What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

Log-Man' date=' if the findings that shook you are what I think they are, you may wish to look up Merlin Donald, [i']A Mind So Rare: The Evolution of Human Consciousness[/i] (New York and London: W. W. Norton, 2001). 0-393-04950-7.

Cool, I will look this up. Thanks

[brionl]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy by Vincent Bugliosi. Over 1600 pages of small print on why all the various conspiracy nuts, are in fact, nuts.

 

Right now I'm working on a twofer I got at Costco for ten bucks; The Illustrated A Brief History of Time & The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking.

[sinanju]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence, by Sgt. Rory Miller

 

I can't recommend this book highly enough! Rory is a friend of mine, but whether he was or not, I'd recommend this book to anyone and everyone. Whether you're a martial artist, interested in self-defense or even just curious about the reality of violence, it's a terrific introduction to the subject. It's a distillation of what he's learned from many years of martial arts, as well as lots and lots of practical experience with violence as a bouncer, as a corrections officer and CERT leader and trainer.

 

He starts with a comparison of the rhinocerous and the unicorn (his original title for the book, in fact). One is the reality; the other is a fantasy based on incomplete descriptions of the reality and heavily embroidered with imagination and "facts" deduced by reason from said imagined attributes. Violence is the rhinocerous; large, powerful, unpredictable and dangerous. The fantasy of violence we read in novels, see on television and in films, and--all too often--learn in martial arts classes is the unicorn.

 

Which is not to say that martial arts training is useless. But every art was developed for a purpose. Is that purpose sport? Is it self defense--and if so, under what conditions? Do you know? Does your instructor know? Has the art been watered down or altered--intentionally or otherwise--so that it no longer serves its intended purpose? As Rory points out, every training system has flaws built into it, otherwise people would be getting crippled or killed routinely in training. To the extent that one fights as one was trained* you're learning bad habits unless you deliberately work around the flaws. Do you know what those flaws are? Does your instructor know--and compensate for them with other drills with different flaws?

 

This is not a "how to" book filled with techniques. It's a study of how real violence happens, and the physical, emotional and mental effects of stress and adrenaline on human beings. Rory begins with a section on how to think about violence, about assumptions and truths (specifically, epistemology--how do you even know what is true?) about violence. The GIGO (garbage in, garbage out) principle is in play here. Most people, even most martial artists, have little real experience with violence. Most of us have read or seen countless acts of pretended violence and may have accepted "truths" presented because they look good or exciting.

 

If you never have to deal with real violence, that may never present a problem. But if your truths have never been tested, your map of reality may be sadly--and painfully--exposed as nonsense the first time you run into real trouble. Reality checks are essential, but also dangerous and potentially deadly. This is an ongoing problem for any and all martial arts. Rory discusses ways of thinking about violence, and how goals lead to strategies, and strategies to techniques. If your goal is to avoid being attacked, your behavior will be different than if your goal is to flee an attack in progress or to disable an attacker; flexibility is important, though. If you fail to avoid an assault, your previous goal is irrelevant and escaping or disabling an attacker is going to require a quick change in strategy.

 

The next section discusses types of violence, from the "monkey dance" of posturing and fighting for status to cold-blooded assaults by predatory criminals. Rory writes about the effects of adrenaline, and how it influences your behavior. It's great for strength and speed, but your mental and fine motor skills are going to suffer. Without experience or good training, it's all too easy to experience shock and freeze up mentally or physically under this stress.

 

I could go on--this book is full of insights that need repeating--but suffice it to say that it's well worth reading. Rory gives some suggestions for how to adapt training to be more effective. Again, no "how to" techniques; he's looking at the bigger picture of how to prepare mentally, and to a lesser extent physically, for the shocking reality of violence. Literally shocking given that a surprise attack, and the sudden chemical cocktail of adrenaline, can leave you seriously impaired if you're not ready for it. If you can't react immediately, or can't recognize that you're in shock--stunned and not reacting, wondering "why?" when you should be moving--and break out of that state, things are going to go poorly for you. It's possible to learn these things, but unless you're specifically training for them, it isn't likely.

