."

They fit the theme perfectly!

Hi folks, the theme read page for October is up and running, the theme is any book or books of your choice that covers 1941 - European Theatre (including Finland, Norway, and the Arctic, & RAF Bomber Command operations against Germany):

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How many group members would be interested in doing a buddy read of "Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 1914-1918" in November?

Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 1914-1918 by Louis Barthas

November 'buddy' read on Poilu:

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Hi folks, the December theme read page is open for discussion/comment. With the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor this year the theme is any book or books of your choice, which can include novels, that covers Pearl Harbor or any other battle at the start of the Pacific War and can include Papua New Guinea:

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Any plans on next year?
To name a few there's the 80th "anniversary" for:

Singapore (Feb)
Second Happy Time (first 6months)
Battle of Bataan (early year)
Carrier battles of Coral Sea, Midway, East Solomons and Santa Cruz(and Doolittle Raid)
Battles of El Alamein (and other fights in North Africa)
Operation Pedestal(and Malta's struggle)
Operation Watchtower (Aug-->)
Operation Jubilee (Aug)
Case Blue (Summer --->>)
Operation Torch (Nov)

Plenty of topics to choose from, anyone have preferences?

I'll start putting some ideas forward in early January for the 2022 theme reads which will commence in February. I am sure we can incorporate a few of your excellent suggestions Perato :)

Perato wrote: "Any plans on next year?
To name a few there's the 80th "anniversary" for:

Singapore (Feb)
Second Happy Time (first 6months)
Battle of Bataan (early year)
Carrier battles of Coral Sea, Midway, Eas..."

I'll chime in for Singapore and Guadalcanal.

Duly noted MR9 :)

I believe we had a naval surface action theme suggested earlier on in the year too?

Jonny wrote: "I believe we had a naval surface action theme suggested earlier on in the year too?"

We can always squeeze another one in Jonny :)

Ok folks, time to put together some 2022 themes. We only have room for 6 theme months (every second month) with the occasional 'special' theme month thrown in if necessary.

Using some of Perato's suggestions I have these so far (see below). I have broadened the subjects somewhat so as open them up to as many people as possible to join in.

Feb. - 1942 - The Malayan campaign and/or Singapore and/or the Philippines, fighting in New Guinea and air & naval operations

April - Submarine warfare or surface naval engagements

June - 1942 Russia - Case Blue, or Siege of Leningrad, or Battle of Midway

August - Operation Pedestal, and/or air & naval battles for Malta, or Dieppe (Op. Jubilee)

Oct. - Battle of El Alamein or Operation Torch

Dec - Members choice or a general WW2 social/cultural book.

Happy for any suggestions or additions ....

I Like those AR.

Thanks Mike, hopefully it will give us a bit of a range to choose books to read :)

How about for December have a general social/cultural theme.
I have a few sitting around that cover that and suspect we all have I suspect.

Examples from my TBR.

The Himmler Brothers: A German Family History
Wine & War: The Battle For France's Greatest Treasure
Travellers in the Third Reich

Good list for me. I have 3 reads lined up.

I am not keen to purchase any more books of any kind, having a mountain worth that I have to get through. I have estimated that if I get through them at 25 a year for the next 22 years, that will see me to 84 years old.

fourtriplezed wrote: "How about for December have a general social/cultural theme.
I have a few sitting around that cover that and suspect we all have I suspect.

Examples from my TBR.

[book:The Himmler Brothers: A ..."

We can do that 4ZZZ :)

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Ok folks, time to put together some 2022 themes. We only have room for 6 theme months (every second month) with the occasional 'special' theme month thrown in if necessary.

Using some of Perato's..."

Nice list and I think I can find something for each one. I've decided to do things a little different in 2022--instead of coming up with a list of books ahead of time, I'm going to choose one from each shelf in my bookcase. Since I have 37 shelves, this will give me plenty of choices.

That sounds like a good idea Marc!

Looks good Rick, covers most of the bases, and I'm sure we can organise additional themes if anything pops up in the year.

February encompasses a great deal. Perhaps a general category of the Malayan campaign?

The Special Operations Executive (SOE) in Malaya: World War II and the Path to Indepenence by Rebecca Kenneisen

Fight for Malaya: The Jungle War of Maurice Cotterill by R.W. Holder

Young Man You'll Never Die: A World War II Fighter Pilot In North Africa, Burma & Malaya by Merton Naydler

Dream Of Jujube Trees Recollection Of Singapore And Plantation In Malaya During World War 2 by YOSHIYUKI HIRANO

Malayan Campaign: A History from Beginning to End by Hourly History

Defeat In Malaya, The Fall Of Singapore by Arthur Swinson

Our Man in Malaya: John Davis, CBE, DSO, Force 136 SOE and Post-War Counter-Insurgency by Margaret Shennan

Singapore 1941 1942: The Japanese Version Of The Malayan Campaign Of World War II by Masanobu Tsuji

The Fall of Malaya and Singapore: Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives by Jon Diamond

Operation Matador: World War Ii: Britain's Attempt To Foil The Japanese Invasion Of Malaya And Singapore by Ong Chit Chung

Playing for Malaya: A Eurasian Family in the Pacific War by Rebecca Kenneison

The War in Malaya by Lieut.-Gen. Arthur Ernest Percival

The Raaf At War: World War Ii, Korea, Malaya & Vietnam by Jim Turner

The British Armies in World War Two: An Organisational History (Volume Four) British Tank and Armoured Brigades, 79th Armoured Division, Armoured Car Regiments, African, Malayan and other Colonial Forces by David Hughes

British Civilians and the Japanese War in Malaya and Singapore, 1941-45 & When Singapore Fell: Evacuations and Escapes, 1941-42 by Joseph Kennedy

I can squeeze the Malayan campaign into the Feb. read Liz V.

Marc wrote: "in 2022--instead of coming up with a list of books ahead of time, I'm going to choose one from each shelf in my bookcase. Since I have 37 shelves, this will give me plenty of choices....."

That is a great idea Marc! I think I'm going to copy it.

Liz V. wrote: "February encompasses a great deal. Perhaps a general category of the Malayan campaign?..."

I think my SEA shelf needs more room for additions. Nice list Liz.

Thank you. I actually thought the Malayan Campaign might be sufficient in itself, with the Philippines etc. a separate buddy read.

Liz V. wrote: "February encompasses a great deal. Perhaps a general category of the Malayan campaign?

Here's one that I'm reading. It's really quite good.

The Defence and Fall of Singapore

Liz V. wrote: "Thank you. I actually thought the Malayan Campaign might be sufficient in itself, with the Philippines etc. a separate buddy read."

It probably could indeed, but it gives the theme month some range for group members to pick and choose a book they have easy access to.

I have just started (a few days ago) reading The Jungle is Neutral by F. Spencer Chapman very good read so far.