Currently Reading
Dampier's account of his meandering voyage around the world, more often than not employed as a buccaneer (he was later recruited to lead a naval expedition, but could shake off his piratical ways).
This might end up being a slow read, not because it's not interesting, but because of the format. Nevertheless, I'm giving it a go and it is a ripping yarn.
This edition has been sat unread on my shelves since I bought it on publication - I'm shocked to find that was back in 1998! A cautionary tale...
J D Davies, Kings of the Sea: Charles II, James II and the Royal Navy
Michael Moorcock, Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles
Finished Reading
As I said last month, this study of Charles and James's naval policies is one I've been looking forward to reading for some time. And it was worth it. It really is an excellent, well-written book, not in the least bit dry.
I've not read any Michael Moorcock and thought that a Doctor Who book by him might be a way in. Perhaps my lack of a grounding in his other works was an issue, as apparently he's liberally mixed his own multiverse into the Doctor Who setting. Given his reputation, I kept expecting something clever or interesting, and was quite disappointed when it was neither. A rather dodgy pastiche of PG Wodehouse didn't help (if I want poor Wodehouse parody, he wrote enough himself...).
I was reading Stalingrad by Beevor but sort of stalled. I've also started Dune Messiah (and I'm not sure that I have ever read it before, despite knowing that I've previously owned a copy). And I've also got 'The Guns of Autumn' sat on the bedside table accusingly.
ReplyDeleteNavy stuff might be a new direction in 2022...
I've got a couple of Beevor's books and mean to read them, but haven't got that far. My problme with the Dune books is that it's so long ago I'm not sure which ones I've read. I *know* I haven't read them all, and those I have were probably out of sequence. I'll prob end up going to see the new movie version in the next week or so on the basis that a night in the cinema is better than a night in the pub...
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