 

Read it. Buy it!

 

*Another reality of real violence is that skills degrade badly under the influence of adrenaline. Enough experience can alleviate this somewhat--but even the most experienced fighter, when presented with a situation unlike those he's become accustomed to, can find himself right back at the beginning.

[input.jack]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy by Vincent Bugliosi.

 

Vincent Bugliosi assassinated JFK!?!

 

 

 

 

[mwiggins]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

Catch me if you can by Frank Abagnale jr.

Good read, but a lot differnt from the movie.

[OddHat]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

The Omnivore's Dilemma. Some interesting and disturbing information on the flaws in American and world food production and distribution, including insights that turned out to be correct about how the system could be disrupted by climate change. Also, rubber science nonsense and a good dose of posturing. Can't recommend it, but I didn't mind reading it.

[OddHat]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

Krav Maga for Fitness. Solid book on building a calisthenics based strength and conditioning program, decent info on Krav Maga, fair if somewhat spotty nutrition advice. If you're interested in a home exercise program that might lead to pursuing an interest in martial arts, especially Krav Maga, this one's a good choice.

[OddHat]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence' date=' by Sgt. Rory Miller[/quote']

 

Very interesting review. I'll add the book to my wish list. Repped.

[wrestlinggeek]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

To Be The Man... Ric Flair's autobiography. Pretty good read, very interesting to someone who followed Flair from Mid-South through his retirement (as I did). Interesting looks at behind-the-scenes stuff, a lot of "so that's why that happened," and a good bit of "I remember that!" Not as entertaining as Have a Nice Day, but few things are. I am so jealous of Mick Foley. But that's a different post.

[Trebuchet]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

Just finished A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II by Gerhard Weinberg

 

I'm currently halfway through The Master Plan: Himmler’s Scholars and the Holocaust by Heather Pringle; a fascinating look at how even theoretically objective fields of study such as prehistory and archeology can be corrupted by evil.

[Ian Mackinder]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

'The Mermaid Tree' by Robert Tilley.

 

Historical work covering an obscure (but surprisingly interesting) period of Australia's history. Circa 1815 the British colonizxation effort was concentrated on the eastern coast, mainly around Sydney. The western half of the continent was still (technically) claimed by the Dutch but, apart from several shipwrecks and the occasional brief landing, otherwise left alone. Knowledge about the northern and western coasts (to say nothing of the interior!) was minimal, if not zero.

The French were eager to put the Napoleonic Wars behind them, and launched a series of expeditions to explore the Australian coast and the Pacific region (consideration of establishing a penal colony of their own). The British were alarmed enough by this that they launched several expeditions of their own.

All very interesting stuff. Some quite grandiose plans put forward, none of which ever came to anything. Interesting personalities, notable failures, dramas and all the other things one might expect. A small but significant part played by a ship called HMS Beagle.

 

Oh, and the title refers to a tree on the north coast, where crewmembers of HMC Mermaid inscribed the ship's name.

[Toadmaster]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

Thus far in 2008 I've read the following non-fiction books:

 

 

Eisenhower

Geoffrey Perret

 

Patton: A Genius for War

Carlo D’Este

 

Charles Darwin: Voyaging

Janet Browne

 

Charles Darwin: The Power of Place

Janet Browne

 

The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties

Mark E. Neely, Jr.

 

A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America

Stacy Schiff

 

An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa 1942-1943 (Reread)

Rick Atkinson

 

The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy 1943-1944

Rick Atkinson

 

The Supreme Commander: The War Years of Dwight D. Eisenhower

Stephen E. Ambrose

 

Russia’s War: A History of the Soviet Effort: 1941-1945

Richard Overy

 

Calculated Risk: The Extraordinary Life of Jimmy Doolittle-Aviation Pioneer and World War II Hero

Donna Hoppes

 

The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy

Adam Tooze

 

The Dictators: Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Russia

Richard Overy

 

When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler

David Glantz & Jonathan House

 

Operation Jedburgh: D-Day and America’s First Shadow War

Colin Beavan

 

Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War

Rick Atkinson

 

How The Allies Won

Richard Overy

 

The Third Reich: A New History

Michael Berleigh

 

Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives

Alan Bullock

 

Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War

Michael J. Neufeld

 

Dragon Hunter: Roy Chapman Andrews and the Central Asiatic Expeditions

Charles Gallenkamp

 

 

I'm currently about halfway through Mysteries of the Middle Ages and the Beginning of the Modern World by Thomas Cahill

 

 

Nice list, I've read several of those, have a few more on my to get list and a few I haven't run across. WW2 history is a particular favorite of mine.

