Comments on: Official historians behaving badly http://airminded.org/2009/04/29/official-historians-behaving-badly/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=official-historians-behaving-badly Airpower and British society, 1908-1941 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:36:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Ross http://airminded.org/2009/04/29/official-historians-behaving-badly/comment-page-1/#comment-142745 Ross Mon, 31 May 2010 11:51:43 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=1585#comment-142745 It 'is'. It 'is'.

]]> By: Brett Holman http://airminded.org/2009/04/29/official-historians-behaving-badly/comment-page-1/#comment-142743 Brett Holman Mon, 31 May 2010 11:47:45 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=1585#comment-142743 Sounds 'good'. Sounds 'good'.

]]> By: Ross http://airminded.org/2009/04/29/official-historians-behaving-badly/comment-page-1/#comment-142547 Ross Fri, 28 May 2010 12:42:40 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=1585#comment-142547 Brett I would say Winter's work is 'interesting' Brett I would say Winter's work is 'interesting'

]]> By: Brett Holman http://airminded.org/2009/04/29/official-historians-behaving-badly/comment-page-1/#comment-142546 Brett Holman Fri, 28 May 2010 12:34:45 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=1585#comment-142546 Is that interesting or 'interesting'? :) Is that interesting or 'interesting'? :)

]]> By: robin prior http://airminded.org/2009/04/29/official-historians-behaving-badly/comment-page-1/#comment-142508 robin prior Fri, 28 May 2010 00:42:13 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=1585#comment-142508 I'm sure you are right Brett. The problem for historians is that we have no concrete evidence of this sort of thing. We can speculate but if this is taken too far the story can lose all credibility. In short, we have to work with what we have. For a book that tries to work with what it doesn't have look at Denis Winter's Haig's Command. In that book he attempts to construct a narrative from the documents that are not in the archives. The result is interesting. I'm sure you are right Brett. The problem for historians is that we have no concrete evidence of this sort of thing. We can speculate but if this is taken too far the story can lose all credibility. In short, we have to work with what we have. For a book that tries to work with what it doesn't have look at Denis Winter's Haig's Command. In that book he attempts to construct a narrative from the documents that are not in the archives. The result is interesting.

]]> By: Brett Holman http://airminded.org/2009/04/29/official-historians-behaving-badly/comment-page-1/#comment-140884 Brett Holman Sat, 22 May 2010 11:16:24 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=1585#comment-140884 No worries, Robin, it's a very good book. And thanks for commenting. Of course, verbal orders aren't worth anything in terms of assigning blame when things go wrong, but that's precisely why they might be used in such a case. And armies don't solely rely on written orders, most obviously at the tactical end. Isn't is possible that as historians we are vulnerable due to our reliance on the written word here? No worries, Robin, it's a very good book. And thanks for commenting. Of course, verbal orders aren't worth anything in terms of assigning blame when things go wrong, but that's precisely why they might be used in such a case. And armies don't solely rely on written orders, most obviously at the tactical end. Isn't is possible that as historians we are vulnerable due to our reliance on the written word here?

]]> By: robin prior http://airminded.org/2009/04/29/official-historians-behaving-badly/comment-page-1/#comment-140698 robin prior Sat, 22 May 2010 01:32:36 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=1585#comment-140698 Thanks for the largely positive comments on my book. If you want more on tea drinking see my Suvla Bay Tea Party published in 1985(so I was ahead of the pack on that one) in the Journal of the Australian War Memorial. As for verbal orders - they aren't worth the paper thery'e not written on. Thanks for the largely positive comments on my book. If you want more on tea drinking see my Suvla Bay Tea Party published in 1985(so I was ahead of the pack on that one) in the Journal of the Australian War Memorial. As for verbal orders - they aren't worth the paper thery'e not written on.

]]> By: Jakob http://airminded.org/2009/04/29/official-historians-behaving-badly/comment-page-1/#comment-105482 Jakob Fri, 15 May 2009 11:27:30 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=1585#comment-105482 IIRC, CNA had OCD-delightingly complex supply and logistics rules; one of these was that Italian units had higher water requirements that the Germans, ostensibly because they needed the extra amounts to boil their pasta in... I've never played (or even seen) the game, but have seen the rule used as an example of entertaining if barking chrome. IIRC, CNA had OCD-delightingly complex supply and logistics rules; one of these was that Italian units had higher water requirements that the Germans, ostensibly because they needed the extra amounts to boil their pasta in...

I've never played (or even seen) the game, but have seen the rule used as an example of entertaining if barking chrome.

]]> By: Brett Holman http://airminded.org/2009/04/29/official-historians-behaving-badly/comment-page-1/#comment-105442 Brett Holman Thu, 14 May 2009 13:41:18 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=1585#comment-105442 Okay, you'll have to remind me in more detail! Okay, you'll have to remind me in more detail!

]]> By: Alan Allport http://airminded.org/2009/04/29/official-historians-behaving-badly/comment-page-1/#comment-105071 Alan Allport Wed, 06 May 2009 12:14:07 +0000 http://airminded.org/?p=1585#comment-105071 All this talk of tea compels me to remind everyone of <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4815" rel="nofollow">Campaign for North Africa</a> and its water-for-pasta chrome rule. All this talk of tea compels me to remind everyone of Campaign for North Africa and its water-for-pasta chrome rule.

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