British Battleships in WW2 by Raven

Laurence Batchelor · Post by **Laurence Batchelor** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 5:08 pm

Worth buying again I have all the Mike Whitley books, shame he died tragically.

His books really are very well presented complete A to Z guides on many classes and ships. They don't have decent enough plans to work from or large page photographs but their worth is their comprehensive nature and technical stats.

The DKM cruiser one is more in-depth though as it limits itself to just a few ships.

sorry to use your credit card again!

you betta not give your other half my address

Foeth · Post by **Foeth** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 5:25 pm

Whitley is ok, but no way near as comprehensive as Raven and Roberts. Nice to look up silly data I guess.

Dave Martin · Post by **Dave Martin** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 5:34 pm

Cor blimey!
I very nearly bought the German Capital ships volume....until I had a flashback!

Just checked the bookshelves and it's already there!

I bought it back in 1989!

Phew! Just saved myself �22 at WH Smiths online bookshop!

Laurence Batchelor · Post by **Laurence Batchelor** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 5:43 pm

Dave Martin wrote:Cor blimey!
I very nearly bought the German Capital ships volume....until I had a flashback!

Just checked the bookshelves and it's already there!

I bought it back in 1989!

Phew! Just saved myself �22 at WH Smiths online bookshop!

I feel less guity now!

Dave Martin · Post by **Dave Martin** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 6:11 pm

Just had conformation from Amazon US that my copy of 'Battleships:Allied Battleships of WW2 by R Dullin has now been despatched.

Awaiting despatch are the Raven/Roberts Battleships tome, and
Axis & Neutral Battleships of WW2 by William H., Jr. Garzke, Robert O., Jr. Dulin

Are these a worthwhile purchase?

Seen them mentioned on here a few times, so thought they might be worth a punt.

Raven/Roberts 'British Cruisers.' still eludes me though.

Cheers

Dave

Laurence Batchelor · Post by **Laurence Batchelor** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 6:15 pm

Dave Martin wrote:Just had conformation from Amazon US that my copy of 'Battleships:Allied Battleships of WW2 by R Dullin has now been despatched.

Awaiting despatch are the Raven/Roberts Battleships tome, and
Axis & Neutral Battleships of WW2 by William H., Jr. Garzke, Robert O., Jr. Dulin

Are these a worthwhile purchase?

Seen them mentioned on here a few times, so thought they might be worth a punt.

Raven/Roberts 'British Cruisers.' still eludes me though.

Cheers

Dave

Yes again these books are worth having, but I'd say 5 of them are worth 1 Raven & Roberts

It seems you buying up most of the top level British Battleship books.

I assume you've been through my reference lists with photos on this site???

Dave Martin · Post by **Dave Martin** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 6:46 pm

Yup, I've been reading your list, and accompanying comments by others.

A little guidance if you please.

There is presently a Raven/Roberts 'Cruisers' book being offered for �120+p&p.

Is this too much? Bearing in mind that I have just paid �100 fro a copy of the mighty Battleships tome by the same authors.

The previous overseas ones were a little more reasonably priced - between �70-�80.
So what should I be looking to pay?

Comments welcome.

Cheers

Dave

mike mccabe · Post by **mike mccabe** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 7:31 pm

Dave
Be careful about which issue of the Cruisers you get, you can get a US printed one (Arms and Armour Press) which is the same as the UK printed copy but is not as well printed and is on poorer quality paper. I bought one of these for about �40, which was still a steal but to my mind if you are paying �80 for one of those as compared to �100 (which you can get it for off ebay if you are prepared to wait), then personally I would pay the difference.

Just be aware of it when you are comparing prices and try and check which printing it is.

Mike

RNfanDan · Post by **RNfanDan** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 7:57 pm

mike mccabe wrote:Dave
"...you can get a US printed one (Arms and Armour Press)...

"

Err, Mike--don't you mean Naval Institute Press? The books I own from Arms and Armour are UK prints, which are usually the ones to favor due to their superior papers and inks.

mike mccabe · Post by **mike mccabe** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 8:07 pm

Yeah, that one, sorry it's late.

Mike

Laurence Batchelor · Post by **Laurence Batchelor** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 9:01 pm

Dave Martin wrote:Yup, I've been reading your list, and accompanying comments by others.

A little guidance if you please.

There is presently a Raven/Roberts 'Cruisers' book being offered for �120+p&p.

Is this too much? Bearing in mind that I have just paid �100 fro a copy of the mighty Battleships tome by the same authors.

The previous overseas ones were a little more reasonably priced - between �70-�80.
So what should I be looking to pay?

Comments welcome.