 

I've finished a few this year

 

Ivan's war - Catherine Merridale. A post Soviet history from the Soviet side of WW2. The USSR seriously "adjusted" their history of the war for decades to the point many veterans don't know what is true and what is fabrication. The author interviewed many veterans of the war trying to piece together a more accurate history from the soldiers point of view. I found it a very interesting book, the Soviet soldiers really had it bad caught between Hitler who wanted them dead and Stalin who really didn't care if they lived or died, and had no tolerance for failure or disent.

 

The Korean War - Max Hastings. Supposedly one of the better histories of the war. Really worth reading, Korea is known as the forgotten war which is too bad, it really made an impact on the rest of the century and how the cold war developed.

 

Biggest Brother: The Life Of Major Dick Winters, The Man Who Led The Band of Brothers - Larry Alexander. A biography of Dick Winters the company commander of Easy company, 101 airborne. I found this a really worthwhile book, it is a good book on leadership, it also shows how WW2 impacted that generation, how men were pulled from rather ordinary lives, put into extraordinary situations and then returned to fairly normal lives.

 

Beyond Tranquillon Ridge - Joseph Valencia. A history of a wildland fire on Vandenberg AFB in 1977. Three firefighters and the base commader were killed early in the fire. A good book, but not sure how interesting it would be to a non-firefighter. The author was a young firefighter at that fire.

 

Under a Flaming Sky, the Great Hinkley Firestorm of 1894 - Daniel Brown. The history of a group of forest fires that destroyed several towns in northern Minnesota, and killed somewhere between 400 and 800 people. Another interesting book about a little known US disaster.

 

Triangle, the fire that changed America - David von Drehle. If you are into politics I definately recommend this book. It is about much more than the Triangle Shirt Waist fire, it has a lot about the democratic political machine, the labor movement, crusading high society, pirates, swordplay, true love... sorry got carried away. Anyway the fire and the aftermath made big changes in our politics.

 

I'm currently finishing The Johnstown Flood - David McCullough. A history of a dam failure in 1889 that destroyed several towns in Pennsylvania killing more than 2000 people.

[Trebuchet]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

Nice list, I've read several of those, have a few more on my to get list and a few I haven't run across. WW2 history is a particular favorite of mine.

 

I've finished a few this year

 

Ivan's war - Catherine Merridale. A post Soviet history from the Soviet side of WW2. The USSR seriously "adjusted" their history of the war for decades to the point many veterans don't know what is true and what is fabrication. The author interviewed many veterans of the war trying to piece together a more accurate history from the soldiers point of view. I found it a very interesting book, the Soviet soldiers really had it bad caught between Hitler who wanted them dead and Stalin who really didn't care if they lived or died, and had no tolerance for failure or disent.

That one's on my Amazon Wish List. There's been a fair amount of good post-Soviet research on World War Two now that the Russians have opened many (not all) of their archives. In many ways the truth is better than the legend; the Germans were stunned at how hard the Russian people fought.

 

Under a Flaming Sky, the Great Hinkley Firestorm of 1894 - Daniel Brown. The history of a group of forest fires that destroyed several towns in northern Minnesota, and killed somewhere between 400 and 800 people. Another interesting book about a little known US disaster.

I know about it, but then I lived in Minnesota in my teen years. I didn't learn about it when I lived there, though; I just pay attention when Minesota pops up in my other readings.

 

Triangle, the fire that changed America - David von Drehle. If you are into politics I definately recommend this book. It is about much more than the Triangle Shirt Waist fire, it has a lot about the democratic political machine, the labor movement, crusading high society, pirates, swordplay, true love... sorry got carried away. Anyway the fire and the aftermath made big changes in our politics.

