Bristol: The Inside Story

[Kevin H]

The new book titled "Bristol: The Inside Story" by Christopher Balfour is due out Feb 2010 and is available for pre order from Amazon at the discounted price of $39.66 instead of $62.95 (these are Australian dollar prices).

It remains to be seen whether there is any new information in this book, or if it is just a re-hash of what's already out there. The low price suggests the latter.

[Ashley James]

Haines Books are pretty average IMO and there is only so much
information available.

Ash

[TLF799R]

I love the way you are so open minded and never pre-judge anything!!!
In actual fact Christopher has done a great deal of work on the book and
has spoken to many current bristol owners and figures in the company. I'm
surprised he hasn't spoken to such a reknowned expert as yourself???

Philippa

[penman]

Hi
It is presumably the same book as Amazon UK shows as Bristol A very British story.
They have it at £35 for pre-order due 8 Oct 2009, normal price £50.

[mrbennetts]

Well said, Phillipa. You beat me to it !

[412usa]

I'm not sure you are being fair Kevin. Christopher has had access to some new and unique info and I suggest that we wait to see the book before comment.



Peter

[Nick Challacombe]

Nick Challacombe.

Home phone

[Ashley James]

You'll be telling me that Setright's book was historically correct
next and that Charles Oxley's Book is a good one too.

I'm mean no offence to Christopher, but so far the early History of
Bristol Cars has best been recorded by Jenks in his book on AFN
entitled From Chain Gang to Turbocharger. The rest is full of mistakes.

I do hope the book is a success though.

Ashley

[TLF799R]

"You'll be telling me that Setright's book was historically correct
next and that Charles Oxley's Book is a good one too."
Sorry Ashley, but at what point did I say that???

I simply think why not actually see it before running it down - is that
such a radical idea?

Philippa

[Geoff Kingston]

Ashley,
I don't think Charles Oxley's book is that bad a read given that he was an owner and enthusiast not a proffessional motoring writer, Setrights book,yes it has errors but few motoring books are totally correct and it doesn't stop copies of his first book changing hands for between £150 to £200 a time and a copy of his latest effort bid to £350 last week at Brightwells !!
I agree about Denis Jenkinson's book and to get another slant on the 401/403 design debate the excellent Touring Superleggera by Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderloni is well worth a look, in it you will see some photo's used in Jenks book.
I also hope Christopher book is a succes and a good read too as I've just put my order in with Amazon.
*
Geoff.

[TLF799R]

Just a thought, as an author myself I know I can sell my own book direct
to the public, as Christopher is a BOC member is it worth seeing whether he
wants to sell direct?
Philippa

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by 412usa

I'm not sure you are being fair Kevin. Christopher has had access to some new and unique info and I suggest that we wait to see the book before comment.

Peter

I'd already ordered a copy anyway, although I ordered it from Amazon.com and they are marketing it under a different title - "Bristol: The Inside Story", which suggests a bit of a "scoop", i.e information we have never seen before. This is where my skepticism lies, because $39.66 seems very cheap for a new hardback marque history that contains new factual information.

Hopefully it's based on a candid interview with Tony Crook without the marketing hype, rather than a collection of anecdotes from people who idolise the company.

The proof of the pudding will no doubt be in the eating.

Kevin

PS. I suspect I paid US$, not AUD as I said in my earlier post.

[RGSchmitt]

Hi all -

Amazon US state they will have it for $39.66 US, but other sites show
12/2009 or 2/2010 as the publication date. That's a lot of time to
speculate about its value.

Bob

[Sam410]

Originally Posted by Ashley James

Haines Books are pretty average IMO and there is only so much information available.

Ash

Christopher has interviewed widely and conducted original research for this book, and I know has had access to previously unpublished information and pictures. It should be much more than simply a rewrite of previously published myths I look forward to reading it.

