Blitz Street - the ordnance

If you have just watched the first part of "Blitz Street" you might want to know more. We publish a number of books on bombs, rockets and incendiaries - both Allied and Enemy. Just look in "Ammunition and Explosive Ordnance" for details. The SC5 and SC50 are there, together with even larger devices, plus the V1 and V2 rockets, and the ordnance the RAF and USAAF dropped on the enemy. Just search for bombs.

NHB now on line

Pleased to inform you that we now have the first six books on the site from the Naval Historical Branch - Hurford's monumental history The War at Sea which covers in detail the operations carried out by the Royal Navy in the Second World War. The text is used by the NHB as their Vade Mecum of this aspect of the war, and is very large in consequence!
Very fully indexed so that all vessels mentioned can be found very easily.
On offer as a full set as well as in individual volumes.

Royal Navy now signed up for reprints

We have been awarded a new MoD contract.

We are very pleased to announce that we have been awarded a reprinting contract by the MoD on behalf of the Naval Historical Branch of the Royal Navy. This means we now reprint for all three services in the United Kingdom, and we are extremely proud of this.

Our first reprints in the naval field will be of the six volumes of Hurford's "The War at Sea" written during the war and used by NHB as their first reference source for operations of the RN during the Second World War. The series should not be confused with Roskill's history which is less detailed. Hurford compiled his history on an almost day-to-day basis and used the RN War Diary and signals logs as the basis for this extremely important and never before published account.

The next, rather large, project, is a reprint of the monthly anti-submarine warfare 'journal' produced throughout the war and issued to all ships. It contains detailed statistics on losses of merchant vessels (and RN and other fleet vessels) together with much detail on a/s warfare methods, German countermeasures and a wealth of detail on tactics on both sides. This will be prepared on a monthly basis and published as is the original in approximately six monthly volumes. Volume I nears completion and will be announced in April, followed monthly by subsequent volumes.

Stand by - great news coming VERY soon

We are about to announce a new contract for which we have been waiting quite some time. We will fill in the details as soon as contracts are signed and exchanged - probably a week or so at most. We feel that this really does put the icing on our little cake!

Scanners needed - Buxton area

We are in need of people to do scanning work at home - you will need (obviously) a decent scanner attached to your computer.
Pay is per page scanned and there is a lot of work needed to be done.
If you are interested please ring Denise on 01298 71894.

A comment from Professor Gary Sheffield

Professor Gary Sheffield, Head of the Department of First World War Studies at Birmingham University has kindly commented the following:
"MLRS is a wonderful resource for those with a serious interest in military history, and this description of their extensive catalogue has barely scratched the surface. Long may they thrive."
We need say no more!

British Uniforms and Equipment of the First World War Volume 1

We are very proud to announce the publication of a new book by John Bodsworth on British Uniforms and Equipment of World War I. Rather than describe it ourselves, here are some comments from a review due for publication very soon:

"For those with an interest in the uniforms of the Great War, this book fills a long-vacant gap in the available published material. Even the keenest student will find much new material and yet more which will be unfamiliar. None of this has been available in any title yet published. Whatever titles on uniforms - that the reader already has on his bookshelf - are effectively redundant. In over 400 pages, this title describes more than the sum total of all titles yet seen.

The content alone would have been sufficiently noteworthy, but a vast percentage, of the items described, is illustrated in full-colour. There are over 600 in colour and over 500 period black-and-white. This has never before been attempted in any known title on The Great War.

The author has been able to draw on an un-rivalled archive of official documents, whose collective titles form a deceptively small part of the Bibliography. Throughout, the text has extensive quotes from the official sources, which will never have been seen by even the most-versed student, or collector. In addition, the colour photographs of the artefacts are supported by numerous contemporary photographs from private collections. In several instances, the actual items being worn by a soldier, in the accompanying photograph, are also illustrated alongside and in colour. This is in addition to coverage of necessaries and personal items owned by an individual soldier.

A glance at the very extensive Bibliography, together with the comprehensive Index, are alone sufficient to place this new book as something remarkable."

The book is priced at £60.00 and contains 1100 illustrations (mainly photographs).

Order through our web site at www.mlrsbooks.co.uk or any bookshop - the ISBN is 9781847914576.

Back up to speed

The snow has, at long last, reduced to a mere memory (only took three days and a final snow plough) so we are back at work full blast. Our financial year ends on 31 January, so we soon start on Year 7 - which we hope will be proof that book lovers still buy books during (or is it after?) a recession. Trade did not fall during the credit crunch but it did not increase - but thanks to our stalwart reader clients we have come through in better shape that we had thought.
Sales through the RAF Hendon Bookshop and their mail order department at RAF Cosford are going well, and a lot of our books were given as Christmas presents.
So, onwards (and maybe a little bit upwards) in the next twelve months - and a new contract is in negotiation at the moment which will broaden our source base and give us even more work!
A Happy New Year belatedly, and hopes for a warm summer.

We don't get floods, but snow.... another matter!

Just to let everyone know that things are a little slow up here at the moment. We are at 1,000 feet on top of the Pennines and although we never have a flood risk, when the snow comes it lands here first! We are close to being snowbound, and are waiting for printer supplies - just hanging in there at the moment. However for those of you who have ordered books over the Christmas period we can assure you that they will be posted as soon as we can get things going again at full blast - and your credit cards won't be charged until we get the books away.
Incidentally, a Happy New Year to all of you - wherever you are.