Obdurate to Daring: British Fleet Destroyers 1941-1945

[linux]

At last! As announced on the WSS website:

Obdurate to Daring: British Fleet Destroyers 1941-1945
by John English,
due for publication October 2008.

Unlike the preceding Amazon to Ivanhoe and Afridi to Nizam volumes, this will be an A4 format hardback.

http://www.worldshipsociety.org/732.html

[Laurence Batchelor]

I spoke to John English last year and he did say he'd get this done by this year to complete the chronology to the wars end.
Looks like he just managed to squeeze it at the year's end!

He and the WSS just have the WWI-era destroyers R, S, T & V & W and they covered them all!

Pre-ordered this one already!

[bengtsson]

Always nice to read about an addition to the WSS publications

You jogged my memory and prompted me to find a copy of "The Hunts" by John English on the used book site. Can't wait to get it. But not cheap!
Also am ordering a copy of "Warships For Export" from WSS as they have this in stock.

Picked up a copy of "Convoy Rescue Ships" from a used book site last month. Again, not cheap!! But incredible detail of all the ships. The WSS authors do a wonderful job. Always first rate

Bob B.

[Laurence Batchelor]

From what I can gather it seems John English, for the Destroyer books, has merely used the MoD operational information at Naval Historical in Portsmouth and then for the design history of the class he has gone through the ships covers at the Brass foundry, Woolwich Arsenal the out-station of the National Maritime Museum.

It makes me wonder why he hasn't also sifted through things at the IWM (documents not photos) and also the National Archives (THE place for operational material).

Bob The Hunts and Convoy Rescue ships I have seen recently cheap on Ebay for like �7.99 each and no one bidding on them!

[bengtsson]

Bob The Hunts and Convoy Rescue ships I have seen recently cheap on Ebay for like �7.99 each and no one bidding on them!

Boy they sure do want money for them on the used book sites. I've seen Hunts at $80!
Better do a check on ebay first from now on!
I paid dearly for both those books. But I did get some break as the pound has taken a dive vs. the dollar. Does that mean I may actually be able to afford a visit to the UK again?
Bob B.

[linux]

Boy they sure do want money for them on the used book sites. I've seen Hunts at $80!

As a regular buyer of used books I have learned that the asking prices for scarce books can sometimes bear no relationship to reality!

What happens is that so-called "spider sellers", with no inventory of their own, locate scarce (and presumably in-demand) titles in one marketplace and list them with a hefty markup in another. It's a type of price arbitrage. The tell-tale signs are:

• The book's price is many times higher than found elsewhere.
• The book's condition is vague or worst-case, since the spider seller does not know!
• The delivery time is vague or worst-case; ditto.
• The listings appear and disappear in unison with copies from other sellers; this can be difficult to spot.

Buyers who do not look elsewhere then assume that the asking price is the market rate and pay up. The spider seller then merely orders the book from the original seller and pockets the profit.

What also happens is that (genuine) sellers find it difficult to value titles which are not on sale anywhere else. Consequently such books may be priced too high and never sell, or be priced too low and sell within hours. Remember that on used book sites such as ABE you only see the books which haven't sold.

And as Laurence has already indicated, eBay is a good place to find scarce titles at reasonable prices. Some weeks they will attract many bidders, other weeks they will not sell at all. I know of at least one individual who buys in-demand naval books on eBay and resells them with a markup on ABE.

A buyer's best defence is knowledge; knowing the market rate for a scarce title and knowing where to look for it.

All scarce titles turn up at reasonable prices eventually somewhere. The trick is to find them before anybody else

[Laurence Batchelor]

I do sometimes order books through ABE though only to find the actual seller has sold it in their shop or on another website days previously and hasn't updated their inventories for days/weeks. They therefore cancel the transaction and then I have to resume my hunt!

I recently just lost a copy of Action This Day by Admiral Sir Philip Vian for just �3.50 Hardback with Dustcover on eBay. Damn those auction times when I'm asleep! On ABE there are only 2 copies fo sale both vastly more expensive and in no better condition. Amazon no better.

I always have a vast wants list for naval books and gradually over the years I try and buy up the old original hardbacks with dust-covers, never ex-library if I can avoid them. Also often sometimes only the Hardbacks have the photographs and not the mass-market paperbacks. Not to mention if you want something to last your lifetime buy hardback and not softback/paperback.

On a final note it sometimes pays to join society's like the World Ship Society, or the Navy Records society, which I have done, just to be in a position to buy the naval books much cheaper than 2nd-hand market prices.