Home Forums Gear Free Classifieds FS used books: military hardware, history, outdoors. (LONG post)

Still making room for the new "office in the home" so still thinning out books. PRICES INCLUDE SHIPPING to you in CONUS. I DON'T DO PAYPAL so payment can be MO, cash, or personal check (if you don't mind waiting a couple of working days for it to clear). First "I'll take book #__" on this board gets the book. (Please identify the books by title when you send shipment, to avoid any confusion on my part). Any questions, PM me and I'll answer all to the best of my ability.

Military Hardware

1)SPF "Strike Craft" by Anthony Preston. Illustrated history of MTB/PTs, motor gunboats and fast patrol craft from the Italian MASs of WWI to the present day hydrofoil gunboats and missile boats. Hardbound 8 1/2"x11" 64 pp. w/many b/w and color pix of WWI, WWII, and present "giant killers." New cond w/no dust jacket. $6

2)SPF "Cruisers" by Anthony Preston. Companion volume to above but covers cruisers from TR's "Great White Fleet" to modern missile cruisers. Hardbound 8 1/2"x11" 64 pp. in new cond. w/no dust jacket. $6

3)SPF "Janes' Pocket Book of Major Warships" by Cpt. John Moore, RN. A pocket Janes: silhouettes and stats/specs of all classes of all major nations' warship types in service 1945 to 1973 (so mainly Cold War). From carriers to "survey" and "research" vessels. Pocket hard bound 286 pp. in exc. cond w/no dust jacket.$5

4)SPF "Gunslingers in Action: Helicopter Gunships in Vietnam War" by Lou Prendell. (Squadron/Signal Pubs.#14). From an old and excellent aircraft series, this covers all types from improvised Hueys to Cobra and LOH. Many historic photos, color plates good for modelers, memoirs of actions by gunship crews. 7x11" softbound 50 pp. in very good cond. $4

6)SPF "USAF: the Modern US Air Force" by Bill Gunston. A pocket-sized Arco book that covers all USAF aircraft in use in the mid-'80s (35 types, many still in use) with over 160 color photos and 90 line drawings, plus color plates. Hardbound 160 pp w/slightly stained cover and no dust jacket; pix and text escellent $4

7)SPF "Aircraft" by Kenneth Munson. A great intro to planes and flight. Not a "kid's book" but would be an excellent source for any learning module on aircraft development and flying. Includes some "old school" plans for model planes that would be good home school or group projects. Many illustrations of "how things work" and various aircraft in color. 8 1/2"x11" 48 pp.hardbound in exc. cond w/no dust jacket. $4

Outdoor topics/shooting

8)SPF "The Practical Book of American Guns" by Captain John Houston Craige. Paperback of an old classic: shows the "state of the art"....in 1950! Craige was a WWI Marine vet who set out to write a comprehensive shooting sports volume. Lots of vintage info and classic guns. Paper back 351 pp. in very good readable condition. $3

9)SPF 4 gun magazines: 3 "Rifle" magazines: #6 (Nov 1969), #248 (Jan. 2010), #249 (Apr. 2010) and "American Rifleman" June 2009. All 4 shipped for $6.

10) "The Hemmings Book of Nashes" This is a collection of modern road tests of classic Nash cars from 1929 model to 1957 by Hemming's Motor News. 15 cars tested, described and evaluated plus plenty of lists of comparative data with their vintage competitors, factory prices, and production info. 8 1/2"x11" softbound 120 pp. in new cond. $5

11)SPF "Great Bear: A Journey Remembered" by Frederick Watt. Memoir of an expedition to the Great Bear Lake in northern Canada in 1932 prospecting for minerals. Lots of early bush flying and dogsled adventures, plus the "feel" of the Great Depression in Canada. Watt later became a naval intelligence officer in WWII and a professional writer. Hardbound 232 pp in exc. cond. w/b/w photos, torn dust jacket $4

12)SPF "The Revenge of the Fishgod: Angling Adventures Around the World" by Carl von Essen. Fishing adventures by a globetrotting MD who worked for the World Health Organization (or just fished on their dime?). From the "Trinity Alps" in CA to Tibet: literally all over the world. Illustrated with maps, and neat line drawings of fish, flies, and fishing scenes. Includes recipes. Hardbound 185 pp. in new cond. w/new dust jacket. $6

