Code for postage free offer

To make sure we know that you came via our blog add FPB (just like that) after your surname on the order. Then we will be sure that you read this blog, and can discount your order cost.

Postage free books

We are offering all private customers the chance to get our books post free (the offer does not apply to trade customers). Choose any book from our list (or more than one) and the order will be sent First Class post free. This offer ends at 5 p.m. on Friday 18 December.
So get your Christmas reading organised right away and benefit from what is about 12% discount by not paying for the postage.
All orders must come through our web site and be accompanied with full card details and delivery address.

We have been so busy it's not true!

Since our last post we have been inundated with orders - from single books to multiples! We supply the British Legion and they recently bought a lot of titles for their library. The RAF Museum at Hendon is putting a lot of our titles onto their bookshelves, and their latest catalogue brought in even more orders. Then we got a large order from Napoleon's Bookshop in Sydney (Australia). To add to this last news we are very pleased to say that we are negotiating with the owner of Napoleon's for them to print and issue many of our titles below the equator. This deal will mean a lessening of work here, and a better service in terms of delivery time to all our customers south of 0 degrees. Needless to say the standards we have built up over the years will continue in the titles printed in Australia, and there will be no changes to the content. Furthermore we hope in the New Year to have some really groundbreaking news on a new contract we are at present negotiating - more when it happens!

RAF Museum new catalogue

The RAF Museum has just issued its latest catalogue of books and other goodies available from the museum shop. Included are some of our reprints, which can be bought through the catalogue, from the shop, or, of course, direct from us. If ever you are able to get to the museum, we would recommend a visit. There is a really wonderful collection of aircraft, knowledgeable staff and it is a wonderland for all boys (aged 5 to pensionable age). The schools service also does a great job and there are often special displays and talks.

Sorry we have been quiet for so long

We have been working hard on various aspects of the downloading system, which should go live in the New Year. Otherwise we have been printing some large orders for home and overseas. Our latest big order is from the British Legion Poppy Tours, and we have just sent off the second load of books to Torsten Belger at GermandotMilitaria.com
All in all a busy month, and this month looks like being even more frantic as the university libraries start to order.

Postal strike

The postal strike planned for Thursday and Friday this coming week will not affect us really, although we will NOT post out anything between Wednesday lunch and Monday next week. Hopefully the backlog will be cleared quite quickly and we will be able to get back to normal very soon. If you want something urgently after Wed lunch let us know - we have a cunning plan!

Emailed books all received in perfect condition

After the initial teething problems and some recipients not having quite enough mail storage space with their mail providers, we are pleased to say that all this weeks emailed books have been received by our customers, and that they are all in perfect condition. We will continue using this albeit slow and fragmentary service until the new download system is up and running properly. With over 600 items to upload to the server we are not quite sure when this will be, but we will make every effort to get the work done as soon as possible whilst making sure that all the uploaded files are complete and suitably reduced from printing to electronic size.

First tranche of electronic copies sent

Today, after getting better and better as we went along, the first lot of volumes in electronic format went out to the buyers. We will be recomposing up all our files so that they can eventually be downloaded. We are applying security to the files and they will not print out at the same quality as we provide in our books, but they will be readable and so useful.
Just as an aside, this method is NOT available to trade customers. Also the service discount does not apply.

First step on the way to downloading

We have completed Stage 1 of the downloading system, which is not the finished product, but will allow readers to obtain downloads from us without too much hassle.
All you have to do is go to our web site and order the books you want to download. Enter all your details including credit card numbers (our secure server really is!) and instead of an address just put "download" in the address line.
We will then process the order, charge you just 50% of the price of the book, clear payment, and then your file will be sent as an email.
Later on this will be automatic, but for now this means you can start downloading almost immediately - and save on postage as well.
Disregard any mention of postage charges in your acknowledgment email from us.
So, off to the web site ... www.mlrsbooks.co.uk

New download system in preparation

We've been looking carefully at the way we get the books to you, and have decided that we are going to make a lot of our titles available as downloads. This will take a few weeks to get set up, but once it is organised you will be able to download the selected titles (the more important ones) at half the price of the printed versions. If you then decide you want the printed version that will only cost you the other 50% of the price, so you will have the download for off-line reference and the printed book at just the price of the printed book.
What we would like is your comments on this proposed service, and whether it would be of value to you - whether or not you buy the printed book after the electronic version.

Palace Hotel Militaria Fair Sunday 27 September 2009

Tom and I went today and we had what was a rather successful time. We met a number of our bloggers and our subscribers, and the books we took we widely appreciated. We will be there again on 8 November, so feel free to come along and introduce yourselves.

