Robert Rudhall – Battle of Britain Books anywhere?

Landers , if you are still looking I have just put the book ” B of B The Movie”, on ebay.

The Actual Situation regarding Robert Rudhall’s published work…

As the late Robert Rudhall’s former publisher I have read this thread with interest and will now explain how these books came about and what the current status is.

Having been (astonishingly) turned down by Key Publishing, which was Robert’s employer at the time, on the grounds that a book on the Battle of Britain film was a non-starter (too little interest, apparently!), Robert came to me in 1999. I immediately agreed to publish without even viewing the material, as it was patently obvious, to me at least, that there was a great demand for a book on the 1969 film – especially given that I knew Robert’s work was of the highest standard. So, in 2000 my original company, Ramrod Publications, produced 2,000 casebound copies of ‘Battle of Britain: The Movie’, rapidly increasing the run, if memory serves me rightly, by another 1,500. That first edition soon sold out, that title being followed a year later by Robert’s ‘Battle of Britain Film: The Photo Album’. This was produced, I think, in a quantity of 1,000, casebound, sold out but was not re-printed. Tragically Robert died suddenly soon afterwards, and in 2002 I decided to wind up Ramrod, which successfully traded for 10 years, to pursue other projects.

In 2005, however, I decided to re-visit publishing on a full-time basis and founded Victory Books. In addition to producing new material, Victory Books, which was a bigger concern with infinitely greater resources than the former Ramrod, also published softback second editions of a number of my own books and, of course, ‘Battle of Britain: The Movie’. I think that the original casebound first edition retailed at £25, the subsequent softback being £14.95. Unfortunately due to an acrimonious divorce, in 2007 I had no option but to regrettably wind up Victory Books – all remaining stock was given to Steve Cooper, my business partner in the venture, to sell off and therefore recoup some of his investment. To whom the books were sold I know not, but as has already been stated in previous threads, copies are obtainable, although often at a price, via second hand book sellers.

Although I am pleased to report that my personal life is now once more stable and happier than ever before, and indeed that I am writing (but not publishing) again, there are no plans to re-publish Robert’s work in the foreseeable future (see www.dilipsarkarmbe.co.uk). I say this because a previous poster stated ‘Watch this space’ or similar regarding re-prints. The layout of Robert’s books remains my personal copyright, the text and photographs his, or more correctly given his sad passing, that of his widow, Joyce Rudhall – a close and dear friend of many years standing. So, the original books cannot be re-printed without my permission, and another publisher could not produce another edition to a new design without Joyce’s consent. Whilst I would have no objection to Joyce deciding to work with another publisher (not that she has any plans to), the situation is slightly complicated due to production technicalities. The original editions of both books in question were printed from film – a now obsolete process with the take over of digital printing, and those films have long since been destroyed. The second edition of ‘Movie’ was printed from a digital file, but the printer who produced this has since gone out of business, and with him disappeared the digital file of the book. So the only way to produce the book again would be either to scan in the original (not recommended), meaning that my consent would be required, or locate and use Robert’s original material and re-package. Unfortunately, as I understand it, Robert’s collection has been dispersed by Joyce since his death, so it would be impossible to collate all of those pictures again. So, as things stand and for all of those reasons, re-prints are not an option, certainly not in the foreseeable future but not, perhaps, impossible one day.

The thing with specialist publishing, of course, is that because print runs are limited, production costs are very high – as was the case with ‘Movie’ because of the amount of colour used therein, although I was unprepared to compromise on that, so good was the material – and such a contrast to the black and white photography of the actual Battle of Britain. This is why the books fetch such a high price today: because they were produced in a comparatively small run, demand is high and henceforth why book dealers can name their price. However, to be fair, without my foresight and support of Robert back in 1999, ‘Battle of Britain: The Movie’ would never have happened. I am proud of that, and miss Robert’s friendship enormously – he was an absolute joy to work with and one of life’s great and true gentleman. On that basis it seems to me that his books are best not reproduced – and left as a memorial to his love of and research into the film that so inspired our generation.