That one looks like a good read.

 

I'm currently finishing The Johnstown Flood - David McCullough. A history of a dam failure in 1889 that destroyed several towns in Pennsylvania killing more than 2000 people.

Another one I should check out.

[OddHat]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

The Purposeful Primitive, by Marty Gallagher.

 

A book on the crossroads of bodybuilding, power-lifting, and fat loss, by an accomplished lifter, coach and writer with over forty years of experience in the game.

 

Mixed feelings about this book. Short form: I highly recommend it to a range of audiences, despite my reservations. I enjoyed reading it, and will re-read it several times, looking for the bits I can make use of.

 

Marty coached or met everyone who was anyone in the world of Power lifting in the 80s and 90s, and he fills the book with anecdotes that give a real feel for the characters that made a half-underground sport what it was. He also uses these anecdotes to great effect when discussing training styles and nutritional strategies, building his recommendations for various phases of body recomposition around the greats he trained with or coached. His writing is engaging, and his genuine love of the sport shines through. The tales of strength he shares are inspiring, and he has a knack for presenting even the roughest of his subjects with their humanity intact.

 

The training and diet information are comprehensive. Marty is a big believer in old school training splits and volume, and he has plenty of experience to back up his position. It's an approach to training that will feel pretty revolutionary to a machine trainer or someone caught up in the absurd, unproductive isolation training so many unqualified trainers end up foisting on their clients.

 

On the downside, this is mostly a book for beginners and intermediate trainees. I didn't see his weight training recommendations as all that relevant to my own current needs; my program is already spartan by Marty's standards, and I expect a fair number of more experienced lifters will feel the same way. His cardio and diet recommendations were similarly solid, but not likely to change the way I train or eat (not because they're bad; just because it's another case of "I already do that"). Marty also doesn't make much of a training distinction between Body Building, Power Lifting, Strong Man Competition, Olympic Lifting, Martial Arts, or other strength sports. To a more advanced lifter who knows where he wants to fit in the strength game, that cuts into the book's utility.

 

The place where the book falls down most is in its silence on the subject of steroids. It's a tough subject to honestly discuss. Talking about it opens you up to attack from the For The Children crowd and scares the heck out of a certain percentage of law abiding citizens (i.e. the vast majority of the market). Athletes don't want their reputations tarnished by the public admission that they were using, and supplement manufacturers (a prime job for ex-champions) hate admitting that their spokes-user did not gain twenty inch biceps at three percent body-fat solely through the use of their products.

 

So, Marty doesn't talk about steroids and training at all. This isn't just a problem because we miss out on part of the story of power lifting and bodybuilding in the day. Ultimately, the training you believe in and recommend is built around what you've seen work. The training that works for a twenty year old serious steroid user is not necessarily relevant to any natural trainee, let alone the thirty-and-over crowd Marty seems to be speaking to. I can see how much experience he's bringing to the recommendations in this book, and I absolutely respect his impeccable strength-cred. But I'm left wondering: Are these volume recommendations really the best choices for a non-user?

 

In the end, I'd say that this book is still of great value and well worth purchasing, despite its flaws. If you're interested in a slice of Iron History, or a beginner looking for a guide to body transformation, go get it.

[Toadmaster]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

That one's on my Amazon Wish List. There's been a fair amount of good post-Soviet research on World War Two now that the Russians have opened many (not all) of their archives. In many ways the truth is better than the legend; the Germans were stunned at how hard the Russian people fought.

 

I know about it, but then I lived in Minnesota in my teen years. I didn't learn about it when I lived there, though; I just pay attention when Minesota pops up in my other readings.

 

That one looks like a good read.

 

Another one I should check out.

 

 

Ivan's war was really interesting, its really amazing, Stalin not only put the Soviet soldiers in a terrible spot, he stole thier history too. It is nice to see some of it coming out before all the veteran's are gone.

[Cancer]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

When Life Nearly Died, by Michael Benton, 2003. It's about the mass extinction event at the end of the Permian, about 250 million years ago. It is estimated that 90-95% of all species went extinct.