[shirlaw n]

Has Mr Balfour had access to any available list of "original" build sheets of all the 2 litre cars ?? One hears from time to time that such a Cardboard Index survives,but appears to be "off limits" to us ordinary folk.Over the past few years I was able to obtain accurate build sheets (for a nominal sum) for my MGB Rover P6B and RR Silver Shadow,all now sold on.I have heard a whisper that it is possible a very early 401 saloon was owned by the late Queen Mother.Thats all folks norman

[jimfoz]

Firstly I agree with the others who have defended the author in relation to the unfair comments. I for one look forward to receiving my copy and making my own judgement!

Also, why, just because it is a Bristol book, does it have to cost hundreds of pounds to be considered any good? The amount of illustrations and research in a book doesn't always mean that it is automatically selling at a high price and a low price doesn't mean it will automatically be a poor book. A friend of mine who wrote an enormously concise and detailed biography of Mike Hawthorn last year, spent many hundreds of hours researching interviewing and sanctioning one-off illustrations. His well illustrated 450page book was only selling for between £45 and £60 a copy.

I seem to remember the Oxley book wasn't that expensive when first published. However due to Bristol being quite a niche marque in terms of mass interest, I imagine only very few copies were sold, hence the enormous prices they fetch now on ebay.

The fact this new Bristol book is by such a large publisher as Haynes means that it will naturally be lower priced than some of the 'boutique' publishing companies who publish leather bound tomes for hundreds of pounds. As well as their hardbacked technical manuals for Ford Fiestas, Haynes do publish some well-printed and well-bound books in their more expensive ranges.

[mrbennetts]

Shirlaw.......I too obtained the build sheets for my Silver Shadow, which are most interesting (to me !). The wonderful RR Club has them all. You may be 100% sure that Mr Crook has one of the most intersting customer and car files in the industry. He told me that there are too many names to release, even if he wrote an autobiogrphy. I expect that would be a good seller !
I do not think HM Queen Mother ever owned a Bristol. She went in for Jags ,Daimlers and Fords........always needed 4 doors, not being a driver.

[Ashley James]

I do think that the early history is what's needed and so far not
appeared thanks to Mr Crook's intransigence, assuming records exist.

Ash

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by jimfoz

Firstly I agree with the others who have defended the author in relation to the unfair comments.

I merely expressed my skepticism about a Bristol book marketed by Amazon.com as "The Inside Story" which has been discounted by over 50% many months ahead of it's launch (I have pre ordered the book at $39.66 or £24).

Given the old adage "You get what you pay for", I don't see that as "unfair".

Having absolutely no knowledge of the author, that level of discounting suggest to me that either the publisher has no idea about marketing and perceived value pricing, or they don't have much confidence in the book.

I'm not suggesting that it should cost hundreds of pounds, but given the current alternatives for people seeking books on Bristols, £50 should be easily achievable. If it really does contain old photographs and information that has never been seen before, then a higher price tag may well have been justified.

I sincerely hope that the new book is very good, and that it turns out to be an absolute bargain!

[Claude]

Originally Posted by Kevin Howard

I merely expressed my skepticism about a Bristol book marketed by Amazon.com as "The Inside Story" which has been discounted by over 50% many months ahead of it's launch (I have pre ordered the book at $39.66 or £24).

Given the old adage "You get what you pay for", I don't see that as "unfair".

Having absolutely no knowledge of the author, that level of discounting suggest to me that either the publisher has no idea about marketing and perceived value pricing, or they don't have much confidence in the book.

I'm not suggesting that it should cost hundreds of pounds, but given the current alternatives for people seeking books on Bristols, £50 should be easily achievable. If it really does contain old photographs and information that has never been seen before, then a higher price tag may well have been justified.

I sincerely hope that the new book is very good, and that it turns out to be an absolute bargain!

Kevin, I'm not sure you understand how Amazon does business. They take a huge commission for listing a book. In many cases books now are print-on-demand where they never actually touch the book, it gets shipped from a subsidiary printer. Then they apply a large discount from that large cut they take, meaning they make it very difficult for the traditional book store to compete since they get their margin on the list price... and they have to order it, stock it and sell it over the counter.

The discount has nothing to do with the value of the book, it's what happens when Amazon attains market dominance. In most cases after everyone has taken their cut, the author earns very little - if they write books for dollars they would better work flipping burgers for McDonalds.

Claude