13) "Only in America: Ft. Lauderdale to NY to Chicago to New Orleans in a 17' Boat" by John Mirrasou. The ultimate "roadless road trip": 3 friends tour the continent in a Boston Whaler. By the producer of the old Budweiser National Fishing Team. Details of "all the stops along the way" and b/w photos of important features. Oversized paperback 347 pp. in new cond.$6

14)SPF "Back Roads of California: Selected Trips Off the Beaten Path" by Earl Thollander. A Sunset book that shows "the Other California" in maps and the author's truly beautiful sepiatone drawings. Worth having just for the illustrations. 8 1/2"x 11" paperbound 208 pp in exc. cond w/slight stains on cover (wine?). $6

15)SPF "Ghost Towns of the West" by Lambert Florin. Descriptions, anecdotes, and history of 280 ghost towns in AK, BC, Yukon, AZ, CA, CO, UT, MT, ID, WY, NV, NM, TX, OR, and WA arranged by state. A huge volume filled with lore and b/w photos of the towns (many still exist). 8 1/2" x11" hardbound 875 pp. in exc. cond. w/worn dust jacket. $8 (heavy to ship).

Military History

Old Wars

16)SPF "Stonewall Jackson: Portrait of a Soldier" by John Bowers. Sympathetic and complete biography of this complex genius by a fellow Southerner. 367 pp paperback in exc. cond. $5

17) The Terrible Hours" by Peter Maas. The story of Vice Admiral "Swede" Momsen, the naval officer most responsible for the rescue of the crew of the accidentally sunken S-class sub "Squalus" in 1939, and the details of that rescue, the first ever of a sunken US sub (Squalus went on to sink a Japanese carrier and other ships in WWII). Hardbound 259 pp in exc. cond. w/b/w photos, maps and diagrams and just very good dust jacket. $5

18) "Cochrane: the Life and Exploits of a Fighting Captain" by Robert Harvey. Biography of the English sea captain who is the model for Patrick O'Brien's fictional hero "Jack Aubrey." His exploits as a Royal Navy hero who was later exiled and became a hero to the new South American republics as a "sailor of fortune." Maps, diagrams of naval battles, and b/w repros of old portraits. Hardbound 351 pp in exc. cond. with exc. dust jacket. $6

WWII

19) "Ghost Soldiers" by Hampton Sides. Best-selling account of the rescue of US POWs from the Japanes in 1945 in the Phillipines by a company of the 6th Ranger Battalion and Phillipino guerrillas. Maps and historic b/w photos. 334 paperback in new cond. $5

20) "The Griffin: The Greatest Untold Espionage Story of WWII" by Arnold Kramish. Story of Paul Rosbaud, an Austrian Nazi science editor who was actually an MI6 agent passing the British vital intel on German nuclear, rocket, and other arms developments while working with the German and Norwegian resistance. 191 pp. hardbound w/b/w photos and maps. New cond w/new dust jacket. $6

New Wars

21) "The Long Road Home: a Story of War and Family" by Martha Raddatz. A best-seller by the chief White House correspondent of ABC News. Chronicles in depth an action by the First Cav in Sadr City, Baghdad and its military and personal effects (Could be subtitled "Why the Cav Hates Cities"....).Paperback 340 pp. in exc. cond w/b/w photos and maps. $5

22)SPF "A Rumor of War" by Phillip Caputo. Memoir of a Marine Lt. in Vietnam. What it was really like. Paperbound 377 pp. in exc. cond. $4

23) "Born to Fly" by Shane Osborne. Memoir of the pilot of the P-3 spy plane forced down in 2001 by Chinese fighters over Hainan. Osborne recieved the DFC for his actions in saving the 24-man crew and the aircraft. Hardbound 265 pp. in new cond w/b/w photos and dust jacket. $5

24) "The Third World War: August 1985" by Gen.Sir John Hackett and other NATO generals and advisors. What everyone hoped would NOT happen, and how the experts thought it might go down. An interesting read (Thank God it's fiction!). Hardbound 368 pp in exc. cond w/dust jacket and many maps of the "war" as it progressed. $5

