The Gooner Forum

QuartzGooner wrote:

Just read "Does your Rabbi Know You're Here?" by Anthony Clavane.

It is a history of Jews in English football.
Might seem an obscure subject but it is superbly written.

Features a lot about Arsenal and the rivalry with Spurs, not always what one might expect.
In the 1930's the Spurs board flew a Swastika flag above White Hart Lane, whilst on the contrary Herbert Chapman participated in Jewish charities and the Arsenal board would use the match day programme to wish Jewish fans a Happy New Year on Rosh Hashona, though it does point out a crude remark by Dennis Hill-Wood.

Fascinating read for me, and I think too for most people into football, because it contains a potted social history of English football as well as insight into how the game has developed on the field, plus some great anecdotes.

Anyone with even a limited knowledge of our history knows we've historically had a Jewish following. One of the reasons why I find our use of the "Y" word as an insult to the vermin a bit lame is that we have as many and (given us being a far larger club than the bus stop in Wood Green) probably more Jewish fans than them.

There was a book that came out recently about football between the world wars. Anyone know the title? That's about all I can remember of it.

Niall Quinn autobiography is a very good read, plenty of Tuesday Club stories and funny memories of his time at Arsenal and with Ireland. Suprisingly well written, one of the best football books I've read and available on play.com and similar for just a couple of quid.

I am the secret footballer.

Decent read, 'lifts the lid' (you gotta love that phrase) on the secrets inside the beautiful game. GUFFAW

I managed to read it on a return flight and it is very interesting, as I have not spent thirty years in the game.

Managers, players , tactics, money, agents, motives and experiences written by a PL Player.

Battleship Bismarck: A Survivor's Story by Baron Von Mullenheim-Rechberg.

If you are into military history it's a must read. Written by (then) Gunnery Lieutenant Mullenheim-Rechberg, one of the few officers to survive the sinking of the great battleship.

Hit by over 2000 shells and still wouldn't sink, she was eventually done for by a combination of scuttling by the crew and torpedo strikes from British destroyers.

officepest wrote:Battleship Bismarck: A Survivor's Story by Baron Von Mullenheim-Rechberg.

If you are into military history it's a must read. Written by (then) Gunnery Lieutenant Mullenheim-Rechberg, one of the few officers to survive the sinking of the great battleship.

Hit by over 2000 shells and still wouldn't sink, she was eventually done for by a combination of scuttling by the crew and torpedo strikes from British destroyers.

Avid reader of military history so will check this out. I recommend "Gallipoli" by LA Carlyon. It gives the ANZAC view of the disaster of Gallipoli but restrains from the usual pommie bashing that alot of Gallipoli histories tend towards. It's very well written and you get a real sense for both the common soldier and the military leadership of that era. The bit where he describes the big British Naval guns firing across the peninsula at targets miles away is fantastic.

Just finished Chris Kyle's "American Sniper". Fascinating read, but he comes across as a bit of a redneck America-can-do-no-wrong right wing kind of guy. Ironically after surviving the bloodsplattered battles for Fallujah, Sadr City and Ramadi as a SEAL sniper in Iraq he was shot dead by a fellow veteran at a gun range after he retired.

DB10GOONER wrote:

officepest wrote:Battleship Bismarck: A Survivor's Story by Baron Von Mullenheim-Rechberg.

If you are into military history it's a must read. Written by (then) Gunnery Lieutenant Mullenheim-Rechberg, one of the few officers to survive the sinking of the great battleship.

Hit by over 2000 shells and still wouldn't sink, she was eventually done for by a combination of scuttling by the crew and torpedo strikes from British destroyers.

Avid reader of military history so will check this out. I recommend "Gallipoli" by LA Carlyon. It gives the ANZAC view of the disaster of Gallipoli but restrains from the usual pommie bashing that alot of Gallipoli histories tend towards. It's very well written and you get a real sense for both the common soldier and the military leadership of that era. The bit where he describes the big British Naval guns firing across the peninsula at targets miles away is fantastic.

Just finished Chris Kyle's "American Sniper". Fascinating read, but he comes across as a bit of a redneck America-can-do-no-wrong right wing kind of guy. Ironically after surviving the bloodsplattered battles for Fallujah, Sadr City and Ramadi as a SEAL sniper in Iraq he was shot dead by a fellow veteran at a gun range after he retired.

Well as the saying goes - you live by the sword, you die by the sword eh ?

Just been to Gallipoli. There is a preserved Turkish minesweeper in a museum in Canakkale where they talk you through the naval bombardments. You can see most of the geography from the boat. It must have been absolutely terrifying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX7V6FAoTLc

DB10GOONER wrote:

officepest wrote:Battleship Bismarck: A Survivor's Story by Baron Von Mullenheim-Rechberg.

If you are into military history it's a must read. Written by (then) Gunnery Lieutenant Mullenheim-Rechberg, one of the few officers to survive the sinking of the great battleship.

Hit by over 2000 shells and still wouldn't sink, she was eventually done for by a combination of scuttling by the crew and torpedo strikes from British destroyers.

Avid reader of military history so will check this out. I recommend "Gallipoli" by LA Carlyon. It gives the ANZAC view of the disaster of Gallipoli but restrains from the usual pommie bashing that alot of Gallipoli histories tend towards. It's very well written and you get a real sense for both the common soldier and the military leadership of that era. The bit where he describes the big British Naval guns firing across the peninsula at targets miles away is fantastic.

