Une vie francaise, Dereliction of Duty, History of War

I read Une vie francaise, a picaresque novel written by Jean-Paul Dubois, a reporter at France's L'express. It is a rocking good novel, I have to say, and one of the few novels with scenes of family such as I once knew them, in my youth: political discussions which include raised voices, all sorts of unspoken undercurrents, surprises all round. I loved it. Then there was a fairly routine book on the failures that led the US to the Vietnam War, Dereliction of Duty by H.R. McMaster. It was a quick, easy read. Hans Delbruck's History of Warfare numbered almost 2000 pages, but it was worth it. I learned, for example, how much the British model of the army owes to Roman Antiquity, and it struck me that India used elephants as later some armies used tanks. I also had a good laugh at the lengthy excursii, the small print, much more specific and detailed parts of the book that followed the normal print of the chapters. It reminded me of Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics, that also had endless excursii. Must be a German thing. I regretted that Delbruck stopped short of the 20th century, I'd have enjoyed him. He also reminded me, in terms of the clarity and the soldier's eye-view, of John Keegan, whom he clearly influenced. All in all, a great week in reading. Battle for History is waiting for me at the university, I will only be able to retrieve it on Monday, rats! It's another Keegan, I'm most anxious to read it.