 

The first 100 pages or so is history of geology, starting a bit after William Smith's time (see The Map That Changed The World for him), with the designation of the Permian era (it's named for the Russian city of Perm) by the English geologist Murchison, and the victory by Lyell of uniformitarianism over catastrophism, that wasn't really overcome until about 1980 with the discovery of the iridium-loaded clay layer at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary by Alvarez et al.

 

The next 100-150 pages discuss the biota of the Permian, reconstruct the Permian world, and discuss what is known about the boundary, what survived it and what the world looked like after, and physical causes and effects as recorded in the geological record. It doesn't seem that an impact is to blame here; rather, a massive episode of volcanism, a spike in planetary surface temperature, and a large release of methane from the ocean floor. Oxygen levels in both atmosphere and oceans plummeted and the post-catastrophe ecosystems were very species-poor.

 

The last 50 pages or so discuss mass extinctions in a more general way, inevitably bringing up the one we humans may or may not be wreaking now. This is the weakest part of the book.

 

I'd be interested to know post-2003 discoveries about the Permian-Triassic boundaries. The book doesn't present a tidy solution or complete discussion of the event; there's still room for further analysis, clearly.

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

Controversy Creates Ca$h

By Eric Bischoff

 

One of the most hated men in wrestling finally takes the opportunity to tell his side of the story. When i say most hated, i don't mean in the wrestling character sense (though that may apply, too) but rather in the very real sense as the president of the deceased WCW. He has been blamed as the man who killed the brand, who nearly destroyed wrestling altogether, and who tried to kill the WWE.

 

As with any story of this kind, it is very clear that he has a different perspective on the way things really happened. I tend to believe him on a lot of things, especially the real reason WCW failed simply because it rings so true, so familiar about how corporate decisions are made. I've seen enough of the crap to think he's not just pulling details out of his butt to make him blameless. Besides, he takes plenty of blame on many issues. He's not shy about taking credit, though, either.

 

Interesting read as a wrestling fan. I wasn't watching wrestling during much of his reign, so I'm not as familiar with the storylines and events he discusses as I would like. It does explain some things I've always wondered about, though.

[Diamond Spear]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Brendt. Much, much better than the movie (which I liked) mostly because it would have been too difficult to cram everything into a movie of reasonable length. It’s an absorbing read as it focuses much more on the people than on just the murder itself.

[BlackSword]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

The Perfect Mile by Neal Bascomb. Follows three runners, Roger Bannister, John Landy and Wes Santee as they try to break the 4 minute mark in the mile. It is an interesting and compelling read about how each trained and worked to reach the goal, the build-up of the nation and the disappointment each time they failed. All three were amateurs, no high price contracts just to wear a company's logo, they all had lives, studies and work they had to complete while training to compete. The book discusses the training and sacrifices each had to make, a bit into the philosophy each had and the psychology of pushing oneself to and even past the limit. For the final chapter, as Bannister and Landy approach their race at the Empire Games the book delves somewhat into running strategy and the difference between their running styles. While the book occasionaly discusses how the atheletes trained, it is not meant as a guide nor does it provide any workouts for running.

[OddHat]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

The Warrior Diet and The Anti Estrogenic Diet by Ori Hofmekler, along with The Warrior Within podcast.

 

Ori is, well, interesting. Very smart, self educated and with a passion for the science of nutrition and athletic training. A salesman, self promoter, and very much a true believer. Like many self educated men, he views his subjects (nutrition and training) through the lens of his personal philosophy as much as science, and tends to be dismissive of "academics" that disagree with his conclusions.

 

All of that said, still a very entertaining read, and Ori's diet and exercise recommendations are excellent. The reader or listener should, however, be aware that Ori uses one of the oldest marketing ploys in the supplement industry; he points out obvious frauds, implies that the rest of the industry is made up largely of snake oil salesmen (which has the advantage of being true), and then tells his readers that only Ori's own supplement company is trustworthy. If you've been around the industry any length of time, you've heard this pitch before, repeatedly. Muscle Media / Eas, T-Nation / Biotest, Ergopharm, etc; it's amazing how many Last Honest Men are willing to tell you why you shouldn't trust the other guy, but you should send your money to them.

