Some years ago now I was routing in a box of old 1950's paperback my Dad left in the loft, and came across a copy of the classic and remarkably useful Spies In Ireland by Erno Stefan There turned out to be some even more interesting stuff in there, including an early paperback copy of The Man who Never Was by Ewan Montagu!!! I never knew my dad had been interested in this stuff, even as a boy or young man. There the box rested undisturbed for a couple of years more, there being a couple of hardbacks in it...which at the timeI didn't look at; paperbacks have always atracted me more as I could stick them in me sidebag on the bike Hence the ~3,500 sci-fi paperbacks.... Two and a half years ago I was rooting in the loft again, and looked at the rest... And buried in there was an original first edition of "Belgium: The Official Account Of What Happened 1939-40"!!! This was written in London in 1941 by the Belgian Ministry for Foreign Affairs-in-exile and published by Evans Brothers. It's a wonderful study of the lead-up to events, with an all-too brief description of the actual campaign and a complete set of maps....but contains a set of appendices that comprise almost half its volume; copies of ALL the major speeches and counter-speeches and declarations and statements made by all parties and nations pertaining to Belgium becoming a Neutral in 1936 and pulling out of the Locarno Pact, other nations' statements on this, and various speeches made by King Leopold as the head of the Oslo Group of Neutrals, etc. Dad was a school leacher, a Primary school principal in a two-teacher school before he entered teacher training again, as a lecturer this time...so I assume it came into his hands then. I thought that was going to crown my list of freebies, getting a copy of THAT gratis... Then two weeks ago I introduced the OH to the massive antiques shop at Ballinderry in Northern Ireland; SHE was busy ogling all the 17th/18th/19th century furniture...when *I* spotted something in the scattering of oddments used to decorate the shelves of bookcases... A second edition copy of Vladimir "Popski" Peniakoff's "Private Army"! I took it out of the bookcase and it didn't have a price on it....the ONLY thing in the place that cost under a ton, it seemd! :p...and carried it with me to the front desk - where the owner told me that as it was unpriced, and he hadn't a clue what it was even about - "Do you???" he asked ME - I could have it for free! It was definitely a case of "say nothing, act casual..."
Modern Marine Engineer's Manual, Cornell Maritime Press, Volume 1 and Volume 2, 1941 & 1943 (Triple-expansion engines, reciprocating pumps, electro-hydraulic double-ram steering gear, Falk-Bibby type couplings, Brunswick-Kroeschell Marine Ammonia Plant...) "To the memory of those devoted seamen who gave their lives that the hungry might be fed and the helpless armed."
I live in SW France and have a few locally written and printed books, mainly about the Resistance here. And I have 2 books about jewish children saved, some temporarily. Also one by a 93 yr old local who was conscripted to work in german ammunitions factories during the draft of 1943, when all young french men had to go and work in Germany. Many ran away to join the Resistance at that time. Memories and feelings are still very sensitive after all this time.
The High-Speed Internal Combustion Engine by Sir Harry Ricardo. Picked it up cheaply somewhere some time ago only because I recognised his name in the context of tanks.
I actually have this one. It was published by my old publisher, Vanwell, who gave it to me at a discount.
