It was in fact because he fished around the terrain and area the invasion was attempted which meant he understood the area extremely well.

Why did you say this twice?

But Vietnam was fighting a defensive war, they didn't need it as justification.

Apparently no one translated that into Russian. (In the 80s or now)

Thoughts on "Work" by James Suzman?

So, I just finished this one, and I've quite enjoyed the writing as well as the compilation/contextualization of informotion, so far.

However, I would like to get some more opinions. So far, the one thing that stands out to me, is perhaps the tendency to fall back on linear progression narratives (as well as some "original affluent society" stuff in there). Is this indicative of larger problems? Or is it more of a rhetorical artifact?

Thanks.

Anyone have any good recommendations of scholarly work on the minutiae of urbanization?

I wrote up a more detailed description of my specific inquiries in this post.

But to summarize, I want any literature that delves into the human-scale, nitty-gritty, of what the process of urbanization (cities starting, developing, expanding, and reproducing) was like in various historical urbanization events.

While I'd appreciate any recs in such a purview, specific periods of interest include Indian (North as well as South) urbanization, pre-contact Americas (both agricultural and non-agricultural based urban development) and the Mediterranean (Italic/Hellenic expansions).

Thanks.

Garibaldi nods smugly

I say it's mostly due to lack of US support and the exiles making an amphibious landing with nothing but themselves

Being treated as liberators wasn't used as a 'justification' because the allied side didn't need a justification, they were fighting a defensive war to begin with. It was the Japanese who actually used the liberators line saying they were throwing out the western colonizers to create an Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. The Nazis, of course, used next to no justification. Their whole ethos was based on having the will to take what you want.

I remember being taught the fighters were waiting on not Marines, but air support. Jfk was supposed to approve some kind of aerial bombardment to go along with the invasion, but not wanting to start a war, he refused.

I wouldn't be surprised if the US planned both Marines and air support and scrapped the plan to appear uninvolved.

I thought it was pretty well understood that Kennedy thought he got played by the CIA and the joint chiefs. Both of which assured him that the plan was going to work.

I forget the exact reason why Kennedy chose to cancel the second bombing run etc. Maybe it was an attempt to obscure US involvement as publicly they were not involved whatsoever.

Either way I find it interesting that JFK no longer trusts the CIA and has an active dislike of them after the Bay of pigs, while RFK decides to go to war with organized crime. The mob and CIA have close ties, share information and actively work for years to assassinate Castro. The motivation for the mob being all the casinos and assets lost during the cuban revolution.

Makes you wonder about JFK's assassination...

That's an interesting and valuable trait to have. Any particular reason he had such a base of knowledge? I imagine it's easier to be intimately familiar with an island nation than a continental one.

No particular organisation, I just went through Goodreads and picked out my favourites from my read list.

Tommy: The British Soldier on the Western Front 1914-1918 by Richard Holmes

The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy by Adam Tooze (not the easiest read, lots of economic termoninolgy and statistics)

The Coming of the Third Reich (The History of the Third Reich, #1) Richard Evans

Peter the Great: His Life and World by Robert K. Massie

The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front 1915 - 1919 by Mark Thompson

The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer

The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land by Thomas Asbridge

Afgantsy: The Russians In Afghanistan, 1979-1989 by Rodric Braithwaite

Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War II by Keith Lowe

The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914 by Margaret MacMillan

The German War: A Nation Under Arms by Nicholas Stargardt (WWII)

A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal by Ben Macintyre

Ring of Steel: Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I by Alexander Watson

July Crisis: The World's Descent into War, Summer 1914 by T.G Otte (advanced, little background context provided and pretty much 500 pages from the assassination of Franz Ferdinand to just before Britain declares war in early August)

The Vanquished: Why the First World War Failed to End, 1917-1923 by Robert Gerwarth

The Fortress: The Great Siege of Przemysl by Alexander Watson

Statesman of Europe: A Life of Sir Edward Grey by T.G Otte (probably need a bit of knowledge of the late Victorian and Edwardian domestic and international politics though)

The Northumbrians: North-East England and its People - A New History by Dan Jackson

Blood and Iron: The Rise and Fall of the German Empire 1871–1918 by Katja Hoyer

Completely agree. Not a huge Kennedy fan (too soon?), So I'm def not defending him.

I also agree, it's bizarre how involved a president is in a clandestine operation like that. But considering how much executive power has increased to include that stuff in the last 60-70 years, it's not that surprising in retrospect. (Not a good thing tho!)

Because he died. He’s bloody Kurt Cobain or James Dean.

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Have to hand it to Che. Training, doctrine, and operations are a tremendous element of why armies succeed or fail. He may have eventually succumbed to his own ego and a need to solve problems by killing people, but he did a good job laying the foundations for the modern Cuban Armed Forces.

History of Islamic gunpowder empires like safavids?

Forgot to add, Horrible Histories!!!

Afghanistan: Afghanistan by Jonatahn A. Lee. The books provides a great overview of Afghanistan's rich history from the 15th century to the modern day.

Intelligence: The Secret World: A History of Intelligence by Christopher Andrews. It's a fantastic book that documents the history of intelligence and spy operations throughout human history! Definitely a must read.

