Read a few books recently, and finally get a chance to write some thoughts on them:

The Eagle Unbowed: Poland and the Poles in the Second World War by Halik Kochanski (2012): A comprehensive look at Poland and the Polish people throughout the Second World War. Kochanski examines every aspect of the topic, not just being limited to the territory of Poland itself, but the experience of the Poles who were either exiled or escaped to fight during the war. Considerable attention is given to these groups, particularly the Anders Army and the Poles fighting out of the UK. She also notes the political dimensions that the Poles faced, mainly how the government-in-exile interacted with the Allied powers, and how the Soviet Union managed to have a Communist group establish itself as the post-war Polish government. The theme of betrayal is evident throughout, which is not to say that Kochanski wrote with that in mind (she notes in the introduction the book is meant to be objective and not present any argument, but merely a summary of events, which largely holds up), but more a facet of what the Poles dealt with during the conflict. It is also a smooth read, not bogged down in overtly academic writing, despite its subject matter, which aids in the overall message being presented.

The Red Machine: The Soviet Quest to Dominate Canada's Game by Lawrence Martin (1990): This is the authoritative account of Soviet hockey. Martin worked in Moscow in the latter half of the 1980s as a reporter for the Globe and Mail, and covered hockey while there. He chronicles the rise, and nearly the fall (seeing how it was published a year before the USSR collapsed) of the Soviet hockey system. Focusing on the players and coaches of the national team, and not the political aspects, he gives an incredibly detailed account of how the Soviets established a dominate hockey program in the span of several years, and kept it going almost until the very end. There has not been another book written on the subject in English that is as comprehensive as this, largely because Martin has the definitive account here.

Breakaway: From Behind the Iron Curtain to the NHL - The Untold Story of Hockey's Great Escapes by Tal Pinchevsky (2012) This looks at the several cases of players from the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia who defected to the NHL throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Looking at them on a case-by-case basis and often based on interviews with the players themselves, or the people who helped, he gets into the minute details of how each player made the choice to defect, and how they organised it and ultimately arrived. He also considers the wider scope of the issue by noting the political climate of both countries, and how it influenced each players. It is a really interesting book, and the inclusion of the various Czechoslovaks who defected really adds to it, as they are often downplayed or outright forgotten, or even ignored in favour just of the emergence of the Russians in the NHL.

Also have to say, its a shame the latter two books are out of print. Martin's book is known amongst the few people interested in Soviet hockey to be the gold standard on the topic, but is selling privately on Amazon for $80, while Pinchevsky's book (which I nearly bought when it came out; stupid not to have done so) is going for about $100, which is high for non-academic books. However I was smart enough to write down copious notes from the books, and have pages of material now for future use.

I've been reading The Black Prince at War: the anatomy of a Chevauchée, a PhD thesis by Mollie Marie Madden that examines the logistical concerns of the Black Prince's 1355 campaign in Gascony. It really does bring to light the logistically concerns of the campaign and some of the issues of transporting supplies for an army.

The one fault I can immediately see with the thesis is the adoption of Roth's figures for the daily calorie intake for the soldiers over Engels. Modern soldiers require over 4500 calories, and even taking into account the (likely) higher average age of medieval soldiers and their lower height and weight, the calorie needs of a medieval soldier is more likely to be similar to Engels' figures than Roth's (3600 vs ~3000).

It's actually very strange that Madden prefers Roth to Engels in this case, because she rejects Roth's figures for horse grain requirements (absolutely justified in my opinion), and also Roth's estimates for mule/packhorse carrying capacity, and goes with Engels in this regard.

So I've decided to take up a little light historical reading, literally just bought Wages of Destruction, Defeat Into Victory and Quartered Safe out Here.

Was wondering if anyone could recommend me any books about the British war economy? Plus any further reading on the Burma front and the German war economy.

Currently reading Radical Tories: The Conservative Tradition in Canada by Charles Taylor. It's an insight into the ideas and beliefs of the conservative movement from Confederation up until the 1980's, when the book was written. Taylor takes each chapter to dive into the work of prominent Canadian conservative writers and thinkers. It's really an incredibly fascinating work of political history and especially poignant with the upcoming election for the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Probably after this I will read Europe Transformed 1878-1919 by Norman Stone, which goes into the various political transformations occurring in Europe at the time. It would be a good tie into my recent reading of Reform or Revolution by Rosa Luxemburg (1898).

Finally polished off Arguing About Slavery, which did come around to a lot more procedural history and debates in the back half. It's really good. The book also doubles at times as a mid-Nineties time capsule with a fair number of asides to then-contemporary politics. The prose in general has this odd sort of fatherly tone to it which I find annoying in other writers, but he does it well.

Followed that up with a novel that could not have read more like a comic if it tried. I'm not sure it was good, but damn it was fun.

Have been reading eighteenth-century British North American newspapers for a research project on eighteenth century belief. Does anyone have any suggestions for monographs on eighteenth century journalism/newsprint/printers? I have read a lot on religion and belief, but I wont turn away those suggestions either :)