David Williams, Kreigspeiler's raving/roving reporter, sticks his nose into some books and a cup of coffee at Crusader Books. The smell, the look, the feel. Soft and hard. Big ones, small ones, thick ones, thin ones. Leather, vinyl, paper. American, European, Asian. Even some locals. For a price you can take them home. Looking is free. HOLD ON A SECOND! This is a review of a bookshop! Now get your mind on the job. Sorry… Crusader Books started business in July 1996 as a mail order/internet bookshop. The first site was basic, but provided good trade that funded a new, bigger site. Curiously, trade dropped off for a while after the new site was launched. Crusader Books then expanded by buying a business dealing in ceremonial products (like Sam Browne belts and Akubra slouch hats) to the Australian Defence Forces. The new, combined business became Crusader Trading. The expanded business created the need for a shop front. Crusader Bookshop was born. Crusader Trading is owned and operated by Rick McQualter and Anthony Garrett. These guys both have military backgrounds; Rick is ex-Army and Tony (the silent partner) a serving Army helicopter instr uctor. Rick's interests cover all aspects of land warfare from the Punic wars to the Gulf war. The Napoleonic and American Civil War periods are current favourites, focusing on battles and leaders. Tony, not surprisingly, is an aviation buff with particular interest in Japanese aviation of WWII. As book collectors, Rick and Tony understand the frustration we have all experienced over service, availability and price. Crusader's philosophy is to provide good books at a reasonable price for which it seeks out the best and cheapest sources. As a future enterprise, Crusader is looking at the second hand market. Crusader has a strong appreciation of the interests of its customers. Rick hopes to build up a catalogue of Crusader's customers and their interests. This means he will be able to alert customers to new releases of interest to them. The shop is still a bit bare, however Rick is furiously stocking the shelves and getting prints framed. [No longer - every time I pay a visit it's filling up with more goodies - a military bookworm's paradise! – Ed.] The stock is varied and tempting. Titles cover all periods and all theaters. Companies, not generally available before in Australia, such as White Mane (specialist in ACW) and Pictorial Histories out of the US (WWII aviation and naval) are being imported. The publishing houses represented at Crusader include old friends like Greenhill, Stackpole Books, Combined Publishing, Presido Press, Emperor's Press, Grub Street (aviation), Conway (naval), Putnam (aviation), Arms and Armour, Osprey, and Spellmount (Napoleonic). A large range of prints is also available including Robert Taylor, Nicholas Trudgian, (aviation) Cranston Fine Arts (Napoleonic a specialty) and Randall Wilson (B&W WWII tanks). The prints are sold framed and unframed. However, Crusader can get you a 15% discount from a local framer for any purchases of unframed prints. [At the moment there are a couple of great framed Mort Künstler ACW prints on display – if you're quick! – Ed.] A range of videos is stocked. Although primarily covering the modern period, videos such as The Great Commanders series covering Alexander, Julius Caesar through to Napoleon and Zukov, also grace the shelves. Crusader also provides a free finder service covering new and second hand sources worldwide. Crusader does not stop at the first place located; they look around for the best price. Once the item is found, a quote is given to the customer and only ordered after customer acceptance. Where? Unit 7/64-66 Wollongong St, Fyshwick, ACT Hours? Monday-Friday 10.30am to 5.30pm Saturday 10am to 4pm Sunday 11am to 3pm (Other times by appointment) Crusader Books is run by bibliophiles, for bibliophiles. They make great coffee. Visit the shop or drop Rick a line. Now, where was I? Ah, yes.... the smell, the look, the feel. Soft and hard. Big ones, small… Website: www.crusaderbooks.com.au E-mail: info@crusaderbooks.com.au Back to Table of Contents -- Kriegspieler #7 To Kriegspieler List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Kriegspieler Publications. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com