 

But now I'm just ranting.

 

Back to the books. Ori's books present a very solid "no junk" diet with a smart re-feed schedule and a good combined cardio-resistance training program. He presents and "supports" his recommendations with the same sort of "We aren't half the men our ancestors were" people have been ranting about for at least 2000 years (I'm quite serious; read some Roman historians). More recently, the same "City living has made men soft, but I'll make them hard again" pitch was being used by Eugene Sandow and Charles Atlas. Ori's "not half the men" argument is mixed with genuine and undeniable concerns over environmental estrogens, pesticide contaminated foods and the plummeting testosterone levels of Urban and Suburban men over the last thirty years.

 

The diet really is good, and worth trying if it appeals to you.

• No white sugar or white flour
   
  Eat only organic produce, milk and meats
   
  Eat only fruits, vegetables, and (if you're an athlete) protein shakes or other dairy sources of protein during the day, and eat lightly
   
  Eat a large supper with plenty of vegetables, a good protein source, and healthful fats. Don't be paranoid about saturated fats; so long as you're getting them from organic eggs or dairy, or grass fed beef, they're actually good for testosterone production
   
  Exercise daily on an empty stomach, using a short, efficient workout that combines resistance training and cardio

 

The rest is the "be a man" pitch, backed up by questionable history, anthropology, and science. Still interesting, though.

 

So, I guess I recommend the books if you need a diet book and like a manly pitch for fat loss.

[Badger]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

i read the book on the USS Indianapolis sinking. Damn, I never cry and I cried a couple of times reading that thing. (My only weak spots with crying seem to be loyal dogs and selfless sacrifices in wartime). Especially cried during the parts about the doctor's group of survivors.

[Captain Obvious]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

i read the book on the USS Indianapolis sinking. Damn' date=' I never cry and I cried a couple of times reading that thing. (My only weak spots with crying seem to be loyal dogs and selfless sacrifices in wartime). Especially cried during the parts about the doctor's group of survivors.[/quote']

 

Yeah, the Indianapolis was a damn mess. The part that got to me was when, after being in the water for several days, the life jackets started getting waterlogged and dragging their wearers down, and they couldn't get them off because the straps had swollen too. I don't recall the part about the doctor's group though.

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

I Killed: True Stories of the Road from America's Top Comics

Rich Shydner and Mark Schiff

 

I decided I needed to do a little reading to support my latest endeavor, so I picked this one up. I'm always interested in hearing behind the scenes stories for comedians. This book is funny, horrifying, inspiring, and at the end it is even heartwrenching. A lot of the stories center around the horror of being booked into gigs they never should have approached (Ant performing for the KKK??). Others deal with nightmare hecklers. Then there's the stories of sex and food on the road. Comedians can be a raunchy, nasty bunch.

 

We get clips from virtually anyone you can think of working today, from Dave Attell to Bob Saget. As an additional bonus, many of the stories are being shared on behalf of Sam Kinison, Milton Burle, and other long lost talents. Certainly worth the read.

[Badger]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

Yeah' date=' the Indianapolis was a damn mess. The part that got to me was when, after being in the water for several days, the life jackets started getting waterlogged and dragging their wearers down, and they couldn't get them off because the straps had swollen too. I don't recall the part about the doctor's group though.[/quote']

 

 

Actually, that was the doctor's group (at least he had the largest amount of those with life jackets at best). To compound it all a lot of his group had burns and broken limbs from the initial attack. (Including his own hands, if I recall). So, when the vest started getting waterlogged, when you already injured plus dehydrated and you were up to your neck basically. No telling how many just gave up (or drank salt water and went delusional).

[Ian Mackinder]

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished?

 

i read the book on the USS Indianapolis sinking.

 

Then, too, there is the USN's absolutely disgraceful treatment of the Indianapolis's captain afterwards. Basically, he was scapegoated for everything that had happened, and eventually committed suicide. Some sources blame Admiral King for a lot of this - he allegedly had a major grudge against the guy's family.