Osprey Publishing

[buttchowder]

Hey I was just wondering if you guys ever buy any of their books. They are pretty awsome.

[buttchowder]

I guess no one has.

[bloddyaxe]

I have lots and lotses of books from Osprey I believe....

Pretty nice they are too.

[Bryson C]

I got some on German WWII tanks, their brief 48 pages, but pretty cheap and have good coverage for their lenght. I would say their worth buying if your interested in the subject.

[California Joe]

I have a few of them. I believe some of the resident experts in here have pointed out various innacuracies in a few of their books. My take is that they do certain historical periods better than others.

[Telnyashka]

I have a few of them. I believe some of the resident experts in here have pointed out various innacuracies in a few of their books. My take is that they do certain historical periods better than others.

any examples so i can steer clear of them?

[Cpt. Spaulding]

I´ve 20 of them, Zulu War and Kurks titles are great

[RGRBOX]

I find them quit informative, but as Joe said, there are some that are little less on the corect side or missing a lot of info. But in General, they are good, and have some good pics in them. I've been reading and collecting them since I was young. Good start to history, but not the sole stance of history. Best to dig deeper and get more info from other sources..

[Catch22]

Most popular Osprey series are mainly reference for modellers, diorama-makers and alike. The later historical oriented series such as Man-At-Arms, Warrior, Elite, Vanguard or lately Campaign tried to combine both values of being visual and historical reference. Some of them are inspirational, brillantly ilustrated, and proffesionally covered - some are just...well popular is the adequate word. It's nice and colorful stuff, good starter for deeper research.

From publishers point of view their stuff is nicely done. Anyone seen their large book on snipers?

[Hellfish6]

Anybody have the East Africa in WWI book? I just ordered it... wanna see what y'all think of it.

[Hullebullen]

I have about 10 of them...I find them a bit pricey, even when I'm buying them off teh internets (since they have to be imported to Sweden). I generally find them to be good starters on subjects. I recently bought a couple on ancient roman military and greek hoplites to use them as references for my figure painting hobby...

[gaijinsamurai]

I've got about 30-40. If you want to build a decent library, it's a good idea to have at least two or three references for any subject you're interested in: that way you can cross reference to check information, and fill in gaps that books might leave out. Overall, the Osprey books are pretty good, especially in giving the basic info on campaigns, battles, and individual soldiers' uniforms, kit, and weaponry. They don't give a lot of in-depth information, but they aren't really meant to. As visual references, they are among the best.

[OldRecon]

...

From publishers point of view their stuff is nicely done. Anyone seen their large book on snipers?

Yup, I have it. Pretty good introduction to the history of sniping, but if you want to go truly in depth on the matter you'll have to follow up with the reading sniper literature and archive material with regards to history of sniping in each army (Wermacht, Britt. army, Soviet army... etch).
As for kill tallies of snipers described in the book, I do think the authour tend to take the tallies, as viewed from the sniper end, too much at face value.
Otherwise, for their format of many illustrations and few pages Osprey books are quite good.

[intrinsic]

Fantastic books I've been buying them on an off for the last 25 years, the artwork is good, in particular the stuff by Ron Volstad.
I guess there wil be some good ones on A-stan and Iraq before long

[RGRBOX]

Fantastic books I've been buying them on an off for the last 25 years, the artwork is good, in particular the stuff by Ron Volstad.
I guess there wil be some good ones on A-stan and Iraq before long

There's a life size pic of a Ranger drawn by Volstad at the Infantry Museum at Ft. Benning.. one of my favorite drawings he's done...

[hughdotoh]

Concord and Squadron books are better (mainly because I prefer pictures to reading).

[DeltaWhisky58]

I use them as reference sources for 1/6th modelling projects - on the whole they are pretty good, but some authors/artists are better than others. Mine almost all refer to British subjects from the Napoleonic period through WW1/WW2 to modern - I find them very good.

BTW, I seldom if ever buy new - I usually buy from amazon.com or ebay, getting most in as new condition at no more than 30-50% of new price.

