John Kettler Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 Raided the local one with a friend, intent on buying the Witkowski WUNDER WAFFEN book with an about to expire 30% off coupon I downloaded. Wound up being waylaid by war piggery. Place was full of it!. Ambush Alley (the airlock entrance) was full of those coffee table books on the individual services and irresistible (got me!) gorgeous 8.5 x 11 softcover books on WW II aircraft in combat and one just covering the planes themselves, both full of tech specs, color paintings of specific aircraft in named squadrons and bases, etc. Even the inch plus thick one was only ten bucks, the thinner book six. Steal! There was a huge picture book of modern and vintage aircraft full of full color photos. No idea where you'd put such a thing, but the imagery was jaw dropping. Managed to resist the temptation to buy the two West Point Atlases of the World War ($5 in softcover), since I already own them, courtesy of a retired officer, but those of you just getting into WW II will find them valuable and informative. The WW II bargain rack proper had the Oxford tome on WW II (will get another time), Eastern Front pictorials, the new Lukacs book on Hitler and Stalin (full of revelations), a 2500 image and map complete WW II overview, a WW II chronology and much more. Borders rules the roost on bargain WW II books vs B&N, except in those deadly B&N specialty books that used to catch me on almost every visit. If they still make them, they need to rearrange my local B&N, since I'm not encountering them. This is more than made up for, though, by the in depth full price military books, such as the not at Borders Stackpole WW II series, some of the Schneider pictorials, etc., wherein lies ruin, ruin compounded by one of those well stocked rotating Osprey racks. And that's just by staying in the pure WW II section. Holdings are far more extensive than that. For example, the New Age section has a great deal on Nazi occultism and many other topics pertinent to the war, to include one Otto Rahn, whose activities rival the fictional Indiana Jones and are both provocative and disturbing. These are great places to visit, but decide beforehand what you can afford and equip yourself accordingly. If you have poor impulse control, bring a hard nosed friend! Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runyan99 Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 Yes I prefer B&N because you never know what they might have in their bargain section. I bought the Civil War atlas at my local Borders for $5, but now that I was thinking about picking up the Pacific War atlas it looks like they raised the price back to $10. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted August 5, 2008 Author Share Posted August 5, 2008 Runyan99, Am going to have to really look harder on my next B&N visit, but their bargain books up front didn't seem to have anything I wanted. The ambush rack used to have things like Hogg's Artillery of the World, d' Este's Decision at Normandy and such, all attractively priced. Then, they'd kill you in the back with Glantz & House's Kursk--for $40.00 or so. Ouch! Borders did have a Civil War photographic hostory which was inexpensive and a John Erickson and wife? Eastern Front pictorial with a howler, a BT-7 misIDed as a T-34. Erickson's the man on the Soviet military, but something clearly went badly awry on that one. As of Sunday, the Pacific war atlas was $5.00 at the Borders I visited. No idea why yours went up, unless it was some weird promo. My friend and I are trying to get our heads around the sudden explosion of giant format books, the kind that properly require freestanding bookstands. The first one I saw was period maps covering European wars in the 1600s and 1700s, to include naval engagements. Last night there was the monster on combat planes, and we also saw a honker on human anatomy. Who buys these, and where do they put them? Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 I love both those stores and the bargain bin military stuff is always cool. Been a long time since I've been in there but I can remember one particular haul back in 2000 where I nabbed a 10 volume collection, The Second World War: An Illustrated History of World War II, for $9.99 a pop, they retailed for $39.99. They were at least a 1000 pages a piece. Remember grabbing a hardback of To Hell And Back for like, 7 bucks. John, you are making me drool. Mord. