ieuan

One of my favourite books is 'Defeat Into Victory' by Viscount Field Marshal William Slim. Slim writes a vivid and detailed account of his experiences in the Burma campaigns of 1942 - 1945. He experienced the bitterness of defeat from a rabid enemy, the Japanese, and from that experience grew stronger and wiser and turned the tables against them by good soldiering and strong generalship.

He never forgot his roots as a soldier and always said that his sucess rested on the British soldier, Chinese, American, Indian and other colonial troops including the Aztecs in his army. 14th army came out of WW2 as a heroic army, alway the last to get modern equipment' these being reserved for the Europe theater of war, and known eventually as the forgotten army. He solved the problem of massive shortages of silk for parachutes for instance by illicitating the cooperation of private Indian companies to devlop and manufacture parachutes from jute. These jute parachutes were far too unreliable for men, but for equipment became a war winner. Supplies of food and sturdy equipment were dropped throughout Slim's campaigns by jute parachutes. He used this inventivenss in all aspects of his war with the Japanese and in doing so became a great general.

Slim was an Englishman, from Manchester and in my opinion a greater general even than his peer Viscount Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery. He had none of the negatiove characteristic of 'Monty', and was a popular figure in public aswel as in his private life. Slim exhibited all the greatness of the best of the English speaking peoples.

His book may be too detailed for some and cannot be called light reading, it is factual throughout, some may say too much so, sometimes sounding very much like the official accounts issued by the War office in the UK, but his detailed accounts of numbers, regiment, divisions with all their commanders is his generous spirit showing through in giving the credit to the men who actually fought in Burma.

I can recomment this book to anyone interested in WW2 history, or anyone who wishes to understand greatness in men under emmense hardship in war.

Paperback reprints available, and original editions available from the large 2nd hand booksellers in the UK and USA, google it and you get a huge response.

regards


Ieaun

ArlenOrobono

Just a little note, the theory isn't that we evolved -from- monkeys, it's that monkeys and humans share a common ancestor. I know, easy mistake ^.~.
And.. How do you figure on the carbon dating? Carbon dating tests carbon atoms for decay, something that happens in a measurable amount of time, and according to how much of the atom is actually still intact, assigns an age to it. How are there any mathematics attributed to a mythical flood? >.o

Anywhooo..
My girlfriend is in love with that book, and both of its sequels . She's been trying to get me to read it.

My personal favorite books areeee...
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams^.~, Foundation and Earth by Isaac Asimov, and The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

Snakes & Ladders

Catch-22..or Blood Meridian

Its hard to choose...I don't have a favorite non-fiction

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Malone

Mmm...Hitchhikers. Absolutely wonderful. I have the complete works in one big book, and some of them do drag on a bit, but most are inspired and hilarious.

ArlenOrobono

I have them all in one as well. I'm only a tad disappointed of the impression the movie gave everyone who hasn't read them. -Shakes head.-

One_Who_Writes_Fantasy

Yes, definitely Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. New Moon and Eclipse are the same. They are all amazing books! I'm still waiting for Midnight Sun to come out though.

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Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~ Anton Chekhov

JessicaVendetta

The Memory Room by Mary Rakow.

Her first Novel and a master-piece. I'd kill to go to her literature classes.

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There is no place I can go, there is no place I can hide. It feels like it keeps coming from the inside.

Mishki

Hindus and Buddhists?

For my favorite book, it's a toss-up between Till We Have Faces and Watership Down, I think. I love pretty much everything by Philippa Gregory and Ray Bradbury, too.

ETA - and Lord Jim, by Joseph Conrad. Definitely my favorite of the classics.

MerryLlama

hee hee loved the bible debate!

anyways its really hard to pin down my fave book since each time i read a book it becomes my new favourite...
I loved Hitchhikers for it randomness, eragon/eldest for fantasy and lord of the rings for a trilogy.

I don't really have a fave non fiction (i haven't read the bible) i tend to prefer fantasy

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The glass is neither half full nor half empty... it's twice as big as it needs to be.

Sam Winchester

Favourite book, or best book you've read? There's a difference, however small. My favourite all time book is Blackout by John J. Nance. The best book I've ever read is: Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy. Both of them are exceptional, in any case.

kaseyisrad

Mhm! Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. New Moon, and Eclipse of course. I also like;
Impulse by Ellen Hopkins
Street Pharm by Allison van Diepen
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Maybe I have to many favorites. lmao

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lemonavenue

I have a finicky taste in books and as a consequence I haven't read as much as some people, although I still have favorites. I'm not sure I can choose a favorite book in fiction, but here are my top picks in no particular order.

1. Animal Farm
2. Ender's Game
3. Slaughter House Five
4. Small Gods
5. The Martian Chronicles
6. I, Robot

I've got to stop the list there, because I could go on. But for nonfiction it's no contenst.

Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury

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Mike & the Bots
Making fun of my bad posts since 2/14/08.

chimchimski

It's a toss up, I honestly can't choose.

The Silence of The Lambs~Thomas Harris
Silent Witness~Richard North Patterson
Beach Music~Pat Conroy

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~Robin~


~Chimmy Has A Brand New Bag~

CodeRed

I can't play favourites, but I am consistently fascinated by 'Red Azalea' by Anchee Min. This is because she attempted to write her autobiography several times in her native Mandarin, but only succeeded after learning a new language, namely English.

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All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients. Ralph Waldo Emerson

FantasyWitch

Fiction for me is... Lord of the Rings, my all time favourite book. Not because of its cult-like fan base, or the fact it is fantabulous (its my word, don't take it away from me!) but because at 9 years old I picked it up and asked my dad to help me read it. It was the one book I can continually read over and over and over again and get something richer from it each time.

Non-fiction... hmm I don't know... I'm not big on non fiction.

But perhaps 'The Wiccan Bible.' Mainly because it is great for me to experiment with and it has a good herb guide and crystal uses.