[Corinthian]

Some are good

some are terrible

SAS one is bad

ANZAC ELITE is great

there are some great artists and some look bad ones

[DeltaWhisky58]

Some are good

some are terrible

SAS one is bad

ANZAC ELITE is great

there are some great artists and some look bad ones

Time for you to do a re-write than - you're always telling us so much about them.......................

[Corinthian]

its on the cards
i hear

[DeltaWhisky58]

http://www.onesixscale.co.uk/forums/images/smiles/bs.gif

I believe the psychiatrists have a term for people who continually hear things rofl

[n4292936]

its on the cards
i hear
What's your source on that champ, you seem to be in the know on this one. I have yet to hear of any such plans...

[M1A2U2]

ive got about 40. Great source for uniforms from different conflicts. Cant wait till one about the coaltion in iraq comes out.

[Baltic]

Some older Osprey books are not very acurate, but the latest are more or less ok. Though I prefer Schiffer books. [http://www.schifferbooks.com/newschiffer/ ]

[gaijinsamurai]

Achiffer books are great. Spendy though. There's no way I could afford to have a lot of them. The French "Histoires y collectiones" books are great visual references too.

[Lazarou]

http://www.ospreypublishing.com/osp_img/titlecovers/Q6312AL.JPG
I've only read this one so far, can't find any Osprey books from my town's bookstores for some reason. The one about Arab-Israeli air wars would be interesting to read too.

[gaijinsamurai]

Lazarou, if you are comfortable with making purchases over the internet, I recommend you look on the web for Osprey books. I've acquirred a few of mine that way. Of course, it doesn't allow you to look at the books before you decide to make a purchase, but it is convenient.

[Flukeman]

SAS one is bad



Why what is wrong with it ?


Osprey Books : http://www.ospreypublishing.com/

[DnA]

I got a couple

Elite -
Vietnam Airborne
US Army Rangers & LRRP Units 1942–87
Warrior -
US Army Ranger 1983–2002

[OldRecon]

SAS one is bad



Why what is wrong with it ?


Osprey Books : http://www.ospreypublishing.com/

1) It's rather old publication nowdays, and the illustrations in that particular issue are not very good/detailed compared to some other Osprey publications.
The one mentioned above on ANZAC's in the Vietnam war is superb by comparison to the SAS one as an example.

[California Joe]

The American Civil War ones aren't particularly good. But that's OK because I got a signed copy of Don Troianis book. Heh. I have a book on British uniforms from the Napoleonic era called "The Thin Red Line" that has nice illustrations.

[Flukeman]

SAS one is bad



Why what is wrong with it ?


Osprey Books : http://www.ospreypublishing.com/

1) It's rather old publication nowdays, and the illustrations in that particular issue are not very good/detailed compared to some other Osprey publications.
The one mentioned above on ANZAC's in the Vietnam war is superb by comparison to the SAS one as an example.

I have both books and you are right that the illustrations in the early book are not the best.

In one of the pictures there is an SSM I served under !!!!!

[Ruledbyjames]

I got an Osprey publishing about Byzantium's wars. Very good, short but sweet.

[panzerjager]

Each title is written by different authors, so quality varies (yeah, some authors have written mulitple titles). Some of the older titles were written quite awhile ago when the demand for accuracy was lower. The new titles seem to be much better.

[Cygnus]

none yet, mostly Concords

[Corinthian]

Osprey SAS old one
no offence to Jim Shortt
but lots of miostakes
and the plates lack any detail,

i hear whispers
Kevin Lyles [ recent ANZAC Book] is working on a new SAS one.

Any suggestions for plates?

Gulf 1
Gulf 2 [Sting]
Sierra Leonne
NI
Black Kit
80s
and 90s

[Johnny_H]

Anyone with Color Plates by Ron Volstad is a winner to me.

[morkev]

I'm an Osprey junkie and have ever issue of Men at Arms and Elite ever published. I think they are excellant. But watch for redundantcies.(forgive spelling) I am also a big fan of the Concord books, mostly because of the pictures.

