What WW1 books are you reading?

[kenf48]

Oh dear-better polish your credit card and bid it a tearful farewell.......

 

How did I miss that?  I said the website was a bit clunky

Thanks for the heads up you must know how gratifying it is to have the complete collection

 

SWMBO 'Go on then - you know you want to'

(I think the Xmas Cake Port and Stilton loosened the purse strings)

 

Thanks again

 

Ken

PS had a £5 discount for registering my previous order

It takes ages you have to go through the discount portal but got there in the end yay!

 

[kenf48]

Defending Albion arrived today, Territorials at war last week, not disappointed 

[Gardenerbill]

Currently reading the excellent "SHEPARD'S WAR", compiled by James Campbell, it is a collection of high quality drawings and sketches by the eponymous illustrator, who served with the 105th Siege Battery and is most well known for his illustrations for the A. A. Milne children's story 'Winnie the Pooh'. The book has a biographical narrative running through it covering Shepard's time in France with his unit and as well as the drawings includes letters and extracts from his own biography. If you are looking for something a little different from the normal Great War first person accounts, then I would highly recommend this book.  

[Marilyne]

@Martin Bennitt: I have that book at home but I'm waiting until I'm done with all of our five papers that we have to write and defend for the 3rd cycle before starting any book on which I'll have to concentrate and read more than one chapter a day... that counts for "A Lab of their own", and the books about both Royaumont and Endell Street.  

Right now I've got Jonathan Hick's "The dead of Mametz wood" lined up. I heard lots of good things about that novel, so I'm looking forward to it. 

 

I spent the holiday's re-reading The Guns of August, but am now fully back at my study of Belgian Readiness Forces. 

 

M.

[Donald D]

Being jogged by my memory,after I had read a previous thread, I decided to go for George Coppard's "With a Machine Gun to Cambrai" from A*****. I was staggered by the prices. I bought a hard back second hand version for £9.98. The others on offer were new hard back for £755.62, whilst the paperback versions were, used for £105.38 and new for £941.16. Someone is making a lot of money!

[Guest]

31 minutes ago, Donald D said:

Being jogged by my memory,after I had read a previous thread, I decided to go for George Coppard's "With a Machine Gun to Cambrai" from A*****. I was staggered by the prices. I bought a hard back second hand version for £9.98. The others on offer were new hard back for £755.62, whilst the paperback versions were, used for £105.38 and new for £941.16. Someone is making a lot of money!

 

    As the Python team would have said in The Four Yorkshiremen- "You were lucky"

 

As a pretty much retired bookseller- (Old books-"dusties"- not the cr*p in Waterstones)  let me explain.

 

There are a number of bookselling sites on Tinternet-  Amazon and Advanced Book Exchange (ABE)  are the largest-both are owned by Jeff Bezos.  Booksellers may list on several systems but not all of them- So,for instance a bookseller may list on Amazon UK but not Amazon US.  Several "booksellers" make money by "gouging" the listings of, say, a UK booksellr and putting them on another site where the original bookseller does not list-Then they wait for orders and buy from the original lister-Classic middle-man operation, fraught with hazard.  The new listers always have generic descriptions- eg- this one for Coppard from another seller (I have removed the name- a US relister)

 

United States

Coppard, George With a Machine Gun to Cambrai (Cassell Military Paperbacks) Softcover, ISBN 9780304352586 Publisher: Orion Pub Co, 1999 Used - Good. A+ Customer service! Satisfaction Guaranteed! Book is in Used-Good condition. Pages and cover are clean and intact. Used items may not include supplementary materials such as CDs or access codes. May show signs of minor shelf wear and contain limited notes and highlighting. (Only £239 this one-the cheapskate)   They do not catalogue nor do they assess indvidual prices- they merely multiply-hence some of the barmier prices.   If you skip through books on ABE, you will see the same listers over and over again with the highest prices- They carry no stock in reality. If you think about it, any listing of books on the Internet is of books that are unsold- and the reason for these folks is that the prices are ludicrous. But presumably they catch enough people to make it worthwhile.   The highest price for a Coppard is way,way beyond ABE:     (Paper Cavalier are a UK based re-seller but the same idiocy of multiples of prices sometimes gives these daft results-In this example, they were listing on Amazon France.   Most real booksellers are potless!!

