
Republishing books
SIMPLE BOATBUILDING is a classic found in a bookshop in Oamaru. I wrote to the publishers, Browns in Scotland and received permission to reprint this lovely little book. Its probably as old as me but there is no reason why somebody could not take this into the workshop and come out with something that floats.
Its a prime example of me finding interesting books that we need to see
THE SIMPLE BOAT INDEX PAGE CAN BE FOUND HERE….
WELL DONE ACHILLES was one of a number of WWII naval histories written by the late Jack Parker QSM. I republished the book for him for use by the RNZ Communicators Association and it is probably still buried in their website. THE ACHILLES BOOK INDEX
Jack asked me to keep his books alive if I could and this publication honours that promise. Essentially Jack interviewed people from a ship, in this case Achilles and its part at the Battle of the River Plate.
The next step was to craft a ‘yarn’ with facts and figures intertwined with imaginary conversations between the officers and men. Jack based this on his own understanding of how the Navy worked and his shipboard experience.
No exactly the recipe to excite the pure historians in Naval life but I will warrant they do naval history more good than some of the official tomes.
Once again this book is reprinted with stand alone chapters. It is a hard read for some but there is no rush, you just download a chapter when you are ready.
I have others but am unsure if they will be of any interest. One exception was ALMOST HMNZS NEPTUNE. I have a family connection with that ship. My father was on her but drafted off to MOA. Neptune was sunk in the Med with the loss of all but one of her complement. It is a hard book to get into but I have republished the two chapters that encapsulate the sinking and they are posted HERE