The Osprey books can be pricey but I now order mine from Amazon.ca. So for any Canadian readers, we can get them for the same price or less in some cases from Amazon.

Question, does anyone know were I can place orders for the Concord books on Vancouver Island?

Regards

[morkev]

One other thing. I agree, Ron Volstad is an oustanding illustrator.

[Marsh]

Hi,
I think people would be surprised as to how much work goes into a typical Osprey book. I know this from personal experience, having written a book for the company and seeing just how demanding they can be. For instance, as part of the editorial process, the author has to provide a detailed portfolio of photos and data for the artist, one for each colour plate. In my case I provided a seperate A4 file full of photos and comments for each colour plate used in the book. All this in addition to those photos chosen for publication. Most of the extra material never makes it into the book for a lack of space.

My only criticism of Osprey would be that the books are too short, but as was explained to me by the editor, the books are made to a strict budget in order to match their intended market.

cheers
Marsh

[Johnny_H]

I love Osprey books, I have ever since I was a kid.
My father had a large collection of them, now im starting to really enjoy them.

I just recieved Bosworth 1485 : The last charge of the plantagenents and I am very impressed with the "Campiegn" series if this is any indication.

http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/8968/185532863101bo2204203200pisitb.th.jpg (http://img462.imageshack.us/my.php?image=185532863101bo2204203200pisitb.jpg)

I got two more in my shopping cart
"The Zulu war Campiegn" - Campiegn series
" The war of the Roses" - men at arms series

[Salonen]

I think too Osprey is good, they have a lot of interesting titles, some good, some bad, some in between. I should know, cause I have a lot of them. But as I mentioned in another thread, Osprey goes over the same subjetcs again and again, instead of publishing something completely new which I would like to read about. :)

[Lt.Havoc]

I regulary buy books from Osprey. I love thier books. I have almost all books about Vietnam from them and recetnly buyed Inside the Soviet Army Today, Insinde the US Army Today, Armies of the Gulf War, Warsaw Pact Elite forces, Russias War in Afghanistan, Tank War Central Front: NATO vs. Warsaw Pact and so on. I like thier books about moden warfare and I will try to get some more books as soon as possible.I like the color plates, the details in the book and so on. They are well written and very accurate most of the time.

I can just recommend Osprey Books.

[Coop]

I think too Osprey is good, they have a lot of interesting titles, some good, some bad, some in between. I should know, cause I have a lot of them. But as I mentioned in another thread, Osprey goes over the same subjetcs again and again, instead of publishing something completely new which I would like to read about. :)What some house is publishing always depends on its bosses. In the case of Osprey, while they have a very good team of editors now, their current bosses sit in the USA and have a very distinct view (i.e. a quite narrow one) of what is "interesting" and what not and what kind of readership they want to attract with their publications.

That's why some "rare/obscure" topics aren't accepted - even if there are authors ready to write about them.

Still, in total, Osprey is more likely to accept project proposals to such topics, and is thus important for publishing business: they are keeping alive a number of authors, and have rewamped the market by contracting illustrators as well (before they launched their new series of books, in the late 1990s, the art of drawing military artworks was all but dead, just for example).

Not an easy job - and definitely something that needs some courage too - in the times when internet rules....

[Bacilluspolymyxa]

I once bought a large format hardcover book with all the US Osprey plates in a job lot I kept it for a while and then sold it on which was a bad move as it turns out its worth a bit more that I thought. There was a rash of military books all printed in the Far East in the 90's and not really intended for UK or US release until some bargain book dealers bought up lots of unsold copies and had them shipped over here. There was one UK company that did shed loads of these books but they vanished from the scene pretty quickly I actually made money buying new books off the shelf and selling them on again to dealers and I am sure a few others did the same.
Most of these Far East military books are intended for a wide marketplace so are scant on text and heavy on illustrations and photos the hardcover books are mostly good quality but some of the soft cover books are poorly bound.

