Exceptional list! I hope to read at least “the snows of yesteryear” by the fall. May I suggest “To the Last Salute: Memories of an Austrian U-Boat Commander” which is another good WW1/post-war Austro-Hungarian empire collapse read.

FM — Have not read the Kagan, will check it out.

I have never read the “Memoirs”, but they`re supposed to be good. Personally, I wd pick up anything he´s written. Much of it must be out of print, but I raid 2nd hand book stores regularly.

Looking up R. just now on German wiki I find the “Idiot`s guide to Germany” (mid 60s) which may be fun. R. had a notably long and interesting life and career, including as a supporting actor and screenplay writer which was new to me.

Dollars on the sidewalk – best I have found yet was Kagan on Greece (Yale Open) thx to Zen. If Macfarlane is half as good it is a treasure.

I always read either journals related to my field or fiction. That’s it. I adore fiction, my house is filled with fiction books, I can’t seem to stop buying them because, well, I dunno. It’s a book buying addiction.

And. Then. The internet – Instapundit – Chicagoboyz – links from here – I find myself wanting to go to talks at the Pritzker and read about counterinsurgency! How did this happen? I don’t get it.

Oh, this looks like a good list, but I’m still in a book reading existential crisis. Which way will I go? There’s only so much time.

- Madhu (yeah, I keep experimenting with how to identify myself, which I know is a blog comment no-no, but I have a day job and real life for following rules. This is why dear Tatyana still calls me MD……

FM, the other book by Rezzori I have seen referred to is a novel called “Memoirs of an Anti-Semite”. “Snows of Yesteryear” was so good — I learned about it from Niall Ferguson — that I would like to read Memoirs. What else by him is good? Also, Macfarlane is superb. Those ebooks are the proverbial “dollar bill lying on the sidewalk”. Highest possible rating.

I read Grant’s Memoirs in college. It’s interesting to notice that the pace goes faster and faster toward the end as he was writing them to support his family after his death and he died about three days after finishing the manuscript. No presidential pensions in those days. He was dying of throat cancer as he wrote.

Churchill’s the “River War” has been widely read by the military in Iraq, just as “The Story of the Malakand Field Force” is widely read by the military in Afghanistan. Even the villages are the same. I also recommend Carlos D’Este’s new biography of Churchill, “Warlord.”

I had know idea that Gregor von Rezzori is available in English. Excellent author, though reading him (as with Roth and Zweig) somehow induces a pleasant melancholy which I regard as almost sinful.

Boyd is a glaring omission which I will soon rectify and it is “virtuous” reading.

Many Thx for pointing out Macfarlane which I will look at more closely. The E-books seem like a terrific idea and very practical.