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted August 5, 2008 Author Share Posted August 5, 2008 Mord, As long as it's not on me; love your location! Don't know the set you mention, but hard to beat the price. Pity we can't get such uber deal on, say, Fedorowicz and Schneider, to name but two. I used to live a few blocks away from the best hobby and wargame shop in the southeast. Helped owners/friends put up stock and new books while killing time waiting to go to work nearby, and consequently, got to peruse all the grog books and models as they came in. Call me way behind now. Out here, we have Brookhurst Hobbies, but it's way down in Orange County, many hours from here. B&N may get me yet on a set: commemorative two volume boxed set of all the Bill Mauldin Willie & Joe cartoons from Yank magazine during the war. (breaks into cold sweat). That assumes I don't succumb to the Gatling gun book, the six frigates (Continental Navy), a bunch on snipers and spooks, a Templar book, a book on an all but unknown clash between an American infantry company vs. Panthers and German infantry, etc. Public libraries are good in theory, but their utility suffers when your retention's as bad as mine and they tend to dump important works in search of the new. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 No worries, my cup catches most of it. Here's an Amazon link to them; WWII Goodness It took me a while to figure out what they were when I bought them, from some magazine that was published during the period called The War Illustrated. A tad propaganda laden but interesting. LOL I still haven't read them all, more fun to leaf through than anything. I've never fancied myself close to being a grog so I can't speak to that factor. I just like war stuff. But still, you might wanna check them out. My favorites, war book wise, are first person accounts, I dig the immediacy and intimacy, grit and gunpowder of a guy telling it as he saw it. Donald Burgett's 101st books are probably my all time favorites, I was riveted, tons of action. Audy's book was really good, and I loved Foot Soldier by Roscoe Blunt Jr. I'd love to find some good German/Brit/Russian etc. accounts too. I've read Black Edelweiss which wasn't near as good as I'd hoped, and Soldat which bored the hell out of me. Mord. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted August 5, 2008 Author Share Posted August 5, 2008 Mord, Get Crisp's BRAZEN CHARIOTS (commanded M-3 Stuart Honeys in the Western Desert) and try not to cringe if you happen to encounter a new edition with a Panzer III on the cover. If you haven't read the CMAK Guide, an anthology lovingly assembled by our own 76mm, you need to. Anything by HSU Loza's good (wrote COMMANDING SHERMAN TANKS IN WAR and DEFENDING THE SOVIET MOTHERLAND). Article enclosed from the incredible I Remember portion of Russian Battlefield http://www.iremember.ru/content/view/85/19/lang,en/ Wilson's FLAME THROWER (Churchill Crocs) is a must read, as is Heckmann's ROMMEL'S WAR IN AFRICA. Recommend you have spare undies on hand for latter! Tankbooks.you know what has several books and piles of interviews you'll love, and the Beeb is positively awash in similar. Enjoy! Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 Mord, Get Crisp's BRAZEN CHARIOTS (commanded M-3 Stuart Honeys in the Western Desert)... He also wrote The Gods Were Neutral, a first person account of the all-too-brief campaign in Greece. Not as good as Brazen Chariots I thought, but it does help fill out a neglected episode. Tank! by Ken Tout is about as good an account of 24 hours in the life of a tanker in Normandy as we are likely to get. I liked Company Commander by Charles B. MacDonald quite a bit. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted August 7, 2008 Author Share Posted August 7, 2008 Michael Emrys, Didn't know about the other Crisp book (thanks!), but the Tout book has been on my list for a long time. Understand, too, he's got at least one more. Read the MacDonald book many moons ago. Another fun one, albeit spanning a bunch of periods, is the anthology MEN FIGHTING: Battle Stories, North, Ed. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melnibone Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 but the Tout book has been on my list for a long time. Understand, too, he's got at least one more. Tank! is an excellent book. Great maps in my version. It really is worth getting. However, it's great because it's his own experiences. I've found his other books - still on Normandy but not personal - a lot drier and pretty hard to read. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 Didn't know about the other Crisp book (thanks!)... It's semi-rare. I think it's been out of print for over 35 years. The only copy I've ever come across was in the public library of Los Altos, CA, and it was a paperback. As I posted earlier, it isn't one of the great ones, but it does deserve to be back in print, even if only as a limited run. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted August 7, 2008 Author Share Posted August 7, 2008 Michael Emrys, Am enjoying where this is going, but I need to be clear on whether we're sticking mainly to AFVs. If not, I've got some great ones. If we are, it;ll be harder, but I need to know whether we're able to leave WW II. Obviously, TIGERS IN THE MUD by Carius would qualify even under narrow interpretation. Have glanced at it in several places and times, but have yet to read it. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 I have another recommendation or two but will need some time that I don't have right now to get the information together. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.