Having vague memories of visitng the HMSO shop on Holborn and flicking through 'Landships' I thought I'd try and track a copy down now. One word - OUCH!!! [Very Expensive].
How does David Fletcher's other book 'British Tanks 1915-19' compare? Seems to be hardback, a lot more pages etc... BUT does it have the wealth of previously unseen photos that 'Landships' had, such as the MkIV [V?] fitted with 'Snake Tracks' [and minus sponsons] etc etc... How about the line drawings etc?
I'd love to read an objective comparison of the two before I fork out £50 plus for a deleted 'Landships' only to find out that the later [still in print], cheaper title has everything I remember plus loads more.
Thanks in advance
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i have, or i should say 'had', acopy of the british tanks 1915-19. its a good book that i've managed to misplace!
can't really give you a comparison because i dont have Landships.
but... i am on the lookout for a copy, and the cheapest place i found was a seller on abebooks.com. it was going for $45, so, a lot cheaper than £50, and maybe comparable with the price of a new British Tanks
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I wandered into a second-hand bookshop on Tottenham Court Road in London five or six years ago, and in the rickety basement there was a copy of Landships next to a paperback of A New Excalibur. I bought them both for £10. That's unlikely to happen again, but I'd say that The British Tanks 1915-19 is far superior. It's 190 pages, as opposed to 60, it's got the photo of the Mk V with the snake tracks, and it's got lots more stuff such as the Newton Tractor and all sorts of photos of oddities.
The line drawings aren't full-page as they are in Landships - maybe 1/3 size, but you can buy those fairly cheaply direct from the Tank Museum.
The cover price is £19.95, but the last time I was at Bovington they had a stack in the shop reduced to, I think, £8.95.
IMHO, no contest. If you buy Landships you're paying for its rarity rather than its usefulness; the other one has superceded it.
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"Sometimes things that are not true are included in Wikipedia. While at first glance that may appear like a very great problem for Wikipedia, in reality is it not. In fact, it's a good thing." - Wikipedia.
I got lucky with my copy of "Landships". Can't remember the price but it was a lot cheaper than £50. As far as a comparison, I'd agree with James to a point. The line drawings are the same in each book but a lot larger in "Landships", as are some of the photos. Each book has a few photos that the other doesn't (eg. Medium B in Russian markings in "The British Tanks"; Mk III female, old sponsons and new in "Landships"). In short, get "The British Tanks" and, if you can find it at a good price, get "Landships" as well. As I tell my wife, you can never have too many books.
I don't want to make anyone jealous but I bought my copy of Landships for 10 US dollar,a year ago,on Ebay.I didn't realise it was that rare.
But if you want good advise about the best investment,choose the "British tanks 1915-19".Far superior in information. But.....the pictures in Landships are bigger and sharper im my opinion.But 50 pound is far to much for this book.Coverprice of Landships is 3,95 pound........
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