Guthrum
13 Apr 2016
06:15:51am | This arrived this morning - one of those books which I feel that, if only I were a bit cleverer, and a bit more diligent, I should have/could have written myself. (I've come close in the past, but I've never seen a book through to publication.)
First impressions of this hardback volume, written by an ex-Headmaster now based in Devon:
- It's a decidedly niche interest (how many of you reading this will rush out and order it?), so it's expensive and corners have to be cut. Thus, the profuse illustrations are in black and white, though there is a generous colour section mid-volume (in which covers and stamps all have a slightly green tinge!).
- good quality paper but an unusual typeface, so often the case with small publishers. This one is slightly cramped, suggesting again that text could not exceed the given 256 pages.
- Dr Parker's collection of WW2 stamps (I assume his own stamps are illustrated) is fine used rather than mint.
- It's not a scholarly volume. The brief bibliography at the end features popular histories. Nor is there a single stamp-related book or article, except the Gibbons and Michel catalogues. Dr Parker has not accessed his primary sources, such as the Post Office records of various countries.
- It looks thorough: 22 chapters on European countries, roughly in order of entry into the war. No chapter on Great Britain, of course. I wonder if Parker has any views on why that is.
I'm hoping to learn something new, of course, and if not then to have my well-honed prejudices supported!
Parker, David, European Stamp Issues of the Second World War: Images of Triumph, Deceit and Despair, Stroud, The History Press 2015.
 1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like. |
