George Rebane
This is a heads-up on a good read – 2034 – A Novel of the Next World War that will be published in early March. It is written by two military and national security heavyweights – Elliot Ackerman and Adm James Stavridis, both ranking high in our national security apparatus; Ackerman in the White House and Stavridis former CIC of our Southern Command and then head of NATO military. The first part of the novel took up the entire Jan 2021 issue of Wired. I started reading it, and it immediately grabbed me. I’m a kinda finicky reader, especially fiction, reserving time only for geo-political and edge sci-fi written by people who’ve 'been there and done that' – ‘2034’ definitely qualifies and promises to also be an education on a lot of systems and tactics. Anyway, I thought that you would find this a good and timely read. Here’s some promotional copy – “From two former military officers and award-winning authors, a chillingly authentic, geopolitical thriller that imagines a naval clash between the US and China in the South China Sea in 2034--and the path from there to a nightmarish global conflagration.”
I sent the above notice to a group of friends who may be interested in geo-political thrillers with technical element that is written by knowledgeable authors. Since then, the book has received some very good reviews from noteworthy people. (more here and here)
“War with China is the most dangerous scenario facing us and the world. Absent a strategic method to manage our differences, Jim Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman’s chilling novel presents a realistic series of miscalculations leading to the worst consequences. A sobering, cautionary tale for our time.” — Jim Mattis, General, U.S. Marines (Ret.) and 26th Secretary of Defense
“A real page-turner, 2034 is a novel about a conflict we hope never happens. Drawing on their deep operational and diplomatic backgrounds, Admiral Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman have conjured a nightmare we desperately need to avoid. The novel is a cautionary tale for our times, and a reminder how quickly events can spin out of control—even before 2034.” — Robert M. Gates, Secretary of Defense 2006-2011
Scattershots - 5sep19
Trip report. We’re now on the Rhine heading for Koblenz to view some historical fortifications. On this trip we landed in Munich, and drove to Bad Worishofen for a big reunion with four German families we have known and visited for decades, and ate ourselves silly at different places in the foothills of the Alps. Very interesting was that no one wanted to talk politics very much - a staple of German conversation. Then we drove to Basel through Austria and Switzerland to catch our Viking river longship. The trip down the Rhine has been wonderful, especially the tour of the actual battlegrounds of the little known Colmar salient (contemporaneously fought with the Battle of the Bulge and the campaign made famous by Audie Murphy). The daylong walking tour of Strasbourg was almost a reminder of the march up the Bataan peninsula. We’re again traveling with friends with whom we done this before. So far we’ve been through four countries and will add Holland before coming home.
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