n cherry Posted 19 December , 2005 Author Share Posted 19 December , 2005 Would Amazon be listing and recommending a book which has never been written? Who were the publishers intended to be? Tom, The publisher is or might be Spellmount. Amazon i guess rely on info from publishers...so perhaps rubbish in rubbish out comes to mind.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinWills Posted 19 December , 2005 Share Posted 19 December , 2005 A month or two ago a radio programme covered a number of "Books that never were" which were still advetised on Amazon. It's perhaps more common than you might think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthergw Posted 19 December , 2005 Share Posted 19 December , 2005 Niall and Martin thanks for the info. I am shocked and horrified. Well, it has been a quiet day here. I suppose that I have been guilty of believing the equivalent of a publisher's blurb. Silly me. I am disappointed since I am interested in Loos in all its aspects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moriaty Posted 5 April , 2006 Share Posted 5 April , 2006 Gordon Corrigan's book, Loos 1915 The Unwanted Battle, is now published by Spellmount, 174pp, 16pp of photos, plus maps, priced £18.99, available now via Amazon. There was a copy on sale at the NAM when Major Corrigan gave his Loos talk. The book has joined my (very large) to read pile. Moriaty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthergw Posted 5 April , 2006 Share Posted 5 April , 2006 Niall and Martin thanks for the info. I am shocked and horrified. Well, it has been a quiet day here. I suppose that I have been guilty of believing the equivalent of a publisher's blurb. Silly me. I am disappointed since I am interested in Loos in all its aspects. Book came from Amazon last week. Have given it a quick skim . Spotted a couple of bloopers. May go back and read it one day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andigger Posted 5 April , 2006 Share Posted 5 April , 2006 What type of bloopers? Editing errors or factual errors? After the last disaster I read which had factual errors and editing errors I am less lenient with those who don't take the time to even catch the obvious. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 5 April , 2006 Share Posted 5 April , 2006 I'm currently halfway through Niall's own book on the subject. Masterly. I don't think I'll need another Loos read. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrel Posted 5 April , 2006 Share Posted 5 April , 2006 John, I'm of the same opinion although I am intirgued as to what Corrigan's book will be like...........might be tempted when the price goes down a bit. Naill's book is quite superb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthergw Posted 5 April , 2006 Share Posted 5 April , 2006 What type of bloopers? Editing errors or factual errors? After the last disaster I read which had factual errors and editing errors I am less lenient with those who don't take the time to even catch the obvious. Andy To put you more in the picture. I do not have time to read the book at this time but I was anxious to know whether it was worth waiting for. I turned to a part of the book which dealt with a part of the battle I am acquainted with to see how he dealt with it. In a matter of 4 or 5 pages, I came across two errors which could well be printer's errors. Uncut wire instead of cut wire and 26 for 28 . Both of these make nonsense of the passage they occur in. 26 for 28 had me reading it about three times before I realised what had happened. I cannot give an in depth review as I have only skimmed the book overall and read about 10 pages properly. I have seen no new facts and the narrative does not seem to carry any surprises. I shall not be rushing to read it. I think that if you have Niall Cherry's book you don't need this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Moretti Posted 7 May , 2006 Share Posted 7 May , 2006 Nice to see it's out at last. I might actually give it a go. Okay, it's a polemic and it might well contain stuffups, but it's worth it to me to have another view on things, which I can digest easily besides all the study I have to do. I'll get around to Niall's masterpiece in due course; in the meantime, I've an interstate conference to go to soon, and the Corrigan book looks like a good easy read for the flight and all the trains and air terminal 'downtime' either side of it. Then it can go on my shelf to block out my view of Alan Clark's abomination. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmac Posted 8 May , 2006 Share Posted 8 May , 2006 A quick comment on Amazon's listings of books that have never appeared. My late brother had been working on a large book about animal myths and legends but sadly died in 2003 before he had finished. Indeed he had been struggling with it for several years and it was already late. I note with some bemusement therefore that Amazon still has: Birds, Beast and Fishes ~Ian MacDonald Jonathan Cape Hardcover - December 31, 1999 Usually dispatched within 4 to 6 weeks Our Price: £35.00 I'm afraid the wait will be a tad longer than 4-6 weeks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FAAAEd Posted 8 May , 2006 Share Posted 8 May , 2006 Nice to see it's out at last. Corrigan's book on Loos has turned up in the latest Military & Aviation Book Society Bulletin, May 2006, as has his 'Blood Sweat and Arrogance'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Moretti Posted 15 May , 2006 Share Posted 15 May , 2006 And yet, after all that I went and found it (in "Readers' Feast" in Melbourne), when I had a look inside, it was a bitter disappointment and I didn't end up buying it. I felt that "MB&P" struck a nice blended compromise between casual polemic and delivery of facts, and that's why I still think it's a damn entertaining read. But this was either bland facts in row after row of tightly packed text (MB&P was much better spaced) or straight-out careless language (calling lies 'porky-pies' seems out of place in a footnoted work, which ought IMO to be aspiring to a higher level of written English). I felt I could get just as much out of any other book on Loos, and that if I want to read about how the Brits were taken for a ride, manipulated, compelled and generally directed to draw the short straw by their French 'allies', I can go read Neillands' "Great War Generals...". The tight packing of the text seemed to me to be the mark of a publisher who was trying very hard to wring all the profit they could out of the book and wanted to reduce the number of pages to a minimum (or was compelling Corrigan to do likewise). Something seemed lacking in quality and presentation, and that does not bode well in my mind for content... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxy Posted 5 June , 2006 Share Posted 5 June , 2006 Well, I've just finished it. I like Corrigan's writing style and found it an enjoyable read, although I completely agree with Justin that the text is far more closely spaced than M,B & P which is annoying. I was also rather surprised to read 'porky-pies'! Whilst I am certain that Pals more familiar with the battle than I will/may find factual errors, I was disappointed that the printers could never decide whether or not a regiment was, for example, 'The Cameron Highlander' or 'the Cameron Highlanders'. However, the 'light blue' (they were actually still 'brown jobs' at the time: forgive me) got more of a mention than in other books of this battle. Overall, if it encourages more interest in the battle then it cannot be a bad thing. Moreover, this book would be a useful stepping stone to Niall Cherry's tour de force - Most Unfavourable Ground. Roxy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n cherry Posted 8 June , 2006 Author Share Posted 8 June , 2006 Just to add: often a publsiher wants a maximum number of words and for example three publishers all said they would like to do Most Unfavourable Ground but it would have to be no more than 80,000 or 100,000 words. Helion stipulated no limit on the words which is why the book is about 165,000 words. I'm waiting to get a copy of the Corrigan book..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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