IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

IAR-80 by Dan Antoniu and George Cicos (Editions TMA, Paris, 2008).
The book is hard cover, A4 size, 288 pages, round 500 b&w photos, 30 color profiles.
A more detailed presentation you can find here:
http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=4727

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/4...002copyci1.jpg

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

Why the intentional decision to reduce sales by publishing it in the gurglish (=French)?

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

Let me see ... because there's over 60 million people in France? Because Romanian and French are related languages? Because no English speaker came forward and offered to translate it? Because quite a lot of people round the world can read and understand French, either because their country uses the language or because they learn it?

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

Nick, it's a little bit of everything you have mentioned. But the main cause is the British/American publishers' lack of interest concerning the IAR-80 subject. I remember approaching Mr. Barry Ketley about the IAR-80 topic when he still was the chief editor of Hikoki Publishing. His response was very promising and a possible collaboration could have happened if he had stayed in the chief editor position. His successor, Mr. Michel Bird, had different views on this subject and so ... we now have a French edition of this book.

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

So you claim that the French edition will sell more than an English edition would sell?

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

Nowhere in my post do I say that. However, I would infer from Blue Max's reply that his French publishers are more optimistic about potential sales than the English one he spoke to.

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

Seems that British publishers are NOT the place to go for books like this as several publishers seem to have "Chevronized" publishing policy (=only relatively thin books that concentrate on pretty pictures).

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

You must also not forget the potential French language speakers from Italy, Spain and Portugal. Maybe also from Latin America ?! Anyway there is plenty of space on the market for an English edition.
But what seams pretty odd, is that TMA Editions can't supply the demands for this book. I personally know some ( quite unsatisfied) readers from Portugal and Spain who are still waiting for the book. We must remember that the book was initially announced for 2004 in "subscription" regime and was over and over postponed till May 2008.

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

Et quelques-uns en Angleterre, aussi.

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

Language may be a problem or not.
I possess books and magazines in 14 different languages, most of them I can't read.
There are photographs, many "self-explanating" or with captions where I can pick up a word or two, tables I can understand...
Language will never deter me from buying a book if the subject matches my interest.

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

Some sample pages from the book to give you a taste of it ....

http://www.cartula.ro/galerie/d/6114...+80+pg-032.jpg

http://www.cartula.ro/galerie/d/6115...+80+pg-111.jpg

http://www.cartula.ro/galerie/d/6115...+80+pg-091.jpg

http://www.cartula.ro/galerie/d/6115...+80+pg-080.jpg

http://www.cartula.ro/galerie/d/6114...+80+pg-072.jpg

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

But obviously you are interested in the illustrations whereas I am not. I haven´t bought a single book or magazine solely due to photos (leaving out material of a "certain" genre) if it is in a language I don´t speak. I prefer to read books. Apart from the Anatomy of the Ship-series, it is the text that decides whether a book is good or not, not the illustrations.

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

Jukka,

I understand your point of view.
But photographs never lie!
However good is a text, if it is not purported by photographic evidence, you may have a reasonable doubt.

Chris

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

Sometimes 1 photo = 1000 words ...

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

Hi there Blue-Max

Your wasting your time my friend... if its not published in English, printed on certain paper with specific text and column numbers, or (God help the authors) its published by Chevron/Classic/Ian Allan, then our dear friend Jukka just isn't interested. He also really needs to seek professional help with his anti-Chevron/Classic rhetoric. Their books don't appear by magic and I'm bu**ered if any of their titles I have are anywhere near being just made up of "pretty pictures". But then again experience has taught me that he is passing comment on books that he has either not got or not even seen. How anybody can see that as being constructive is really beyond me!

Anyway, I digress, thanks for taking the time to provide the page samples as it indeed looks very interesting :) The authors should be congratulated and applauded for the time and effort put into getting this book into any language...

Cheers

Peter D Evans
LEMB Administrator

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

But how do you describe e.g. the handling and performance of the IAR-80 with only photos? Those the are main things I am interested in this aeroplane, not e.g. colours and markings.

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

Peter, you are terribly mistaken. I mostly like Ian Allan books if they follow the style of the Midland imprint. E.g. the Aerofax series is laid out superbly and do have greater amount of text than Chevron´s average book.

