The Olympic Class Ships Olympic Titanic & Britannic

[Bob Godfrey]

Curious indeed, Mark, but Amazon do favour a belt 'n' braces policy when making promises. The first run might be reserved for US outlets, but one way or another it looks like we'll all be able to buy ourselves an early xmas present!

 

[Bill Wormstedt]

Amazon still claims my copy is due to arrive Oct. 5 - but hasn't shipped yet.

 

[Fiona Nitschke]

Thanks Mark B. That's good news that copies are starting to show up, and must be quite a relief to Mark C.

I was wondering if his publisher does net sales, as so many other publishers do now. Going direct to the publisher can cut out a lot problems that arise when dealing with 'middle' organisations like Amazon when ordering books put out by small / specialist presses. Leastways, that's been my experience.

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Email just received from Amazon UK: "Your order has been despatched today"

 

[Michael H. Standart]

I got my notice that my order had been despatched on the 6th. I hope I don't have to wait a lot longer, but it's in the hands of the Postal Service now. (God help us all!)

 

[Michael Condon]

Good news! Looks like Amazon US has finally made the book available here. Their site says it ships in 24 hours, so I just ordered a copy. I can hardly wait!

 

[Mike Bull]

For anyone interested, particularly in the UK, www.play.com have started selling books, often at much better prices than Amazon, and they have this book, too.

 

[Inger Sheil]

We should hopefully have some copies available in Sydney soon - I'll let folks know when they arrive.

 

[Jesse D O'Neill]

Just Got my Copy of The Book in The mail. Haven't Read it Yet, But Look At Flipped through and looked at the Illustrations. Wonderful.

 

[Iain Stuart Yardley]

Well, apparently it's on the shelves at Waterstone's, which is great news for anyone who hasn't already got an order on with Amazon. Can't even check their website for the status of my order as it's down for "essential maintenance".

 

[Guest (R17)]

This really is a great book. It even has pictures of the Titanic and Britannic I had never seen before - always a sign of a decent book ! However on page 132 there is a photo of the Olympic towards the end of her life. At first I thought oh I must have just bought a picture of which more than one were cut, but when I compared the photo I have and the one on page 132 that comes under J&C McCutcheon collection - I can see the same scratch marks. Not just marks that you find on a negative which can be repeated when a new photo is cut from a plate - but dents that can only appear on one picture. For example you can't get the same scratch on 2 different tables or same indentical stain on 2 carpets - Hope I am making sense ) Having seen this I am a little confused why what I believe to be my picture comes under J&C collection ? I mean this all in a very polite way and have had a long look at the picture in the book and my photo. I can see the one off dents, scratch marks, dots (that I could if I wanted to scrap off from my photo) repeated clearly in the book photo and in the same places - yet it appears under another name. Very strange. ???? These dents etc could not be repeated.....

cheers

 

[Jason D. Tiller]

Miles,

Your post has been moved here.

 

[Nigel Bryant]

Mark C, if you are out there...

Thought I will give a quick post. Got my copy of your book today. It looks great and I cannot wait to start reading it. There are some nice rare photographs and there's allot of technical areas I can't wait to read. Your book is one of the first to talk indepth about the differences between Olympic and Britannic's designs, which is my favourite part. I also like the comparisons of the three sisters vital statistics. I had a quick flick through some of the chapters, which look nicely presented. Good job and all the best for the upcoming release of your Olympic book!

Now please excuse me … I’m off to read a certain book ;-)

Nigel

 

[Mark Chirnside]

Hi!

Forgive me if I try and find a short response to all the recent postings -- there are so many of them and it's hard to answer in one post! It's really remarkable to think of the level of interest shown in the book. Amazon's messages do seem to have been haphazard, and indeed the announcements (such as those Mark Baber has quoted) with a date of November 29th 2004 for both books never had any basis in reality. If memory serves, the Olympic class book was released in October and then the Olympic book on November 26th 2004. In other words, one was six months late and one was six months early!

I am very grateful for the kind words -- the biggest fear with something like this is that people are not going to like the end result. While nothing is perfect, I am very pleased that nobody seems to be disapointed with the book.