25) "From Baghdad With Love" by Lt. Col. Jay Kopelman. Story of a Marine officer who adopts a stray dog in Falluja, Iraq and manages to get the mascot home to the US Paperback best seller in new cond. 206 pp. $4

26) "The Gates of Gaza" by Mordechai Bar-On. History of the "Gaza-Suez Canal Crisis" of 1956 when the Isrealis, British, and French siezed the Suez Canal and Gaza from Nasser. Very detailed political and military history by Moshe Dayan's adjutant. Hardbound 416 pp in exc. cond in library cover (discarded library book) $5

27) "The United States Military Almanac 1636-1998" by Walt Lang. A complete chronology of military actions and events with brief descriptions and period illustrations, diagrams, drawings, and photos. A great quick reference for military history. Oversized hardbound 176 pp. in exc. cond. w/no dust jacket. $6

28) "US Navy SEALS" by Hans Halberstadt. Text and many color pix explain SEAL missions, selection and training, and equipment from the UDT teams of WWII to the Afghanistan War. Descriptions of actions (mainly Vietnam). Oversized paperback 127 pp. in exc. cond $4

29) "Sky Soldiers: the New Face of War" A Time-Life book that reviews the history and tactics of airborne forces in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. covers Vietnam thru the First Gulf War, inc. French anti-terrorist actions, Russian airborne actions in Afghanistan, and US invasion of Panama. 8 1/2"x11" hardbound 164 pp. in exc. cond w/no dust jacket. Full of color plates and color and b/w photos. $5

30) "Into the Storm: a Study in Command' by Tom Clancy. Nonfiction study of the career of Gen. Fred Franks, a Vietnam vet who served with a prosthetic leg, becoming one of the field commanders of the First Gulf War. Includes detailed study of Desert Storm engagements and command strategy. Illus w/b/w photos and many maps. Hardbound 563 pp. in new cond w/dust jacket $6

Espionage/Intelligence

31) "The Philby Conspiracy" by Page, Leitch, and Kingsley. Foreword by John Le Carre. Biography of Kim Philby, the brilliant English Soviet double agent who penetraed MI-6 and the CIA for years starting in WWII and then escaped to Moscow in 1963. A chilling tale of multiple treasons. Hardbound 310 pp. in exc. cond. w/exc. dust jacket. $6

32) "Treason" by Bill Powell. How a Russian GRU defector led Powell, a US investigative journalist to a US double agent who was then arrested by the FBI in 2000. Hardbound 230 pp in new cond w/dust jacket. $5

33) Men of Intelligence: A Study of the Roles and Decisions of Chiefs of Intelligence from WWI to the Present" by Maor General Sir Kenneth Strong. British MI chief analyzes the decisions made by other top officers at key points from 1913 to 1970. discuses the intel that they had to base decisions on. Strong personally interrogated the surviving Nazi generals in 1945. Brief histories of the intel establsihments of the US, UK, Germany, France, and the USSR. Hardbound 190 pp w/b/w photos in new cond w/new dust jacket. $5


Thanks for reading this long post!

Mike Armstrong

I'll take #11 and #12 please. Pm inbound.

Ill take 14 and 15 please ($14)

I'll take #1 thru #9 please.

I don't suppose somewhere in your stuff you have a copy of Admiral Charles Lockwood's "To/Through(?) Hell and High Water" The USS Harder story do you?

I'll take 16 and 22 as well as 1-9

#s 1-9 (minus 5--not sure what happened to it) and 16 and 22 SPf to nsaquam

#s 14 and 15 SPF to MT Kelly

#s 11 and 12 SPF to prairie_goat

Thanks, guys! (PMs to all of ya!)

Mike Armstrong

fgold, sorry I don't know that one. But will keep my eyes open for it; LA is NOT a shooter's paradise, but does it EVER have used books!

Mike Armstrong

BTT; still lots of winter readin'.

(All PMs replied to; packin' up books--THANKS, guys!).

I seem to have lost the thread edit function, but in case anybody is still looking, BOOK #24, "The Third World War" is now SPF, too.

Mike Armstrong