And Peter, tell me when has Classic last time done a book in which at least 50% of the contents is text? Classic has had one superbly laid out book (Erik Pilawskii´s one) and couple of good ones (Me 264, Do 335) but too many poorly done ones.

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

Well, at 85,000 words + captions + index over 208 pages, my Ghost Bombers must have come close and Dan O'Connell's Me 262 Production Log undoubtedly passed your benchmark with ease but since they were published by Classic I expect you still found reasons to hate them.

But Jukka, we get the message by now: hardly any aviation history books are to your liking; you can't or won't write your own; and you can't or won't risk your own money on publishing something that would meet your exacting standards.

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

That's something I can hardly understand.
Because, IMHO, Classic and Shiffer are the best publishers of the Anglo-Saxon world: prestigious signatures, superb layouts, excellent colour profiles, original and well-reworked photographs...
Who can ask for more?

CJE

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

Well Nick, I forgot the Ghost Bombers which is definitely one of the best Classics and a very good book all in all.

Dan´s book I have not seen, so I don´t comment on that except that the Me 262 (or any jet except the He 162) is not of great interest to me.

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

That's easy... since 2002 they have produced the following hard back books which sit proudly on my bookshelf. All are serious text books profusely illustrated with colour profiles and photos and comfortably meet your ridiculous +50% text content:

• On Special Missions [2002]
• Helicopters of the Third Reich [2002]
• Me163 Volume 1 [2002]
• Me163 Volume 2 [2003]
• Messerschmitt Bf109 Recognition Manual [2004]
• Focke-Wulf Fw190 in North Africa [2004]
• Luftwaffe Camouflage & Markings 1933-45, Volume 1 [2004]
• Luftwaffe Camouflage & Markings 1933-45, Volume 2 [2005]
• Messerschmitt Me262 The Production Log [2005]
• Dornier Do335 [2006]
• Horten Ho229 [2006]
• Projekt Natter [2006]
• Messerschmitt Me264 [2006]
• Bomber Units of the Luftwaffe Volume 1 [2007]
• Luftwaffe Camouflage & Markings 1933-45, Photo Archive 1 [2007]
• Luftwaffe Fighters & Fighter Bombers over the Far North [2008]
• Bomber Units of the Luftwaffe Volume 2 [2008]

...and the two you mention:

• Messerschmitt Me210/410 An Illustrated History [2008]
• Messerschmitt Bf110 C, D & E An Illustrated History [2007]

...are both, as they say on the tin, illustrated histories.

Just because a book doesn't fulfil the criteria you set down does not mean that it's not any good... and anyway, the fact that you pass comment on books you've not even seen, makes any argument you think you may have, null and void...

Cheers
Peter D Evans
LEMB Administrator

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

I was able to peruse this book at the US IPMS convention this past weekend, and it is indeed an impressive work, particularly with the number of color photos of operational IAR-80s, profiles, and drawings. There also is a lot of text, and since my French hasn't progressed much beyond my '60s high school "Bonjour Jean, comment vas tu?" level, I had to pass it up, being a marginal subject for my interest. However, had it been a subject of which I am deeply interested, I wouldn't have hesitated - as shown by the number of German language books I posssess solely for their photographic content (I speak even less German - typical American !).

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

Great Models taking pre-orders ....
http://www.greatmodels.com/~smartcar...em_num=TMA5086

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

Hi All,

I have been looking for a copy of this book with not much luck. I have posted in the wanted section and have attempted to locate through the publisher, Livre Aviation, Livre Aero (aero stories) and all the internet book sites with no luck and just missed a copy on Ebay! So if anyone knows where I can locate a copy or has a desire to sell theirs please let me know.

Best Regards,
Todd

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

Not sure if it's actually in stock though:

http://www.aeroteca.com/continguts/p...=en&codi=23222

Re: IAR-80 "le Heros meconnu"
 

Chris,

Thanks for the info. I actually was just able to locate one in Romania this Thursday and hopefully it arrives in one piece... Probably the hardest book I have ever tried to find especially considering the recent publication date.

Cheers,
Todd