Then & Now Books

I have for many years now enjoyed the method of re-enacting the past by posting a picture of what a place looked like during the First & Second World Wars. This is the website for the many books that they do. I have so many of these publications it's difficult to put a value on them, suffice to say I have spent over £1500 on them to date.

http://www.afterthebattle.com/osCommerce/index.php?cPath=30

http://www.afterthebattle.com/osCommerce/index.php?cPath=26

I didn't realise how much I'd spent either!

I've got the Falkland Islands Then and Now (£47.95), Airfields of the Eight Air force (£27.50), Airfields of the Ninth Air force (£24.95) and Bases of Bomber Command (£44.95).
Never bought any of their magazines although I do look through them in WH Smiths sometimes.

I have yet to buy the Falklands book...I was due to go out there in 1982...but the Argies threw in the towel. Suffice to say I might never get there apart from reading about the place.

I also have the Airfields of the Eighth & Ninth, Panzers in Normandy, Battle of Britain, Channel Islands, The Blitz, D-Day, Market Garden, Before Endeavours Fade, The Western front, Ruckmarsch...& all 37 bound volumes. To say that the shelf is bowing with the weight is an understatement.

Nice if you can afford it!

The really great thing about a collection like that though is that it is an investment really, those books are never going to be worth less than you paid for them, and in most cases will only grow in value.

Of course there's much more value in them than just financial though.

The Battle Of Britain Then & Now is an absolute work of art and something I use all the time.

krela said:

Nice if you can afford it!

The really great thing about a collection like that though is that it is an investment really, those books are never going to be worth less than you paid for them, and in most cases will only grow in value.

Of course there's much more value in them than just financial though.

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I must agree. The books from ATB have been collected over 25 odd years & I read them regularly...especially when I see a subject on here that I know has been dealt with by ATB.
But one of the things that Winston said to me last month when I was last up there was that he gets phone calls from widows saying that they don't know what to do with them when their husbands pass away. I suggested that the widows ought to donate the books to the local referance library....or could be sold via Amazon.

hydealfred said:

The Battle Of Britain Then & Now is an absolute work of art and something I use all the time.

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I bought my copy back in 1986, & living quite close to Biggin Hill means that this section is well read.

I was in the Falklands earlier on this year which is why i bought the book. Kind of wish I'd bought it out there but it would have taken me over the weight limit for flying home!

rockhopper said:

I was in the Falklands earlier on this year which is why i bought the book. Kind of wish I'd bought it out there but it would have taken me over the weight limit for flying home!

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That is one place I would love to visit - The Falklands - a bit like finding Dartmoor in the South Atlantic. I have the Then & Now and it is a truly remarkable book. I believe alot of the aircraft crash sites are still there from the conflict.

speaking of books in general,I have a most enjoyable collection mostly picked up from charity shops,the prices of some of these books are quite scary if you Google or Ebay them,however! as Krela says...

'The really great thing about a collection like that though is that it is an investment really, those books are never going to be worth less than you paid for them, and in most cases will only grow in value.
Of course there's much more value in them than just financial though.'

I totally agree,I have picked up some reasonably valuable books,but would only part with them for food in the event of starvation.
Cheers for the links Caveman.

There is stuff all over the place Fred, the road from MPA to Stanley is bordered by minefields for most of its length. We had a trip up Mount Harriet, its littered with bits of Argentine personal kit, machine gun mounts, bits of mortar bombs, tent poles, comms cord, batteries and smashed radios. I even found a live 9mm round just lying on the grass.