China: The Story of China by Michael Wood traces key milestones and developments in China from the Middle Kingdom up until today. It provides an excellent overview of China's history without being dull or dreary.

Iran: America and Iran: A History, 1720 to the Present whose name is self-explanatory. I enjoyed this one as it overcomes the common, but wrong, perception many have that Washington's historic relationship of interaction with Tehran started only after the Islamic Revolution.

African history: I really recommend Martin Meredith. Specifically his books The Fortunes of Africa: A 5000-Year History of Wealth, Greed, and Endeavor and The Fate of Africa: A History of the Continent Since Independence. Toby Green's A Fistfull of Shells similarily takes the reader across West Africa's rich history, from the 15th crntury to the modern day. Also check out David Van Reybrouk's Congo: The Epic History of a People.

Andalusia + Medieval: I cannot recommend Dr. Brian Catlos enough. He is an excellent source on the topic. Definitely check out his books, specifically, Kingdoms of Faith: A New History of Islamic Spain and Infidel Kings and Unholy Warriors: Faith, Power, and Violence in the Age of Crusade and Jihad.

Latin America: Maria Arana's Bolivar: American Liberator is an excellent book on the life of one Latin America's most influential 19th century figures, Simon Bolivar. The book further explores the Bolivarian revolution, its root causes and ultimately Bolivar's downfall.

Ottomans: David Fromkin's A Peace to End All Peace, and The Last Muslim Conquest: The Ottoman Empire and Its Wars in Europe by Gàbor Àgoston. The latter provides an in depth and rich look at the Ottoman Empire's socio-economic and military history from the Empire's rise to the Siege of Vienna and beyond. Why I really loved this book was the author's tying in of pertinent events within the Ottoman Empire to those on Europe, such as the rise of the Hapsburgs. Àgoston also does a great job examining key details within the Empire, such as frontier management, intelligence, diplomacy and military structure!

Arab World: Tim Mackintosh-Smith's Arabs: A 3,000-Year History of Peoples, Tribes and Empires, and Albert Hourani's A History of the Arab Peoples. Al Jabarti's chronicle Napoleon in Egypt transports  the reader to Egypt in the 19th century, and does an excellent job at conveying the Egyptian perspective of Napleon's expedition.

Central Asia: Adeeb Khaled's Central Asia: A New History. The book does an excellent job of explaining the complex history and geopolitics of a region I don't think gets enough attention.

Native American: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown, Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne and The Earth is Weeping by Peter Cozzens. National Geographic also had a fantastic visual history book called The Old West by Stephen G. Hyslop. Also check out Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides.

WW2: Robert Paxton's Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order details the often-overlooked Vichy French government's actions and role in WW2, both within France and the wider Axis. John Gooch's Mussolini's War: Fascist Italy from Triumph to Collapse does an excellent job of looking at the rise of fascism in Italy, and its ultimate demise. The book is really well written, and definitely keeps the reader engaged.

Carthage: Richard Miles' Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization. The book is very well written and takes the reader through the origins of Carthage's founding to the peak of it's mercantile empire, and ultimately the Punic wars and the city's destruction. I found it refreshing to read about Carthage from a non-Roman perspective. Definitely check it out!

Visual History: DK Publishing's book on the US Civil War. The mix of visual and text reading really helps things settle in. Also check out their books on WW1, WW2, The History of the World Map by Map and WW2 Map by Map.

To your last point, I completely agree. They wildly overestimated anti-Castro sentiment. If it had been successful, it probably would have ended in the backup plan of having the forces retreat into the mountains to launch a gorilla campaign and would have been obvious that the US was involved. It was probably better that it failed.

Kennedy was originally on-board and then started to get concerned with keeping political distance and started making them change the plan. He should have scrapped it all together because instead he got a failure that obviously had the US behind it.

I guess I'm just always surprised how much of a role he had in the mess it was but it mostly gets attributed solely to the CIA.

Hey are you Cuban?

Best history book(s) you’ve read?

Wow, that sounds interesting, gonna learn more about this. Never thought about the idea that one could be a terrible strategist but an god tier field commander

​

Now I really want to know other military figures and distinguish them between good strategist/good field commanders or even both

I loved Stacy Schiff's prize winning Cleopatra biography, and I live in Salem and have read a bunch of trial related books, but I found her "Witches" book very dry and difficult to get through, although it did have some interesting new information regarding some of the accusers and their standing within the community, and how this related to their accusations and those they accused, and how it wasn't necessarily a simple case of accusers = villains and accused = victims. If you had already read a bunch on the trials and were looking for even more exhaustive information, I think "Witches" was worthwhile, but I wouldn't recommend it as a first book to read about the trials.

Personally my favorite book on the trials is Frances Hill's "A Delusion of Satan: The Full Story Of The Salem Witch Trials." I found this to be the best combination of a comprehensive historical overview and readability; I found this book very hard to put down, the opposite of Schiff's. After that I recommend reading "A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience" by Emerson Baker, which looks at the trials in a larger context of early American history and Puritanism.