There are one or two points which will be changed when the book is reprinted -- although there are still copies left, a reprint is in the offing quite soon because the initial print run is pretty much exhausted, less than two months after the release date. The reprint will differ in two ways: the early copies did not have the dedication to my parents included, so that will be added; and secondly, the caption for Jim Kalafus' rare Olympic/Britannic photos contained an error with his name and that will be corrected. The caption itself is also being altered to more properly reflect Jim's generosity in sharing these rare images.

In terms of some of the questions you raised, Miles, I've sent you a private e-mail. It's my belief that the photo that was in the McCutcheon collection and used in the book, was later acquired by you -- maybe at a maritime sale, or ebay? Certainly the image was in the collection in summer 2004. I am a little confused as to why you are confused about the photo acknowledgement, since I have never 'met' you online or corresponded at all, nor asked for photos. I'm pleased you like the book, and thanks for buying it!

I'd like to thank Michael Tennaro for his review -- which was better than I had dared to hope for. I must confess that I don't read the book myself, because I hate reading myself!

I'm pleased that you liked the book, Jesse, and thanks to you and Nigel for your kind words.

Looking back at the thread, I see it has the working title as the heading. Could one of the moderators 'work your magic' (wink!) and update it to reflect the final title? 'The Olympic Class Ships -- Olympic, Titanic & Britannic'. I'd appreciate it, thanks.

I am planning to sell another 'trilogy' on ebay if anyone is interested -- do let me know. Essentially, it's all three of my books, published this year between June and November, signed and personalised to your choice.

I have a feeling that this Christmas is going to be even busier than usual, so once again I must apologise if my attendence here at ET is 'patchy.' As some of you know, the start of 2004 was one of the worst times in my life in some respects -- the loss of one of my grandparents hit me hard. In recent times I have also had quite a few negative personal comments/attacks directed at me privately (none that I am aware of from ET users), which I felt were best remedied by scaling down my participation in online debates. Aside from that, my workload both in terms of my research and my degree work seems to rise inexorably. For those reasons, I have been absent for much of 2004. Hopefully that will change in 2005.

Meanwhile, thanks to everyone who has bought the book and shown interest in the book. It's appreciated.

Best wishes,

Mark.

 

[Inger Sheil]

Thanks for that update, Mark! I am very sorry to hear about your recent personal losses. Am also sorry to hear that you've been subjected to personal comments and attacks via email.

In the meantime, if anyone in Sydney wants to get a copy of Mark's book, they should hasten to the National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour and get one of the specially imported volumes in the Museum shop - but I advise them to be quick about it!

 

[Harriet Collingham]

Mum got me your book for christmas Mark, and I'd be lying if i didn't say I love it! I'm taking it a chunk at a time and enjoying it immensely! Definitely one of my best presents for a while! I also find it aweing that you know so much whilst being only a few years older than myself.
Wishing you the best for the new year
best wishes,
Hattie

 

[Mark Chirnside]

Hi Inger!

Thanks for the plug -- it does feel strange to think that copies have found their way to Australia.

I've been selling some copies myself, and have sent them to America, Greece, Germany, and a host of countries. Quite remarkable. I'm looking forward to some further critical reviews, and publishing the book has opened new avenues in terms of research. I like to think that I have some grasp of the book's many weaknesses, but at the same time I have been pleasantly surprised by some of the comments I have received that have mentioned unexpected strengths.

Hi Hattie!

Thanks for the kind words! I'm very pleased that you are enjoying the book. As for the book's length, well -- it's just that all that information looks greater when it's written down.

I'm sure you will be achieving great things in the years ahead.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Best wishes,

Mark.

 

[Harriet Collingham]

More than welcome, as always

and thank you kindly for your suggestion I shall too achieve great things. We shall see no doubt

(But in the meantime if you want to publish any more wonderful books it would be good!)
and best wishes for a happy and prosperous new year

 

[Mark Chirnside]

Why thank you Hattie, and my best wishes for a happy and thrustful New Year!

I have every confidence in you! Thanks for your well wishes.

As an aside, as well as selling a few copies on ebay, over the next few days I'll be in a bit of a quiet patch work-wise. If anyone wants to buy a copy of the book off me then, please feel free to e-mail me privately. I can take payment by paypal, and cheques or banker's drafts in Sterling. I have about ten excess copies that are taking up space at home!

Best wishes,

Mark.

 

[Harriet Collingham]

Welcome! and a thrustful new year to you also!