[Semper Fi]

Well, I also have several, and just bought one about the war in Croatia and Slovenia (jus came out last week). Ive seen some of the plate and I trust that it will be fairly amazing.

[Lt.Havoc]

I also orderd that book, "War in Yuguslavia: Slovenia and Croatia" along with other books like "NATO Armies Today", "South East Asian Special Forces", "US Navy SEALs" and "Armies in the Lebanon 1982-1984"

cant wait to get my hands on them.

[gaijinsamurai]

"Armies in Lebanon" was one of the first Osprey titles I purchased. If I remember correctly, Samuel Katz, who has written numerous other books about Israel and the Middle East, was the author. Good book.

[Hullebullen]

The problem with the Osprey titles from a more serious factual view is that there is no footnotes nor any listed works which the author has used as a referrence. At the very best, you get a short "further reading" if you want to dig in a little deeper on the subject. They are a bit on the light side to be used for actual referrence on anything heavier than figure painting (my reason for buying Osprey books) or scale modelling or as a starter on any subject.

Another is that certain writers, David Nicolle for example, have written a huge number of books on varying subjects. I believe he has a PhD in oriental studies and that his Osprey titles on the middle east are generally praised. However, he has written Osprey titles on anything from Normans to Italian and Scandinavian medieval armies.

[Marsh]

The problem with the Osprey titles from a more serious factual view is that there is no footnotes nor any listed works which the author has used as a referrence. At the very best, you get a short "further reading" if you want to dig in a little deeper on the subject. They are a bit on the light side to be used for actual referrence on anything heavier than figure painting (my reason for buying Osprey books) or scale modelling or as a starter on any subject.

Another is that certain writers, David Nicolle for example, have written a huge number of books on varying subjects. I believe he has a PhD in oriental studies and that his Osprey titles on the middle east are generally praised. However, he has written Osprey titles on anything from Normans to Italian and Scandinavian medieval armies.

Hi,
Actually you are mistaken, many of the newer Osprey titles do have both bibliographies and footnotes. The book I had published by them certainly did.
From an authors perspective, the main restriction is word count and space. Interestingly for each of the the colour plates in my book, I was requred to provided around thirty photos and several hundred words of text to guide the artist. If Osprey felt there was an audience and that they could make money, they have the material and text from their authors to publish much more substantial works.

Cheers
Marsh

[Lt.Havoc]

Wha....Marsh you are a Author of Osprey books, or is that a mistake? Man, there are so many books that could be written ya know. I like the books they have about Modern Warfare, but some are so outdated and all. I mean, there are no books that cover the Multinational forces in Afgahnistan, or Ex-Juguslavia, nor is there a book about Somalia in 1993 or about the Modern Chinese forces. Some of them would be worth written and illustrated by top artists like Ron Volstad.

[Hullebullen]

Hi,
Actually you are mistaken, many of the newer Osprey titles do have both bibliographies and footnotes. The book I had published by them certainly did.
From an authors perspective, the main restriction is word count and space. Interestingly for each of the the colour plates in my book, I was requred to provided around thirty photos and several hundred words of text to guide the artist. If Osprey felt there was an audience and that they could make money, they have the material and text from their authors to publish much more substantial works.

Cheers
Marsh

I stand corrected. Although none of the newer books in my Osprey collection (which isn't that huge considering just many books they have published) has any footnotes, most of them had a bibliography whereas those published earlier (pre-90's) was lacking any documentation.

[Marsh]

I stand corrected. Although none of the newer books in my Osprey collection (which isn't that huge considering just many books they have published) has any footnotes, most of them had a bibliography whereas those published earlier (pre-90's) was lacking any documentation.

Hi Hullebullen and Lt Havoc,
Osprey published one of my books - Modern Israeli Tanks and Infantry Carrriers 1985-2004.

Cheers

Marsh

[EsoognomEhT]

I have two Falklands ones; Air Forces and Naval forces. Good books, especially useful for comparisons between the two sides. Only problem with them is they were produce fairly quickly after the conflict and some of the information isn't correct