Have largely tamed my book buying problem for a while. Building a new PC distracts the mind (and wallet) somewhat. Though I may now have a small electronic component buying problem. Mmmm... maybe we can shave another few degrees off the core, etc. I can handle it. S'just an overpriced fan, & a slightly camp keyboard, & that GPU is very reasonable, &, &. &. Books are actually noticeably cheaper than many other obsessions... Though those PM Knight things really ought to be looked at more deeply. On the New PC. Turner Donovan you say, Charley? Website inspected. On the new PC. Bugger Owners: What's the production like on the PM Knight books? Hovered for ages but some previous weird print on demand purchases have caused probably foolish hesitation.
TurnerDonovan are good in that they regularly acquire collections and issue lengthy catalogues of rare publications with a lot of detail, but there are seldom any bargains. Current catalogue (today's) here: Turner Donovan Military Books - Download Catalogue They know the rarity and you're going to have to pay what it's probably worth. Some of the Indian Army prices are exceptionally high, but then there might not be another copy on the market at any given time. They're good on First World War publications and unit and divisional histories 1914-1945. I did buy one title which was described as VG that I'd put down as a middling VG Minus (if book condition is a concern for you), but I think a lot of people over-estimate the condition of books today and this seller is certainly not the worst of offenders.
I do try to undercut TD The PM Knight (our Don Juan) ones are perfectly acceptable as they are predominantly text (no doubt due to the costs of licensing your own photos of TNA documents). Lots of detail in them but they are unindexed chronological narratives so not great for casual lookups.
Excuse me - I have never been undercut in my life - no one can get as low as I can TD - the one and only orignal
First edition, but what condition? I thought something looked odd about the comment, but couldn't put my finger on it.
Oops, I slipped off-topic in my shopping, but not too far. I can't actually find a copy of the contents page online, but I've seen a number of references to this book and it looks really good. My hunch--it's in the mail from Down Under now--is that the contents are culled from regimental journals in the 40s and 50s, so I'm expecting Palestine, Korea, Malaya, Cyprus, possibly Suez etc. From the mentions I've seen, it isn't all combat, so if I'm lucky I might get a bit of Hong Kong and the Canal Zone prior to withdrawal in '54. Tugwell was a para and a counterinsurgency expert (only died in 2010), Stockwell, we probably all know, led the British at Suez. Quite an evocative cover, too.
Three hours in town & not one book purchased. Not a sausage. Fuck all. Not sure this has ever happened before. Maybe I can beat this...
Hold on! I'm sure another Naval & Military Press Catalogue is winging its way to you. Like a literary locust for your wallet!
Odd place. Many bookshops, but also less than I'd expected. Though more than one is a bonus really, and I ignored the specialist murder/hippy/poetry sort of places. Takes even longer to tune into the military sections in some as they're very large (why are military vehicle & firearms books often in a separate area near aviation? Thinking I should perhaps blame Mr Dewey...) Having resisted a well-priced book on Stugs (Zimmerman. Superb, but only volume 2 to hand at £20, and then would obviously have to seek out other volumes at c.£50...), ended up getting a little pile of fairly random stuff & gap filler from the frankly fucking enormous quite large 'Cinema Book Shop', which was the only place I entered that had things priced to sell. MLRS Vickers reprints probably the only real quality, though the landmine one's thoughtful. Nothing over a fiver. Glad I went to have a look. Worth a wander, but check prices (Good mobile internet, in rural Wales!), And expect a lot of stripey tops, straw hats, shopping baskets etc. A small town found a unique way to survive.
The latest arrivals which I'm sure my mail carrier is cursing me for as the ship titles are all weighty tomes. Got a couple of more interesting titles on the way from India and the Penang Book Store, Malaysia which will reach Canada before 2020 I hope. (surface mail is my sad attempt at economizing).
market stall purchase 50 p from the welsh marches Cairo Communique by Robert Mason Fiction Thrilling stories of the men of the Middle East Armies
Oh dear. Wet weather activity today was 'bimble round Norwich'. Only managed to get into one of its several good bookshops and the bastards had a 75% off sale on a couple of tables' worth of books. The argument that I saved about £90 may not wash...