This Spring sees the round figure anniversary of forty years of military book publishing. I entered the book trade in 1954, transferred from bookselling to book publishing in 1956, and in 1960 – forty years ago – worked on the publication of my first book of military interest. Looking back from a long career professionally concerned with books on military subjects, and with the benefit of hindsight, one can see a distinct line for publishing on military subjects, but it wasn't planned like that.
At Herbert Jenkins, my point of entry into publishing and about which more will be written on the appropriate anniversary, there was a wide range of non-fiction books. One of the things I did there was to add to it. Two of the developments were the undertaking of the distribution of U.S. publishers' lists and the publishing, not arranged by me but by a colleague, of a small number of the best books about sports shooting. I worked on the U.S. imported books from Stackpole and DBI, but can't claim that there was a master plan which led to my own military publishing because I also worked on other books, most notably on antique collecting and the occult (although of course one wishes one could be prescient in forecasting sales). I had no understanding of sports shooting, but then we had contact with Major E. G. B. Reynolds and that was something of a change of direction. Major Reynolds was working on a history of the Lee-Enfield rifle; would we be interested in publishing it? The answer was 'yes'.
Major Reynolds brought to the subject a particular knowledge, for he had managed the manufacture in World War II of the then latest, and final, model of the firearm. We saw the book as appealing to collectors (and Herbert Jenkins' list had a number of books on collecting subjects which I was developing) and this was therefore seen as a 'fit' especially with the imported books on firearms and particularly with sales in the United States in mind – where the British Government had sold off four million surplus guns for hunting. The Lee-Enfield Rifle, which had a distinctive jacket designed by me, was published on 18th March 1960, and if there has to be a starting date for my relationship with publishing on military subjects then that is it.
I was correct about the interest in the United States, for we were able to sell a co-edition to Arco of New York, although I cannot recall whether this was on publication or a year or so later when the book was reprinted.
Over the next couple of years I worked on a succession of fine books on the history of firearms, the next and notable book published (14th April 1961) being Howard L. Blackmore's definitive British Military Firearms 1650-1850 which was recently reissued by Greenhill Books. Howard Blackmore was with the Customs & Excise, specialising in the diamond trade. He had spent two decades researching in the Ordnance records, and produced wholly new material about the history of British firearms, a major work of reference which is a permanent, and unequalled, addition to the subject area. As this article was being prepared, sadly Howard Blackmore passed away, after a long illness, on 24th November. Published simultaneously in 1961 with British Military Firearms was Early Percussion Firearms by Lewis Winant and other books that followed included A History of Spanish Firearms by James Lavin and these led on to the Arms & Armour Series which was commissioned before I left Jenkins, but published afterwards.
Another book on a military subject published at Herbert Jenkins was Military Costume by Paul Martin, a large format work in colour, which originated in Germany (as Der Bunte Rock, and Jenkins released it in a joint English/German language edition), and when I left Jenkins for Hamlyn I arranged their cheap edition reprint which sold well for many years. Some might see a straight line between the 1963 book Military Costume and Napoleon's Elite Cavalry in 1999.
When I went to Hamlyn it was in a general role, and I had no plans to set up my own independent publishing company. But Hamlyn was not for me, and things evolved, and it was as Arms & Armour Press that I started publishing military books in 1966, based on the contacts made and relationships formed at Herbert Jenkins.
Many books that I have been involved with over the years have become collected and fetch enhanced prices when they go out of print. For my first military books published at Herbert Jenkins the original published prices and approximate collectors' price today are:
- The Lee-Enfield Rifle 42 shillings (£2.10): £65.00
British Military Firearms 50 shillings (£2.50): was £65.00 until Greenhill reprinted, but is currently a little less
Early Percussion Firearms 50 shillings (£2.50): £25.00
A History of Spanish Firearms 63 shillings (£3.15): £45.00
Please permit the observation as to how satisfying it is to know what one has published is valued and stands the test of time.
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