bargain books

Hehe...its hard at times...I learned the hard way; when I bought a book on Ebay and found out later I could have gotten it cheaper from a dealer... Now I just enter the max. amount want to bid and leave it at that. And the max is usually not that much anymore....Ebay.com has become a favorite now with the low $....And US booksellers in general too...

I am looking for British and Canadian (regimental) histories right now. Not that easy to come by (the good ones...) and pricey! Still got The West Nova Scotia Regt History (signed again) for peanuts not too long ago. On Ebay you see prices rise and fall....years ago a history by Essame on the 43rd Wessex did a good 40-50 GBP. I got my copy for GBP 11. All of a sudden multiple copies were offered and capitalism being what it is, the price went down. Same happened with Taurus Persuant and Mountain and Flood. Both are fetching bigger prices recently though.

Must say I buy more from dealers than from Ebay nowadays.

 

You've got to watch that eBay fever.
I saw one go for £65 last week that's £14 and in stock at Amazon...

The price drop thing can feel grim can't it, I paid big money for the, then rare, Spielberger book on the Tiger... couple of months later the entire series was reprinted for £40 a shot. Oh well .
The eBay bargains far outweigh such experiences though, it's a waiting game on there, just about any book will turn up for a decent price within a year or two. Patience, perseverance, and searching in the 'wrong' areas normally pays off.

Cheers,
Adam.

 

i another old book shop wos looking around and came across a little old
book in a far corner all dusty
so i had a look and out came a book called..ATLANTIC MEETING .by
.H.V.MORTON.. haven't started it as yet but .. one dollar . couldent leave it there . best krieg

 

Had quite a good weekend at the car boots bought encyclopedia of german tanks of ww2 (published by a&a) by peter chamberlain, and hilary doyle for £1.50 not up on tanks much but it looks a good book.Islanders and kitbags, signed by the author personel stories of guernseys serviceman in ww2 50p.Behind enemy lines with the sas the story of amedee maingard-soe agent £1.00. And not ww2 but good all the same a long long war voices from the british army in northern ireland 1969-1998 pub by helion £4.

 

Best buy was $5 for The History of the Third Canadian Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment from the Royal Canadian Artillery shop after looking for anything on the 3LAA for years. The other day $10.00 ea for the first 2 volume of the The Second World War: An Illustrated History of WWII (Trident Press). It's been awhile, but may have to go searching through the local second hand book shops!

 

great pick ups gents

just received from Germany Egbert Kiesers "Danziger Bucht 1945" for 18.00 US if you can find a copy they are fetching some 125.00 US and more.......a small title to compliment the little known studies covering the Ostsee-final days on the Ost front

E ~

 

Yesterday in charity shop for 50p Assault On The Guns of Merville,as i have great intrest in the Parachute Regiment this account by Alan jefferson a member of 9 para who took part in the raid is a real bargain book

 

Hi Scott, that's a GREAT book! and one of my all-time most favorite. Also, yep, it's worth money and paying $5 bucks was a definate bargain. I saw one for sale several months ago on Bill Sheas site: The Ruptured Duck, and he had one listed for about $120.00 - which is probably $60 dollars too much.

 

I forgot to mention three books that I got great bargains on. They are:

"German Order of Battle" By; Samuel Mitcham 1st printing hardcover w/ original dust cover, in near mint condition for about $30 bucks.

"Devils Guard" by: George Robert Elford. 1st printing softcover for $1.95. Was in mint but now shows usage-though still not bad.

"German Order of Battle 1944 by: The Allied Intelligence-reprinted hardcover by: Greenhill books, for $30 bucks. Mint condition.

I have seen prices for the 1st addition of Mitchams book go from anywhere in between $40 bucks to over $800 bucks.

I have seen 1st addition Devils Guard paperbacks going from between $30 to $300 bucks.

Ditto for the Greenhill reprinting of the Allies Intel book. Prices on upwards to about $400 bucks.

 

Devil's guard was a heck of a find for $1.95 Carl! Crazy prices for that particular old paperback these days.

I since swapped my 'Aces and Wingmen' find mentioned above with a certain gent not unknown to this forum for the recent 2 volume history of JG300 by Lorant & Goyat, so it's proven even more of a charity shop bargain in the long run.
Really must get around to reading them.
Gorgeous books, but I have trouble getting going on aircraft.

Cheers,
Adam.

 

Adam

as a personal note you may find that the 2 volumes on JG 300 may be the finest LW aviation history published as of yet

hey A/C will grow on ya, you've got time

 

I have a copy of this pub 66 and also A bridge too far pub 74 both hardback in DC cost me nothing got given them by a family friend

 

Two that come to mind: Carell's Hitler Moves East first US edition for $10 from a mail-order book shop in 1984, and James Norman Hall's Lafayette Flying Corps Vol 2 first edition (1920) for $40 at an antique show in 1996; unfortunately Vol 1 cost me several multiples of that through eBay (the set usually sells for $800-1,000) - the internet has made it easier and quicker to find the finds, but alas it doesn't have that musty smell of a good old used book shop.

 

Sadly, all too true - it's a Faustian bargain !

'Hitler Moves East' is a very scarce book now - my copy came from just such a musty old bookshop in Somerset in 1993 for £6.....

 

I am truly gutted by that.

You lucky lucky git.

I some times buy second hand books from The Military History Bookshop as they give you a rough guide as to the state of the book and to date they have been right. one example Lord Russell's book: The Scourge of the Swastika was in good condition.

I picked up from my now defunct first/second hand book shop a couple of old hardbacks some years ago. The Struggle for Europe by Chester Wilmot & Hitler's Last Gamble by Jacues Nobécourt. Once or twice a year they did a book fair and on the odd occasion I picked up some good hard back bargains like. The Battle of the Atlantic by Andrew Willams & I got a real steal with a bargain double bill for £5 that of E. R. Hootons Phoenix Triumphant and the sequel Eagle in Flames about the Luftwaffe.

And one book I picked up in the U.S in the early 90's was. History of The German General Staff 1657-1945 by Walter Goerlitz. Got it from a second hand book store in L.A. shame I was short on time as I'm sure I would had picked up a few more.

 

Actually, I see Carell's HME and SE for sale in shops or shows more frequently now (one shop had 2 copies of HME), perhaps because reprinting of both volumes by other publishers has reduced the demand for the originals by casual collectors. What amazes me is that you can find good prices on eBay and Abebooks. I realize that a "brick and mortar" shop may not know how much a particular book sells for, but on the internet there are no secrets. I bought a cruise book (first edition) on eBay for the carrier USS Bunker Hill (CV-17), published "at sea" in 1944 before her 1945 kamikaze-induced conflagration - for $10 ! Typically, WWII cruise books for USN warships go for $75 and way up, depending on the type and fame/exploits of the ship - ya just never know.

 

Been a bit quiet on the charity shop front lately but yesterday i picked up Len Deighton's Blitzkrieg, and Fighter pub by BCA in 79 and 77 grand total of £3.50

 

Just order 3 more books from the site I use to get some at good prices. A little less then $20.

1ST INFANTRY DIVISION--'BIG RED ONE': Spearhead
7TH U-BOAT FLOTILLA--DONITZ'S ATLANTIC WOLVES: Spearhead.
BRANDENBURG DIVISION: "Special Operations" Series--Commandos of the Reich.

 

each book listed below was $2 US or less at yard sales (boot sales):

Blood, Tears and Folley(hardcover) and Fighter (hardcover) - both by Len Deighton
Citizen Soldiers (hardcover) - Ambrose
In My Hands (signed paperback) - Irene Gut Opdyke
Last Train From Berlin (1942 first edition) - Howard K Smith



Early edition (1st?) of My 3 Years With Eisenhower: The Diary Of Captain Harry C. Butcher from ebay for $5 US

 

I picked up Charles Lamb's book-War in a Stringbag for 10 cents at a thrift store awhile back, great book btw.