Cheers

Dave

I've seen the cruisers one go as high as �250 on ebay and as low as �50-�60 it depends on the seller, payment methods they accept, the quality of the auction listing, and if its UK auction or not and if they have put International postage costs and so on.

I've seen the battleships one go for as little as �40 with dustcover and as high as �200 again for the above reasons.

In my opinion bide your time and wait and pay �80 tops for the cruiser one but make sure its Arms & Armour Press and not the Naval Institute Press edition.

mike mccabe · Post by **mike mccabe** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 9:55 am

I think if you can get the Naval Institute Press cheaply, it is well worth it, the ocntent is no different. What I am saying is be aware of which version it is and if there is little price difference, pay a little more for the better quality UK printing. But if you just want the book and the information, there's no difference.

Mike

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 10:21 am

mike mccabe wrote:I think if you can get the Naval Institute Press cheaply, it is well worth it, the ocntent is no different. What I am saying is be aware of which version it is and if there is little price difference, pay a little more for the better quality UK printing. But if you just want the book and the information, there's no difference.

Mike

I quite agree. My copy of the Battleships book is in German (I read German but don't speak it) and I paid �30 or so for it brand new. As I want it mainly for the drawings I'm happy with that rather than pay the ridiculous prices it fetches on ebay.

As far as I am concerned it's a working document not a collector's item. If that's your reason for wanting to own the book then by the cheaper copy.

I have bought a number of books printed by the USNI and always found the print quality to be ok.

Cheers,

Rob

Dave Martin · Post by **Dave Martin** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 2:54 pm

Many thanks for the tips thus far.

I shall bear your comments in mind as my search continues......

Cheers

Dave

Werner · Post by **Werner** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 4:59 pm

I agree that USNI productions tend to be inferior, especially things like Breyer. The editing and typesetting of Friedman's books is quite frankly an embarrassment.

Dave Martin · Post by **Dave Martin** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 12:54 pm

The Old Battleships Tome arrived today. �103.25 inc p&p.
Arms & Armour version from a bookshop in Scotland.

Some absolutely super photos so far - not had a thorough study yet but it looks good.

Also managed to get the Cruisers one too from a bookshop in Yorkshire. This is also the Arms & Armour one, but I ended up paying �120 for it

The guy even had the gall to add a fiver p&p onto the already expensive p&p, resulting in over �8 for p&p alone. He said it was because it is a heavy book!

So how is it that it only costs �3.25 to post all the way from Scotland, yet a Yorkshireman charges me �8+ from Selby?

And they have the cheek to call the Scots mean!

Is the Cruisers book any bigger/heavier than the Battleships one?

Looking forward to many happy hours of browsing though!

Cheers

Dave

Laurence Batchelor · Post by **Laurence Batchelor** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:10 pm

Dave Martin wrote:The Old Battleships Tome arrived today. �103.25 inc p&p.
Arms & Armour version from a bookshop in Scotland.

Some absolutely super photos so far - not had a thorough study yet but it looks good.

Also managed to get the Cruisers one too from a bookshop in Yorkshire. This is also the Arms & Armour one, but I ended up paying �120 for it

The guy even had the gall to add a fiver p&p onto the already expensive p&p, resulting in over �8 for p&p alone. He said it was because it is a heavy book!

So how is it that it only costs �3.25 to post all the way from Scotland, yet a Yorkshireman charges me �8+ from Selby?

And they have the cheek to call the Scots mean!

Is the Cruisers book any bigger/heavier than the Battleships one?

Looking forward to many happy hours of browsing though!

Cheers

Dave

Dave the cruisers one has many more pages and is heavier. If I was posting either in the UK I would charge the buyer around �5.50 parcel post for either book as thats what they cost.

Dave Martin · Post by **Dave Martin** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:22 pm

Hi Lozza - would you say that there were at least �3's worth more in pages then?

I'll reserve judgement until it arrives.......

Cheers

Dave

Laurence Batchelor · Post by **Laurence Batchelor** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 2:00 pm

Dave Martin wrote:Hi Lozza - would you say that there were at least �3's worth more in pages then?

I'll reserve judgement until it arrives.......

Cheers

Dave

I've seen them charge �7.20 postage on eBay! It depends on the service one posts via 1st class being more expensive than Parcelpost.

Also depends on packaging if they box the cruiser one it might be over 2kg which bumps up the price somewhat... and so on, just check the postage sticker on the package when it arrives as should have the weight and postage paid unless they are proper book dealers who then have an account with Royal Mail and then it won't show such useful information!

Dave Martin · Post by **Dave Martin** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 4:43 pm

Hi,
The Cruisers book arrived this morning - �9-odd for 1st Class recorded delivery, he only charged me �8.25. so I guess he wasn't having that much of a laugh after all!

I'll quit honking now!

cheers

Dave