[A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy]

I bought my second-hand paperback version in June last year for £8.44 plus p & p. Worth every penny! There must be something very special about those offered for three figure sums, however.

 

[593jones]

I remember buying this book from the Imperial War Museum, must have been back in the '70's.  Outstanding book, I often wonder what became of my copy, I could probably get a good price for it now!

[Black Maria]

24 minutes ago, Donald D said:

Being jogged by my memory,after I had read a previous thread, I decided to go for George Coppard's "With a Machine Gun to Cambrai" from A*****. I was staggered by the prices. I bought a hard back second hand version for £9.98. The others on offer were new hard back for £755.62, whilst the paperback versions were, used for £105.38 and new for £941.16. Someone is making a lot of money!

Or not making any money at them prices  I see there are still a few cheap copies on e-bay and Abe , mainly of the original 1969 paperback edition strangely

enough . You made the right choice with the 1980 hardback as it's not only better quality but also is revised and enlarged , although i'm still fond of my well 

read x-lib 1969 edition .

[MikeyH]

My copy of "With a Machine Gun to Cambrai", was 50p from a local car boot in 2019.

Paperback edition published in 1986 by PAPERMACK.  This has an appendix, consisting

of 'letters received by the author', these date from 1970 to 1973.

 

Mike.

Edited 16 January , 2021 by MikeyH

[Resurgam13]

I think I am correct in believing that this is a rare instance where the paperback (published in 1969) is the true First Edition as the subsequent hardback edition was not issued until 1980.

[Black Maria]

41 minutes ago, Resurgam13 said:

I think I am correct in believing that this is a rare instance where the paperback (published in 1969) is the true First Edition as the subsequent hardback edition was not issued until 1980.

Yes that's right .

[squirrel]

For anyone interested the the artwork of WW1 and particularly that of Fortunino Matania, I would recommend "Illustrating Armageddon- Fortunino Matania and The First World War" by Jim Davies, Uniform Books, ISBN 9781 91269001 5. It is a well produced large book with numerous pictures of Matania's work for "The Sphere" magazine with accompanying text including Matania's descriptions of event witnessed by him on his visits to the Western Front. There are some illustrations in colour. A detailed account of Matania's life and work is included. On the expensive side but worth an internet search for the best price. I bought my copy through Amazon, selected "other sellers" and got it at a bargain price.

[Gunner Bailey]

Not strictly WW1 but am reading 'Mussolini' by Jasper Ridley. Mussolini did of course serve in the Great War and was invalided out with shrapnel woulds to the legs. It's a very detailed book and I've quite warmed to Mussolini. A far better politician and diplomat than AH. A good writer and managed to be fluent in German and French as well. 

 

Well worth the read. 

 

Published by Constable  in 1997.  ISBN 0 09476370 4

 

 

[healdav]

59 minutes ago, Gunner Bailey said:

Not strictly WW1 but am reading 'Mussolini' by Jasper Ridley. Mussolini did of course serve in the Great War and was invalided out with shrapnel woulds to the legs. It's a very detailed book and I've quite warmed to Mussolini. A far better politician and diplomat than AH. A good writer and managed to be fluent in German and French as well. 

 

Well worth the read. 

 

Published by Constable  in 1997.  ISBN 0 09476370 4

 

 

As someone who lived in Obersalz (above Berchtesgaden) when AH had a chalet there, "He was a lovely man until he went to Berlin and got mixed up with those politicians

[Gunner Bailey]

36 minutes ago, healdav said:

As someone who lived in Obersalz (above Berchtesgaden) when AH had a chalet there, "He was a lovely man until he went to Berlin and got mixed up with those politicians

Interesting. When did he have a chalet there?

[Donald D]

Gents, thanks for all your your replies viz George Coppard. An insight into the dark murky world of bookselling!