Many thanks for both the post and for the books themselves. For enthusiasts of the film they are the essential compliment to the Hardback of Leonard Mosley’s “The Battle of Britain-the making of a film” (paperback has the same story just not as many pictures). Only last week I was perusing my B of B film Vol 2 “photo album” and referring to my softback “working copy” of volume 1 whilst laying out some details on the colour scheme of the Duxford based Buchon that I am currently putting into its film scheme. I was lucky enough to have known Robert myself and bought my hardback from him at Biggin Hill when it first came out. It was signed for me by both Robert and John Blake and is a treasured item in my reference library. The softback reprint was a masterstroke and when I came across you with a pile of them for sale at a DX show a few years ago I knew I had to snap one up to keep at the Hangar at DX as a working reference. It gets looked at a lot, so thanks once again. 🙂

Thanks for the post Dilip. It shows how the apparently simple and obvious solution of a money-making re-print is far more complicated than is apparent from the consumer’s side of the fence. I’m lucky enough to have Vol II and will keep my eye out for Vol I.

http://forum.keypublishing.com/member.php?u=4306

He’s a member here too

A Pilot Who Flew In The Film

Hello all you ‘BofB’ film nuts out there. This forum has seen plenty of new members since 2003 – when I put out feelers on pprune for any pilots who flew in the film. And I found one! His name is Tim Mills and his fascinating recollections can be read here:

http://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/91200-any-pilots-battle-britain-film-out-there.html

Sorry for a bit of thread drift, but Robert’s book is mentioned in it 🙂 Happy reading!

Blimey how much..? Just come across this post and am the proud owner of all of Roberts books as I knew the man well…greatly missed!
My B of B the movie book is also signed by Robert, his wife Joyce, Dilp Sakar and Paul Day who was gratious enough to sign it for me at Roberts memorial service at Duxford..I shall now put it safely back on the shelf…..

£250 (or more) for a book or books I haven’t looked at since reading them, would certainly buy me a lot more of the books I need for the research I enjoy. It is indeed very tempting.

Regards,

kev35

It’s surely tempting, but I’d kick myself for doing it, I think…. 😮

£250! However, I just can’t sell of the family ‘silver’ 🙂

I really am tempted to out mine, right now…….!!!

Two copies on ebay right now…

£189.95 or £299.99

Military book fair DX today

There are a couple of copies of Robert’s books I’ve just seen on sale at the DX military book fair. Photo album signed (not A1 condition) a mere £250.00!!!:eek: The Movie, hardback, signed £75.00
They are out there cheaper, just not at DX today.

A pleasure. The price of two Old Warden mugs of tea?

Gosh. I hadn’t realised I had taken quite so much money from you. Perhaps it wasn’t such a bargain, after all?

It was the price of a couple of mugs of tea at Old Warden, so I’ll count it as a bargain. Thanks!

Clearly I sold it very under-priced….but I am pleased that by this selfless piece of generosity I may well have added a nought to the value of your book!

I’ll certainly have to re-think whether I continue need to have any need for that copy of the said book on my shelf or not.

I picked up a remaindered copy for a tenner from the RAF Museum back in 2004 I think. At about the same time I purchased a signed book plate for the same book from a Mr Tangmere on ebay and Bob’s your uncle.

Two copies readily available at one of the book sellers at the DX show today. One with multi-signatures for £85 the other a hardback 1st edition unsigned, unmarked and pristine… £9.50
Guess what I did? 🙂

BoB THE MOVIE – Seen listed on Ebay £50 earlier this week with £10 P+P from Holland …….and at closure I still didn’t see any takers though :confused:

My system don’t allow me to do e-bay 😡

BoB THE MOVIE – Seen listed on Ebay £50 earlier this week with £10 P+P from Holland …….and at closure I still didn’t see any takers though :confused: