My wife and I paid a visit to our local shopping centre today, and I made my obligatory visit to the branch of Waterstones ... and bought a copy of ARMIES OF THE ADOWA CAMPAIGN 1896: THE ITALIAN DISASTER IN ETHIOPIA (MAA 471 by Sean McLachlan and Raffaele Ruggeri [ISBN 978 1 84908 457 4]).
The book follows the usual Osprey MEN-AT-ARMS layout (48 pages in length of which 8 are colour plates) and provides a background history to the war, a description of the actual battle, and information about the Italian and Ethiopian troops that fought at Adowa. Looking through it made me realise that it has the potential to be yet another war that I could refight using either my PORTABLE WARGAME or MEMOIR OF BATTLE rules ... or both.
And then the 'Oops!' When I went to put the book on my bookshelves I discovered that I had already bought a copy ... back in September 2011! I am going to give some thought as to what to do with my 'spare' copy ... but whatever I do, I intend it to go to someone who will appreciate it.
The book follows the usual Osprey MEN-AT-ARMS layout (48 pages in length of which 8 are colour plates) and provides a background history to the war, a description of the actual battle, and information about the Italian and Ethiopian troops that fought at Adowa. Looking through it made me realise that it has the potential to be yet another war that I could refight using either my PORTABLE WARGAME or MEMOIR OF BATTLE rules ... or both.
And then the 'Oops!' When I went to put the book on my bookshelves I discovered that I had already bought a copy ... back in September 2011! I am going to give some thought as to what to do with my 'spare' copy ... but whatever I do, I intend it to go to someone who will appreciate it.
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteFunny you should mention this title as it is one that is on my 'to get' list - especially as I wanted to get some background to the region following my recent acquistion of a book on the WW2 campaign in the region.
Happy to trade for the book if you need to fins a new home for it!
All the best,
DC
Italian disasters eh? If it won't fit on DC's shelves I expect I can make room for it....
ReplyDeleteDavid Crook,
ReplyDeleteThat is the best offer I have had so far ... and I actually had you in mind as a worthy recipient ... so the book is yours!
All the best,
Bob
Tim Gow,
ReplyDeleteSorry to say that you were just a couple of minutes too late ... and it has already gone to David Crook!
All the best,
Bob
Bob
ReplyDeleteI often used to buy the same book twice which proves I have consistent tastes. Then I put my books in a database on my mobile phone. It has reduced but not eliminated the problem.
Richard
Doctorphalanx (Richard),
ReplyDeleteWhat an excellent idea!
I have catalogued quite a bit of my library already, and it would not take too long to complete the operation.
Something for me to do over the ext few months.
All the best,
Bob
I have done this as well. Doctorphalanx's idea is one I will also appropriate.
ReplyDeleteI use something called HanDBase and now keep the master in Dropbox. It's OK as long as I have a signal. It can import spreadsheets which is a useful start.
ReplyDeleteRichard
Sean,
ReplyDeleteThe best ideas are always the simplest ... and one wonders why one thought of them oneself!
All the best,
Bob
Doctorphalanx (Richard),
ReplyDeleteThanks for the software suggestions. I will look into doing something similar myself over the next few weeks.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteYay! Many thanks old chap - if its obscure and involves armies that are technologically challenged or hugely outnumbered you can usually bet I will be up for it!
I have something you may find rather useful by way of a trade (he says, grinning maniacally).
All the best and thanks once again,
DC
David Crook,
ReplyDeleteI will be more than pleased to trade the book for something I can use ... like Minitanks, for example (big hint!).
All the best,
Bob
Bob, not only have I also "double purchased" a few books, but in one sad case have purchased (at different times) three copies of one . . . *sigh*.
ReplyDelete-- Jeff
Bluebear Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI have also managed some double purchases in the past ... but never three copies of the same book! That must be something of a record.
All the best,
Bob
PS. What did you do with the surplus books?
I have also double-purchased books. Usually it was the exact same book. A couple of times it was a different edition of the same book and I bought them on purpose. And once or twice it was the exact same book as far as content and format, just a different title!
ReplyDeleteI also have my books all cataloged now. I use a program called Book Collector from collectorz.com.
Waterstones in the UK is infinitely better than Waterstones was here before pulling out. I am infinitely jealous of your proximity to their wonderful stores.
ReplyDeleteLibrarything is also not without its charms - though I often find myself buying doubles because I like the binding, my wife actually thinking Trevelyn wrote seven volumes on Garibaldi.
ReplyDeleteFitz-Badger,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like this is a much more common event than I had realised.
I don't count buying new editions of a book as duplication, and at one point I owned three editions of the same title and each of them was substantially different from each other.
However it does annoy me when the same book is published under different titles, as that can lead buyers to acquire books that they already own.
The idea of creating a library catalogue is quite appealing, and I may well give it a go at some point in the future.
All the best,
Bob
Arquinsiel,
ReplyDeleteA few years ago I had three large bookshops I could visit without having to travel for more than 30 minutes; now I have one ... and over recent months the local branch of Waterstones seems be moving away from being nothing but a bookshop, and is selling e-readers, boxed games, basic stationery, and similar small items.
I suppose it will eventually down-size or even close ... and then I will have to rely on Amazon and other online retailers.
All the best,
Bob
Conrad Kinch,
ReplyDeleteI will certainly bear your suggestion regarding cataloging software in mind if or when I decide to finish listing all the books that I own.
I thought that you were not supposed to judge a book by its cover ... but you seem to do exactly that!
All the best,
Bob
I'm always happy to hear someone has bought one of my books. I'm twice as happy when someone buys one twice!
ReplyDelete(Yeah, you caught me. I was Googling myself)
In case you missed it, I wrote a two-part guest post on the Osprey blog about researching this book.
http://www.ospreypublishing.com/blog/Researching_Armies_of_the_Adowa_Campaign/
http://www.ospreypublishing.com/blog/Researching_Armies_of_the_Adowa_Campaign_Part_2/
Sean McLachlan,
ReplyDeleteIt was a very good book ... and I will be passing the 'extra' copy on to a good home.
I look forward to reading what you wrote on the Osprey blog.
All the best,
Bob