[Rob Connolly]

Thanks for the illumination.  I have wondered at some of the utterly ludicrous prices on Abebooks as I track down copies of the Official Histories.  I recall one reprint of "Togoland and the Cameroons" going for something like £2,000, whilst below it the same edition was going for (only!) £79.  I have also noticed 'gouging' in postal charges from the USA, where the P&P can cost multiples of the book itself - £54 in a recent case, for books that I've paid £10 P&P for in the past.  Someone is making a dodgy profit!  Thank heavens for Turner Donovan, I say.

[joerookery]

There is no doubt that somebody is it gouging prices. However, the price of postage from the USA to the UK for a book is way too high. When I send out a review copies it is a major shock.

[Guest]

34 minutes ago, joerookery said:

There is no doubt that somebody is it gouging prices. However, the price of postage from the USA to the UK for a book is way too high. When I send out a review copies it is a major shock.

 

     As an aside, as it does affect those members who like to buy and read books- Yes, the US-UK (and Europe)  prices are a shock.  There has been a long-term trend of US Mail retreating from a universal delivery obligation-especially for parcels and Printed Papers. Much has shut down with COVID- an argument for higher prices which stands at odds with the boom in online shopping over the past year. The outgoing administration (No names, no pack drill) has also been pretty hostile as well- the outlook seems to be that in hiking overseas postage rates, it will "encourage" folk to buy at home -Protectionism which doesn't work as it-quid pro quo- discourages Brits and Europeans from buying in the US

   2 small suggestions:

1) If buying a book from abroad, always check on Alibris- their shipping is much lower due to consolidation and many of the same booksellers with high shipping on ABE (a default) are also on Alibris with the same books-Alibris being a US operation anyway.

 

2) I am not up to date on what postage rates are within the US but I am not aware that the US has opted out completely from the Printed Papers agreements-  That is, a specific much lower parcel rate for books and magazines-  I plead ignorance but it may be worth checking what the situation is. Of course,national post offices are not that keen on giving much publicity to the Printed Paper rates- They prefer to keep silent and let customers pay the higher rates......I wonder why!!

 

 

[Rob Connolly]

I am quite happy to pay £10 - £12 P&P from the States for a hardback volume in the Official Histories format.  However, if I have to pay £54 for P&P then I expect it to arrive within the next 60 minutes, accompanied by a choir of angels, bound in gold-leaf wrapping paper and with packing beads made of ivory.

[charlie2]

I recently posted a book to the USA from Germany, the postage was an eye watering 54€. The Post Office informed me the only service available, due to Covid, was the „priority“ service for a parcel with a weight up to 5Kg - the book only weighed 1700g. The priority service managed to take nearly 8 weeks.

[Guest]

31 minutes ago, charlie2 said:

I recently posted a book to the USA from Germany, the postage was an eye watering 54€. The Post Office informed me the only service available, due to Covid, was the „priority“ service for a parcel with a weight up to 5Kg - the book only weighed 1700g. The priority service managed to take nearly 8 weeks.

 

   You may wish to ask about the current situation with Media Mail/ Book Mail.  It's slow but it saves on medical fees - treating the damage to one' s heart by the shock of other prices. Best to be VERY well packed- media Mail is traditionally handled -at both ends of a journey- by the posties in training for Olympic Gold in Hammer Throwing-ie Why carry something when you can throw it??

 

46 minutes ago, Rob Connolly said:

I am quite happy to pay £10 - £12 P&P from the States for a hardback volume in the Official Histories format.  However, if I have to pay £54 for P&P then I expect it to arrive within the next 60 minutes, accompanied by a choir of angels, bound in gold-leaf wrapping paper and with packing beads made of ivory.

 

      Phew!! You let the postie off lightly then-He didn't have to polish the silver salver to put it on, nor put on full flunkied livery!!  (By the way your book would not have arrived-ivory is banned)

[Don Regiano]

On 16/01/2021 at 20:47, MikeyH said:

With a Machine Gun to Cambrai

 

Paperback currently available for £6 + £3.20 p+p or Hardback for £5 (or best offer) + £4 p+p for those not lucky enough to get one for 50p!

[Dust Jacket Collector]

There used to be a postal service from the US called Global Priority which came in a special envelope and cost under £20 but I guess it’s been discontinued.

I assume the £50 plus price means that the seller delivers the book personally.