Band of Brothers

Today I was very happy to see a Band of Brothers marathon in progress on Spike. BoB is one of my favorite World War Two series as it is very historically accurate and enertaining. For those of you who have been living in a cave the past few years let me enlighten you about the marvel that is Band of Brothers. The series follows the actions of the famed Easy Company of the 506th PIR 101st airborne division. The first episode takes place during the training period and the show progressed through D-day, Market Garden, Germany etc. It is a well made show and you will no doubt become attached to the characters. It focused mainly on Richard Winters, a charismatic, able, and tactically sound commander who led the infamous attack on a German battery at Brecourt Manor. The assault on Brecourt is often cited as a prime example of sound tactics regarding assaulting a larger, well defended enemy site. Definitely check out the series, and see if the marathon continues tomorrow!

-Gustav

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays all! Hope you all have a safe and fun filled day! Enjoy the food, fun and family! Also, try and catch A Christmas Story on tbs if you're a fan!

-Gustav

Some Holiday Cheer

In the spirit of Christmas, whether you believe in the traditional religous tale or not, I'm going to post a link to the annual History Channel site featuring various facts and stories about the best holiday of the year. Some of the stories are quite intriguing and worth a read. So, if you're bored these few days before our beloved holiday, take the time and learn a bit more about December 25th.
http://www.history.com/topics/christmas


-Happy Holidays, Gustav

P.S. There are multiple videos that are very well done!

Soldat

I just finished one of my favorite books the second time through and it was well worth another read. The book I speak of is called "Soldat." It is a true story that chronicles the experiences of a young, promising German soldier rising up in the ranks during WW2. It is an exceptional book that really gives an inside look of the Nazi war machine and a unique view of what the war looked like through the lead character, Siegfried's, eyes. Siegfried fights on a variety of fronts, is injured a multitude of times, and towards the end of the war he has access to Hitler's bunker. If you are at all interested in WW2, go pick up this book for a great read.

-Gustav

Dictator Down

Sometime in the last few days, Kim Jong Il, the notorious dictator of North Korea, passed away from reported heart conditions. With the level of censorship and secrecy coming out of N. Korea, who knows if this is the case. Sure, I beleive he is deader than a doornail, the only speculation is from what. Regardless, this means a new era for Korea and possible the rest of the world. Under Il, North Korea was unavailable to the rest of the world. Only a few weeks ago were we exposed to typical tv programming in the country via a website of someone living there. It is possible however unlikely that Il's son will be more of a progressive leader. Someone who cares more about the people and positively interacting with foreign countries. It would be a welcome change. I would like to share a joke that has been going around the web because it made me chuckle, maybe its not that funny but here it goes: "Did you hear the dictator from North Korea died?" "No, I didn't know he was Ill!"

I enjoyed it. :)

-Gustav

Battles B.C.

Hello all, recently I've been watching a pretty good history channel series called Battles B.C. I've found it to be very enertaining and historically accurate, although some assumptions are made about some biblical campaigns. The series basically chooses one famous military leader to cover each episode and they range from Hannibal, to Caesar, to Moses. Moses, you may ask? The way they look at the bible is through a military standpoint, and they actually do a good job exploring some of the early Israeli campaigns. For devout Christians, some of the brutality of the Israeli commander may come as a shock, but it is still worth a watch. If you haven't seen this show, I would reccomend it highly and it can be found in the History Channel shop. It has been well worth the money.

-Gustav

Inaugarul Address

Hello everyone and welcome to the History Hobbyist! I hope you enjoy this blog as much as I'm going to and I'd bet that you will if you share my same passion: history. I'm particularly interested in Military History with my favorite "genre" being WW2 era battles/campaigns. That being said, I do read and enjoy all types of history and I will be talking about various things I come across or things that I think you will find interesting. Look for my first real post in the next day or so. Until then, check out this article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16073654

God bless everyone who died that day, and may we never forget Pearl Harbor.

-Gustav