Just finished Chris Kyle's "American Sniper". Fascinating read, but he comes across as a bit of a redneck America-can-do-no-wrong right wing kind of guy. Ironically after surviving the bloodsplattered battles for Fallujah, Sadr City and Ramadi as a SEAL sniper in Iraq he was shot dead by a fellow veteran at a gun range after he retired.

John Keegan's The First Wrold War and The Second World War are both good reads too if you'd like a fairly broad understanding of each conflict. Also, Inside The Third Reich by Albert Speer (Hitler's armaments minister) gives a proper insight into the crazy workings of the Nazi Party from someone inside the inner circle. Still not sure how he avoided the noose at Nuremberg.

Galipoli was just horrendous, Ill advised as the equipment was just not up to scratch to bring in enough troops without the Turkish guns having a field day. So many ANZAC, as well as British, Commonwealth and Turkish soldiers sacrificed on an altar of hubris.

I have seen a doc on the sniper you mention. He was a mentor for the bloke he was shot by IIRC, he had severe PTSD.

officepest wrote:

DB10GOONER wrote:

officepest wrote:Battleship Bismarck: A Survivor's Story by Baron Von Mullenheim-Rechberg.

If you are into military history it's a must read. Written by (then) Gunnery Lieutenant Mullenheim-Rechberg, one of the few officers to survive the sinking of the great battleship.

Hit by over 2000 shells and still wouldn't sink, she was eventually done for by a combination of scuttling by the crew and torpedo strikes from British destroyers.

Avid reader of military history so will check this out. I recommend "Gallipoli" by LA Carlyon. It gives the ANZAC view of the disaster of Gallipoli but restrains from the usual pommie bashing that alot of Gallipoli histories tend towards. It's very well written and you get a real sense for both the common soldier and the military leadership of that era. The bit where he describes the big British Naval guns firing across the peninsula at targets miles away is fantastic.

Just finished Chris Kyle's "American Sniper". Fascinating read, but he comes across as a bit of a redneck America-can-do-no-wrong right wing kind of guy. Ironically after surviving the bloodsplattered battles for Fallujah, Sadr City and Ramadi as a SEAL sniper in Iraq he was shot dead by a fellow veteran at a gun range after he retired.

John Keegan's The First Wrold War and The Second World War are both good reads too if you'd like a fairly broad understanding of each conflict. Also, Inside The Third Reich by Albert Speer (Hitler's armaments minister) gives a proper insight into the crazy workings of the Nazi Party from someone inside the inner circle. Still not sure how he avoided the noose at Nuremberg.

Galipoli was just horrendous, Ill advised as the equipment was just not up to scratch to bring in enough troops without the Turkish guns having a field day. So many ANZAC, as well as British, Commonwealth and Turkish soldiers sacrificed on an altar of hubris.

I have seen a doc on the sniper you mention. He was a mentor for the bloke he was shot by IIRC, he had severe PTSD.

Correct. He mentored GWOT vets with PTSD through firearms therapy. They'd bring the vet to a gun range and get him to shoot a lot of targets to bring him out of himself or some such shit. And the last guy turned the gun on him and his mate and then himself.

I got about 150 odd pages into Theirry Henry: lonely at the top and I gave up because I got sick of Philippe Auclair's rambling on and on and going off on points adjacent to what he was originally going on about.

Shame because I was looking forward to reading about King Henry.

I'm now reading a crime/horror book called the Surrogate (not for the faint of heart).

Just finished 'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovic' by Solzhenitsyn; was hailed as a classic so I thought I'd go for it: decent read but far too much time was spent describing the workings of prisoners in every minute detail.

'House of the Dead' by Dostoyevsky was vastly superior and is of similar subject matter - however, we're talking about the genius that was Dostoyevsky so perhaps it's unfair to compare the two.

VAVAVOOM 14 wrote:Just finished 'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovic' by Solzhenitsyn; was hailed as a classic so I thought I'd go for it: decent read but far too much time was spent describing the workings of prisoners in every minute detail.

'House of the Dead' by Dostoyevsky was vastly superior and is of similar subject matter - however, we're talking about the genius that was Dostoyevsky so perhaps it's unfair to compare the two.

I'd steer clear of anything by Easton-Ellis then, he is exceptionally adept at this sort of thing.

DB10GOONER wrote:Just finished Chris Kyle's "American Sniper". Fascinating read, but he comes across as a bit of a redneck America-can-do-no-wrong right wing kind of guy. Ironically after surviving the bloodsplattered battles for Fallujah, Sadr City and Ramadi as a SEAL sniper in Iraq he was shot dead by a fellow veteran at a gun range after he retired.

Think this is currently getting the Hollywood treatment.

More films should contain the word 'American' in the title, simply not enough of them around.

officepest wrote:

DB10GOONER wrote:Just finished Chris Kyle's "American Sniper". Fascinating read, but he comes across as a bit of a redneck America-can-do-no-wrong right wing kind of guy. Ironically after surviving the bloodsplattered battles for Fallujah, Sadr City and Ramadi as a SEAL sniper in Iraq he was shot dead by a fellow veteran at a gun range after he retired.

Think this is currently getting the Hollywood treatment.

More films should contain the word 'American' in the title, simply not enough of them around.

Personally I don't think there's enough films with the words "cum" "guzzling" "teen" "bimbo" in the title.