Palace Hotel Militaria Fair Sunday 27 September 2009

Just to let everyone know that we will be at the Palace Hotel in Buxton on Sunday for the Militaria show. Open from 9 a.m. We will have a selection of our books there and you will also be able to order anything you need from us at the same time.
We hope to see you there.

"Excellent MLRS reprint series"

We have received the following from the National Archives:

"The excellent MLRS reprint series make rare and illusive material readily available to military historians and are a valuable addition to our military books section"
Mike Parker, Retail Manager at The National Archives.

So, somebody else appreciates what we are happy to do!

A publishing milestone for MLRS Books

Today our titles list went up to over 700 titles, and there are more to come this week.
Anyone ordering a title from our list via our web site between now and midnight Friday 25 September will get the book post free - just add the code 1836 after your name so that we know that you have seen this blog. This applies to friends as well, so do tell them and get brownie points!

More books and another contract

We have just put some more titles on our list - see the front page of the web site.
Also, we are now suppliers of books and maps to the British Legion "Poppy Tours"
organisation.

New titles posted on our web site

Ten new titles have been put up onto the web site today - just go to www.mlrsbooks.co.uk to see them on the front page.

RAF pays MLRS Books a compliment.

Today on the RAF Centre for Air Power Studies (Historical Sources section) web site appears the following:

"It is the intention of the RAF CAPS to place on this site a highly useful range of important historical air power sources and documents.

Most of those below" [see their site through our links page] "have been prepared by, and can be bought as hard copies from, the excellent Military Library Research Services Ltd (MLRS Books), which offers services as re-printers of military manuals, booklets, pamphlets and maps of historical interest. Given your areas of research, this material may be of interest to you, particularly as much of the material is either unavailable or difficult to access elsewhere. MLRS Books has over 600 books on its list covering a wide variety of subjects, primarily with regard to the Second World War. If this material is of interest to you, the MLRS Books website is www.mlrsbooks.co.uk. It holds full details of all its books. MLRS Books can be contacted regarding any queries atsales@mlrsbooks.co.uk or by telephone on 01298 71894."

Need we say more?

Führer Directives and other top level Directives of the German Armed Foces 1939-1945

This title is a very extensive collection not just of Hitler's War Directives but also orders from the Wehrmachtführungsstab (the German High Command). They cover the whole of the Second World War and make fascinating reading - they enable the reader to follow the progress of the war from the point of view of the strategy makers at the top - and they reflect the changing fortune of the German war.
This title will be added to our list next week. 500 pages, text only (there are no photographs or maps). £45.00

New titles being announced next week

We will be putting a lot of books onto our list next week - about 50 titles will be listed in various categories - so keep an eye on this blog and on our website for the full details.

There are books on air warfare as well as ground operations, and some really interesting US pamphlets and manuals as well.

Soon to come: a number of papers on German operations in Russia, France +Flanders 1940 and in the Ardennes in 1944. Also to come the experiences of Peiper and Dietrich as German tank unit Commanders.

Now ready - Bomber Command Operations Vols V + VI

We have just got the next two volumes in the complete history of the RAF operational history of Bomber Command finished - these can be found under the RAF CAPS list in Air Warfare and Air Archives.
In preparation are a number of other air historical narratives, plus the second of two volumes of Hitler's War Directives (Volume I will follow) and a set of historical works on the strategic decisions 1939 - 1941.
We also have available a set of three OSS/MI14 reports on German defences in France and the Low Countries with a multitude of first class drawings showing Element C, Hedgehogs, concrete tank barriers and many others. The photographs were almost certainly taken by the French and Belgian resistance. You need to order this by calling us on 01298 71894 between 0830 and 1700 - not on the web as yet.
There will be more news very soon.

MLRS Booklist September 2009

You can find our full catalogue online here or you can download an electronic version (30.02 MB) here.

MLRS Books reprint military pamphlets, manuals and textbooks. We mainly, but not exclusively, cover the Second World War. We reprint army, air and naval titles, and we already sell to NATO and armed forces around the world.

Have you bought a book from us? Did you like it? Do you need something from our list - if so get in touch.
Is there something you have that is worth reprinting? We are always looking for new material - even though it may be 70 years old!

Is there something you need? If there is get in touch - we may already have it in preparation, or know where to get it. This applies particularly to air and naval history as we have sources that have only just become available.

Do please let us know what you think of the web site too - we always take notice of comment and constructive criticism.